The Next Mayor

The Inquirer Editorial Board has jumped on board with its own suggestions for getting a more open process out of the selection of replacement City Council members.

The party should pledge an open primary for those two district seats and the at-large seat next year. In other words, the party shouldn't endorse the incumbents or work to swing votes their way.

If the party doesn't ensure an open primary in 2007, may its Council incumbents feel the wrath of a disgusted electorate. Remember what happened last spring to a passel of state lawmakers who backed that greedy pay raise?

In answer to their last, rhetorical question, I do remember what happened to the state lawmakers from Philadelphia who backed the greedy pay raise. Nothing. If they're counting on the "wrath of a disgusted electorate" to effect real change, they may be waiting for a while. Besides, I'd prefer to count on the knowledge of an informed electorate.

Why have I talked about City Council elections twice on a blog about the Next Mayor? Clearly, a major part of the next mayoral administration will be how it works with the City Council that will be in place in January 2008. With a guarantee of three (sort of) new members and the possibility of a fourth, the Mayor-Council dynamic could change dramatically. All of those races, though they may get much less coverage and have many fewer television ads, are no less important than the race at the top of the ticket.

San Francisco is on its way to breaking its own record for murders in a year, which was set last year when 96 people were killed. According to a story in the San Franscisco Chronicle, a couple years ago, during one particularly violent streak, Mayor Gavin Newsom went on a talk radio show and said that if things didn't start to get better:

"I'll tell you what," Newsom said, "...begin the campaign to recall me. And you know what? I may be right there as a co-signer of that effort."

Clearly, he was speaking from a very emotional place, a place that most seasoned politicians are able to keep in check.

I realize it wouldn't really do anything to alleviate this incredible surge in violent crime and murder that we've been experiencing in the past couple years, but it would be nice if we had a mayor, currently or the next mayor, who would put his responsibility for public safety in such stark terms.

(edited to add)Daily News columnist Jill Porter would have the mayor do even more.

I think this is a pretty cool example of what happens when a city and it's surrounding metropolitan area are able to work together:

The city and county of Denver has teamed with the Metro Mayors Caucus to offer the new Metro Mortgage Assistance program, it was announced Thursday.

The program will enable first-time home buyers to get a 4 percent down payment assistance grant and a 6.20 percent, 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

Denver mayor and Philly-area native, John Hickenlooper had this to say about the program:

Increasing opportunities for affordable home ownership is vital to our regional economic development efforts as it is a key factor in corporate relocation, expansion and retention decisions. (emphasis added)

I couldn't resist pointing out this tidbit in Earni Young's column about a proposal to build a water park near Memorial Hall:

According to McGowan spokesman Denis Carlson, what they have in mind is a cross between New Jersey's Wild Water Kingdom and Bahama Beach, an indoor water park in Dallas.
...
(If the name sounds familiar, Carlson is the former investment banker who was acquitted last year of lying to the FBI in the pay-to-play probe.)

Based on an editorial in today's Daily News, what do the following numbers represent?

5
38,000
430,000
24-30
43.2
0

Click on Continue Reading for the answers.

I promise, this is the last time I'll talk about the special election to fill the 3 vacancies on City Council... at least the last time today.

We just posted this press release in our PR archive. A coalition of progressive groups is asking city Democratic Chair Bob Brady and Republican General Counsel (boss) Michael Meehan to forgo endorsement (installation) of any candidates, which would place them, without intraparty opposition, on the ballot. Instead these groups are asking that everyone who wants to run for those spots run as indepedents, requiring them to gather several hundreds of signatures to get on the ballot. Included are the letters sent to Brady and Meehan and an invitation to a candidate meet and greet for anyone who wants to run for those seats.

Meanwhile, Young Philly Politics gives an "anti-endorsement" of its own.

(edited to add) Check back with what we've already been saying about these special elections:
Well Isn't That Special
Well Isn't That Special, Pt. II

Throughout the week, as I surf the web to search for interesting things to blog about, I often find stories here and there that I don't have time to blog about on the spot. Thanks to the magic of my browser's tabbed browsing option, I just leave those stories up with the intention of getting to them when I have more time. Since I'm sitting here monitoring radio air at WHYY, I've now got a little time.

Transit

On Tuesday, the Daily News editorial board borrowed a metaphor that I had borrowed before, in an editorial called "TRANSPORTATION FUNDING: A PERFECT STORM?" Commenting on the report released by Governor Rendell's Transportation Funding and Reform Commission, they adeptly made the comparison between the transportation funding crisis (yes, it is a crisis) and a certain other disaster that got a lot of press last week:

Cuts in federal funds. Short-term and shortsighted stop-gap measures to compensate. Complaints by local officials gone unheeded.

It's hard not to wonder if Pennsylvania is heading for a similar, though less life-threatening disaster...

Read the report and note that the Commission will hold a public hearing at which the public can comment on Sept. 15, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the ACP Building, 190 N. Independence Mall West. Before you start thinking, "but this seems to be a state issue, what can the mayor do about it?" remember that a mayor who is 100% committed to making improvements to our regional transit system can go a long way by lining up the support of all of the region's state legislators (who represent 31% of the state's population) and congressional representatives, as well as committing municipal funding for those improvements.

