Wednesday, October 19, 2005

A better option for the open Council seat?

Philadelphia City Councilman David Cohen's recent passing has left more than half of his term unfinished, with no strict requirement for how that vacancy should be handled. The main argument in favor of calling a special election is to prevent it's remaining open for two years and to guarantee the maximum number of voices on important bills (especially the anti-pay-to-play measures) coming before the Council in that interval; a primary advocate of this approach has been the Committee of Seventy (see here). The main argument against a special election is that it bypasses the usual primary process that allows real democratic consideration of possible candidates, and thus puts too much power in the hands of the Democratic City Committee to annoint the next holder of the seat (and confer incumbent advantage to that person in 2007); advocates of letting the seat stay open include the Daily News editorial page (see here). Many progressive groups also worry that the virtual appointment of a replacement would mean the installation of a new Councilperson whose views were substantially more conservative that those championed by Cohen.

FlorenceToday brings the announcement that Cohen's widow, Florence Cohen, would be interested in running for his Council seat. She worked closely with him throughout his decades in city office, and would be expected to advocate for most of the same causes and viewpoints that he represented. More importantly, from the viewpoint of political wrangling (and Bob Brady's digestion; see here), she has made clear that she is interested only in serving out the balance of her husband's term, and would not seek reelection in 2007. This could afford the city leadership an opportunity to fill the seat, reassure its liberal wing that its priorities are not forgotten, and sidestep the need to pick among the various inside candidates (each with different strengths and baggage) whose names have been bandied about over the last week. A safe out for everyone on the political front, and a chance for Cohen's office and family to bring a more natural conclusion to his contributions to the city. I hope that Council President Anna Verna will give serious thought to this opportunity.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a terrible idea...let the Cohen legacy of passionate yet totally ineffective advocacy go quietly into the night.

11:21 AM  
Blogger ACM said...

you'd rather have someone who is more effective in bringing about less worthy ends?!

11:27 AM  
Blogger DanielUA said...

Was he ineffective when he got wage tax reductions passed for the City's working poor?

3:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, I'd rather have somebody effective bringing about worthy ends, silly. Yes - the tax reductions for the working poor were the only thing that he's been effective at in the last few decades of his career, and I give him credit for that. Please, examine his record of accomplishment...there's not much there - he was great at being a liberal gasbag. Being an effective liberal adovacate who gets things done is great. Let's strive for the latter and end the Cohen legacy of passionate yet totally ineffective advocacy.

10:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some decent info from a very biased source. I mean no disrespect to Councilman Cohen as a human being, father, husband, etc. From what you've said, I can't discern whether he did much in his last couple decades...the overarching point for me is this: I really wish that people like Councilman Cohen (or T. Longstreth, Strom Thurmond) had the grace a dignity to leave public life when they didn't have the physical and mental stamina to give it 100%. I have no idea where you came up with the $1.5 billion for stopping the trash to steam program...it's my recollection that it cost the City money. Also, you didn't mention that he sponsored the orginal recycling legislation and then did apparently nothing in terms of real, effective legislative oversight as the program struggled (and continues to struggle). Not a bad buy, definitely cared about things, and accomplished some stuff; however, lets not annoint him for sainthood.

4:11 PM  
Blogger ACM said...

just came across a quote that this thread was reminding me of:

"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."
(Eric Hoffer)

9:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about this one: "ignorance is bliss"...this thread also reminds me of the children’s' tale, "The Emperor’s New Clothes""

4:28 PM  

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