The Next Mayor

Clever anyone?
We're sponsoring a little contest to see which of our literally ones of readers can come up with the best caption for the photo above. You can either email your ideas to this link or post in the comments. (For background on the battle, click here.) Like Attytood, we ask that you

PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.

Thanks.

Since I want to play this game too, I'll start with my own suggestions in the comments section. The winner of this contest gets 20 copies of next Sunday's Daily News.

So contrary to my belief that newspapers practice haruspicy to figure out which candidate they're going to endorse, there's apparently a much more logical process. You can see all of the responses to the Inquirer editorial board candidate questionnaire here thanks to editorial writer Russell Cooke. Thanks to Tom Ferrick who originally posted this on his Poliblog.

I draw your attention to the following question:

Q. If you are elected, you will represent your district first, but also your party and the Philadelphia region as a whole. Do you see any conflicts among those allegiances, and how will you resolve them?

This happens to be one of my pet issues. I'm a fully sold on the possibilities that regional cooperation hold for the Greater Philadelphia region. In fact, I did a radio feature piece on this issue a while back. The candidate for mayor who can convince me that he or she will be able to play nice with all of the county commissioners, suburban state legislators and other community leaders will go a long way in getting my support, such as it is (i.e. I'll make fun of him or her just a little less than everyone else on this blog).

Now, the reasons for my rageaholism...

Time to pull out the Official Frank Rizzo Candidate-Speak Translator to decipher what each of the "Could-Be" mayors is saying in their responses to the Committee of Seventy lawsuit over the definition of candidacy.

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah
I'm "exploring" how much of this unlimited money I can spend now on equipment, staff and other expenses so that when I start adhering to the limits I'll be able to use the money I raise in $2500 chunks almost exclusively on television ads. Heck, maybe I can even pay the rent for my campaign office up front before I declare my candidacy.

State Rep. Dwight Evans
I knew the power the city has over campaign finance regulations. Power to regulate campaign finance regulations was a friend of mine. You, city of Philadelphia, have no power to regulate campaign finance. (At least until I'm the mayor, then we'll talk).

Businessman Tom Knox
I've been talking to people in all different neighborhoods and they tell me that colorful posters with the words "Knox" and "mayor" would go a long way towards improving their quality of life. Guess City Council is regretting that they decided to pass on that "millionaire's exception."

Union Leader John Dougherty
Sure, sure, limits. Hey, Nutter! (mumbles)Candidate for mayor says what.

Councilman Michael Nutter
(rolling his eyes) Why am I even here?

Former controller Jonathan Saidel
If you think I'm late with this response, just wait until I have to start sending in those candidate questionnaires.

For more on this issue, there's a nice debate going on over at Young Philly Politics.

Welcome to your new polling place:

Showing the kind of common sense that it has come to be known for, the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed a bill to limit the use of private homes as polling places with less than 2 weeks to go before the May 16th primary. Nothing like giving people plenty of time to tell voters that their polling place has changed.

I've heard some great stories about the kinds of structures that pass for polling places in this city. Apparently one division locates their voting booths in a tool shed on a vacant lot while another uses what looks like a crack house with boarded up windows and a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. Then there's the dimly lit, dank corner bars that serve as the locus of democracy twice a year. Anyone else have a good story about a uniquely Philadelphia polling place?

I will agree that it seems a little strange that some polling places are actually located inside ward offices and the homes of politicians.

One of our WHYY reporters, Susan Phillips, got some reaction to this bill from one of Philly's ward leaders who explains what this will mean to her voters. I'll update with that when it becomes available.

UPDATE: I guess I got my "righteous indignation" level up a little too quickly. Any changes to polling place location according to this law would take place in November and only if Governor Rendell signs it.

UPDATE 2: Click here to listen to the WHYY story that aired this morning. Includes comments from Councilwoman Marian Tasco and PA ACLU Pres. Larry Frankel.

State Representative Dwight Evans penned this missive in today's Daily News. In it, Evans mentions that there seems to be widespread support for public financing of elections:

I believe there is support for this important dialogue among Council and the broader range of constituents who they represent. We have intentionally chosen to not force action before the 2007 municipal elections to remove even the appearance of self-service, but more importantly, to do it right.