Speaking of transit funding, the folks over at Phillyist, have gathered some ideas about what to do with some of the city's $200 million+ fund balance. One in particular lays out the case for a cash committment to SEPTA much more articulately than I could:

Jonathan Tannenwald: Although I have no problem with the rainy day fund idea, I'd give it to SEPTA. As bloated as the agency is, there's no question that SEPTA needs serious financial help. A big cash contribution from the city would be a major statement of the city's priorities and of the importance of public transit to the region. Public transit should be something that people want to use. It is so in many other cities across the country. Furthermore, this city is laid out in a way such that many who live close to Center City shouldn't need cars. But people end up with them because there isn't sufficient public transit to get people around the city.

By the way, puppies and kittens for everyone, also a good idea.

And so as not to leave out the proper credit, it's important to note that the idea of what to do with $200 million started with this post on Larry Kane's blog. Yes, that Larry Kane. He's back... in blog form. While that $200 million is real (more or less) we shouldn't forget that in 2003, the Pennsylvania Economy League asked what could Philadelphia do with a billion dollars? Now that's a lot of puppies and kittens.

City Hall Security: Letting the Terrorists Win

The plans have been in the works for a while, but it appears that the $6 million that the city is spending on tighter security for City Hall is about to be put into action. And the mayor, in the tradition of such great politician lines like "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself", says that the measures are "a concession to the terrorists, a concession to violence and violent people."

So we already have to pass through metal detectors to see the Liberty Bell. I get yelled at by Park Rangers if I even sneeze in the general direction of Independence Hall. They're considering building a moat - complete with sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads - through the middle of INDEPEDENCE Square. And now one of the most magnificent municipal buildings in the world is getting $6 million baby gates.

There's just so much I can say about this. My first reaction is that in a way, this is just that good ole New York envy rearing its ugly, Mets-cap-wearing head. Hey, we're big and important enough to get attacked by terrorists, let's do a bunch of ridiculous, cosmetic things to symbols of our nation's freedom that won't do anything to protect them or the people visiting them.

We're a nation based on ideas, one of those ideas being free, somewhat unfettered access to our elected representatives and our city's administrative offices. Heck, some of our current elected officials, and some of our current candidates for mayor, got their starts in politics by just wandering into City Hall and hanging out there until someone gave them something to do. Maybe I'm overreacting but something about stories like this makes me understand why 64% of the people think that the city is moving in the wrong direction and a similar percentage feels the same about the nation as a whole.

Poverty

Finally, I'm a little late in adding my own commentary to this piece of news from Wednesday's Inquirer. Yes, Philadelphia can finally claim to be at the top of a list. Unfortunately, our fair city is at the top of the "Percentage of population living in poverty" list.

Dan UA at Young Philly Politics reminds us that this most certainly should be an issue addressed by anyone who wants to be mayor of this city:

While the inland position of our City may prevent our wounds from being gashed open so broadly by a Hurricane, the entrenched poverty, the racial tension, and the inequality that existed there, waiting for a spark, is simmering and growing all the time in Philly.

Time for a Mayoral Candidate to talk about that.

The Inquirer followed up with an editorial in Thursday's paper that effectively calls out each of the candidates for mayor (real and potential) on this issue. After reiterating its call for a more agressive tax reform policy, the editorial calls out a few more folks:

A city government less consumed with patronage, corruption and catering to counterproductive unions could better handle the civic costs of poverty while doing more to lure jobs that would lift more people out of poverty.

If anything, hearing that 1 in 4 people in this city live in the most "abject, dangerous, hopeless, back-breaking, gut-wrenching poverty any of us could imagine" should be a wake-up call for everyone - current and future mayors, council members, department heads, city employees, businesspeople, educators, and the media - that we all better get on the same page or it won't matter how many shiny new condo buildings go up along the waterfront. This city, as we know it, will die.

So, let's play the numbers game one more time. Everyone commit this number to memory and make sure that every time you get a chance to talk to a candidate for mayor or City Council, you let them know that you know it and you want it fixed.

24.5 - percentage of Philadelphians living at or below the federal poverty line.

The Philly Public Record has already called the race for the 4th District Council seat vacated by Michael Nutter and the winner is... Ward Leader Carol Campbell.

Why should we even bother with an election?

Hey all,

Even though some of Atrios' commenters got an early edition of Meet The Press than I did and already saw the debate, I'll open up a thread here for those of us in the Philadelphia media market. Feel free to add your comments. My thoughts will be in the comments section.

I am blown away by the quality of the responses to our call for additional issues for the 2007 Mayor's race. Check out the comments to our original post, since I can't do them justice.

But here's very simplified version of the issues you've raised -- with the most frequently mentioned first:

Environmental issues and sustainable development
Reform of tax codes
Ethics reform, including preventing pay-to-play
Improved zoning and better planning for development (clearly connected to environmental issues)
Public funding of elections
Improving public transportation
School reform

Also mentioned:
Better funding for parks
Casinos
Term limits
Privatizing PGW, garbage collection

Any others? More comments on these?

