Category: Philadelphia

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Bob Brady without Tears

  By Philadelphia

I originally wrote this as a private letter to progressive activists in the middle of December, 2006. The point I make below about Philadelphia having an unified party and thus better government is something I’d like to explore in the future. I know that lots of progressives are not terribly happy with Bob Brady at the moment. I’ve heard lots of complaints about how Jonathan Saidel was pushed out of the race pretty soon after he released an impressive paper about political reform. For a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with my running at-large and with the sense among progressives that there is no one Mayoral candidate who embodies our hopes, I don’t intend to endorse any Mayoral candidates in 07. I don’t even know who I’m voting for. So, while I’m in this undecided state, I thought I would say something about Bob Brady and why I’m… Continue reading

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Let’s Support a Vital Public Resource: Our Newspapers

  By Media Justice, Philadelphia

Reposted from Young Philly Politics In a world where it is getting harder to make a buck with ink and a printing press, isn’t it time we think about providing some public support for this vital resource? Everyone who is interested in the future of our city knows how important the Inquirer and Daily News are to us. We activists complain about them—especially when they don’t cover us as we would like by reporting every single word we say every day . But we know that without them, we would not know what is going on in the city without them, and no one would know what we do, either. The papers are not important just for the information we get from them. There is also the depth of knowledge—and evident love of the city—that makes reading long term reporters and columnists like Dave Davies, Tom Ferrick, Chris Brennan, Larry… Continue reading

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Great expectations for Philadelphia

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

On Sunday, Chris Satullo, the editor of the Inquirer’s editorial page, announced a project that might help transform politics in this city: Great Expectations: Citizen Voices on Philadelphia’s Future. As I explain in this blog post, this is a project that has the potential to radically improve politics in the city. Please can find out more, and sign up to take part in the project here. A joint project of The Inquirer Editorial Board’s Citizen Voices project and the University of Pennsylvania’s Project on Civic Engagement, Great Expectations will have a number of key components. One is to engage community leaders and citizens from around the region in a series of dialogues that identify the key problems we need to solve in the next ten years if Philadelphia is to become the next great city. A second is to send editorial board writers to others cities to find the best… Continue reading

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You Want to See Broken Politics: Just Look at the Casinos

  By Casinos, Philadelphia

For the last few months, I’ve been running around the city, giving a speech to any group of three or more people who will listen that begins with the following words: “Politics in Philadelphia is Broken.” I have another five and a half months to go giving that speech…and maybe it won’t stop then because fixing politics in Philadelphia is probably going to take the progressive movement the better part of the next ten or fifteen years. It is, of course, an easy case to make. Sometimes, people shout out examples of our broken politics before I get three minutes into my speech. And no example comes up more than the ridiculous path by which our political system has taken us to the verge of bringing casinos to Philadelphia. How does this process exemplify the broken character of our politics? Let us count the ways. Continue reading

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Politics as usual 14, reform 0

  By Campaign Finance Reform, Philadelphia

By a vote of 14-0, City Council today gutted the campaign finance laws that were enacted a few years ago. Contribution limits of $2500 for an individual and $10,000 for a PAC will now kick in when a candidate declares his or her candidacy or files nominating petitions, that is, as late as March of an election year. There will be no limitations prior to that time. And as I have pointed out, there is a massive loophole that will allow money above the limits to be spent even after they go into effect. Wilson Goode did not introduce an amendment to have the contribution limits begin when a candidate begins raising money for his or her campaign. I was not there because I teach Thursday mornings at Temple. But I understand that there was no debate at all. Continue reading

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Help save campaign finance reform

  By Campaign Finance Reform, Elections and Voting, Philadelphia

This week City Council will consider Bill No. 060629, which in its unamended form would gut the city’s limits on campaign contributions and be a major step backwards in the effort to reform politics in Philadelphia. You can help stop 60629—or even better, have it improved by amendment—by signing a petition which will be delivered to your Council members Thursday morning. Bill 60629, which is sponsored by Councilman Goode, would, in its original form, define a candidate as someone who has filed nominating petitions or declared his or her candidacy for office. The result would be that there would be no limits on how much money a candidate could raise before early March of an election year. (See below for information about an amendment Goode proposed today that may fix this problem) Goode claimed that his ordinance would prohibit candidates from using money that exceeds the finance limits ($2500 for… Continue reading

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What Does Social Justice Mean for Philadelphia?

  By Philadelphia, Social Justice

What Does Social Justice Mean in City Politics? When I say that the social justice should be a primary goal of public policy in Philadelphia, I make some people happy. These are the people who recognize that a quarter of our population is poor and that unemployment rates in some sections of the city reach depression-like levels; that poverty and unemployment create the hopelessness that leads about half our school children to drop out before they graduate from high school; and that hopelessness is among the main causes of the drug epidemic and high crime rates. To talk about social justice, for me, is one way to point to the need for the city to address the difficult conditions faced by so many of our citizens. But talking about social justice makes other people nervous even though they may be sympathetic to plight of so many of their fellow Philadelphians.… Continue reading

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A Major Victory In The Fight Against Casinos?

  By Casinos, Philadelphia

I’m not quite ready to declare victory tonight. But if we can believe the press release that is now appearing on Senator Fumo’s website—and if the Senate and House follow the Senator’s recommendations—then progressives and casino activists in the city are about to win a major victory, local control over zoning at the casino sites. Continue reading