The best indicator that there is support for this among "the broader range of constituents" will be the size of this issue in the 2007 Mayor and Council races. Although legislation won't be passed in time to affect those particular races, there is still a chance that such a thing could become a ballot question in either the primary or general election.

Any thoughts? Will comprehensive campaign financing reform (and I mean the adoption of real public financing with spending limits, transparency and controls over where money is spent) become a major issue in the race or will it be crowded out by more pressing things? I'm especially interested to know if this issue resonates with people outside of the media, good government groups, business elite, and elected officials. Are there enough voters out there for whom a candidate's support for public financing will make a difference in how they vote?

My initial thought is no, which means State Rep. Evans's assessment of support for reform is probably a little overstated... but I've been known to be wrong before... alot.

Not much going on in the world of mayoral news today so I figured I'd share this interesting little tidbit.

Like any true Philadelphian, I am particularly adept at voicing my displeasure with the performance of my local sports team, my local government, my local supermarket checkout person... But I'm also willing to give credit where credit is due. So, first of all, Charlie Manuel, you're a genius. The way you've guided the Phillies to 8 straight wins with your timely use of the home run... absolute genius.

Second, way to go City of Philadelphia! I know I'm a little behind in acknowledging this but the City of Philadelphia was recently named one of 18 finalists for the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award.

According to the press release from the Government Innovators Network at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the city's Municipal Automated Vehicle Sharing Program was picked from among a thousand applicants to be one of the finalists.

According to Gowher Rizvi, Director of Harvard's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation:

"Each of the eighteen finalists are the best and brightest, and represent government's great capacity for creating positive change and achieving results... Each takes a creative approach to a significant problem and demonstrates that their solution works."
(snip)
[This program] makes Philadelphia the first government in North America to reduce its fleet by partnering with a local car-sharing provider that serves residents and businesses with hourly vehicle rentals. Employees on City business can now use vehicles that are more accessible, more fuel efficient, and more cost-effective, eliminating the need for hundreds of city-owned vehicles and facilitating savings of approximately $1.7 million annually.

Just so I continue to dish the credit, the "local car-sharing provider" referred to above is Philly Car Share. You know them as those ubiquitous maroon Toyota Priuses (Prii?) with a graphic on the door of two long-legged gents carrying a giant backwards jagged flashlight (or possibly a plunger).

So there you have it. City government did a good thing. Innovated. Had a good idea. Such a thing can and does happen here on a fairly regular basis in the public, private and non-profit sectors. This one happened to be a case where the public sector had the good idea to use another good idea by a non-profit. Now as we look towards the future and the next mayor, what kinds of good ideas can we expect to hear from The Six Suited Suitors.

One of the Would-be Mayors, Dwight Evans, is talking about guns -- and gun control. This follows the fatal shooting of a cop during a robbery Tuesday night.
Dwight also says the city isn't doing nearly enough to press the issue in Harrisburg:
"I do think among some people there's a recognition that the gun policy is totally out of control," he told the Inquirer. " "The story continues: Asked about the city's role in pressing that argument, he said: 'The answer is they could do more.'"
We all know bringing up gun control is a sure-fire way to start an argument.
But doesn't the murder of a good cop require the city -- and state lawmakers -- to at least try to talk about this?
And is anyone alarmed that, after the shooting, cops stopped five cars in the area that matched the description of the suspect's car -- and they all had guns in them? This from the Daily News:
"After the shooting, dozens of police cars swarmed into the area around the bar and made several stops.
"Johnson said that five men had been stopped because they fit the description of the suspect and that all had guns.
"At least one of those stopped was arrested because he was wanted for a robbery.
"None has been tied to Skerski's murder, however, police said."

Happy Primary Election Day everyone! I've been away for a while doing some actual radio journalism and I must admit I really missed the blogging. Here I can say just about whatever I want and if I get it wrong, I know that plenty of my fellow bloggers will be more than happy to point out my mistakes. When I do a radio story, people actually proofread my work! Of course, if I get something wrong on one of those stories, I'm sure the blogging community would be more than happy to point that out too.