Mark McDonald of the Daily News previewed one of the more competitive City Council races of 2007. So far it looks like 3 and as many of 6 Democrats may challenge incumbent, Donna Reed Miller, who seems to continue her hold on her seat with a divide and conquer strategy.

Why the lack of overwhelming support for such a long-term incumbent? Could it be that the diversity of the 8th District - which stretches from North Philadelphia, along Germantown Avenue to the border and includes Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy and Germantown - would make it difficult for any candidate, incumbent or otherwise, to get over 50% in a field with 3 or more people?

Your thoughts on the barnburner in the 8th are welcome here.

So far, only the City Paper has been seriously pushing State Senator Anthony Williams as a candidate for mayor.

But if this doesn't say "I'm running for mayor," then I don't know what does.

Highlights: Williams's words in italics, and my own annotations.

As one of the first people to push for the state takeover of our school district in hopes of saving our children's future
People seem to think the SRC and Paul Vallas are doing a good job. I helped bring them in.

but unless parents, and by proxy, community, step fully into their roles, it will be for naught.
I will appeal to people who believe in personal responsibility and the role of parents and who don't think government can do everthing.

because competition is not just against Kennett Square or Lower Merion, or Boston and San Francisco anymore. It also includes emerging markets in China's Beijing and India's Margoa and elsewhere.
Hey business leaders, I know we should work together as a region to make this five-county entity called "Philadelphia" a household name around the world.

That is the first step in curbing violence. Not calling 911. Not a new law.
Another tip o' the cap to folks who don't want too much government.

It is time to believe. Again.
Here's what you'll see on my campaign posters.

Government listened and responded, creating a Curfew Center at the Dixon House. I proudly partnered with the Street Administration in this effort and know that residents will not allow this venture to fail, because they are stakeholders.
But, on the other hand, government can do good things too. Unless the curfew center doesn't work out well, then it's because we, "all of us," needed to be more involved.

Believe it.
And here's what you'll see on my campaign buttons and those stickers that go on lightposts.

I'm beginning, ever so slowly, to believe that this guy might make a run.

Of the likely candidates for mayor, the winner of today's news cycle is clearly State Representative Dwight Evans, with major stories in both the Daily News and the Inquirer, as well as a radio story on WHYY this morning, about his efforts to enact new gun regulations. It's not a total victory, however, since his name didn't make it into any of the headlines that I saw with this story.

Since I've been convinced by John Baer's argument that the only way to curb effectively the amount of guns flowing into the city is to enact statewide gun laws, Evans could score a major victory in his mayoral efforts if he's able to accomplish this.

The fact that there were no Republicans at his press conference would seem to indicate that this will be a difficult task. For now, just by pointing out something that we probably all already know (ie, that folks in the 4-county suburban ring are more alike to Philadelphians than they are to people in, say, Cumberland or Forest Counties), he's taken a major step in bringing together the collective influence of the 5-county region. Now, what can he do with it?

In case you missed it, here's a profile of Michael Nutter in today's New York Post Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Nutter continues to try to carve out the niche as the pro-business candidate with the record as a tax reformer:

"I worked hard for many years on a reduction of the wage tax. I advocated the reduction of the business privilege tax. We need to quickly eliminate the gross receipts tax because it is onerous and stifling to businesses.
"Philadelphia has many taxes, a confusing array of taxes. But it's important to remember to the extent we change the tax situation. It's not enough to bring about growth and development by itself. We need better schools, safe streets, better parks and recreation to make it easier to attract people to the region.
"We need to focus on business development. Downtown versus neighborhoods is a futile debate and it's a wrong debate."
He claims it's the 10-employee businesses that need the help in the city, not just the 1,000 employee businesses. Nutter renewed his call for every new business owner to get a written greeting from the city thanking him or her for opening his or her business in the city.
"Right now when a new business opens there is no fanfare or contact with the government - and it's the same when it closes down," he complained. "That has to change."
The small businesses are creating the jobs, the former Councilman declared.

Given that we haven't heard too much from him since he resigned, was it a good idea for Nutter to give up his council seat so early on?

Yep, you just can't go wrong with Mr. "X".

Oh and soon-to-be-but-not-yet-candidate for mayor, Chaka Fattah has a pretty flashy new site of his own.

According to the press release that accompanied the announcement of the his new site, which is actually pretty cool, Fattah's exploratory committee (have they found what they're exploring for yet?) has big ambitions for this site:

"We wanted to set a new standard for online messaging," said Fattah for Mayor Exploratory Committee Executive Director Charles Hayden. "We believe this redesigned website does that."

At the very least, maybe this will spark a game of oneupmanship that results in some innovative ways to conduct municipal election campaigns in this town with the internet.

The Inquirer jumped into the fray yesterday with this editorial, ripping a new one into those not-yet-candidates who continue to skirt the campaign finance limits by claiming that they do not yet fit the definition of candidate.

