FightforRoom215

When the phone fails

Sometimes, the political props come easy.

Michael Nutter got a feel for what public transit commuters go through daily, unable to use his cell phone before the start of a press conference to unveil his emergency management plans.

From Brian X. McCrone's report inside Suburban Station:

 

“I can’t even call a campaign aide,” an exasperated Nutter said.

He then used the temporary communications blockage to began talking about his emergency preparedness and management policy, which calls for an improved communications system for police and firefighters and the establishment of separate command center outside of Center City.

Nutter's plan calls for finally fixing the radio communications issues plaguing the police and fire departments, building a new joint operations center outside of Center City, modernizing city codes to give the government the powers it would need to protect lives and property in a natural disaster or terrorist attack, improving the emergency preparedness of the city's ports and implementing the 200 recommendations made by the Emergency Preparedness Review Committee.

More:

Metro: Nutter: City is ill prepared

Abraham backs Brady

While someone out there ran a poll to see how strong D.A. Lynne Abraham would be as an independent candidate for mayor, she stood with Bob Brady yesterday and endorsed the congressman in the Democratic primary.

From Metro's Brian X. McCrone:

CITY HALL. District Attorney Lynne Abraham today announced she is not only
endorsing mayoral candidate and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, but that she will also
be active in campaigning for him.
“Bob has a stellar record in Congress on voting and introducing legislation
that is supportive of the District Attorney's office,” Abraham’s political
consultant Eleanore Dezzi said following the afternoon announcement at City
Hall. “He's been supportive on gun legislation...and gets money for gun
control initiatives. Lynne has reviewed every crime plan and Bob Brady has
the best plan.”
Abraham, who has already said she will not seek re-election in 2009, said
she will campaign with Brady and talk up his experience as a longtime
representative of Philadelphia on Capitol Hill.

She said at the press conference that she wasn't backing Brady solely for political purposes.

”I’m not for sale, to anybody, for any price. I’m my own person. I make up my own mind. And I don’t believe in political paybacks just for the idea of political paybacks. This is not a payback.”

(Photo, above, from KYW1060.com)
KYW: Phila. DA Endorses Longtime Political Ally Bob Brady for Mayor

Metro: DA endorses Brady

Another poll puts crime at top

Even the city's young voters consider crime the top issue in the mayor's race.

A survey conducted by the Young America PAC, Young Involved Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's Young Professional Network found that crime/gun control and criminal justice came in as the top thing on the minds of the 489 adults polled.

The top issues following crime were mass transit, economic development, education and early education, and job growth and retention.

Phillips joining Brady

Kate Phillips, Gov. Rendell's lead press spokesperson, is taking a leave from Harrisburg to join the Bob Brady campaign.

Brady has been trying to woo Phillips since January, she said. She said he called Rendell and got his blessing, but stands firm that Rendell isn't going to endorse any of the Democratic candidates in the five-way field.

"He's a very persuasive person," Phillips said this afternoon. "I like him quite a lot. I like his message, I like his agenda. I think he has the right personality, the right strengths to run the city properly."

She said she plans to return to Rendell's staff after the primary but didn't rule out serving for a Mayor Brady.

Beam him up

Chaka Fattah released his technology policy plans today at the Honickman Learning Center in North Philly, a beautiful new building loaded with computers and technology used both by neighborhood children and adults (on a street lined with Sharif Street for Council campaign posters, no less).

Fattah's plans address modernizing school classrooms, improving access to computer technology to all, using interactive computer technology to improve city services (he mentioned 3-1-1 and handheld Palm devices that neighborhood groups and block captains could use to report problems), and working to support local tech companies.

Among some of the more interested promises, Fattah says he will do his best to beam himself to the computer desktops of all of the city's schoolchildren weekly to "highlight for them the successes of Philadelphians who sat in the same school rooms as they do today." 

Leavng the policy script for a minute, he also said he'd try to provide GPS technology for parents to track their children (think GPS sensors in bookbags) and also put web cameras in city classrooms so parents can keep an eye on their kids throughout the school day.

"If students know that their parents are watching, children might act differently," Fattah said.

