Philadelphia Daily Record by The Public Record

Vol. II No. 38 (198)

Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia

April 6, 2011

Philadelphia

Shutdown Crisis

Daily Record

SEN. BOB CASEY joined with fellow Democrats today to plead with Speaker John Boehner to avoid a shutdown of the federal government on Friday. Story page 2.

Casey: Avoid Shutdown, Focus On Long-term Fiscal Challenges U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and 15 other moderate Democratic Senators today sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him to prevent a shutdown of the federal government that would hurt our country’s still-fragile economy and distract from the need to work together to address greater, long-term fiscal challenges. The Senators agree addressing the nation’s debt requires urgent action, and they added their voices to those who are extremely concerned a minority in the Republican Party are pushing for a government shutdown solely to assert a political point. “Knowing a bipartisan deal is within reach to cut tens of billions of dollars from current funding levels, it would be irresponsible to shut down the government and punish our constituents solely to assert a political point,” the Senators wrote. “We stand ready to resolve this short-term funding debate in a commonsense way and work with you on tackling the even more daunting fiscal challenges our country must confront. The American people expect no less.”

Casey joined his Democratic peers Mark Udall (Col.), Tom Carper (Del.), Michael Bennet (Col.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Mark Begich (Alsk.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Mark Warner (Va.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Jim Webb (Va.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Chris Coons (Del.) in sending the letter to Speaker Boehner. Not only would a shutdown distract Congress from focusing on a comprehensive, bipartisan approach to debt reduction, economists have warned it would stunt productivity, erode confidence in the US economy and hamper job growth, the Senators wrote. At a time when the economy is still recovering, they said, the federal government and Congress “should be single-mindedly focused on supporting economic development and job growth.” Senate Democrats have shown significant flexibility, they said, agreeing to Republicans’ original proposal to keep the government running through the year while protecting jobs.

Bipartisan Group Of Senators Introduces Bill To Continue Military Pay Casey also joined Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) as the lead Democratic cosponsor in introducing the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011 (S 724) to assure military personnel continue to be paid in the event of a government shutdown.

men and women put their lives on the line and sacrifice every day to ensure our security. They should not have to worry about getting paid on time. This legislation will make sure our service members are taken care of throughout this important budget debate.”

“While we continue to debate the budget here in Washington, we must do everything to ensure that our service members and their families get the support they deserve,” said Casey. “Our military

The Defense Dept. has yet to establish concrete guidelines as to how a possible shutdown would affect service members’ pay, but a draft planning memo did mention that all military personnel would

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be required to show up to work, regardless of whether they would be paid during the shutdown.

Lawmakers Call For Public-Integrity Commission State Rep. Curt Schroder (RChester), prime sponsor of HB 1200, has a growing group of supporters and legislators behind the bill which will form the Pennsylvania Public Integrity Commission. He said the bipartisan effort be6 APRIL, 2011

longs to all members of the General Assembly. He noted the founding fathers recognized people are not perfect and a state level mechanism for rooting out public

corruption is needed because even though the offenses have changed, the effect is the same.

hangs heavy over the heads of lawmakers and the Public Integrity Commission is a way to put an end to public corruption.

He said the culture of corruption

Parker Presses For Expert Testimony In Sexual Assault Cases State Rep. Cherelle Parker (D-Northwest) reintroduced legislation that would overturn the ban on expert testimony in sexual-assault cases. “This legislation is needed to provide jurors with the proper context in which to evaluate a victim’s behavior and overcome myths and misunderstandings about the behavior of victims in sexual crimes,” Parker said. Through the passage of HB 1264, Parker said expert testimony regarding any recognized form of posttraumatic stress disorder and counterintuitive behavior on the part of a victim would be admissible. Pennsylvania is the only state that explicitly bans expert testimony regarding the behavior of sexual-assault victims.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that in cases involving sex crimes, expert testimony improperly bolsters the credibility of victims and is therefore inadmissible. The court has ruled that because jurors must determine if a witness is telling the truth from the evidence, there is no need for expert testimony that addresses issues concerning post-traumatic stress disorder and other common psychological reactions to trauma. “I find that ridiculous, since it allows for jurors who may not have the background to determine what is behind certain behaviors and actions displayed by victims. Because many jurors may not be trained to make those determinations, I truly believe this process violates the victims twice. It is incumbent upon lawmakers to ensure that doesn’t happen, ever,” Parker said.

