Raids Against the Machine

Hand back their handout, and cast your own vote.

by Bruce Schimmel

You can begin cleaning Philly's greasy political machine next week with a vote for ABB as mayor: Anyone But Brady. Still, if you're looking for real reform, after you press the button for Michael Nutter, please consider contenders who have the honor not to be blessed by Boss Brady.

For sheriff, consider Michael Unter-meyer. Untermeyer, a former state attorney and jet pilot, has a passion to overhaul the department and expand its role in fighting crime. The sheriff's current job description seems limited to removing people from their homes, bringing prisoners to court and losing millions of dollars in public funds.

Sheriff John Green's books are such a mess that auditors looking for malfeasance essentially threw up their hands. Though after the commonwealth of Pennsylvania finished poking around the wreckage, the state hauled away millions that should have gone into the city's coffers.

But Green saves his cruelest cuts for the city's poor. Ignoring a recent court order, the sheriff continues to overcharge indigent homeowners for redundant foreclosure advertising. And Green places these ads through a no-bid contract with an advertising agency that's owned by friends � an agency that happens to be working on his re-election.

After 20 years of party politics, Green has become a clever hit-and-run campaigner. The sheriff recently accused Untermeyer (absurdly) of shaking him down for a $36,000-a-year job � though Green still refuses to face Untermeyer in a public debate. Please vote this bum out.

Elsewhere, for City Council-at-large, consider Andy Toy. By profession, Toy's an urban planner, who's successfully shepherded commercial development all over the city. When zoning reform takes center stage next year, City Council will need Toy's expertise and his skills as a trusted community liaison.

Toy enjoys broad community support and deep professional respect. At his campaign kickoff, the food � featuring everything from Shanghai noodles to Italian pepperoni � reflected the smorgasbord of Toy's support. On a couple of recent occasions, trusted friends of mine literally lifted Toy up by his shoulders, and filled the air around him with praise. We need Toy in City Hall.

Another reformer knocking at council's door is Haile Johnston, a first-timer hoping to replace Darrell Clarke in the 5th. Clarke took John Street's seat in 2000, and is unfortunately cut from the same philosophical cloth. As councilman, Clarke passed developer-friendly suburbanite zoning that undermines urban neighborhoods. Worse still, as Clarke parcels out land, credible community development groups get shoved to the sidelines.

Clarke's challenger, Johnston, along with his wife, Tatiana Garcia-Granados, have a strong record of greening, cleaning and building opportunity in East Parkside. The couple, both Wharton grads, attracted the respected Reinvestment Fund to refurbish an abandoned electric factory that will provide jobs and distribute fresh food in their community. Give Johnston a chance to do more good community development.

Another challenger worthy of your vote is Damon Roberts, who's running against Anna Verna in the 2nd. You might remember Roberts in his successful fight against local Clear Channel radio stations that cleared the air of black-on-black hate speech. A lawyer who graduated from Howard and Harvard, Roberts possesses a refreshing naivety that refuses to recognize defeat. As a savvy election-day organizer, Roberts could pull an upset. Let's hope.

Rounding out my slate of challengers are a couple of at-large candidates for whom I have special admiration. Poets, it's been said, are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. So it's time for Matt Ruben and Caryn Hunt, eloquent wordsmiths and grassroots activists, to take their rightful place in City Council. As anti-casino activists, both helped provide the rhetorical firepower to fight this menace. Their vision of just and inclusive development should be widely heard.

In Philly, challengers have it tough. By tradition, incumbents are automatically backed by the Brady bunch. So if your committeeperson is just another foot soldier for the machine, hand back his handout, go into the booth, and cast your own vote.

(bruce@schimmel.com)