PITTSBURGH - This news source has obtained a copy of the proposed written agreement to memorialize the settlement between the City of Pittsburgh and Commander Catherine McNeilly, and it contains some surprises.Under the proposed agreement, in addition to the $85,000 payment to McNeilly and a statement by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl that the city supports the First Amendment, McNeilly will, effective immediately, become General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"If the taxpayers must be screwed out of money we don't have, we figured we might as well get some benefit out of it," Mayoral spokesman Dick Skrinjar said. "Plus, she has some good ideas for the team."
McNeilly appeared comfortable with the settlement, and confident she will improve the team's performance by eschewing the "small-ball approach" of outgoing GM Dave Littlefield. "I believe in money ball," she said. "The first thing I'm going to change in batting Jack Wilson in the number two spot," she noted. "I've been in law enforcement all my life, and I know a crime when I see it."
Mayor Ravenstahl is said to be hesitant about signing the written agreement. "He has no problem making [McNeilly] General Manager of the Pirates," Skrinjar admitted. "He's just not sure if he's ready to accept the First Amendment."
