In case you wondered whose interests they protect

Bob Brady makes clear where his priorities lie -- personal survival over party, state, city... Doesn't make you that excited to have him pulling the regional strings, does it?

Let the gasses run wild!

More bad news on the frakking front: municipalities to be denied any say over how gas is extracted, companies to be granted emininent domain, little people to be screwed in every possible way.

ACM's general election guide for November, 2011

This is a bit of a sleeper election, with lots of uncontested elections and judicial retentions -- however, there are three races where a smattering of votes can really make a difference, and surprisingly, two of those involve Republican candidates.

• At the top of the ballot are two state-wide judicial races that are likely to be close. Especially important is the Commonwealth court, which is likely to handle critical cases on political redistricting and on Marcellus Shale development. Getting a sane candidate in there is thus important, and Kathryn Boockvar (D) needs every vote she can get. While you're up there, pick David Wecht (D) for Superior Court, which handles appeals of everyday criminal and civil cases from the city.
  
  
• City judges at all levels, not that interesting. For Common Pleas, I recommend Charles Ehrlich (D, R), Barbara McDermott (D), Kenneth Powell (R), Carolyn Nichols (D), Diana Anhalt (D) based on meeting them in the spring.
  
  
• Mayor, Nutter is the only real choice. Maybe the economy will recover and give him a chance to do more than tread water -- here's hoping!
  
  
• City Commisioners: this is the second really important race this fall, as crusty insider Marge Tartaglione, who ran city elections for the last 50 years, has finally been ousted and replaced by reformer Stephanie Singer, who promises to modernize that office and let some fresh air in. However, she'll do that best by being chair of the Commission, which requires some political maneouvering to guarantee an alliance. Her Democratic teammate (virtually guaranteed election) is backed by the machine, who has also picked a Republican insider to vote for him as chair; instead, please punch the button for Al Schmidt (R), who is a GOP upstart likely to help Stephanie become chair and get the job done. This is a rare chance to really make a change in city politics and functioning, and we need to make it happen.
  
  
• Sherrif: Jewel Williams is a shoo-in, although Cheri Honkala (Green) has gotten a lot of progressive endorsements too based on her work with the homeless and embattled in Kensington.
  
  
• City Council At-Large is the third of my marquee races. The 5 Democrats are in no danger, so the interest comes in the narrowing of the Republican field from 5 to the final 2. In this case, there appear to be two that really stand out, Dennis O'Brien, who was the compromise State House Speaker when the Democrats squeaked out a slim majority a few years back, and David Oh, who has shown himself able to work with Democrats on a handful of issues (not least immigration) where the rest of his party is intransigent on all. Really, just having Johnny Doc spending a fortune on negative mailers aimed at him could be seen as endorsement enough! I recommend sparing a couple of your votes for one or both of these guys. (The lowest-scoring Democrats usually get 2-3 times the votes of the top Republicans here, so you're not endangering anybody by doing it, and a few votes go a long way in such a case.)
  
  
• Retention judges give me crossed eyes, but I think it's best to OUST those that aren't given Bar qualification: in this case that means a vote AGAINST James Lynn (Common Pleas), Robert Rebstock (Common Pleas), and James DeLeon (Municipal).
  
  
• Yes on the (two) ballot questions from me.

Hope to see a few of you at the polls!

Pennsylvania to split its electoral votes in Presidential elections?

I don't mind the idea of going to a popular election, rather than the arcane electoral system we have now, but I'm not sure I want Pennsylvania to go it alone in that direction, leaving the electoral tussles to everybody else (and empowering the minority party in the state). Um, can we nip this in the bud??

We know him best

Shouldn't residents of his one-time home state get a veto on a Santorum Presidential run? Talk about chilling! (Then again, maybe popularity at the polls doesn't pick Presidents anyway, heh.)

Don't forget -- It's time to pick City Council!

ACM's Voter Guide for May 17 Democratic primary

Yes, there's an election tomorrow! Which, if nothing else, may reshape City Council for the next decade. With all the government functions being pushed down from federal to state and local levels, this means a lot of important decisions may fall upon the shoulders of the people we elect this year. Nevertheless, low turnout is expected, so anybody who cares needs to get their vote logged!

