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Archive: April, 2011
According to the City Commissioners, GOP mayoral candidate Karen Brown has violated campaign finance law — for the second time this year.
Brown has failed to file a campaign finance report for her political committee "Friends of Karen Brown" with the Commissioners' office — despite it bringing in more than $11,000 in contributions last year. By law, candidates are required to do so.
Tim Dowling, of the Commissioners' office, says a complaint about the violation has been referred to the District Attorney's office.
In February, the city's Board of Ethics found that Brown had violated another campaign finance law — a fact that, until now, has not been reported by the press. At the time, Brown was running as a Democrat for the 1st Council District and at-large seats, and violated a law that bars candidates from having more than one political committee for each office being sought. Brown had "Friends of Karen Brown," as well as "Karen Brown for 1st District Council" and "Karen Brown for City Council at-Large."
The Ethics Board settled with Brown, and waived any fines or penalties against her.
To her credit, Brown has filed a campaign finance report for "Friends of Karen Brown" with the Ethics Board, in accordance with the settlement agreement. But according to the two offices, candidates must file the reports with both.
When reached over the phone, Brown says, "I did what I was told to do [by the Ethics Board]." She also claims that as soon as she became aware of her first violation in February, she told the Ethics Board and complied with their investigation. "Not being a politician before," Brown says, "I realized I had made a boo-boo."
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(From the ElectionEar column in this week's print edition)
Race to Finish Among a few strange moments at the Committee of Seventy's 7th Council District forum last Thursday, none was as strange as the unexpected invocation (as if he were some sort of political genie) of former Mayor John F. Street by candidate Dan Savage. [Of course we got it on video.] The 7th District, currently represented by Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, is profoundly gerrymandered, and proving profoundly difficult to represent. The bottom half of the district, a blob encompassing parts of Kensington, eastern North Philly and the city's "El Centro de Oro" section, is heavily Hispanic. As the district meanders upward into Frankford, its residents skew increasingly black and then white. Quiñones-Sánchez, who is Hispanic and from the lower part, faces a tough challenge from Savage, who is white and from the upper part. Get it? More complicated still, Quiñones-Sánchez has been hung out to dry by local ward leaders . But while Quiñones-Sánchez's main task will be to mobilize her base, Savage appears to face a more complicated feat: He needs, or thinks he needs, to woo black voters — hence the magic lantern. The question was what to do about crime. Quiñones-Sánchez touted various local successes and defended her record, saying she'd help bring every police pilot program available into the district. Savage countered that crime had not improved — in part, he asserted, because of the "relationship between the councilwoman and the current mayor," and then he noted, "Mayor Street had a much better drug task force" and "under Mayor Street [drug dealers] would be in jail." Debate host Gar Joseph of the Daily News then asked whether the audience would support John Street running as an independent for councilman at-large — to what the Daily News later reported was "a hearty round of applause." The applause, this author confirms, was indeed hearty, but almost exclusively on the part of black audience members (including at least one boisterous committeeperson) who had come to support Savage. That was Thursday. On Monday, Mayor Michael Nutter — the same politician, we'll point out, whom Street once said did not seem like a "black mayor" — threw his support behind Quiñones-Sánchez along with Congressman Chaka Fattah. That race matters in big city politics is not shocking. Still, these tidbits offer glimpses into how complicated and convoluted Philly's racial politics can get. Take, for example, another political bottled genie: Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Last week, this author mentioned a candidates' forum held for residents of the 2nd Council District (South Philly west of Broad, currently represented by Councilwoman Anna Verna), at which candidates Barbara Capozzi, state Rep. Kenyatta Johnson and Damon K. Roberts sat down to answer questions. While they differed little on most issues, they seemed to occupy opposite worlds when it came to one question in particular: "How do you feel about the performance of Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman?" Capozzi, who is white, said that she could "never, ever, forgive the way she handled [South Philadelphia High School]." Johnson and Roberts, who are both black, answered differently: "I support Dr. Arlene Ackerman," said Johnson. "I know it's an uphill battle she's fighting." Roberts split the difference, but not quite evenly. Ackerman has made "some mistakes," he said, "but I don't know any one of us who hasn't made mistakes." Interestingly, at another candidates' forum for the 1st Council District that was being held just a few blocks away, none of the four candidates voiced support for Ackerman. They were all white. Did I mention that another Street — mayoral candidate T. Milton Street — recently called on Mayor Nutter to "take a stand" on Ackerman because of his "lack of visible support" for her? Street, in the same press release, didn't express outright support himself but said he could "imagine it must be stressful and troubling" for Ackerman's private tax troubles to be. The ElectionEar is a good listener; send tips here
(From this week's "Million Stories" section)
When only half the City Council at-large candidates show up for a public panel, busy schedules can be blamed. But what to say about the near-empty university auditorium where the forum was held?