So that's what I'm going to do now. This morning I got to sub in as a production assistant for WHYY's Morning Edition, the flagship of 91 FM News. As part of the job, I get to monitor all of the news, especially local television coverage. As I write this, I've heard the wonderful folks at Fox 29 tell the entire city that only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in today's primary election. Apparently, they haven't read their 2006 Citizen's Guide by the Committee of Seventy which specifically states:

You May Change Your Party registration to any party designation or to nonpartisan. However, as a member of a party you may only vote for members of that party in the primary election. As a registered non-partisan, you are not eligible to vote for any candidates in the primary election, but are eligible for special elections and ballot questions.

Of course, voters in Philadelphia have 2 ballot questions to consider, one that should make it easier to stick it to some real crooks and one to approve the use of surveillance cameras. And that means every voter, including you independents out there.

I'll be live blogging this election day starting in the late afternoon and continuing into the evening as the results start to come in. You can also check out TV 12 throughout the evening for election night updates.

If you see any Committee of Seventy volunteers out there, make sure to let them know what kind of experience you had while voting.

Do what that guy on top of City Hall says! Get out there and vote!

By all means, feel free to use the comment section of this thread to let us know what you've seen or heard around your neighborhood. Is someone's favorite form of political discourse the two-by-four? Did you have to stand for hours in the rain before voting or did it take you less time to vote than it does to get money out of the MAC machine? I especially want to hear how you committee person candidates are doing. What's going on in your races?

Over at Ferrick's Poliblog, Tom is predicting statewide turnout will be less than 20%. Do you think turnout in Philly will be over or under that number?

Exactly unlike city taxis, the reports of voting problems are rolling in today...

We heard this in the 9th ward:
"I'm registered Independent. I went to vote in District 4, but was not allowed to. I said that I should be able to vote for the two questions, and the poll workers said "they" said I wasn't allowed to. I called Voter Registration and they said they'd call the election site and tell them that independents are allowed to vote on the two questions."
She plans to go back to try again tonight. Good for her.

Atrios has commented that:
"both machines at the Weccacoe Playground polling place are broken."
Classic.

And here's an interesting one:
"A woman said she went to vote in the 13th ward, 11 division and none of the machines worked. They were given written ballots." The, um, unusual part of this is that to fill out the ballots, they had to sit in kindergarten chairs... and, according to this caller, not many people there could read the paper ballots.

Sometimes good stories can just fall into your lap. I decided that the best way to get a real feel for Election Day would be to try and observe a longtime Philly E-day tradition - lunch at Famous Deli at Fourth and Bainbridge.

Taking advantage of this beautiful day - much more beautiful than my 5am walk to work during a downpour and thunderstorm - I strolled along the 13 blocks from WHYY's Technology Center to the Deli. Along the way, I very serendipitously encountered a couple of close friends of mine who live in Montogomery County. These guys happened to be taking a break from their get-out-the-vote efforts on behalf of Mike O'Brien, the candidate whom their union is supporting in the 175th District.

They told me about their morning in Kensington and Port Richmond, going door to door telling people to vote for their candidate. When I asked what they were telling people who wanted to know why they should vote for their candidate they said because he's a good guy. What a lot of us so-called "insiders" sometimes forget is that for a vast majority of the voting population, in this city and in other places, that's usually a strong enough argument. A couple of honest looking, down-to-earth, plainspoken, hardworking guys show up at the door and give their seal of approval on a guy and it's enough to swing a vote. I don't know anything about Mike O'Brien except from what I learned from his campaign ads... that he's pro-choice ("unexpected!") and has a hard time keeping his eyes focused on the camera when talking directly into it. So for all I know he could very well be a good guy.

The problem is, that might not be enough to qualify someone for elected office and it definitely shouldn't be enough to qualify someone for mayor. But you know that next year, when my friends from Montgomery County are out there going door to door and handing out palm cards for another "good guy," that may be all it takes to swing enough votes to determine a winner.

A very smart, VERY experienced political operative in this city told me that none of this - the blog, the site, the whole project - will make any difference in the outcome of next year's election. In fact I think his exact words were, "Do you think anyone in the 25th Ward is going to give a s**t about this project?" (followed by "Do you even KNOW where the 25th ward is?"). I'm open to anyone's suggestion on how we get this information to those folks in the 25th Ward so that when my friends from Montgomery County come to the door and tell those voters that their candidate is a nice guy, the response they get is, "what else you got for me?"

