|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
October 31-November 6, 2002 slant Rendell for GovernorFive months ago, we asked voters to ask themselves some questions. Where is Pennsylvania going? And do we continue to slide into Alabamahood? When we asked those questions in advance of the Democratic gubernatorial primary between former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell and State Auditor General Robert Casey Jr., the man with the best answers to those questions was, resoundingly, Ed Rendell. And, with just days to go before the November 5 general election, the best man to answer those questions is still Ed Rendell. Just as we argued in May, Pennsylvania needs bold, dynamic leadership to turn things around. We need a can-do attitude. Someone who knows how to convince people that, when things are as bad as they are, you gotta believe. After a half-year of campaigning against his general election opponent, state Attorney General Mike Fisher, Rendell's merits and demerits remain as they were back in May. In many ways, Pennsylvania is still where Philadelphia was in 1992. That's when Rendell took over a moribund city on the verge of complete collapse and, through sheer force of will, broke through the prevailing loser mentality and engineered a turnaround that, by any standard, was remarkable. Rendell took on the unions, winning concessions while maintaining jobs. He cut the business tax and the wage tax -- the nation's highest, and a major impediment to job growth and economic stability. When it was necessary, he made the unpopular moves. Perhaps the most unpopular was pushing the liquor-by-the-drink tax, which bar owners and patrons hated, but which has pumped about $23 million a year into public school coffers. Rendell was and is not perfect. There is the matter of his temper. Manhandling reporters (See Slant, p. 8). A press office that actively impeded the free flow of information. Far worse, there was a perceptible lack of real action beyond the confines of Center City. The task of dealing with neighborhood concerns -- like plowing side streets and towing abandoned cars and developing a comprehensive plan to deal with vacant buildings -- was left to Rendell's successor, John Street. And while many of the public schools' ills were beyond the scope of what a mayor can do -- particularly, enacting a far more equitable funding mechanism to better support any reforms -- Rendell's steadfast reliance on former Superintendent David Hornbeck to get schoolchildren to achieve was a big mistake. It's also one that further exposed a Rendell blind spot: the inability to fire ineffective managers, a problem perhaps most visible in his handling of former Police Commissioner Richard Neal. Neither Hornbeck nor Neal possessed the acumen or political savvy to handle their respective jobs. But Rendell, either out of blind loyalty or fear of ruffling feathers, had difficulty recognizing that and acting quickly. Despite his failings, Rendell was absolutely right in his belief that growing the center was the best way to pull Philadelphia out of its pending bankruptcy. And any failings pale when you consider that not only did Rendell have the belief, but he had the will and the creativity to find solutions. Mike Fisher, on the other hand, had his chance to show that he was the man for the job and he blew it badly. As an unopposed candidate, he did not have to spend any time or resources in the primary, but that did not matter. In the end, with his sputtering campaign trailing in the double-digit range, Fisher went into desperation mode, kvetching loudly that his Libertarian opponent, Ken Krawchuk, shouldn't be allowed to run because he tore up a dollar bill to emphasize a point. Being a whiner would be bad enough. But Fisher has also proven to be a petty, divisive man, using Ed Rendell's support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities as a litmus test to show mid-staters that a Rendell stay in Harrisburg would unleash untold plagues upon good God-fearing folk. We respect Mike Fisher's right to have his opinion about what may or may not make up a family. But, by the same token, we expect respect in return for how others view family. Saddest of all, Mike Fisher is gutless. By refusing to meet with our editorial board, he becomes the first candidate ever to duck us. And that includes a long list of people who have been taken to task in these pages. Until now, every candidate we've asked to meet with us has realized the value of the voters who read City Paper. But not Mike Fisher. So on Tuesday, show Mike Fisher what you think about him. If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (850 words), contact Howard Altman, City Paper executive editor, 123 Chestnut St., third floor, Phila., PA, 19106 or e-mail altman@citypaper.net. 
-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
| ||||||||||||||||||