Last Thursday, Temple University's Democratic and Republican groups hosted a forum with the at-large candidates on the university's main campus. While the communications director of the College Democrats, David Lopez, said the organizations reached out to all 23 candidates, only 13 said they would attend ; three later changed their minds. Candidate Isaiah Thomas showed up only briefly.
But the more conspicuous attendance number was the public's — the target audience being, in this case, students. Sure, the attendees outnumbered the candidates. But not by much.
No more than 20 people filled the seats, including students, professors and former Mayor John F. Street, who teaches urban politics and policy at the university.
Lopez admitted turnout "could have been better, " but he said, "It was nice to see students" attend a local-election event. He added that the two campus organizations are making efforts to inform students about the elections and help them to register.
Whether they can actually get students interested in the most fascinating local election in years is yet to be seen.
*
On the Issues (after the jump)
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Last night, 6th Council District hopefuls Bob Henon and Martin Bednarek debated in another deabte sponsored by the Committee of Seventy, the League of Women Voters, Philly.com, and WHYY.
The 6th District is currently occupied by Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, who is retiring (and collecting a DROP payment), and it encompasses parts of the Northeast.
Henon is an IBEW Local 98 man — that would be John Dougherty's powerful chapter of the International Brotherhood of Eletrical Workers, yes — and had a strong showing of support from that union, which has contributed generously to his campaign.
Indeed, it was hard to miss the giant white step van adorned with a "Bobby Henon" advertisement outside the Torresdale library, in which the event was held (see below).
Bednarek is a former School Reform Commission board member and a former ward leader.
Of the various issues discussed, DROP was one of the most prominent ... and baffling.
Asked whether he'd favor abolishing the program, Bednarek said yes — because it costs too much money — and Henon said no, because it's a good and proper benefit for city workers like police and firefighters (who are numerous in the 6th District).
On the other hand, asked if he'd support a DROP-enrolled president of city council, Bednarek declined to say anything about who he'd support, while Henon said he would refuse to vote for a president of Council who'd enrolled in DROP.
Translation: Bednarek, whom Mayor Nutter and Councilwoman Krajewski have endorsed, would probably support Councilwoman Marian Tasco, who is enrolled in DROP and whom Nutter favors as the next president of Council; Henon would not.
Other heated issues included the leadership of Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Henon attacked Bednarek's record on the School Reform Commission, accusing the latter of failing to restrain Ackerman's spending programs in light of the School District's current budget deficit.
"I did not allow Arlene Ackerman to run wild," said Bednarek. "Every school budget in Pennsylvania is in the red right now."
He added that her performance had "disappointed" him.
Bednarek, on the other hand, criticized Henon's IBEW support, characterizing him as being beholden to his financial supporters. "My opponent's campaign has been run by a political boss," summed up Bednarek. "I'm not owned by anybody."
The point resonated, perhaps, with a question asked by moderator Wendy Warren of Philly.com about Henon's receiving more than $30,000 in contributions from PACs connected to Local 98 — which, as Warren put it, "In total exceeded the city's campaign finance limits." — just before Mayor Nutter signed a law closing a loophole that failed to stop such contributions.
To these challenges, Henon maintained that his campaign had broken no law (nor violated, as Warren put it, the "spirit" of the finance limits already in place) and said that his financial relationships would play no role in his leadership if elected. "Once elected as Councilperson, I will listen to all the people I'll represent," said Henon.
On Wednesday's debate between 8th Council District candidates, there were a few notable disagreements — over term limits, how to deal with the Martin Luther King Jr. High School scandal, and which Councilperson to support for president.
But more frequent, it seemed, was consensus among candidates. Most advocated for more transparency in the position, involving the community in development decisions, using education to wrestle with gun problems, and fighting for the city to take back control of the Philadelphia School District.
So how are candidates separating themselves from the crowd?