The best part of their story, however, was about the guy named Billy Boy from Kensington who invited them in and chatted with them for 10 minutes about his homemade tattoos. Mmm mmm, that's good hepatitis! Encounters like that are probably why I ran into them in Center City.

Not much to report. Went in, walked around, saw who was there and left. The line for a table was almost to the door. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and actually get lunch. Feel free to join me. We can start our own day after election tradition.

In one corner sat Mike O'Brien at a table with what looked to be, judging from the buttons, a bunch of his campaign workers. At another table for four was Councilman Jack Kelly chowing down on a pretty nice looking sandwich. I recognized him from his MySpace profile! That's so hip! (much more hip than using the word "hip") I don't know if my ego could handle having my number of friends quantified in such stark terms. Councilman Kelly apparently has 39 friends - including one rather attractive blonde named Bridget who loves "having a nice tan." He's besting me by about 36 friends. You win this round, Councilman.

I guess I was either too early or too late for the Governor, the Mayor, Congressman Brady and the rest of the crew.

For your entertainment on this Primary Election Day:

This one goes into the "You think it can get bad in Philly?" file. It involves a young boy becoming involved in local politics to avenge the murder of his family cat - a murder that may have been for "political reasons." As if this feline post-birth abortion (still a hot button issue in Mount Gretna, PA) weren't enough, this young operative has now been subject to harassment by supporters of his candidate's opponent. You can read the rest. Please remember that this is a press release so, like a blog entry, the facts are rarely allowed to get in the way of a good story.

My good friend Mike suggested several possible headlines for this story, my favorite of which was "Un-claw-ful behavior." Can anyone top it?

UPDATE: I guess Brightbill paid the price for his supporter's anti-feline activities.

More than 100 voting machines are reported to be broken across the city, the Daily News has learned. Apparently, the machines were broken when polls opened this morning -- they keep spitting out the paper tape that keeps the tally of the vote. It is the largest breakdown since we started using the new voting machines. Expect more on this in tomorrow's Daily News.

Anyone experience this first-hand?

One of my colleagues here at 'HYY said that when she voted at around 2:15, she was the 51st person to visit her polling her place. Assuming around 600 registered voters in the that division (and that's probably very low), that equals about a 8.5% turnout. Gangbusters!

This from an e-mail from a NextMayor friend...

"I voted before leaving for DC this morning and was told before voting that the write-in function on my machine was not working because the paper roll inside would not come up. Because I wanted to write in a candidate, I therefore had to fill out a provisional ballot, which may or may not be counted in the end.

I later heard from my judge of elections that this problem was happening AT EVERY VOTING MACHINE IN THE CITY.

Yikes."

So what's wrong with the voting machines? Apparently, there's a little window in them around where the paper tape goes, and that little window has screws to hold it in place. The screws are too tight. And that's causing the paper to spit out. Yes, all over the city.

Somehow, this doesn't seem like a Philadelphia problem. One would think our screws would be too loose, or missing altogether, or held up by councilmanic privilege.

Ten minutes til the polls close...

We'll post as many results as we can tonight, so come on back...

Hey all, I'm blogging to you directly from the control room here at WHYY studios. Throughout the night on TV 12, we'll be reporting on the results of the U.S. Senate and Gubernatorial primaries (not expecting many surprises). On this blog, I'm hoping to post results for some of the hotly contested state representative primaries including the race in the 175th among Mike O'Brien, Terry Graboyes and Ann Dicker, the 179th between Tony Payton and write-in candidate Emilio Vazquez, the 180th between incumbent Angel Cruz and challenger William Cartegena and the 182nd between Babette Josephs and Larry Farnese.

Results should start to become available around 9pm.

One race that has some relevance for the City and plenty of relevance for the region is the hotly contested Democratic Primary for the 8th Congressional District between Patrick Murphy and Andy Warren. Both men are vying for a chance to take on incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick. The district is mostly made of Bucks County with a little bit of Montgomery County and a small slice of Northeast Philly.