Hornstein Gets 5th Union Backer, Wants To ‘Make Philly Less Weird’ 1st Dist. City Council candidate Jeff Hornstein picked up the endorsement of one of the City’s most politically active unions, AFSCME District Council 47, his fifth major union endorsement, as he unveiled ‘Investing in Philadelphia’s Future’, his plan to grow the City’s economy and green business on the Delaware and to “make Philly less weird.”

with degrees from MIT and Penn who also organized workers for the American Federation of Teachers and SEIU, said the support of DC 47 was one of his biggest honors, and that his campaign is bringing together a winning team of progressives, labor, business owners, elected officials, ward leaders, committeepersons and hundreds of volunteers.

Hornstein, a business historian

Hornstein also has been endorsed

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by the State Council of SEIU, the Operating Engineers Local 542, Transport Workers Union Local 234, and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. He is supported by the District’s State Reps. Babette Josephs, Mike O’Brien and Tony Payton, as well as ward leaders in the 2nd, 5th and 31st Wards. “People are energized! They’re ready a Councilperson who’s earned the trust of progressives |

and unions, who champions small businesses and green businesses, and who will work every day to transform the Delaware waterfront,” Hornstein said, adding, “that’s what ‘Investing in Philadelphia’s Future,’ is all about.”

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“Investing in Philadelphia’s Future” addresses the potential, special challenges, and problems the City’s economy faces, while offering five solutions that involve changing the City’s tax structure,

pension funds, and vacant land dispersal policies while calling for investments in green business zones and a modern port. The plan calls for bringing the City’s taxes, zoning codes, and political processes in line with the best practices of competitor municipalities. It notes: “Investing in Philadelphia” can be accessed at http://www.jeffhornstein.org/action-plan/investing-inphiladelphias-future/.

Chamber Of Commerce Backs Savage Momentum continues to build for Danny Savage’s campaign in the 7th Councilmanic Dist. With six weeks remaining before the Primary Election, Savage has received the recommendation of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. “The need for more jobs and more support for small businesses is central to why I’m running,” said Savage. “I am proud to have the

recommendation of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce just as I am proud of the Savage for Council posters sitting in store windows across the District.” Savage has spoken out against his opponent’s proposed tax bill, which would give tax breaks to downtown businesses while increasing the burdens on neighborhood shops.

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Treatman Campaign Files Finance Report 8th Dist. Council candidate Howard Treatman filed his first campaign-finance report yesterday in City Hall. Although most municipal candidates were not required to file so soon, it was the first opportunity for Treatman to disclose his campaign finances since forming his campaign committee in February 2011. Treatman has called for fairer and more open elections in Philadelphia, and the filing is part of his commitment to THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

greater disclosure in City campaigns. “We’ve made tremendous progress in just a short amount of time,” Treatman said. “We didn’t need to file, but I believe in openness and greater disclosure, not only in city government, but also for campaigns. I’ve put in some seed money, and we’re raising more. We’ve received some very favorable press and deployed an 6 APRIL, 2011

The Philadelphia Public Record Calendar Apr. 7-

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Oak Lane Team introduces primary Democrat candidates to residents of York House, 5325 Old York Rd., 6-8 p.m. State Rep. Rosita Youngblood sponsors Career Fair at 1st Presbyterian Ch., 35 W. Chelten Ave., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. For info Dayne Cofer (215) 849-6426. Fundraiser for Jewell Williams for Sheriff at Dockside Condos Community Rm., 717 S. Columbus Blvd., 6-9 p.m. Catered by Kozy Kitchen. Contributions $50-$1,000. For info and to RSVP (267) 351-0709. Join Jerry Blavat “Geater with the Heater” at Beef & Beer for Common Pleas judicial candidate Fran Shields at Emerald Rm. of Sprinkler Fitters Union Ha., 14002 McNulty Rd., 7 p.m.-12.a.m. $45 per person, $80 per couple. For info Wayne Miller (215) 671-1692 or Tony Yanni (610) 8251121. Send contributions to Committee to Elect Fran Shields, Constitution Place, Suite #515, 325 Chestnut St., Phila., PA 19106-2614. Mark Squilla for 1st Dist. Council Fundraiser at Shooting Stars Club, 1931 S. 3rd St., 7 p.m. Tickets $30. For info Josh Cohen (267) 290-8836. State Rep. Cherelle Parker hosts College Fair at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Ch., Family Life Ctr., 2800 W. Cheltenham Ave., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Registration not required. For info (215)

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242-7300.

