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Hall Monitor: A look at the swirling fight for the Council presidency behind the recent redistricting bill
Two Thursdays ago, a funny little scene played out on the fourth floor of City Hall.
Hall Monitor: A look at the swirling fight for the Council presidency behind the recent redistricting bill
Since City Council is not in session today, we bring you this special edition of Hall Monitor.
Two Thursdays ago, a funny little scene played out on the fourth floor of City Hall.
Before Philadelphia's City Council that day were two redistricting plans — one introduced by a working group appointed by Council President Anna Verna, the second proposed by Council members Frank DiCicco and Jim Kenney, who had not been part of the working group. Before the bills were brought up for a vote, Verna called for a two-hour recess. The break would, in fact, last more than four hours, during which time Council members, aides and a roving band of men in suits scurried between closed-door meetings and huddled in small blobs around various Council members.
At one point, Kenney, apparently frustrated with the pace of negotiations, leaned over to Councilman Darrell Clarke, who holds the title of majority whip ― a leadership position below that of Majority Leader Marian B. Tasco and president Verna, both of whom had disappeared into backroom negotiations.
"Are you de facto leadership?" Kenney asked Clarke, nodding to the dais from which Council's affairs are led, usually by the president.
"Huh?"
"Are you de facto leadership right now?" Kenney repeated, adding ― joking, sort of ― "Let's just call a vote. Let's pass this thing."
Clarke glanced at the empty dais: "You're talking about some kinda of freaky stuff?" he asked.
Someone said something. "Oh, they called a recess," Kenney concluded, leaning back impatiently. "Never mind."
Kenney's point ― that had Council not officially been standing in recess, he, Clarke and others could possibly have staged a quick legislative coup while the others were out― was probably entirely facetious.
But a coup of sorts — albeit a small one — was, in fact, underway that afternoon. To some extent, it succeeded.
On paper, the two redistricting maps under consideration looked almost identical. The only visible difference had to do with a single ward in the city's northeast: the city's politically powerful 56th ward, headed by meddlesome ward leader John Sabatina, which no Council member seems to want much to do with.
One map, introduced by the working group, split that ward between two council districts — the 10th, represented by Republican Brian O'Neill; and the 6th, represented by outgoing Councilwoman Joan Krajewski and likely to be occupied in January by Democratic nominee Bobby Henon. The other map, introduced by DiCicco and Kenney, dumped the entire ward in O'Neill's district.
It was, as various sources put it, a choice between screwing over the sole Republican district councilman on Council or screwing over the new guy before he got there.
It was also a choice between supporting a plan being pushed by Tasco ― who intends, with Mayor Michael Nutter's strong support, to become the next Council president ― and supporting a plan developed independently of her and to which Clarke, her chief presumed rival for the presidency, had attached himself, despite having theoretically been an author of the working group's plan.
The presidency of Council is a strange contest: Clarke has yet to utter a public syllable about his interest in the position, and, unlike a public election, each candidate's campaigns are waged behind closed doors and without overt challenges to potential opponents. You win by convincing a handful of people with highly specific interests that you will somehow better serve them than the other guy or gal. Mixed into the equation is whether you'll be able to woo and/or thwart the mayor. It's kind of a popularity contest, for one of the most potentially powerful positions in city government. (A rumor: Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. might be considering a run, though he denied this, telling CP "no" four times in a row last week. Another rumor: Everybody is considering a run.)
Tasco had support for her plan among Council members disposed to vote for her as president ― "Team Tasco," as some City Hall insiders have dubbed the loose affiliation. But Team Tasco wasn't very big, and hadn't come to the floor ready to vote.
Instead, a number of new factors had come into play: Tasco wanted to move even more of the 56th Ward out of O'Neill's district ― chiefly, it is widely believed, to win his his support for her presidency. She also wanted an amendment that would return part of the city's North Philly 11th ward, which had been moved into Clarke's 5th District, back to the 8th, likely to be occupied in January by Democratic nominee Cindy Bass, whom Nutter supported and who is likely to support a Tasco presidency.
The late amendments created problems. They threatened the already barely-below-the-limit population disparities in the current map. They also gave an edge to Clarke who, in contrast to Tasco, stood in a much easier position to win the day politically. By pushing the DiCicco/Kenney bill, he would help keep the 56th ward out of the 6th District and thereby help out nominee Bobby Henon, whose campaign was supported by union boss John Dougherty and former Mayor John Street ― both of whom mostly backed candidates who openly opposed a Tasco presidency (and, thereby Nutter). At the same time, Henon had already pledged not to support a "DROP-enrolled candidate" for president (Tasco), and Clarke had little to lose by dangling the possibility of backing the splitting of the 56th ward in front of O'Neill. According to several sources, he did just that.
O'Neill himself appeared to spend much of the negotiations waiting to see who would come through for him. But no one did: By the time Council reconvened for a vote, the Tasco plan was in enough disarray that her amendments failed to pass, meaning Team Tasco would either have to abandon its bill or vote for it despite not actually wanting it to pass.
They did the latter, but the vote was largely symbolic, with several Council members, including DiCicco, voting for both bills.
The day might not have been a startling victory for Clarke ― DiCicco arguably led the pack that afternoon ― but it was, most sources in City Hall agree, a blow to Tasco.
"What you saw was Darrell Clarke being a good politician ― let me step back and let her get egg on her face," is how Councilman Frank Rizzo (who voted for the Kenney/DiCicco bill) puts it. "What Darrell Clarke did was say 'Look, let's see how strong and powerful she is,' but he did not lose traction at all."
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