As if in answer to that, over at YPP, Councilman Wilson Goode posted the text of an ordinance that he is introducing, which, I guess, he hopes will prohibit the spending of any "pre-candidacy" contributions in excess of the limits. At least that's what I take away from the legalese in this part:

(4) No candidate may spend any excess pre-candidacy contributions for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a covered election in which he or she is a candidate, nor may any candidate political committee spend any excess pre-candidacy contributions for such purpose, including, but not limited to, the purpose of paying any expenses of such candidate political committee.

Now, I'm just a caveman, I'm not familiar with all of this big time law talkin' stuff. But I think that's what it means. Anyway, check out the YPP post for informed comments by folks who actually go or have been to law school.

If you haven't been following the story of the kidnapping of State Rep. John Myers's son, Shamari Taylor, the Daily News has a quick recap and new developments in the case. The reason I point this out is because the article makes the point that State Rep. Myers has, understandably, suspended campaigning for re-election in November until the case is resolved.

In the "Tell It Like It Is" Category is the response of Myers's opponent:

Realtor Joseph Messa, who is Myers' Republican opponent in the 201st Legislative District for the fourth time, said the abduction had not changed his campaign.

"I'm doing the same thing I did the other three times I ran - nothing," Messa said. Messa, 81, said he runs to "keep the presence of Republicanism around. My concern is that we have a two-party system."

When you lose by 60 points, is it really a two-party system? Sometimes I think it may be better for the city's opposition party to leave some races uncontested rather than have guys like Messa run and make an embarrassment out of the system. I applaud his "concern" about the two-party system, but it would be more helpful to democracy if he and others just formed some kind of viable independent party that would run energetic, spirited campaigns with qualified candidates. If the race in the 175th State House District showed us anything, it's that if you're willing to do the work, you can at least make it close.

Did anyone else attend last night's meet and greet of the candidates for the three vacant City Council seats? I made my way to the way-less-functional-than-it-sounds Lucy's Hat Shop in Old City to see what these crusaders for democracy had to offer. Unfortunately, the answer is... not much. Click on "Continue Reading" to see why I was disappointed.

Oh, and here is WHYY's Susan Phillips's piece about the outsider candidates (it even includes a Neil Oxman sound bite!).

(edited to add) Here's actual coverage of the event by someone who is much better than I am at explaining what actually happened.

This has nothing to do with the Mayor's race, but it is about Philly politics. And sorta funny.

This from the Associated Press' daily "daybook," which is a planning advisory for AP clients:

SWANN/MATTHEWS SKED — Campaign schedule for Republican
gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann and running mate Jim Matthews:

4:30 p.m. Swann Rides Broad Street Subway — Starting Location:
Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue, Route: Fairmount Station to City
Hall, Philadelphia
5:00 p.m. Swann greets commuters at clothespin — 15th and Market
streets, Philadelphia
5:30 p.m. Matthews visits Vesper Boat Club Row and Reception —
10 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia
6:00 p.m. Swann rides Market-Frankford El — Starting Location:
15th and Market streets Route: 15th Street Station to 69th Street
Station, Philadelphia

1) It's amusing anytime that someone decides to turn riding Septa into a press event. Here's hoping the good buskers are down in the City Hall station.

2) Which sticks out more -- his elaborate route planning or the running mate hanging at the boat club?

You tell 'em, Elmer:

Rocky has about as much to do with how Philadelphians see themselves as Kathryn Hepburn and "The Philadelphia Story" do. Both movies represent us about as much as King Kong's climb represents the aspirations of the average New Yorker.

And a lot of people who can do both.

In order to succeed, during the campaign and ultimately in office, the next mayor needs not only to bring together both sides of Philadelphia, but also appeal to the two sides that exist within each individual Philadelphian.

And for the record... this is a shot and a beer and chablis town.

That's the sound of the water department letting several million dollars of your money go down the drain.

Check out Signe Wilkinson's rendering of an unnamed but pretty obvious Bob Brady in the lower left corner:

Now read about the real chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties and their opinions about letting the voters pick their own council members.

The Explainer over at Slate.com has a column that answers the question "Why is Chicago so Corrupt?" If you want a little insight into our fair city, just substitute "Philadelphia" for "Chicago," "Pat Meehan" for "Patrick Fitzgerald," and "John Street" for "Richard Daley."

The question remains, why does everyone (like Boeing) think Chicago is so much better than Philadelphia?

That word seems to be coming up more and more in, especially in our Name Your Issue drive, which still going on. Anyway, here it is again in a story from today's Inquirer about how the slowdown in condo development is affecting efforts to provide affordable housing in Chinatown:

Ellen Somekawa, executive director of the Philadelphia group Asian Americans United, said she believed that land controlled by the city through the Redevelopment Authority and other agencies should be developed to meet the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods.

"The remaining land in Chinatown is being gobbled up so quickly," Somekawa said. "But, really, nothing is being done to ensure the sustainability of the community over the long haul." (emphasis added)

PhillyBlocks held what they hope will be their first of many citywide conferences, bringing together block captains and neighborhood activists from across the city. According to today's Inquirer three not-yet-candidates were also there:

More than 300 people representing neighborhoods, social services, law enforcement, education, and other groups attended a morning of workshops addressing topics including blight, trash, violence and Internet access.

