- Pennsylvania Among 'Terrible 10' Most Regressive Tax States
- February 4 Non-Partisan Training: HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013: HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Republican Governors Opt-In to Medicaid Expansion
- The Reports of Unions' Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
- Ask Allyson Schwartz to run for Governor
- Mind the gap: Opting Out of Medicaid Expansion Leaves Low-income Families Behind
- Jan. 14 Workshop:HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013; HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Seth Williams on Guns, Jasmine Rivera on School Closures @PFC Meetup Wednesday
- PA Revenue Strong Midway Through Year; Tax Cut Could Have Big Impact
- What to Make of the Fiscal Cliff Deal?
Philly for Change Endorses More Candidates for City Council!
Submitted by Jen Murphy on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 11:39am.
At their monthly membership meeting last night, Philly for Change endorsed six more candidates running for City Council:
Irv Ackelsberg - 8th Councilmanic District (CD)
Blondell Reynolds Brown - At-Large (AL)
Derek Green - AL
Matt Ruben - AL
Marc Stier - AL
Andy Toy - AL
These candidates join the three that were previously endorsed at last month's meeting:
Vern Anastasio - 1st CD
Damon Roberts - 2nd CD
Maria Quinones-Sanchez - 7th CD
For those of you who are not familiar with Philly for Change, we are a progressive grassroots organization that is affiliated with the national PAC, Democracy for America. We seek to elect socially progressive and fiscally responsible candidates to all levels of office. We also work on progressive issues at the local, state and national level. As fun as our meetings are (and they are a lot of fun), our members are really about ACTION. We are the grassroots army that helped give Rick the Kick in November and elect Patrick Murphy to Congress. We were part of the Raise the Minimum Wage Coalition and will be working on health care issues at the state-level in the near future. Our primary focus currently is to elect a more progressive City Council in Philadelphia.
Next week kicks off a big week of action for our endorsed candidates. We will be phonebanking and canvassing in center city neighborhoods almost every day. Please join us! To volunteer at one of our upcoming events, please email Jen: jmurphy@pfcvotes.com
If you are not on our email list, please sign up at www.phillyforchange.com
5th
Will PFC be endorsing city council candidates for the other districts (specifically the 5th)?
Young Philly at South St.
The future looked real bright last night. I had a good time listening to all the candidates and judges running for office. Its good to see old and new friends. Hopefully we can endorse and elect the right people into office. It was nice to meet a few friends from YPP also. The fight is not over!!!!
Junior Williams
juniorwililams007@earthlink.net
http://mycityscapephily.eponym.com/blog
Fattah didn't answer my first Question last night
I asked Congressman last night about what he feels he could do for Philly as Mayor that he couldn't do as Congressman? He just went along with my question about charging tolls to enter Center City. I would have loved to hear his answer on that ....
Junior Williams
juniorwililams007@earthlink.net
http://mycityscapephily.eponym.com/blog
You probably should have
You probably should have asked what he did for Philly when he was in Congress. I'd love to here an answer to THAT question.
What about McClure in the 4th?
What about endorsing Matt McClure in the 4th? Or is there a move afoot by PFC to endorse Carol Campbell or Curtis Jones, neither of whom would represent any change.
Matt made a nice speech last month
But so did Curtis. I'm guessing they split the vote, resulting in no endorsement.
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that...you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!” -Mario Savio
Too bad Curtis and Carol.....
.....didn't care enough to answer Philly For Change's candidate questionnaire.
Is Brady too GOOD to hang out with us on South St.
I would love to have seen Mr. Brady last night. To have the crowd dig him a new one, but maybe he's too cool to hang out with us Progressive folk. What was the reason he couldn't show, signing legislature maybe? A lovely woman last night told me the reason that he didn't show was because he wasn't that good of a public speaker. I heard worst last night , but he still could have at least showed face. Fattah did!
Plus I would have like Fattah to elaborate more on this STOP and FRISK method he spoke about last night.
Junior Williams
juniorwililams007@earthlink.net
http://mycityscapephily.eponym.com/blog
Junior
"Nutter and Brady could have been there too. But I don't think Nutter or Knox was invited, not to my knowledge."
So if Nutter or Knox weren't invited, would it also be plausible that Brady wasn't invited as well? Could it be that Brady had other events to attend to last night (keep in mind, there were like, 4 to my knowledge)?
Btw, Brady is far from being a terrible public speaker. Have you ever heard Tom Knox?
He was invited, and was
He was invited, and was scheduled to speak.
And as Lou stated
There was the city meeting he had to attend.
Thats fine, just letting you
Thats fine, just letting you know. And I could be wrong, but I also think he confirmed his attendance.
Thanks..
I wasn't trying to say that Brady wasn't invited. But junior also stated that Nutter and Knox weren't invited (that he knew of) so I was saying that couldn't it be possible that Brady wasn't invited as well?
I invited Michael myself
And he sent his regrets, saying he'd try to make it late.
