‘Reform’ slate doubtful as Philadelphia primary nears

Philadelphia City Council has wrapped up its 2010 work and is now heading into an election year.  A host of candidates is considering challenging the incumbents in the spring primary.

But voters looking for a formal “reform” slate may be disappointed.When Matt Ruben ran for a City Council at-large seat last time, he and about a dozen others were part of an informal reform ticket. 

Ruben said members publicly discussed their shared positions on big issues including casinos and campaign finance law, but the alliance didn’t turn into a formal thing.”If there ever was going to be a formal reform ticket it probably would have been last time,” Ruben said, “because of the tremendous momentum for reform, because it was a mayoral election year, because there was no incumbent mayor.  This was widely perceived by people all over the city to be a transitional time for Philadelphia …  2011 is different.”  Ruben declined to comment on whether he will run again.  He said for it to be worth the candidates’ time and effort to create a formal slate, they’d probably need to expect to get more votes or more money.

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