Mayor Street and Paul Vallas, chief executive of the Philadelphia School District, gave brief speeches. Several possible Democratic mayoral candidates - U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, businessman Tom Knox, and State Rep. Dwight Evans - also attended.

State Representative Dwight Evans, for this release. In this tightly worded statement, Evans is able to demonstrate both an understanding of the benefits that the city's real estate tax abatement program has brought to development as well as the program's limitations. He reacts in a timely fashion to one high profile story about the city's poverty rate and one not-so-widely reported story about a study done by Econsult on behalf of the Building Industry Association.

Evans wraps up the statement by actually making suggestions that don't just react in a kneejerk fashion by suggesting a dismantling of the tax abatement program. Rather he suggests that some of the benefits of the tax abatement could be spread throughout the socioeconomic strata by including affordable housing requirements and inclusionary zoning in new construction projects.

Second place goes to Michael Nutter for recognizing another less-than-glamorous issue - Philadelphia's woeful recycling rate.

...since they just insisted that more chairs be added. I'm referring to this blurb in today's Inquirer:

Some people crash parties. Politicians crash news conferences - especially those likely to draw international coverage, and when there's a mayoral race around the corner.

All were invited, but the Philadelphia School District and Microsoft Corp. - which helped design the school - had not planned for them to be on stage. Extra chairs had to be found.

Nutter, on the other hand, not so much good at the popular children's game:

At least one politician didn't crash: Michael Nutter, the former councilman and declared mayoral candidate, whose district the school is in and who helped the district secure the site.

"I knew we weren't supposed to be on stage," Nutter said. "It wasn't about us."

Your comments about personalities and leadership styles are welcome.

I've been trying to figure out whether the issue of the proposed fire department reorginization needs to be brought up. Well, this column, in Philadelphia Magazine (appropriately called "Contrarian") finally spurred me to post. Somewhat related to the issue of closing the fire companies, an idea that, I believe, was shot down by the courts, is a judge's decision to shoot down the city's appeal of an abitration agreement that gives firefighters a three-year contract with improved health benefits and a 10-percent raise - but I'll leave that aside for now. Besides, I'm not an expert on arbitration, but the fact that such a decision is left to an arbitrator would seem to remove the "politics" from the decision - unlike the idea of closing some of the fire houses.

Anyhoo... Those in favor of mothballing some of the city's 60 engine companies and 29 ladder companies would describe this as "right sizing" a department that is structured for a much older city with much different fire fighting technology. The other side of the issue, led by the fire fighters union, gives us statistics about response times and how x amount of seconds could mean the difference between life and death.

There are a ton of emotional responses brought up in this debate. Both sides make valid points but it all gets lost in the invective that gets hurled around like simian feces. People call each other names. Each side invokes a self-righteousness that makes compromise impossible and the spelling is atrocious. Heck, if I wanted to get into that kind of debate, I'd just jump into this discussion over at Phillyblog. Frankly, like the folks who are running for mayor, I don't want to get involved in all that. The good thing is, I'm not running for mayor (good on sooooo many levels).

What we need to know is how would any of the people who are interested in being mayor handle this issue? Or better yet, could this issue be handled at all or is it too hot? Sorry, couldn't resist.

There's little doubt that many parts of city government need to be examined closely, streamlined and reorganized. Let's say we use an impartial impact studies, and a clear, transparent process, which is publicized heavily each step of the way, participated in by both sides (in this case the mayor and the fire fighter's union) and prior to which both sides agree that every possible outcome is on the table. Afterall, maybe after the process I described is over, both sides conclude that the union is right and no fire houses should be closed. Is it possible that we can come to a solution that avoids the invective, the scary images and the arrogance that seem to have tainted this discussion already?

Any suggestions on how such a process should unfold? Or am I wrong and this is a total non-starter, no matter how the next mayor approaches it? If a candidate for mayor said, "absolutely, no way in a million years will I ever close a fire house," would you be more or less willing to vote for him?

(pictured above: Jack's Firehouse on Fairmount Ave. What do you think the reaction was when the city closed that one?)

From today's Philadelphia Weekly, I draw your attention to the lower right corner where a much less flattering cartoon Brady is joined by cartoon everyone else:

If you've been following the brou-haha (kerfluffle, shenanigans, etc.) over the City Council special elections, then Radio Time with Marty Moss-Coane has a show for you tomorrow (9/14). I just got this promo through the company email:

10 am -
Is it fair for Philadelphia's democratic party to in-effect anoint the city's next three city council members? Three of Council's 17 seats are open and a special election has been called to fill them. We'll discuss this with DAVE DAVIES, senior writer for The Philadelphia Daily News, STAN SHAPIRO, co-founder of Neighborhood Networks, TERRY GILLEN who is a democratic ward leader in South Philadelphia, and ED SCHWARTZ, a former Philadelphia City Council member.

Remember, the call-in number is 1-888-477-9499, that's 1-888-477-WHYY.

(edited to add) If you can't get through, feel free to use the comment section here to leave your own thoughts about things that the guests say.

(edited to add) If you missed the show you can download the .mp3 file by right clicking here and selecting "Save Link As." Or just click on it and listen. Again, your comments on anything said by Dave Davies, Stan Shapiro, Terry Gillen or Ed Schwartz are welcome.

