Petitions, TV ads and Milton drama: NinetyNine’s mayoral campaign-coverage week in review
At high noon each Friday during Philadelphia’s mayoral-primary season, NinetyNine will post a roundup of noteworthy stories from the previous week. Miss a couple days of coverage, or just want to catch up over the weekend? We’ve got you covered.
From NinetyNine and NewsWorks:
— Reports from the Philly Board of Elections office on petition-deadline day: NinetyNine caught up with City Councilman David Oh, council challengers Matt Wolfe and Frank Rizzo Jr. and, among others, mayoral candidates Melissa Murray Bailey and Milton Street outside the County Board of Elections office on Tuesday.
— Tony Williams climbs into big rig, accepts Teamsters endorsement: At a car lot on Oregon Avenue near Columbus Boulevard on Monday, mayoral candidate Tony Williams climbed into the back of a tractor trailer and received the endorsement of Teamsters Local 107.
— Diaz pitches idea of a parent-led city school board: At a House Democrats hearing inside a Frankford middle school, mayoral candidate Nelson Diaz said Monday that he’d like to see the state-dominated School Reform Commission replaced by a local school board consisting of parents of public-school children.
— Diaz stumps for inclusionary zoning to expand affordable housing (Plan Philly): In a policy statement released Tuesday morning, Nelson Diaz said that if his mayoral campaign is successful he’ll push for a policy of inclusionary zoning that would require 20 percent of units in new apartment buildings to be set aside for lower-income residents.
— Philly GOP candidate for mayor a rookie to politics and new to the party: The race for Philadelphia Mayor has a new face, and she’s the only Republican on the ballot. Melissa Murray Bailey describes herself as between a millennial and Gen-X and says she’s running for mayor to bring some fresh ideas into the campaign conversation.
— South Philly stoop lady stalks Dave Davies in quest to learn more about local politics: In the first of a we-don’t-even-know-how-many-parts “Philly Politics 101” video series, “South Philly stoop lady” Patsy recently stalk-found WHYY’s senior political reporter Dave Davies at the 10th and Reed Acme supermarket. What then transpired was an enlightening discussion about ward leaders and the mechanics of Philadelphia elections.
— Corruption charges lead to war of words between Abraham, Kenney: When District Attorney Seth Williams announced charges against three additional current and former Pennsylvania lawmakers from Philadelphia in an ongoing corruption case Tuesday, mayoral candidate Jim Kenney wasted little time to take a shot at former DA, and primary foe, Lynne Abraham. She wasted little time in firing back.
— Labor Super PAC funds Kenney TV spot (Off Mic): A Super PAC heavily supported by organized labor has aired the first TV ad of the Philadelphia Mayor’s race, a positive spot supporting Democratic hopeful Jim Kenney.
— Abraham challenges rivals to reject super PACs (Off Mic): On the day that a labor-supported Super PAC emerged to support former Philadelphia City Councilman Jim Kenney for mayor, former District Attorney Lynne Abraham Wednesday challenged her rivals in the contest to sign a “people’s pledge” rejecting independent expenditure groups.
— 5 mayoral candidates answer 5 Chamber of Commerce questions about jobs and growth: The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce sent questionnaires to the mayoral candidates as part of the organization’s “Roadmap For Growth: A Vision for the City of Philadelphia.” As promised, the Chamber made the candidates’ responses public this week.
— Ousted as SRC chair, is Bill Green thinking about running for mayor?: When a former Philadelphia city councilman and the son of a former Democratic mayor changes his political affiliation to “no affiliation,” one has to wonder: Is Bill Green contemplating a run for mayor? Green said he’s just “keeping his options open.”
— Why did Ori Feibush cancel a Milton Street event at his Fairmount coffee shop?: For weeks, mayoral candidate T. Milton Street Sr. had been planning to hold a Tuesday night fund raiser at Ori Feibush’s OCF Coffee House in Fairmount. It was cancelled less than an hour before the scheduled starting time.
From elsewhere:
— A sobering look at Philly’s voting record (The Next Mayor): Should the question be: Why are so many people apathetic? Or should it be: What possible reason do they have to be engaged?
— Tax filings offer window into candidates’ lives (Inquirer via The Next Mayor): Nelson Diaz, Lynne Abraham, Tony Williams, James F. Kenney and Doug Oliver voluntarily released past returns to The Inquirer for review. All but Abraham released returns for 2011, 2012 and 2013. Abraham released only her 2013 return, her campaign explaining that it was representative of all years requested. Former State Sen. T. Milton Street Sr. declined to release his return. Angela Griffin, Street’s campaign manager, said Street was busy campaigning and would not entertain the request until after April 15.
— Education interests to pour money into Democratic primary (Inquirer via The Next Mayor): Public education funding, already a key issue in the race for mayor of Philadelphia, could eclipse other subjects of debate this year if an anticipated rush of spending by political groups overwhelms the campaign messages of the candidates. “Independent expenditure” groups, working apart from the candidates in the May 19 Democratic primary, could set the agenda for the race.
— Sam Katz, Bill Green and Milton Street Walk Into a Bar… (Citified): Recent developments in the mayoral campaign are making it far more likely that Philadelphia will see a legitimate contest this Fall.
— The Brief: Happy Ballot Challenge Season! (Citified): There are a couple ways to think about petition challenges: Some argue that they punish candidates with little money (and therefore fewer lawyers). Others say that candidates worth taking seriously should be able to comply with the law.
— One of these people will be your next mayor (Al Dia): After an eleventh hour dropout by Rev. Keith Goodman, there were still six Democratic candidates (and one Republican) who each filed over 1,000 petitions yesterday at City Hall. In addition to Rev. Goodman, mayoral candidate Juan Rodriguez also did not submit any petitions.
— Is Democratic mayoral candidate Milton Street really an independent? (Inquirer via The Next Mayor): Milton Street, a former state senator who served 26 months in federal prison for unpaid taxes before running for mayor in 2011, filed nominating petitions Tuesday to run again for mayor, as a Democrat. One problem: The city Board of Elections lists him as a registered “independent,” not a Democrat.
— Ferrick: Who will challenge Milton Street’s party affiliation? (The Next Mayor): Don’t pencil in the figure “six” in referring to the number of Democratic mayoral candidates. If anyone files a legal challenge to Milton Street’s right to run, he will be knocked off the ballot.
— Meet your 2015 mayoral candidates’ emoji: Williams, Kenney, Abraham, Diaz, Oliver and Street get animated (Billy Penn): Quality effort, but, for the record, I think so very much more could — nay, should — have been done with the T. Milton Street Sr. emoji.
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