Btw, is that not a BEAUTIFUL slate of council candidates? Can you visualize a City Council so beautiful? Doesn't this beautiful city deserve a City Council THAT beautiful?
I had a friend once who wanted to assemble such a slate, and don't think the Philly for Change Steering Committee didn't drop a few sweatdrops over who would end up earning our endorsement...but in the end a great group couldn't help but pick great candidates. Thanks to all our members who participated!
Now, what to do you say we progressives make the most of this historical moment and go out and get them elected?
(Nice to be back, btw)
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that...you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!”--Mario Savio
beautiful slate indeed
we are very lucky with the great candidates running for Council this year -- I agree that your slate (and Neighborhood Networks') is beautiful. let's get some of these folks into office!
whoot!
acm
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
— Margaret Mead
Brady Sent His Regrets
He was at the City Committee endorsement meeting. I left there to go to PFC. Congressman Brady asked me to tell PFC that he regretted not being able to come.
I gave this message to Jen Murphy as soon as I arrived and offered to announce it to the crowd. Jen said that she would do so at the appropriate time.
I had to leave PFC to go to an event in Roxborough and was not there when the Mayoral candidates were supposed to speak.
Brady
Last night was the policy committee meeting where candidates come to City Committee to seek the endorsement. This probably went until past 10pm and Brady Chaired the meeting. There is no one I have ever seen that Bob Brady is uncomfortable around. From Chestnut Hill to Port Richmond, from Swampoodle to Point Breeze, Bob Brady is at home with anyone.
Maybe its good to Move away ....
At least he was D.C. problem. Now he wants to come home and change Philly's future. Now he's our problem again. That whole " Im a Congressman sworn to uphold the Constitution" bit he did was the most boring bull---t I have ever heard. It was so fake but this is him shooting from the hip and not reading from a card. When you have to shoot from the hip, they say children say the darndest things?
But it was good to see him none the less. Nutter and Brady could have been there too. But I don't think Nutter or Knox was invited, not to my knowledge.
Junior Williams
juniorwililams007@earthlink.net
http://mycityscapephily.eponym.com/blog
Just to clarify...
There seems to be a bit of confusion about which candidates were "invited", on the ballot, etc. So let me clarify a few things:
1. All of the mayoral candidates were invited to participate in Philly for Change's/ADA's mayoral form that took place at the end of January. While Fattah, Evans, Knox and Nutter all confirmed that they would attend (Brady was teaching a class that day and had not yet officially declared), only Knox and Nutter actually showed up. Evans sent his regrets because he had to attend a funeral and Fattah backed out last minute because Brady wasn't going to be there. Fattah's campaign then called and expressed their apologies about not attending and asked to speak at a meeting. I scheduled Fattah to speak at the April meeting. Brady's campaign also requested to appear in front of our group, so he was scheduled for April. Brady's campaign called me early in the week to say that it looked unlikely that he would be able to come to the meeting but that "he made us a promise, so he would really try." They said they would send a surrogate if he couldn't make it, but nobody showed up.
In addition to the January forum, both Knox and Nutter have spoken at Philly for Change meetings in the past.
April's meeting was not a "mayoral forum" - it was simply an opportunity for those running to address the PFC crowd who had not yet done so. (I invited Evans but his schedule was booked).
2. As for endorsements, Curtis Jones, Jr did speak at our March meeting, along with Matt McClure. Carol Campbell never returned our emails/calls. Matt McClure sent his questionnaire in on time, so his was listed on our website. Curtis Jones Jr sent his in quite late, so while there were copies at the meeting for those who wanted to read through it, his q was not posted online. His campaign claimed that they did not actually receive the questionnaire and that is why it was not returned earlier. So on the endorsement ballot for the 4th was Matt McClure, Curtis Jones, Jr., and no endorsement. Neither candidate recieved the necessary 60% for endorsement, so there was no endorsement in that race.
3. As for more council endorsements, our endorsement committee will decide if we are going to hold a vote for endorsing in the 5th, but that has not yet been determined. Our endorsement committee will also send out their recommendations for the court of common pleas, and these will then be confirmed by the membership.
4. Now to Sam's point...Yes, THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL SLATE!!!! Get offline, people, and help get some of them elected! We will be phonebanking and canvassing almost every evening and weekend from now until Election Day, so ease your carpel tunnel syndrome and exercise those legs! Contact me or Sam to get involved. my email is jmurphy@pfcvotes.com
Get ready for 4 more years of..
Carol Campbell in the 4th. You guys crack me up, a progressive like McClure can't get 60% so there is no endorsement despite the fact that one candidate doesn't even give creedance to the existence of your organization (Campbell) and the other candidate doesn't even respect you enough to follow your very simple and reasonable rules (Jones). Despite all of that McClure can't get 60%? Jeeze, what must you have to do to get 60% of the vote?
While not currently having a
While not currently having a dog in the fight, and hearing good things about McClure, his speech at PfC was pretty bad. Curtis Jones' was pretty good. I know that in the context of a long campaign, that happens, and it certainly does not make me think McClure will be a bad Councilman. But, given the speeches in front of the crowd, I am not surprised he didn't get 60 percent of the vote.