"True that," said one of the men sitting next to a bank of fresh Dell desktops.

More:

Metro: Fattah unveils technology agenda

Rough road to negotiations?

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah says he would work to raise police wages if elected mayor. The way to get that done, he says, is through negotiating a police contract, rather than using salary arbitration.

“We need to do something in terms of providing more wages. ...That will be part of what I’m interested in the upcoming contract negotiations. Usually they use arbitration but I want to see if we can negotiate the contract for once. …We need a well-motivated force and we need it to be well compensated.”

Fattah’s first step, though, would be smoothing his relationship with the Fraternal Order of Police. The FOP has made it clear that they are not fans of the congressman for his views in support of convicted cop killer/death row cause celebre Mumia Abu-Jamal.

FOP boss Bobby Eddis said last year that they would work against Fattah and lobby local labor unions to not support Fattah.

"We know who we’re not going to endorse…That would be Chaka Fattah because he’s
pushed for the retrial of Mumia," Eddis told Metro's Brian X. McCrone in November. "And we’re going to be asking our fellow labor organizations to support us [in this initiative]."

UPDATE: Fattah said this afternoon that his campaign has since met with the FOP and would work to get them to the table to discuss a contract, rather than using a third-party arbitrator.

"The FOP has endorsed me in almost every election I’ve run in. We have one disagreement about one matter. Adults are going to have disagreements. ...There's one thing we don't agree on. There's 99 other things we do agree on."

Tough spot for Timoney

Dwight Evans made it clear the day he entered the mayor’s race in December that he wanted to bring Miami police chief John Timoney back to the top of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Evans’ early call for Timoney’s return is unfair to the man that ran the police here from 1998 to 2001, according to Bob Brady. Brady said he has talked with Timoney and other police bosses, including Upper Darby’s Michael Chitwood (a Philly legend), but that committing to bringing one in when and if he’s elected puts the person in too tough a spot in his current job.

Evans said at the St. Joe’s crime forum Thursday night that he still wants Timoney here, but admits that Timoney hasn’t said yes to the idea.

Primary Concerns, Vol. 2: Crime

Today’s Metro Primary Concerns takes a look at what is, and always will be, the No. 1 issue in a
Philadelphia mayoral race: Crime.

All five of the major Democratic candidates have either released or stated their plans to address the city’s rising murder rate (406 slain last year).

The candidates call for hiring 500, no 1,000, new cops.

They call for programs to remove illegal guns, to address the few and far between job opportunities for the city’s lower class. Drug treatment. Redistricting of police boundaries.

Many of their plans read the same, but each candidate puts a different spin on at least some aspect of what would be their crime-fighting philosophy: Mayor Nutter would call a state of emergency in the city’s hotspots; Mayor Brady wants a cabinet-level position for faith-based initiatives; Mayor Fattah would work to beef up the city’s homicide division and try to get the FOP to agree to negotiate a new contract, rather than use arbitration; Mayor Evans would push for John Timoney return to the commissioner’s post; Mayor Knox would create a secretary for public safety to oversee the fight against crime and work to redistrict the police department.

Hear from the candidates directly here,  and a look at what the experts think here. Check back throughout the day for more on the candidates' stances on crime.
 

Coming Monday

Four of the five Democratic candidates plus Republican Al Taubenberger are scheduled to be on hand Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Central High School for the Power of Student Voices forum. Committee of 70 head Zack Stalberg will moderate.

Chaka Fattah is scheduled to unveil his "Fattah Technology Plan," which will help the City to better utilize its technological infrastructure, increase access to technology for all Philadelphians, and help to grow technology-related businesses in Philadelphia. That press conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs, 1936 N. Judson St.

The Chestnut Hill Community Association will host a 7:30 mayoral forum at the United Cerebral Palsy Center, 102 E. Mermaid Lane.

Ruben's on Ruben

With Michael Nutter giving out Nutter Butters, it's only natural that at-large Council candidate Matt Ruben would give out Rubens, right?

Ruben's campaign kick-off event is Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at Liberty Lands Park and he'll then feed his supporters with the namesake deli sandwich at his new campaign office. It's 212 Fairmount Ave. if you're hungry.