September 4-10, 2003

city beat

Gale Warning

The Summer of Their Discontent

by Daryl Gale

Reporters all over town are rubbing their hands with glee and editors are sharpening their blue pencils while unions and civic and political organizations are lining up to endorse the candidates of their choice. Itís just after Labor Day, the unofficial kickoff of the campaign season. The summer, weíre told by pundits, is dead politically, but you wouldnít know that if you spent the summer in Philadelphia.

First there was the mayor's always entertaining brother Milton, who was shocked and appalled that anyone would question his no-bid contract for airport baggage carousel maintenance, despite the fact that he had no experience, no employees and not the first clue as to how to fix one of the damn things.

Then, Street campaign spokesman Frank Keel's wife thought it would be a good idea to write scathing anti-Katz letters to the Daily News using her maiden name and a phony address. While there's no evidence to suggest that Street knew anything about Milton's contract beforehand, or was privy to Mrs. Keel's letter-writing campaign, the mayor was left holding the bag. The good news for Street is, the controversy over that stuff didn't last long. The bad news is, it was replaced by a new controversy.

In an effort to tout his pet project, Operation Safe Streets, the mayor visited a former drug dealer at a North Philadelphia block party. The idea seemed sound enough: Here's a guy who says that thanks to Operation Safe Streets, the drug business became unprofitable. He folded up his illegal operation, he said, and opened a custom-painted T-shirt business. A heartwarming story, the mayor's people thought, and a rock solid photo op. Problem was, the dealer still had pending drug charges hanging over him. In the cold reality of politics, the mayor appeared to be giving tacit approval to a guy who sold poison, thumbed his nose at the law and, whether reformed or not, hadn't yet paid his debt to society. Oops.

Sam Katz hasn't had the benefit of a quiet summer himself. After being questioned regarding what he'd do about the astronomical auto-insurance rates charged to Philadelphia drivers, Katz was forced to slink away when it was revealed that he sits on the board of Erie Insurance, one of the main gougers. Double oops.

There's also the matter of last week's firebomb that wasn't, and the largely unspoken matter of race.

According to a Keystone Poll conducted this spring by Millersville University titled The Philadelphia Mayoral Race: Differences in Black and White, nearly three-fourths of African Americans in Philadelphia say they're voting for Street, and about three-fourths of whites say they'll vote for Katz. Those numbers broke down similarly in 1999, when just over 70 percent of blacks voted for Street, and just over 70 percent of whites voted for Katz. But that seems to be where the similarity ends.

While 57 percent of blacks say the city is headed in the right direction, only 37 percent of whites agreed. And where 47 percent of blacks answered that Philadelphia is a better place to live now than it was when Street took office, only 16 percent of whites polled made the same claim.

So far, though, the differences of opinion have remained just that, and haven't resulted in open polarization of the city along racial lines.

Just last week I wrote about the Urban Professionals, a group of young black movers and shakers who are throwing their support to Katz, and all summer I've been meeting white folks who proudly display their John Street campaign buttons.

The campaign is divisive, to be sure, but I think in a good way. At least it has been so far. The battle lines have been clearly drawn, and there's room for healthy debate, the cornerstone of democracy. You can dislike Street's personality and still think he's a fine mayor. You can like Katz's optimism, but wonder about his ability to run a major city. As both candidates said following last week's Molotovgate, civil people can disagree without trying to blow each other to smithereens.

I wish I could say that the campaign season will be filled with good cheer and eloquent civil disagreements, but somehow I doubt it. If you think the summer was fun, hang on for autumn. Most polls show that in general, people hate the name-calling, the shameless backstabbing, and the mudslinging in the media that goes along with a major campaign.

Not me.

It means I get to keep my job for another couple of months.

Daryl Galeís weekly radio show, Dialogues, with co-hosts Rotan Lee and Bill Miller, is burning up the airwaves Fridays 7-10 a.m. on WURD (900 AM) in Philadelphia.