Some, it seems, are using personality to do that trick — which is something often better conveyed in video than in words. See above for a short clip of the debate, organized by NewsWorks and the Committee of Seventy, in which candidates respond to moderator Chris Satullo's call to prove that they won't be beholden to the political machine or big donors. (Satullo, WHYY's executive director of news and civic dialogue, pulled his questions from a series of forums that NewsWorks held with local voters throughout the past several weeks.)
The first candidate to respond is Robin Tasco, then Howard Treatman, Verna Tyner, Cindy Bass, William Durham, Andrew Lofton and Greg Paulmier.
Throughout the debate, Tasco, as one person closely watching the race put it, came off as the person you'd want in a fight — she's visibly pissed about Bass' campaign allegedly threatening her. Bass is cool and confident — perhaps because of all the endorsements she's racked up. Paulmier is talkative, happy, a grassroots developer. Durham is the no-nosense State Democratic Committee representative. Treatman is the cerebral developer. Lofton is the passionate underdog. And Tyner is part calm and collected, part fighter (when speaking out against DROP, she stood up to boldly make her point and called on the crowd to voice their opinion about the program).
Read more about Wednesday's debate — and all the subtle jabs made at Bass by her opponents — here.
The ElectionEar is a good listener: Send your tips here..
View galleryI should probably start by saying that my little Bella Vista backyard has proven to be a magnet for unwanted things in the two years I've lived there. I don't know what it is — the high fences, the quiet-looking alley adjacent — but there's something about the enclosed 12-foot-by-12-foot space that has proven irresistable to litterers and thing-losers. Cigarette butts, shopping bags, tallboy cans, barbecue tongs from nearby third floor decks... hell I've been storing a crappy plastic table from a previous resident back there because I keep forgetting about it. I'm really only out there in the summer. Which is probably why I didn't notice the huge pile of Philly Weeklys in my yard until about three weeks past their street date. But why are they there?
1. This is how PW inflates its circulation numbers, by throwing old ones in random yards. Possible. This appears to have once been one of those neat stacks that get dropped off honor boxes. But I don't see how it helps your pick-up rate to dump the papers instead of recycling them.
2. Some local business was like, "I told that circulation guy no but he dropped off the papers anyway so I'll just toss them wherever." Maybe. This could be a wayward pile of PWs that got stinkpalmed on some unsuspecting foyer or lobby.
3. My neighbors, tired of having unrequested PWs dropped off on their doorstep, all gathered to stack them up flatly and discard them in my yard because they forgot which paper I work for. Not very likely, although people do confuse the papers sometimes. Here's a handy tip: City Paper is the one that doesn't chuck shit into your yard. (Hopefully. For all I know we've all got the same drivers and they're all driving around high tossing stacks like bales of hay.)
4. This is a false flag operation by the some other paper in town. Unlikely, but where were you on the weeks in question, Public Record?
5. This is the first volley in some kind of alt-weekly war. ???
Crack a six-pack, flame broil a steak, and live the good life as ElectionEar toils away on your behalf tonight, live-tweeting the 6th City Council District debate, hosted by the Committee of Seventy.
The democratic primary race appears to be a dead heat between candidates Bobby Henon and Martin Bednarek.
Follow my tweets here, starting around 7:00 P.M.
The ElectionEar is a good listener; send your tips here.
(From this week's Million Stories section)
Philadelphia is, if nothing else, a city of dreamers. And of fish. And of those whose dreams revolve around fish.
Last weekend the city celebrated Shadfest, an event with two humble purposes: having a great time at Penn Treaty Park and honoring the great shad fish, once pivotal to the region, now all but gone from the Delaware's raunchy waters. In just three years, the offbeat festival has become a Philly institution.
And dreams, it seems, beget more dreams. Among the tables at Shadfest was one manned by Len Albright and Jason Strohl, two men with a single mission: to organize a striped bass fishing derby.
In an epic, 1,000-word press release they sent out recently, they explained that striped bass annually swim up the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers to spawn before returning to the sea. But Philly has no organized contest to fish for them.
On May 1, the first Philadelphia Striped Bass Derby will begin (go to phillystripedbassderby.com for info). A catch-and-release contest, the derby, as its organizers see it, is about something even bigger than a really big fish : "We kind of saw it as a way for people to make a connection to Philly's rivers," says Albright. "The striped bass is a really beautiful fish, so we thought it would be a good starting point."
They're reaching out to as diverse a crowd as they can — "There's a huge Cambodian community that fishes down by the airport," Albright notes. "A lot of people fish the rivers but they don't get a chance to meet each other."