Curtis Jones yells at an old lady
Curtis Jones and blowing $700K of federal money from Fattah
Not even going to get into the civil liberties issues of having a private group monitoring and recording public activity.
Like I said, given the
Like I said, given the performance in front of the group, I am just not surprised.
I will agree with you there.
I will agree with you there. Sometimes I am surprised on how much people underestimate public speaking.
suggestion for improving the endorsement process......
I really hope that PFC voting members didn't judge Jones or McClure (or any of the other city council candidates for that matter) based on a single appearance in front of the group. I know free time is precious, but if hearing the candidates speak in public is important, my recommendation would be that in 2011, that PFC members try to get out into the districts and attend some of the neighborhood specific forums that the candidates are attending. You unfortunately won't find Carol Campbell at these, because she refuses to deal with the public and has snubbed every single candidates forum to date, but you would see McClure and Jones, who both deserve credit for showing up for all of them as far as I've heard.
If you would have attend the 21st Ward Community Council meeting on Wednesday, for example, you would have seen a McClure speech that was interrupted by applause multiple times when he mentioned specific issues that mattered to the people of Roxborough. And, in my opinion, he gave a far more passionate and persuasive than neighborhood favorite Michael Nutter who spoke to the group later in the evening.
And I hope no one takes this suggestion as a by-product of sour grapes. I personally could care less who PFC endorses, and still think its debatable whether their endorsement matters in district races. I'm merely suggesting that PFC takes multiple opportunities to evaluate candidates.
PFC has a democratic process
Ah Frank...your progressive high horse stuff is so funny. You say:
There were over 50 voting members of PFC. To vote, you have to have attended, I believe, two previous events. No one got 60% in the 4th district race.
It's a democratic process--there was no cabal in place pushing votes. You guys lost. Don't be sour grapes about it, it makes you look petty.
Phriedman for Change
"Phriedman for Change", or as it's commonly known "PFC" endorses McClure for 4th District. But seriously, it's a no brainer. He's one of the young, change-oriented leaders who is going to move this City forward.
Thanks for pointing out my typos
Guess I should have spell checked my last post...oh well.
First of all Ray, I'm one guy don't tell me that the campaign looks petty and has sour grapes, I do not now, nor have I ever spoken for the campaign.
With that said, I guess if the reason why neither McClure nor Jones were endorsed is their lack of public speaking talents PFC should want to endorse great political extemporaneous speakers...lets see...Reagan, MacArthur, Rizzo, Street, maybe even some Russian and/or German facists (I'm hoping you're old enough to understand my references). My point, without putting to fine a point on it, is that while public speaking is important, if that's really the largest portion of the criteria, there is a problem because some of the world's greatest public speakers have been bad, bad non-progressive leaders.
I don't think you understand
50 individuals with voting privileges decided on who got endorsed. Matt submitted a questionnaire, Curtis submitted one later, both spoke.
No one knows why the 50 individuals voted the way they did, but the fact is, not enough voted for your guy to make a difference.
That's democracy man.
Ah yes democracy
Well I'm glad 50 people voted. That will be more people that will get out to vote in some of the divisions in the 4th.
I understood why he didn't get endorsed (i.e. he didn't get 30 votes), I just question why he didn't. If its because he didn't give a great speech, read my last post. If its because people think Curtis is the better candidate, read my post 2 posts ago.
The question is why, given the 3 people on the ballot, a group called Phila for Change wouldn't endorse the only candidate who actually represents change?
Again
You keep confusing things. Philly for Change is a group, but it's made up of individuals. Attacking the group seems like an odd way to build support for your guy. If you really want the answer to your question, I guess you would have had to come to the meeting, in real life, and talked to the people individually who were voting and find out what they thought.
I know it's a lot easier to say on a blog that your guy is for change and then expect that Philly for Change will endorse him, but that's not the way it works in the real world.
Meanwhile, as PFC steering committee member, I think our process is very fair and open, and it's open to anyone to participate.
Don't be so defensive
I'm not attacking the group or its members. Nevertheless, given the group's stated goals, I'm trying to understand two things: 1. Why wasn't McClure endorsed (other than he didn't get the requiste votes) and 2. What more did the group (and yes I understand that all groups are made up of individuals) want to hear from McClure (or Jones for that matter) that might have made them endorse.
Since you are apparently a person of some import in the group, perhaps you could give us your personal answers to my questions and then perhaps enlighten us as to any discussions the group may have had regarding this endorsement.
I have no doubt that your process is fair and impartial and I am not trying to blog in an effort to garner McClure a late endorsement (the vote has taken place and that's that). I'm just trying to understand the thinking.
I love Andy Toy
Well it was about time that Any Toy was added to our endorsement list!!! He is soooo great! He is my favorite so if you guys have not checked him out you totally should!!! This is a link to his campaign website www.andytoy07.com