South Philly Scrum

by Mary F. Patel

Even with Vince Fumo out of the race for the 1st District State Senate seat, there's plenty of nasty to go around in South Philly politics. State Rep. Bill Keller is preparing for a knock-down, drag-out with Christian DiCicco, son of City Councilman Frank DiCicco, in the 184th House District.

Keller was once an ally of Fumo, with whom the DiCiccos are close. But Keller and Fumo had a falling out years ago.

"Bill Keller is John Dougherty's hand-picked candidate," says Christian DiCicco. (Dougherty is business manager of the IBEW Local 98 Electricians Union and, until recently, Fumo's electoral rival.)

A former longshoreman, Keller was elected in 1993.

DiCicco says that Keller voted for casinos and is not doing enough to ensure that they stay out of the district and away from neighborhoods.

"I am not opposed to casinos," says DiCicco. But "I don't want the state having a say on where they will be. I would like to see casinos in some old industrial sites in the Northeast section."

Last year, Keller issued a joint statement on casino locations with state Rep. Michael O'Brien, which appears to contradict DiCicco's claim. It expressed concerns about traffic flow and infrastructure problems, as well as control over riparian rights.

Marty O'Rourke, Keller's campaign spokesman, calls DiCicco's comments "political nonsense."

"Bill is supported by many unions, including Local 98," he says of DiCicco's statements about Keller and Dougherty.

DiCicco says he has been spending a lot of time knocking on doors and has found that many residents do not know who Keller is. O'Rourke doubts that.

"Here's what Bill Keller is about: He's about creating jobs. He is the one who revitalized the ports for job creation for hundreds of workers." says O'Rourke.

DiCicco says he supports Gov. Ed Rendell's health care and prescription plans. (Rendell proposes that residents use state-sponsored insurance from private companies, and the state subsidize costs for low-income citizens. Paying for the plan would include a tobacco tax.)

DiCicco also wants to see projected home tax and wage tax relief.

Keller's last viable primary opponent was Mark Squilla in 2004. In that election, Local 98 supported Keller.

In order to focus on his campaign, DiCicco has resigned from his position as executive director of Citizens Alliance, the South Philly nonprofit that was founded by Fumo. Fumo was federally indicted last year on fraud and tax evasion charges connected to the nonprofit.

DiCicco says that Citizens Alliance had not been charged with any wrongdoing and that he was proud of the organization's cleanup work.

He says the nonprofit's accountant, Khalil Meggett, is now in charge of the agency. There is money in the treasury, he says, but he doesn't know how much. Local rumors had the till holding as much as $17 million, but the exact amount was not available by press time.

In Murphy's Craw

Last Friday night, city and suburban Republicans gathered at the Ben Franklin House for a fundraiser for Tom Manion, a retired Marine Reserve colonel who is running against incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy.

Murphy, whose district is in Bucks County, is running for a second term. He beat Republican incumbent Michael Fitzpatrick in 2006. Murphy is an Iraq war veteran. Manion served in Vietnam. His son Travis Manion was killed in Iraq last year, and he is part of the GOP national movement to beat Democratic freshman congressmen like Murphy.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter gave some brief remarks stating that he is committed to getting Manion elected. Manion spoke very briefly, said nothing about his opponent and thanked his guests for coming and pledged to do a good job in Washington.

Kevin Kelly, former head of the Young Republicans and a supporter of Manion, said that Manion simply used the event to thank supporters and that he would announce his platform very soon.

"Col. Manion left a half-a-million-dollar-a-year job at Johnson & Johnson to run for office to make a change," added Kelly.

Murphy, meanwhile, suffered a scathing book review in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer. Washington Post editor Carol Morello said Murphy's tome, Taking the Hill: From Philly to Baghdad to the United States Congress, offered no fresh insights, only sketchy anecdotes.

(rcpatel@aol.com)