... so I could shoot myself in the foot.

Click on "Continue Reading" to see what in today's news could have made me so depressed. Or better yet, if you had a good day today and didn't read the paper, you better not.

Ever since the darkest days of the 1990s, Philly's fiscal health has seemed to the casual observer (that is, me) to be...okay. Precarious, yes, but certainly not as bad as it once was. And sometimes there are distracting instances of found money, such as a budget surplus.

But PICA, the city budget watchdog, over the intervening years has continued to watch carefully the real status of our city budget. And now they've got a new report out that's nothing short of scary.

The Next Mayor is going to walk into office with budget problems. "The general fund's balance will have dropped $130 million - 65 percent - in three years," PICA wrote in an op-ed in the Daily News today. Health insurance costs and pension liabilities are growing. $45 million in the budget is supposed to come from a PGW loan that probably won't be paid back. There's no Rainy Day fund.

PICA offers its set of suggestions. Frankly, they are the kind of long-term change that is difficult and slow, if it can even happen.

Check out the report, and tell us what you think.

I think we're going to start asking the mayoral candidates about their budget-balancing backgrounds as well.

(edited to add) Listen to Brenda Jorett's conversation with PICA chief Rob Dubow.

In case you missed it, The Next Mayor, came under some fire today from Bruce Schimmel in the Loose Canon column of the City Paper for not making the environment the top issue in the 2007 race for mayor. He also wasn't too happy that we buried the issue in our Neighborhoods section.

To that I offer my sincerest mea culpas (or the grammatically correct, meas culpas). In fact, I went to website that Schimmel plugged, Greenadelphia, and aside from engaging in my pet peeve by referring to the region as the Delaware Valley (I prefer Greater Philadelphia), it is a very useful blog for keeping track of developments taking place in environmental policy for the city and region.

In fact, they even blogged about a neighborhood environmental issue that I discussed a couple weeks ago.

In addition to that, I would point out that the call out quote in our Neighborhoods section and a number of blog posts have focused on writing done about sustainability, planning, green development,green roofs, green buildings, tree planting, storm and waste water infrastructure, the parks system, Philly Car Share, and smoking.

I've pointed out cool environmental initiatives happening in cities like Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. And we continue to accept people's suggestions in the Name Your Issue section of the blog, a ballot box that Wendy encourage people to stuff.

So in response to Mr. Schimmel, (1) mea culpa for the fact that "The Environment" doesn't have a more prominent showing on the main site, (2) thanks for the shout out in your column and (3) as we continue to redesign and update the site we'll spotlight issues based on what the users of the site and this blog and the electorate at large as indicated by our polls and the polling of others want to see - that's what we've been about all along.

Don't worry, we won't let these candidates off the hook without getting them to tell us what they're going to do to promote a more sustainable and environmentally friendly Philadelphia.

I've started the timer to see how long it takes before the first wannabe mayor issues a statement in response to PICA's "Look Before You Leap? The Fiscal Situation That Awaits the Next Mayor" report. So far, aside from some quotes in Marcia Gelbart's Inquirer story, there's been nada.

Let's review those quotes, shall we?

Fattah: "Some of what they lay out is sobering. But I think the city has an extraordinary future in front of it, not withstanding the fiscal challenges."

Nutter: "If I thought it was easy, I probably wouldn't be interested in serving as mayor."

Evans: "This is not new to me," he said, adding that in July he asked Gov. Rendell to approve giving $200 million to the cash-strapped Philadelphia Gas Works.

Saidel: "The history of PICA is they are supposed to paint a worst-case scenario," said Saidel, who hadn't yet seen the report. "An effective leader looks at those numbers and makes sure that future doesn't come to pass."

Knox: He had not received the report but would find a copy and read it.

Brady: He had not received the report but would find a copy and read it. "A lot of chickens come home to roost after this mayor, I know that."

Nothing from John Dougherty or State Senator Anthony Williams.

So as of now, the timer is at 1 day.

Heck, it took commenters to the original blog post (who aren't me) less than 6 hours.

Hey folks, I'm going to be pretty busy today preparing for our Election Night 2006 coverage (what? you thought I just sat around and blogged all day?) so I'm going to bring up the Name Your Issue thread again and continue to tap you, our readers, for ideas about what issues should be more prominent on our website and in our coverage.

Hopefully this will be citizen journalism at its best. We want to have a full portfolio of issues, stats, and questions to bring to the attention of the candidates once they get their campaigns into full swing. If you want to review the issues that some of your fellow blog readers have already suggested, just click here and read the comments. There's a lot of good stuff there already.

In the meantime, I checked my email this morning and still have no statements or press releases from any of the wannabe mayors in response to the PICA report about the grave fiscal situation facing the next mayor. So the timer continues to tick away - approaching 35 hours.

Reinforcing that you can't fight City Hall, or the Democratic Party machine, a judge ruled that party-backed write-in candidate Emilio Vazquez should be declared the winner of the Democratic primary in the 179th state house district. You may remember this as the district that repeatedly sent State Rep. Bill Rieger back to Harrisburg every two years even though, by all accounts, he hadn't even lived in the district for over a decade.