Adam Bonin, a regular contributor to Daily Kos (not to mention proprietor of the only other blog I check everyday besides this one) is at Murphy headquarters and has these very early returns:

With 545 votes tallied, mostly from the Philadelphia divisions, Murphy holds a 391-154 vote lead.

As I hear more, you'll read about it.

UPDATE at 9:15pm: With 10.1% of the votes in, Murphy has 1782 votes to Warren's 819. That breaks down to 68.5% for Murphy and 31.5% for Warren.

UPDATE at 10:20pm: Adam tells me that Patrick Murphy has received the concession call from Andy Warren. Murphy will go on to face incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick in the fall. Let the games begin!

Things are really close early on in each of the 4 state rep primaries that I promised results for... let's get to it.

In the 175th with 19 out of 63 divisions reporting:

Mike O'Brien - 1159
Ann Dicker - 814
Terry Graboyes - 802

In the 179th with 47 out of 55 reporting

Tony Payton - 890
write-in - 846
(write-in could be any write-in but the candidate waging the run in campaign is the Democratic backed candidate, Emilio Vazquez so it's probably him)

In the 180th with 42 out of 60 division reporting

St. Rep. Angel Cruz - 1791
William Cartagena - 1131

In the 182nd with 37 out of 61 reporting:

Babette Josephs - 2148
Larry Farnese - 2042

A real barn burner! Could this be it for Josephs? Stay tuned.

Here it is with as little commentary as possible:

175th with 81% reporting (51 of 63)
O'Brien - 1784
Dicker - 1480
Graboyes - 1351

179th with 96% reporting (53 of 55)
Write-in - 976
Payton - 947

180th with 95% reporting (57 of 60)
Cruz (i) - 2102
Cartagena - 1340

182nd with 87% reporting (53 of 61)
Josephs (i) - 3149
Farnese - 2955

Yes to cameras.
Yes to an independent board of ethics.

The pay grab has claimed a victim: Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill, a Republican from Lebanon.

Let's take a quick look at the results of the Lt. Governor Primary, shall we?

The latest from the AP:

Lieutenant Governor Dem - Primary, with 3,313 of 9,360 precincts - 35 percent

Catherine Knoll (i) 129,989 - 62 percent
William Hall 36,864 - 18 percent
Valerie Roberts 31,701 - 15 percent
Gene Stilp 10,472 - 5 percent

The Next Mayor would like to thank our very good friend and political advisor, Clout, who pens a col for the city's outstanding tabloid, the Daily News. Clout has given us a look at tomorrow's column, which addresses the voting machines and other disasters. IF you all agree to pay 60 cents for tomorrow's paper anyway, I will give you a sneak peek ...

Clout, your primary source for Election Day smashmouth democracy, can report no smashed mouths this year...the only thing people wanted to smash were the voting machines...

As of 10:30pm, there was no change to the previously reported results for the state rep races. The commissioner's office tells me that it could mean several things. At some point in the night, the poll workers may not have known how to report properly the results so they are instructed to remove the cartridges from the machines and send them back to the Board of Elections, which will count them up tomorrow.

Due to the number of provisional ballots, which may have been used in place of up to 300 machines at one point or another throughout the day, it could be several days before the winners of the really close races are determined. The 179th (Payton/Vazquez) and 182nd (Josephs/Farnese) could be up in the air for a while. All results are unofficial until certified, a process that takes 20 days.

Thanks for hanging out with us tonight for a little political fun. Back to the issues (and movie references) tomorrow. Ahhhh... another 18 hour day, just like being on a campaign again.

Oh and if you haven't seen it already... read the sneak peek at the Clout column for tomorrow's Daily News. Unlike me, Clout likes to use complete sentences and proper grammar.

Declared winners at this point:
Bob Casey Jr., Democrat for US Senate
Patrick Murphy, Democrat for US House District 8
Catherine Baker Knoll, Democrat for Lt Guv
Angel Cruz, Democrat for PA House, District 180
Curtis Thomas, Democrat for PA House, District 181
James Roebuck, Democrat for PA House, District 188
Rosita Youngblood, Democrat for PA House, District 198
Video Surveillance: Yes
Ethics Surveillance: Yes

Great, we approved an independent ethics board!
Rats, hundreds of voters GAVE UP on voting after their machines broke and they faced the daunting provisional ballots!
Good grief. This was a primary -- turnout was very light. What will happen in the fall?