I offer the following thoughts, listed in order of regional importance, rather than ballot position (which often delays the races we care about to the very end):

City Council, At-Large (5 votes allowed)

None of the incumbents is terrible, but few of them are inspiring either. For my money, Bill Green deserves a second term on the basis of his attempts to help make the city's business taxes make sense for both small businesses that live here and large corporations that hide elsewhere but do a lot of trade here. He's much more progressive in general than I expected from his original machine support, so I'd like to see more. For new blood, I'd like to see Sherrie Cohen, a longtime community activist from the Germantown area (and daughter of longtime Council liberal flagbearer David Cohen) in office, as well as Andy Toy (who seems to have a lot of momentum this year, although I'm not sure I ever really see him between council elections). You might stop there, or consider Wilson-Goode and Reynolds-Brown to fill out the slate. (I know little about most of the other newcomers in the race.)

City Council, District reps. (1 in your area)

A lot of incumbents have stepped aside this year, so these races are where a lot of changes are guaranteed to happen. Some have several great candidates, others nobody I'd want to see in office -- so it goes. If you want to read more about the choices, the Committee of 70 has full lists and links to profiles/interviews here.

1. Jeff Hornstein stands out (over the listless Joe Grace, crazy Vern Anastasio, or machine-backed Mark Squilla).
2. No recommendation among Barbara Capozzi, Tracey Gordon, and Kenyatta Johnson, all underwhelming in various ways.
3. Incumbent Blackwell runs unopposed, sorry.
4. Incumbent Jones unopposed.
5. Incumbent Darrell Clarke challenged by Suzanne Carn -- I know nothing about this race or the challenger.
6. Martin Bednarek over Bob Henon (apparent Doc tool).
7. Maria Quinones Sanchez over Daniel Savage in a big way.
8. What a mess. Greg Paulmier by a nose over Cindy Bass (who appears to have accepted aid from a Voldemort-like figure in neighborhood politics), in a field including Andrew Lofton, Robin Tasco, Howard Treatman, and Verna Tyner.
9. I know nothing about the race between incumbent Marian Tasco and challengers Bobby Curry and Lamont Thomas.
10. Bill Rubin runs unopposed (incumbent is Republican).

Sorry I haven't been more attuned in all of the districts, but things have been interesting in the 1st (where DiCicco's departure was a surprise), and I've also been trying to figure out the 8th, where the departure of Reed-Miller left a huge vacuum and an overcrowded race.

City Commissioner

Stephanie Singer and Blair Talmadge offer a real chance to modernize this office (which oversees elections), looking to replace long-time incumbent Marge Tartaglione, who has continually resisted calls for change and has all the bad habits of the city political machine. (At our ward meeting, Tartaglione actually responded to the question of why she wanted the position for yet another term by saying some variant of: What else am I going to do, bump around the house? Out!) Singer, in particular, has been working to make the city's voter lists and election results more widely available and seems tailor-made for this position.

Sheriff

We're already way ahead because the incumbent has resigned. I favor Jon Kromer over Jewell Williams, but if either of those wins, the office will look pretty different in a few years!

Judge-a-palooza

There are judges at all levels running this year, including the usual heap of aspirants to Common Pleas. Here are my recommendations, drawn from a combination of organizational endorsements, surveys of regional lawyers, and the opportunity to hear from many of them in my Ward:

• PA Commonwealth Court (1 vote): Kathryn Boockvar


• Common Pleas (up to 10): Giovanni Campbell, Charles Ehrlich, Sayde Ladov, Carolyn Nichols, Kenneth Powell, Barbara McDermott, Daine Grey, Jr., Roger Gordon, Diana Anhalt


• Municipal Court (1 vote): Nycole Watson


• Traffic Court (1 vote): Robert Tuerck

Well, that about does it -- any other offices are unopposed or, you know, involve Milton Street, heh. Don't forget to vote!