To recap, here is what happened: Upon hearing about the impending retirement of State Rep. Rieger, Vazquez, an employee of the Philadelphia Parking, Authority, filed the necessary papers to become a Democratic candidate for the open seat. He was opposed by Tony Payton, Jr. a housing counselor who also lives in that area.

With the backing of the Democratic party, supporters of Vazquez challenged Payton's candidacy in an attempt to get him thrown off the ballot. That challenge failed. In response, Payton supporters challenged Vazquez's candidacy by noting that he failed to disclose one of his sources of income - namely the income he earned as an employee of the Parking Authority (duh). Undeterred by the fact that their candidate was no longer on the ballot, Vazquez's supporters engineered an elaborate write-in campaign that involved handing out rubber stamps with his name on them which could be used to stamp his name on the write-in slip after selecting "write-in" on the state rep. ballot line.

At first, the plan seemed to work as "write-in" actually seemed to get more votes than "Payton" at the end of Election Day. Upon further review, however, it seems that many people got a little confused, stamping Vazquez's name in the slots for committee person and judge - two offices that he wasn't even running for. So after counting all of the properly filled out write-in ballots, Payton had a slim lead, 962-943. The Vazquez camp appealed the results, essentially arguing that just because someone is ignorant about how to use the voting machine, he or she shouldn't forfeit his or her vote. They claimed that the 52 voters who put Vazquez's name in the wrong space actually intended to vote for him for state rep. so those votes should count.

Apparently, the judge agreed. So now Payton, instead of being up by 19, is down by 33 and it appears that, depending on the outcome of an appeal filed by Payton's attorney, Vazquez will be the Democratic Party nominee and should win the general election in a walk.

Aside from the storyline of man vs. the machine, there also seem to be some pretty fascinating legal questions pertaining to voter intent. On a much smaller scale, this seems to be Florida in 2000 all over again sans the hanging chads. It seems like this one could go all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court - though they better figure it out soon since those ballots have to be printed up soon.

Your thoughts? How can we judge a voter's intent? Maybe they really did want Emilio Vazquez to be their commiteeman.

Two interesting posts when Dan turned the blog over to you:

"Reform the procedures of Philadelphia courts to make the rules for victims and witnesses the same as those in the rest of the state."

And so Dan asked for more info, and got:

"For starters, Philadelphia requires witnesses to show up at every single court session, regardless of whether they're required to testify. State rules don't have this requirement."

Good grief.

The kind of team, including people in Congress and the State House, that John Baer has Mike Nutter dreaming of today is starting to make a lot of sense.

I have to give a little shout out to my second favorite Philly politics blog, Young Philly Politics, for this post and the comments it spawned. During the exchange that followed the post about Michael Nutter's call for a delay in the special election for Student City Council, YPP contributor, charlesdog12, expressed his discontent with all of the likely candidates who have lined up for the mayor's race so far. His criticism of Nutter, and to some degree the rest of them, was based a lot on their embeddedness within the political system of ward leaders and committee people and their indebtedness to that system and those power players.

I couldn't help but use this opportunity to pick the brain of someone who has clearly put a lot of thought into this race and its implications for the future of the city. With the appropriate credit to YPP, I'd like to reprint the exchange here:

So where does that leave us?
Submitted by Dan Pohlig on Tue, 09/19/2006 - 1:44pm.

Maybe if we take some time to paint the picture of what the next mayor should look like, then we can move on to figuring out who that person is going to be.

To which, he responded:

good question
Submitted by charlesdog12 on Tue, 09/19/2006 - 2:07pm.

My whole point was just that non (sic) of these guys gets me excited and that I wasn't a Nutter basher as much as I am a person who calls it like he sees it. I値l bash anyone, with only one condition. It has to be true.

(emphasis added by me)

So let me pose the question here, even as my colleague Wendy D. (not Wendy W., I know... it gets confusing for me too) is working on a video package about leadership for the 2006 gubernatorial race, what kind of leader are you looking for? Is that person to be found within the ranks of political party structure that exists in Philly now? Does that person have to come from those ranks or from government?

By the way, my response to charlesdog12's answer can be found here. Let's just say, I'm about as fed up with the way we choose leaders (re: Council members) as Tom Ferrick is, judging from his column in today's Inquirer.

I've been sitting on this news since Sunday when it first appeared in the Inquirer. I just didn't know if I had anything to say about homelessness that went beyond, "it's bad, we should end it."

On my walk to work every morning, especially the mornings when I come in at 5:30 to assist in the production of Morning Edition, I walk through Washington Square and see at least 3, sometimes as many as 6 or 7, homeless men and women sleeping on the benches. Here they are, within site of new luxury condo building being renovated to the west, surrounded by some of the most valuable real estate in the city and a mere hundred feet from the house where Mayor Richardson Dilworth moved his family in the 1950s, spurring the revitalization that took place in Society Hill. They sleep every night by the light of the flame at the Revolutionary War unknown soldier memorial, under an inscription that reads, "Freedom is light for which many men have died in darkness." Had they been in those very spots 220 years ago, they would have been within earshot of the first public reading of the Declaration of Indepedence, hearing that they have

certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...