Special thanks to Mike W. for title suggestions.

What a night, eh? Things were pretty wild around here as they were throughout the region and the state.

What's the coolest thing about radio? It can put you, the listener, in the party. Brad Linder was up in Bucks County at the Murphy and Warren campaigns and from the sounds of it, the Murphy people partied like it's 1999. Check it out. (Requires Real Player)

Meanwhile, Stephanie Marudas got to walk the long and winding 175th District and visit with Mike O'Brien, Ann Dicker and Terry Graboyes, each of whom had some pretty interesting things to say about their campaigns. (Also requires Real Player)

That race intrigues me. What does it mean that Dicker a progressive outsider, backed by some idealistic, young Simpsons fans beat Terry Graboyes who's been running television commercials since the Carter presidency and was backed by Ed Rendell, several city council people and Vince Fumo? She also came within a really big thunderstorm in Port Richmond of taking out Mike O'Brien who had several ward leaders and John Dougherty in his corner.

Can this performance translate citywide behind a viable, outsider candidate? Might there be a mayoral candidate or two who's still out there that we haven't even met yet? Once again, the floor is open to anyone who wants to suggest some unlikely, outsider candidates - Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever.

Now, before we get all giddy about the downfall of the party machine let's remember that it looks like the machine was still able to beat the printed ballot itself with a write-in candidate. Has anyone heard anything more about the Payton-Vazquez race? Is it even legal to hand out stamps with a write-in candidate's name on them?

If anyone out there actually saw the stamp, did it have Vazquez's full name on it or just his last name? If the latter, how do we know which Vasquez people were voting for?

...time to pay the Bright-bill
...not much cause for Jubilation for Jubelirer
...Senate leaders left "cat"-atonic

This morning's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane had some very insightful post PA primary election analysis. They talked with John Baer, political columnist in Harrisburg for The Philadelphia Daily News and with Terry Madonna the director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College where he also directs the Keystone Poll.

In addition to the amazing results in the races involving the PA Senate President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader, Baer and Madonna discuss the U.S. Senate race, the Governor's race and local races here in Philly.

You can download the mp3 file here.

Since I don't have much time to blog this morning, I thought I'd just highlight this story in today's Daily News by Catherine Lucey.

Progressive newcomers made a dent in the formidable city Democratic Party machine Tuesday, winning almost 50 city committee seats and beating out some well-established insiders.

"I think it's two things," said Marc Stier, 50, head of Neighborhood Networks, one of several progressive groups that had members running. "People are tired of the old kind of politics, they're tired by the corruption. I think it's also that they're hopeful. People are starting to believe."

Start cliche generator now. Brash, young newcomers... Soldiers storming the gates... Staging a coup in the Philly Democratic party...

Well, those descriptions might be over the top considering the large number of committeepeople that make up the machine and a change in 50 or so committee seats might not make a difference in the 2007 election. But then again, if it's a sign of a more engaged electorate that disrupts the election day calculus of the candidates, then maybe those same candidates will have to pay attention to and talk about some important issues. We'll see.

Ok, we had a little fun playing politics last week but now it's time for me to get back to writing about issues, or as Josh Lyman would call it, eating my vegetables.

A new poll conducted by well known PA pollster G. Terry Madonna for Citizen's for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) and its Next Great City initiative was released today. The poll, taken of Philadelphia business leaders and residents, found that:

92 percent of Philadelphians believe that environmental and infrastructure improvements are necessary to improve the area's economic competitiveness and growth

85 percent of voters reported that they are more likely to vote for a candidate for Mayor who made improving the city's environment and its sewer, water and transportation infrastructures a top priority

48 percent of business leaders and 56 percent of voters think improving Philadelphia's environment should be the top or one of the most important issues for the next mayor

Just so those who count themselves among the "Could-Be Mayors" know that I remember when they talk about issues, I'll point out that one among them is on the record about sewer and water infrastructure.