"It's only recently that the rivers were clean enough for bass and shad and herring to come up them again," adds Albright. "And with all this fracking, you know, the rivers are under threat again. Any way to draw attention to them is really important."
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We were sure this was a joke. It is not.
Gov. Tom Corbett has suggested universities suffering massive cuts to their budgets (cuts made, that is, by Corbett) should consider just, well, leasing their land out for Marcellus Shale gas drilling!
Reports the Erie Times-News' Sean McCracken:
Gov. Tom Corbett told the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees that the state's universities could ease their financial woes by tapping into Marcellus shale deposits beneath their campuses.
Speaking at Edinboro University during his first visit to northwestern Pennsylvania since taking office, Corbett said six campuses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education sit on the Marcellus shale formations now being tapped for natural gas.
Corbett, whose proposed 2011-12 budget includes $2 billion in cuts to education and a 50 percent reduction in aid to colleges and universities, also emphasized that those cuts are only proposals.
We first heard about the remarks via a press release by the often surprisingly-snarky Pennsylvania Democratic Party Press Office, which added that "this ridiculous plan again shows that no matter what the issue, the profits and best interests of his largest benefactors are never far from Tom Corbett's mind."
Corbett, of course, has also called for reduced environmental regulation on Marcellus Shale drilling — a decision higlighted by the recent explosion of a gas well in Bradford county, spewing thousands of gallons of toxic fluids into a nearby stream.
And boy would we like to be on campus for that party.
Last night's 8th Council District debate could have been fiery — given candidate Robin Tasco's allegation that she was threatened by opponent Cindy Bass' campaign, candidate Verna Tyner's unabashed criticism of Bass for not saying whether or not she'd vote for Councilwoman Marian Tasco for president, and plenty of other juicy issues that've been brewing.
Overall, though, there was very little mud-slinging.
The debate between the seven candidates for the 8th District — which stretches from Nicetown up to Chestnut Hill — centered around DROP, the Martin Luther King Jr. High School scandal, economic development, and current 8th District Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. All seven candidates — Robin Tasco, Bass, Tyner, Greg Paulmier, Howard Treatman, Andrew Lofton and William Durham — attended the debate.
But there were some subtle jabs at each other. For instance, Treatman said he wouldn't hire anyone with a "history of political corruption." (Bass' campaign has been critized for employing Steven Vaughn, a former Miller aide who pleaded guilty in a pay-to-play scandal.)
Tyner, meanwhile, strongly voiced her opposition to voting for a Council president who's enrolled in DROP (aka Marian Tasco). All the candidates were in agreement over this, except for Bass. Bass has maintained that it's too soon to make her decision about a Council president.
Tyner seemed to use this to her advantage, standing up to make her point and even calling on the crowd to voice their opinion about DROP.
Also, when Bass called for an investigation of the Martin Luther King Jr. High School scandal to "see what the facts are," rather than jumping to conclusions, Durham seized the topic. He said there are many facts already known: The community wanted one thing, he says, and public officials decided "it does not deserve that."
In fact, most of the subtle disses seemed to be directed toward Bass, who has earned the endorsement of Mayor Michael Nutter, District Attorney Seth Williams and other public officials, and is seen as a front-runner.
There were a few other surprises throughout the night: Tyner, a staff member for City Council for 16 years, said she supported term limits. Some people closely watching the race saw this as an affront to the late at-large Councilman David Cohen, who served for decades, and for whom Tyner worked.
Treatman, Lofton and Tasco also favored term limits, while Bass, Paulmier and Durham didn't.
Another interesting turn: Moderator Chris Satullo, WHYY's executive director of news and civic dialogue, asked candidates how they would foster transparency in their office — something that Miller has been criticized as lacking.
Most agreed that an office in the district was needed, as well as regular meetings or newsletters for the community.
Check back later today for videos of the event, which capture candidates responding to Satullo's tough call to prove that they won't be beholden to the political machine or big donors, among other things.
Oh, and did we mention that last night's debate at Germantown's First Presbyterian Church was packed to the gills? Yet another reason y'all should get interested in the election, if you're not already: Everyone else is doing it! Peer pressure!
UPDATE: Two things worth noting that weren't noted before: The debate was organized by NewsWorks. Also, moderator Satullo's questions came from a series of forums that NewsWorks held with local voters throughout the past several weeks.
The ElectionEar is a good listener: Send tips here.
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