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8th Council Dist. candidate Suzanne Carns holds office grand opening at 2015 N. 29th St., 2-5 p.m. For info (267) 334-3916. Democrat 42nd Ward Candidates Night at Local 6 Bakery Hall, 5416 Rising Sun Ave. (enter on Lima St. through parking lot), 7-11 p.m. Music, food, dancing. Tickets $20, $25 at door. For info Elaine Tomlin (215) 457-4024. 7th Ward Democrats host Candidates

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Night at Palladium Night Club, 229 W. Allegheny Ave., 7 p.m.-12 a.m. Tickets $25. Includes buffet, beer, soda. For info Carol (215) 360-1524. Fundraiser for 2nd Council Dist. candidate Barbara Capozzi at La Stanza, 2001 Oregon Ave., 5-7 p.m. Portion goes to Pa. Breast Cancer Coalition. Sponsor $200, Guest $75. For info Stacey Goldman (267) 888-6045. Fundraiser for City Commissioner Joseph Duda at Phila. Quartet C. C., 1075 Southampton Rd., 6-8 p.m. Ticket $250. For info Republican City Committee (215) 561-0650. S. Phila. Business Ass’n hosts candidates at Waterfall Rm., 2015 Water St., 6:30-9:30 p.m. Open bar, buffet. Ticket $35. For reservations Reggie Lozzi (215) 336-1108. Grand opening of new 180th Dist. Office of State Rep. Angel Cruz, 3501 B St. in Mall. St. Patrick’s Day Parade Awards Ceremony at Finnigan’s Wake, 3rd & Spring Garden Sts., 6-9 p.m. Tickets $25. For info Mike Callahan (215) 983-7224. World Trade Ass’n of Phila. fundraiser for Autism Speaks, honoring 2011 Company of Year, at Cescaphé Ballroom, 923 N. 2nd St., Reception 6 p.m., dinner 7 p.m. Ticket $100. Call Deborah Ingravallo for information at 1 (856) 642-3957. Fundraiser for Derrick Coker, candidate for MC Judge, at Café Santa Domingo, 3547 N. 5th St., 5:30-8:30 p.m. For info call Iliana Renoso, 215740-5273. Fundraiser for Jeff Hornstein, candidate for 1st Council Dist., at AFSCME/Dist. 1199C Hall, 1319 Locust St. Hosted by Marty Tuzman, DC 47’s Cathy Scott and Rita Urwitz, and Wayne MacManiman, Jr., SEIU Local 32BJ. RSVP Dave O’Hara (257) 6031480 or Dave@jeffhornstein.org. |

aggressive field program.” The campaign finance report shows $90,576.27 cash on hand,

including $100,000 in loans from Treatman to the campaign and about $12,000 in expenditures. Treatman announced his candidacy

on Mar. 8, 2011 and the reporting period ended on Mar. 28, 2011.

Zoo To Be Powered By Green Energy The Philadelphia Zoo announced today GDF SUEZ Energy Resources, the retail energy business of GDF SUEZ Energy North America, will supply its electricity for the next two years, beginning with 25% of the Zoo’s electricity consumption offset by renewableenergy certificates. RECs represent the environmental attributes of electricity generated from wind, solar or other renewable power facilities. The RECs, which are Green-e® Energy Certified, will be donated to the Zoo by GDF SUEZ Energy Resources and will displace an estimated 3,195,990 lb. of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of taking

314 cars off the road. In utilizing the certificates, the Zoo will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage development of domestic sources of cleaner, renewable energy. “The Philadelphia Zoo is committed to making environmental responsibility and conservation part of our daily activities,” said CEO Vikram H. Dewan. “We have instituted a diverse range of programs and practices that help us do our part to reduce global warming and mitigate the effects of climate change on wildlife,” says Dewan. The Zoo’s plan is to establish the standard in this area.

Local Armenian Youth To Note Genocide Saturday Local youth representatives of the five Armenian churches and organizations in the Philadelphia area will mark the 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire with their annual Philadelphia Armenian Genocide Walk for Justice & Rally/Program this Saturday at 1 p.m., starting at the Art Museum and ending at Independence Visitor’s Center lawn in Old City.