In this letter (scroll down to bottom) to the Northeast Times on September 15th 2005, John Dougherty writes:

Philadelphia痴 antiquated sewer system is crumbling under our feet. We cannot risk our quality of life by ignoring this problem any longer. We need a strategic, inter-governmental action plan to replace Philadelphia痴 sewer infrastructure. It won稚 be easy or inexpensive, but it must be done.

Is it not unexpected that a candidate who is also one of the most powerful leaders of a construction trades union would be out front in calling for a massive public investment in infrastructure improvements that would most assuredly mean plenty of high paying jobs for union members? Or is Dougherty out in front on an issue that resonates with a great majority of the city's residents? Or both?

UPDATE: Dougherty got a lot of mileage out of this op-ed. It also appeared in The Philadelphia Public Record (via politicsphilly.com) and The Daily News as a letter to the editor on August 10, 2005.

The Fattah for Mayor Exploratory Committee invited the media and several members of their committee to the world premiere of three short biographical videos today at their Center City headquarters. As a huge fan of the unintentionally funny video work (ie Mayor Street's Tour de Philly), I couldn't pass up a chance to watch and subsequently skewer these films. I am thoroughly disappointed, therefore, that these videos are as professional and well done as they are. Using what must be a vast store of newspaper clippings and archived footage of the Congressman the three videos lay out Fattah's biography and the work he's done on education and other issues.

Before too much more time passes, I wanted to point out the article in last weeks Philadelphia Public Record about Could-Be candidate Tom Knox. Regardless of the title of the piece, I'll reserve use of the word "official" until he submits some kind of paperwork saying he's a candidate.

I'm not sure if this is an opinion piece or not, what with the use of words like "stellar" and this sentence:

Knox has enough history in city government to prove he can do what he claims he will be doing.

Sounds like an editorial endorsement to me.

I haven't yet come up with a nickname for the campaign but I'm thinking "Rich Kids" might end up sticking.

Ray Murphy over at Young Philly Politics shares my affinity for discussing issues that could make a real difference in the future of the city and in the lives of Philadelphians who are often ignored by the powers-that-be. In this piece, he provides a good analysis of the process of inclusionary zoning, which was written about in today's Daily News by real estate columnist Earni Young.

I encourage people (especially these folks) to participate in the discussion that Ray is attempting to start on this issue.

When The Next Mayor project was conceived, in the back of a '92 Volvo station wagon one memorable night, the dream was to have a media presence in the race unlike any that had ever been attempted. Rather than simply waiting for a number of candidates to introduce themselves and allow them to define the issues that would be discussed in the race, the founders of this project (who among them have covered every mayoral campaign since Humphrey Morrey) decided it was time for the people of Philadelphia to define those issues.

Then, they took it one step further. Instead of having the media pull a bunch of the classics (crime, schools, taxes) out of a hat and then poll people on them, they would convene small, diverse groups of people from throughout the region to have discussions about the issues, letting them go in all different directions without the constraints of "Very Important, Somewhat Important, A Little Important, Not Important at All" that come with polling. These groups would put people who would not otherwise interact with each other into one room where they could hash out exactly what it is they want the candidates for mayor to talk about and the next mayor to act on.

That process began today.

Here's a quick update to one of the more intriguing races that we followed on primary night - the write-in campaign of Emilio Vazquez vs. Last Man Standing Tony Payton in the Democratic primary for the 179th State House District in a heavily Latino section of North Philadelphia. The totals have been going back and forth since primary night with both candidates having slight leads at one point or another. Now it appears that Payton will be the officially certified nominee for November's General Election. Not for nuthin' but if I were a candidate for legislative office, I don't think I'd want my name so closely associated with a rubber stamp.

This one's a little off topic but I just wanted to offer my congratulations to our content partners at the Daily News for their latest reprieve. Here's hoping they're around for another 80 or 100 years to report on the mayoral campaign of cybernetic candidate F-125b Rizzo.

Two breaking stories from this morning highlight two of the major issues that have already been brought up in preparation for the mayor's race.

