Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Publishes Club 50th Anniversary History

As good a place as any to put a cap on the blog, although guest posting will always be welcomed ...

The Next Page: The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, Pittsburgh's mavericks

The history of the East End's self-described outpost of progressivism

May 24, 2014 11:52 PM

20th Anniversary Celebration - 1984

Two great names from the 14th Ward's past--Ivan Itkin and Poli's Restaurant--featured prominently in the club's 20th anniversary celebration. Itkin was the honoree; Poli's the venue. Poli's closed in 2005 and was sold at sheriff's sale last year. Itkin has enjoyed a better fate, including 25 years in the state house and the Democratic candidate for governor in 1998 (he lost to incumbent Tom Ridge). Itkin was a very active club leader, serving as president in the early 1970s.

Today, Itkin has spread his progressive political roots to his new home in Florida, where he is president of the GO GO Democrats, aka the Galt Ocean Grassroots Organization Democratic Club, "a group of active citizens on the Galt Ocean mile in Ft Lauderdale, FL", according to the organization's Facebook page.

The club will mark its 50th anniversary next weekend with a fundraiser and endorsement meeting at Colfax School in Squirrel Hill. More information, including a ticket and sponsorship order form, is here.

Itkin, Clark Redux

Due to a flurry of interest by some club board members in the recent Ivan and Joyce Itkin and Jeanne Clark posts, I thought I'd provide a few more visuals from the archives. The black and white photo below shows Itkin speaking at a 1970 rally for Milton Shapp for governor. (Itkin used the photo, and specified its historical context, in the club's 20th anniversary fundraiser program.) Also, to update the earlier post, Itkin also quit the club, along with three former club presidents, when his wife Joyce failed to get the club's endorsement in her run for clerk of courts.

Is that a young Cyril Wecht seated at speaker Ivan Itkin's far left?
If you can identify any pictured  politicos, please let me know.

Club board member Sally Morton reported that her daughter, Susan, was a friend of Jeanne Clark's stepson and attended an event at which Jeanne was photographed with singer Judy Collins. Sally said that her daughter remembers that Barbara Solin, a Squirrel Hill resident, was also there.

That's current club president Kathie Smith in the lower left corner, Jeanne Clark is seated to Judy Collins' right, and former club president Celeste Behrend is directly behind Clark. Again, any assistance with identifying folks in the photo will be much appreciated. [Click on photo for larger image.]

A brief news item at this link indicates that the Clark/Collins "swankenda"(!)--a fundraiser for Clark's 1988 state senate run--was held at Chatham College professor Frank Lackner's house.

Club board member Barbara Daly Danko noted that, by coincidence, the night before the Clark post went up she and former board member Claire Staples were walking home together from a Chatham (now University) event featuring former Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME). According to Barbara's email:

"We walked to Chatham from Denniston via the cut through off Shady and walked past a house on Shady which Claire pointed out and said Judy Collins was at an event for Jeanne there a long time ago ... to which Krysia Kubiak (who was walking back with us) replied, 'There should be a historic marker on that house!'"

Itkin Vs. Coyne - The Contentious 1995 Club Endorsement, or "Three Coynes and a' Countin'" (apologies to Sammy Cahn)

With the club's endorsement meeting less than a week away, and a controversy bubbling around a candidate paying dues for new club members, I thought I'd detail a fractious club endorsement that occurred 18 years ago in a race for Allegheny County Clerk of Courts involving Joyce Lee Itkin, Jim Ellenbogen, Dennis Coyne, and the incumbent, Carol Coyne (no relation to Dennis).

Joyce, and particularly her husband, Ivan Itkin, were very active party and club members (see a photo of Joyce chairing a club fundraiser around 1984). Joyce ran for city council in 1991, prior to the clerk of courts contest. Ivan was the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania governor in 1998 and served in the state house from 1973 to 1998. (See his Wikipedia page.)

Not even a nuclear scientist could beat the party machine. [click on image for larger version]

According to the articles above, Itkin ran unsuccessfully for the state senate with the club's endorsement in 1968. In 1970, as club president, he led an effort to unseat the 14th Ward chair by running club-backed candidates for ward committee slots. (The attempted coup was precipitated by Mayor Pete Flaherty losing the ward by one vote to the Republican mayoral candidate that year, even though the ward's Democrats had a 2-1 voter registration edge.)

Fast forward to 1995. The Associated Press provided some context for the club's disputed clerk of courts endorsement, reporting that 14th Ward chair and club board member Eric Marchbein accused Dennis Coyne, a truck driver with no political experience, of being a "spoiler" in the race--placed on the ballot to create name confusion with the incumbent Coyne.

"Marchbein said he was reconsidering his support for Joyce Lee Itkin, a clerk of courts candidate, because he suspects an Itkin supporter was behind Dennis Coyne's recruitment," according to the AP.

(For further context, William J. "Bill" Coyne was the congressman at the time for the state's 14th Congressional District, which included the 14th Ward. No relation to Carol or Dennis, I'm told.)

An Allegheny County political power couple.

In the club's initial endorsement ballot count, Coyne beat Itkin by three votes. But the matter was far from settled. Itkin supporters charged that three club members were prevented from voting, in contravention of common practice, if not the club's bylaws. At issue was whether the members had paid their dues up to two years prior to the meeting. If not, they had to have paid at least 30 days prior to the meeting to be eligible to vote. While the rule was on the books, it was rarely enforced; members often paid their dues on endorsement day and were permitted to vote.

Two of Itkin's supporters who were denied the vote subsequently produced canceled checks proving that they had paid their dues within two years. Another Itkin supporter submitted a signed and notarized affidavit saying that she had paid her dues in cash within the two-year period but had not received a receipt.

The club archives contain numerous letters from Itkin supporters, including one from three past club presidents resigning their club memberships, as well as a statement from then-club president John Burke and lengthy post-endorsement board meeting minutes that included plans for revising the by-laws.

Despite protestations from Itkin supporters that the vote was actually tied and that the outcome should be nullified, Burke sent a letter to members affirming that two Itkin supporters were improperly prevented from voting and were permitted to vote, but that their votes did not alter the outcome. While the club's slate card was printed and distributed with Coyne listed as the endorsed candidate, Itkin, who had the party's backing, went on to win the primary. Four years later she lost a re-election bid to George Matta, with Carol Coyne finishing third.

According to the June 11, 1995 board meeting minutes, Kathie Smith, the club's current president, "said she was concerned about the attempt to undermine the voters guide that was done at the expense of the other Club endorsed candidates. Endorsed candidates count on the integrity of the voters guide and its impact and it is inconsistent with Club policy to try to minimize it."