But now, that government is failing them, on all levels. And to the extent that it is failing them - allowing the conditions to exist for men, women and children to have to sleep on a grassy knoll by highway exit ramp - it is failing all of us.

For the purposes of this project and because it is the level of government that is most equipped to deal with this problem, we are focusing on city government, and the next mayor. Why do I believe that if the next mayor wanted to, he or she could make it so that tomorrow every one of the people who sleep in Washington Square, or the 370 other people who are slowly dying in darkness under bridges, in alley ways and even in the recesses of City Hall itself, would have a bed and a roof.

Why does it take ten years to end homelessness? And if there is a legitimate reason for why it does, what the hell have we been doing for the last ten years? This doesn't have to be that hard. According to NTI, there were about 26,000 vacant residential structures in the city. The city borrowed $296 million for the NTI program. There are a few thousand people who qualify as homeless and sleep in various shelters or with family members - including up to a thousand children. Are you telling me that with all that money, we couldn't have found two or three thousand residential structures that could have been fixed up and used to house these people? The Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness believes "the best way to help homeless and at-risk individuals and families is to secure them housing first" and I gotta say, that makes a lot of sense to me. Why does a problem like this have to be so damn complicated?

I've not offered any solutions, just more questions. I'm not expecting miracles, just progress. And I'll continue to be baffled by how, in the richest nation that the world has ever known, in the city that was the birthplace of that nation, there could be a little old lady with a walker, across the street from INDEPENDENCE HALL, who has to depend on spare change from passersby for something to eat.

So to sum up, here's all I want to from the next mayor, "homelessness is bad, let's end it."

I couldn't understand why everyone was so up in arms that Beaver Cleaver's level-headed, wise old man had been nominated to serve on Student City Council. But then I picked up today's City Paper and saw that instead of this guy:

We got Carol "Kingmaker" Campbell, Bill "Legis-what-now?" Greenlee and Dan "Not the gay syndicated columnist" Savage. You should check out the articles, especially the one about Campbell. Chances are, with a credible, well-funded, thoughtful and hardworking candidate running against her, she'll only be a one-year wonder. But it's stuff like this that makes me more and more determined to create a pseudo-Daily Show that shows clips from City Council meetings and press conferences. The material that this so-called legislative body is going to generate in the next year or so should be priceless.

...that the first thing I thought of when I read this (speaking of the City Paper) was, "man, I'm glad I don't live there?"

The Northeast Times today reports that Jonathan Saidel formally declared his mayoral candidacy at a recent meeting of the Somerton Civic Association.

"Jonathan Saidel made it official last week," the story, by William Kenny, said. "And he did it in a quaint little corner of the Far Northeast."

Wait, no bells or whistles? No powerful friends cheering or adorable children handing out Saidel buttons? That was it?

Actually, no.

The Saidel camp said the former Controller has openly talked about his plans to run for months, but the official declaration is yet to come.

"Jon has been pretty clear for some time that he is going to run for Mayor, as has been reported in both the Inquirer and the Daily News. All he was doing was stating the obvious at that event," said spokesman Jamie Fleet.

(edited to add: Link to the Northeast Times story here)

It's unusual to get your candidate news from the gossip columnist, but in Dan Gross's column today, we find this item:

Hope it's not too smoky in there

First up: former councilman Michael Nutter, the only declared candidate, who'll be there from 7 to 9 Monday night. If turnout exceeds the bar's capacity, preference will be given to registered Philly voters, the bar says.

No word on whether Gervase Peterson or Erin Elmore will be there.

Casinos, what do you think, darling? Should I hate them? There's just something about them. No. I'm sure of it. I hate them.

That notwithstanding, they're coming to town anyway. And as much as I think their going to make the areas around them look like Hill Valley in 2015 from Back to Future Part II, there seems to be hope that with good, smart leaders in place, we can minimize the damage done by insisting that they adhere to certain zoning and open space guidelines.

I mean, if the next mayor plays his cards right we could end up with something like what they have in Monte Carlo:

If the next mayor and city council screw the pooch, say hello to this:

In case you missed it on the front page, Radio Times with guest host Dave Davies will have Congressman Bob Brady at 10am. I know I'll be tuned in and will try to post some highlights from the show in this blog post and on other spots on the site. For those of you who can't get to a radio and tune it into 90.9FM at 10am, you can click here and choose a method by which you can listen live on your computer.

In addition to highlights from the show, I'll have a links here and on the front page that'll give instructions on how to listen to whole interview or download a podcast. Of course, the thread will be open for your comments during the show.

(edited to add) UPDATE: Congressman Brady arrived, dressed casually in a maroon polo shirt with a Delaware River Port Authority logo and khaki pants. The hour was essentially story hour, as he recalled his good old days breaking up fights in City Council, carrying John Street out of council chambers, getting grazed by a punch from Franny Rafferty.

He was also totally unapologetic about his support of patronage jobs and the entire ward-committee system as well as the nominations of 3 ward leaders to fill vacant C