If Beanie Sigel isn't safe from the gun violence that's ripping through this city then what hope do we have? Beanie (Mack B*****) becomes the latest face of the victims of gun crime. The guy might not be a choir boy, but it would be wrong not to be just as frustrated/infuriated by this incident as we have been for others. In fact, maybe we haven't been infuriated enough by any of these incidents. It's becoming more clear that the candidate who can convince people that they'll feel safer with him or her in office, will win in a walk.

And please, please Mr. Jamie O'Neil of Malvern, don't give up on SEPTA just yet. I'll be the first one in line to blast what I've called the worst mass transit system in the world. In fact, many have heard me say "I hate you SEPTA, so very, very much" with my best Eric Cartman impersonation. But we can't really fault them for this one. Incidents like this show how tenuous the relationship is between SEPTA and its riders and how if someone doesn't step up and provide some real leadership for the one truly regional entity that we have here, we could be in for a world of Schuylkill Expressway hurt. First suggestion, keep the El and Subway running throughout the night and regional rail trains running until at least 3am. Feel free to sound off on either issue.

Gar Joseph has excerpts from a pretty candid interview with political gadabout Carl Singley. You may remember him from such roles as "Sam Katz Campaign Co-Chair, Spite Division" and "Elevator Conversationalist." Anyway, Mr. Singley summons up his most diplomatic language to describe each of the Magnificent Six and throws in a dig at Congressman Brady (one of our maybes) for good measure. My personal favorite line is this one about Tom Knox:

He was the deputy mayor for management and productivity at a salary of $1, and then left the job. When I mentioned to someone that he got $1, they said he wasn't worth that.

If this is what could be printed in the paper, I'd love to see what didn't make the cut.

Well folks. We're going to be doing some routine maintenance on the guts, gears, springs and pistons of this blog so we'll be taking the weekend off. Since the entire city will be migrating to the Jersey shore, this shouldn't cause much of a problem. I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day weekend, and please keep in your thoughts those for whom we commemorate this day.

Oh, and if anyone sees any of the usual suspects engaging in blatant mayoral campaign-like activity while "downa shore" (ie. handing out bumper stickers, hosting clam bakes) please be sure to let us know.

I know I said I'd be taking some time off this weekend from the blogging but I just heard something on WPVI's Inside Story that I thought was kind of interesting. If you're not familiar with the show, it's Channel 6's attempt to replicate Crossfire on a local level by putting a bunch of "Insiders" (you know, the folks whose names always appear in bold in the Inquirer), together to talk about the local stories from the previous week. At the end of the show, Monica Malpass asks each of them about stories to look out for in the coming week.

This week, Renee Amore, GOP heavy hitter and local businesswoman (shown here with Marty Moss-Coane at the GOP Convention in 2000) said the Philadelphia Republican Party would be talking to Carl Singley, who recently skewered each of the likely Democratic candidates for mayor, about making a run at City Hall as a member of their party.

According to legend, Singley, a former professor at Temple's Law School, was asked by a young hot dog vendor on Temple's campus, what he had to do to get into that law school. Singley took the guy under his wing and decades later his protege, John Street, became mayor of Philadelphia. The two had a well publicized falling out after Street's election in 1999 which led Singley to back Sam Katz for Mayor in 2003. Katz ultimately lost by 78,000 votes and Singley got some nice cameos in Tigre Hill's "The Shame of a City."

According to Clout's column from Friday, Singley will have more time on his hands soon:

Singley told us that he's leaving the Blank Rome law firm June 30 after six years.

Singley hopes to rejoin Temple in fall 2007 "if they'll have me back."

If he does run, Singley may have some 'splainin' to do about that not-likely-related-to-snack-food comment. At least we'll have a picture to add to the Dirty Half-Dozen.

Yesterday on Radio Times, guest host Dave Davies was joined by George Burrell, former City Councilman, candidate for mayor in 1991 and most recently the Secretary of External Affairs in Mayor John Street's cabinet. You can listen to the entire conversation here or for those of you with portable mp3 playing technology, download it here.

To save you some time, here are some of the highlights:

Time to play a little catch up on the stories that we may have missed over the past week and half. A couple of the cast members of Just the Six of Us made some cameo appearances in stories about ethics, taxes and crime. Check out what they had to say after the jump.