Sister Act

Illustration By: Bill Westervelt

Friend or foe? Either way, two councilwomen are said to be fighting for the presidency.

by Daryl Gale

No ink has been spared lately to bring you the latest gossip about who will be the next president of City Council. Lost in the dizzying back-and-forth about whether Majority Leader Jannie Blackwell can garner the necessary votes among her colleagues to unseat Council President Anna Verna is a cause for celebration: Philadelphia is leading the nation in cities putting women in positions of power, and keeping them there.

Interestingly, both Verna and Blackwell were elected to their seats on the heels of more famous relatives -- Verna was elected to the Second District seat in November 1975 following the death of her father, William A. Cibotti, Council member and South Philly political legend. Blackwell was elected to her Third District Council seat when her late husband, former Council member and West Philly political legend Lucien Blackwell, resigned to run for congress in 1991.

The women have been friends and political allies for more than 20 years, and Verna, at least, vows to maintain that friendship regardless of the outcome of next month’s election for the presidency. When Blackwell was elected, it was Verna who showed her the ropes and acted as a big sister and political mentor.

"I’ve known Jannie for well over 20 years, and I’ve always had the highest regard for her," says Verna. "We’ve worked together on a great many projects to benefit the citizens of Philadelphia, and we’ll continue to do so in the future."

Verna says that while she and Blackwell may seem on the outs lately, it’s a temporary situation. In the rough-and-tumble world of Philadelphia politics, alliances are forged and broken daily. Despite that, Council insiders have been whispering about the increasingly strained relationship between the two women ever since last May, when Blackwell distributed a glossy packet of information about her accomplishments and activities to her peers.

While the documents glowingly tout Blackwell’s Council record, there’s no direct mention of her intention to run for Council president. Right now, those insiders say, the two women barely speak.

"It’s a tough game," Verna says, "and in order to stay in the game you have to be willing to not only compromise to get deals done, you’re going to have to make a lot of personal sacrifices. That’s one reason more women don’t go into politics, I guess."

When Verna first walked into the Democratic caucus, she was the only woman in the room, she recalls fondly. In meetings, veteran legislators would stub out their cigars and curb their language in deference to her gender.

"Cecil B. Moore, bless his heart, would apologize profusely like a schoolboy any time he said hell or damn in my presence," Verna reminisces.

For her part, Blackwell says pretty much the same thing about her relationship with Verna, noting the fact that two strong women have ascended to the top of Philly’s political heap is special in itself.

"Council President Verna and I are friends, and always will be," Blackwell says. "Our relationship is much deeper than any one race, and there’s a much more important issue here. The whole issue of women in leadership roles in the city is one whose time has definitely come. This is a history-making time. Who would have thought 30 or 40 years ago that the positions of City Council president, majority leader and majority whip would all be women?"

Contrary to recent news reports, Blackwell maintains she isn’t running against Verna in January, but won’t say whether that’s because she recently changed her mind. After the election two weeks ago, Blackwell again sent Council members a packet listing her accomplishments and the bills and resolutions she’s sponsored during her tenure. She also polled the members in an attempt to gauge her level of support while again never specifically mentioning her name in connection with a run for the presidency. Sources say that Verna already has verbal commitments from members equaling the nine votes she needs for retention. Whether Blackwell sees her own support as somewhat soft, or no longer thinks she can persuade enough of her colleagues to vote for her, she’s not willing to say.

"At this point, I’m not a candidate," she says, leaving the door open just a crack. "It’s not over until it’s over, and in politics you never say never. But as of now, I am not a candidate for president of City Council."

Nationwide, the proportion of women serving on city councils has grown slowly but steadily.

According to a study released three months ago by the National League of Cities, the proportion of women on city councils in small cities grew from 21 to 25 percent between 1989 and 2001. In medium-sized cities those same numbers went from 25 to 36 percent, while large cities like Philadelphia saw the smallest increase, from 33 to 36 percent.

The study also seems to bear out Verna’s assertion that perhaps the level of personal sacrifice keeps more women from seeking City Council seats. Council members surveyed reported that the personal costs are high, both in terms of the amount of time and effort needed to raise money for campaigning, and the loss of time for family and outside interests. Constituent services -- from handling complaints to providing information and interacting with government agencies on behalf of citizens -- accounts for about 35 percent of the average council member’s time. (The average council member spends 42 hours per week on council business.)

Since Constance Dallas was first elected to Philadelphia’s City Council in 1956, 14 women have held the position, but never as many at once as the six who currently serve. Five -- Verna, Blackwell, Majority Whip Marion Tasco, Donna Reed Miller and Joan Krajewski -- represent councilmanic districts, while Blondell Reynolds-Brown is the only female at-large councilperson. Verna, who was elected to the post by her peers in 1999, is the first woman to serve as City Council president in Philadelphia history.

"I wanted to prove that women can do the job just as well as a man," says Verna. "Since I was elected to Council, I’ve felt that I had to work harder, and for longer hours, than any man here. I wanted to make the path easier for the women who come after me, just like the ones who came before me made the path easier for me."

Again, Blackwell finds more grounds on which to agree with Verna.

"It was important to get women into these positions," Blackwell says, "but it’s equally important to keep up the progress we’ve made."

Blackwell says that the presence of women in leadership roles helps shape public policy in ways the public doesn’t necessarily notice.

"When issues that affect women come up, we have a chorus of voices to address that issue. That wasn’t always the case, and we need constant vigilance to keep from slipping back into the political dark ages. It’s unconscionable to me that all these years later we’re still arguing the fitness and constitutionality of Roe vs. Wade."

Is the reason we’re still arguing over "women’s issues" that even with the gains, most local and national legislative bodies are still predominantly male?

"I didn’t say that," Blackwell laughs, "but you do the math."

It’s women’s innovative minds and creative thinking that give cities a forward-thinking vision, Blackwell says, and leads to a progressive social agenda. But that vision can be lost, she warns, if women become complacent about their participation in the political process.

"The current [federal] administration has proven that if people aren’t vigilant about their rights and maintaining the gains we’ve made, there’s always somebody ready to take them away," says Blackwell. "But there’s no denying that women are in a much better position politically than we’ve ever been."

Verna sums it up a bit more succinctly, quoting a long-ago ad for women’s cigarettes.

"We’ve come a long way, baby," Verna says with a laugh.