June 2- 8, 2005

city beat

Sticker Shock

everywhere signs: Though nobody's yet declared their campaign intentions, the 2007 mayor's race has already hit the streets. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

The mayoral primaries are 23 months away, but it's never too early to brush your teeth with Dock.

by Jenna Portnoy

Bright yellow "Saidel for Mayor" stickers are plastered on No Parking signs and utility poles in Queen Village. "Dock 07" messages have spouted up on everything from bartenders' T-shirts to football-shaped stickers distributed at an Eagles' pre-Super Bowl rally.

Even though the mayoral primaries are two years off, not-so-subtle political messages are already evident across Philadelphia. Though neither Jonathan Saidel, who didn't seek re-election as City Controller, nor electricians' union head John Dougherty have officially declared, behind-the-scenes fundraising and rallies have them at the forefront of the race to replace Mayor Street.

Dougherty isn't expected to commit one way or the other until Labor Day, but an active Draft Doc movement is touting him as the next mayor on tchotchkes ranging from beach towels to beer huggies.

The city charter says it's illegal for elected officials to campaign while in office, so lots of potential candidates are keeping quiet — for now. A few other possible contenders who aren't talking include state Rep. Dwight Evans and City Councilman Michael Nutter, who got a boost last week when the first of his ethics reforms passed. Councilpersons Jannie Blackwell, Blondell Reynolds Brown and James Kenney may also be interested in the city's top spot, but none have done public pre-campaigning on the scale of Saidel or Dougherty.

There's also been chatter about Councilman-at-large Frank Rizzo Jr. switching parties to run, but the candidacy of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., could whittle the field down to those who are really serious while clearing a path for Street to run for U.S. Congress.

Most recently, health insurance executive Tom Knox said he would run for mayor using $15 million of his own dough. Although he came in second to Street last cycle, Republican Sam Katz is still a possibility.

Canvassing the city at this incredibly early stage in a race that has no official competitors, Dougherty looks to have a head start. As business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 and head of the Redevelopment Authority, he has the connections to get the money. The goal of the enthusiastic Draft Doc movement is to "marshal the forces," says spokesman Frank Keel. "What the Draft Doc movement wanted to achieve was not big dollars. They're trying to add names and momentum and membership that is real, to show that there is base support out there for him."

According to Keel, supporters have spent about $100,000, nearly half their total purse, getting the word out through their mementos. At a $50-a-ticket event at Chickie's and Pete's, the DJD07 committee gave out foam footballs that read, "Birds in the Bowl 05, Doc in City Hall 07." Mike Neill, who grew up in "practically the same house" as Dougherty and works in the union's apprentice program, calls their latest toothpaste dispenser gimmick "a clever idea."

"People brush their teeth every day," he explains. "For the next two years, they'd be looking at it."

Jamie Fleet of Saidel's political action committee wouldn't say if Draft Dougherty's early work would put Saidel at a disadvantage. The group isn't claiming responsibility for the Queens Village stickers, either.

"It's flattering that someone holds Jon in so high regard that they would spend their own money to campaign for him," he says.

But at least one Queen Village resident doesn't view the yellow-and-black stickers as complimentary. It's bad enough, he says, that the 3-inch round stickers are up this early, but on city property?

"I don't want to see city funds being used to clean this up," the resident says. "They don't come off easy. I tried to remove one, it's near impossible."

When and if someone does scratch off a sticker, some lettering gets scraped off with it, making the sign useless. It costs between $75 and $100 to cover an aluminum panel with reflective lettering and hardware strong enough to last seven to 10 years, says Bob Wright, chief Streets Department engineer.

The city code says posters must come down 30 days after the election, but there's no indication of how early campaign paraphernalia can go up. Signs of elections past become a permanent part of the city landscape; graying stickers can be spotted throughout the city. If Saidel didn't post them, "it's not clear if he would be responsible for taking them down," says Chris Sheridan, research director for the political watchdog group Committee of Seventy.

Pundit and pollster G. Terry Madonna says he can't remember a time when there's been this much speculation this early about possible mayoral candidates.

"I don't think there's any front-runner at this point. There's been a lot of jockeying and positioning, but no one is really campaigning," he says. But they are filling the coffers. If they want to go on television, candidates could easily spend $1 million to $2 million, Madonna says. "The potential is there to have the most expensive Democratic mayoral primary in this city's history."

(Additional reporting by Mike Newall.)