A rally will follow the two-mile march. Keynote speaker is attorney Mark Geragos. In a landmark case, Geragos brought New York Life Insurance Co. to court to seek retribution for the life insurance policies of Armenian families that were victimized by the Ottoman Empire during the first genocide of the 21st century. The case settled with over $20 million in disbursements.

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6 APRIL, 2011

On Broadway, An Inspired Look At Middle-Aged Mediocrity

FROM LEFT, Jason Patric as Tom Daley, Chris Noth as “Phil Romano”, Keifer Sutherland as “James Daley”, Brian Cox as “Coach”, Jim Gaffigan as “George Sikowski” in That Championship Season. Photo by Joan Marcus by Adam Taxin and Robert Paci That Championship Season opened on Broadway in March, for a limited engagement through May 29 at Manhattan’s Bernard Jacobs Theater. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1972 following its original Off-Broadway debut, and then the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Awards for Best Play following transfer to Broadway in 1973. The play’s central theme is the mediocrity and cynicism that often accompanies the process of growing older. This theme is illustrated here by the lives of four former starters of a Lackawanna Valley formerPennsylvania-State-Champion basketball team 20 years after they achieved their moment of glory. 6 APRIL, 2011

The cast features Kiefer Sutherland, best known as the heroic star of the Fox drama 24, as frustrated junior high school principal “James Daley.” Chris Noth, best known for his role as “Mr. Big” on Sex and the City, plays wealthy businessman “Phil Romano.” Jason Patric, the son of That Championship Season’s playwright Jason Miller, plays James’s alcoholic brother “Tom Daley.” The cast is rounded out by Jim Gaffigan as the town’s mayor, “George Sikowski,” and Brian Cox (who has more than 50 film credits and who was named by Queen Elizabeth II as a Commander of the British Empire) as “Coach.” The play is set completely in Coach’s parlor, a protoman cave for the World War II generation replete with

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hardwood paneling; photos of Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Joseph McCarthy; a well-stocked gun cabinet; and, of course, the silver 1952 Pennsylvania State basketball trophy. That this decor feels like a throwback even by the standards of 1972 shows the singularity of time and place that was the Lackawanna Valley for pretty much the second half of the 20th Century: a place firmly rooted in its industrial past yet coming to the realization that its recent taste of decline will be followed up with several more heaping portions. Here gather the characters every year to relive their sterling moment and reflect on their relative success or failure in life’s larger competition since. Intertwined with the sense of mediocrity is the spirit of futility that has overcome all of the players. This sense of futility has most notably impacted Tom, who cloaks his aimlessness in an alcoholic haze and boasts of being scraped off the street in several cities, as well as Phil, the most outwardly successful of the group, who plows his strip-mining profits into the pursuit of friends’ wives and sports cars which he races in drunken flirtation with oblivion. It is somewhat jarring to note how washed up these characters are by age 38. Sutherland’s James seems a sort of bizarro Jack Bauer. (It must be somewhat fun for Sutherland, after saving the world so many times, with tremendous hyperbole, to play the Catholic equivalent of a schlemiel.) Convincing and complicated, James’s

character lingered the most of the five. Beaten by life and now haunted that all his potential has dissolved into mediocrity, he is the “weakness” center of the group and provides contrast to Coach’s power center. It is poignant to observe James realize, in desperation, that his only way up from the dead end of his juniorhigh principal position is via riding the political coattails of George, who faces a tough reelection fight and is only now becoming fully aware of his failings as both a politician and a husband. The political and social forces that swirl around the protagonists and intrude into the upcoming local election are developed adequately and convincingly. The desperation of the time butts hard against their faded glory in a world where industry exists to extract and politics serves to redistribute the declining wealth and power among those who still have it. That the competition in this world is zero-sum foreshadows the wreck the 1970s ultimately became for America. However, the play’s religious aspects and workingclass Catholic themes introduced by the playwright seem less crucial to the plot and almost grafted on. James’s expression of the continuous frustration of his desire to be something more than what he has become, which he attributes in large part to his devotion to his alcoholic father and brother over his own needs, seems a demonstration of the tension between Catholicism and worldly urgencies superior to any of Coach’s sermonizing about Jesuits.

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6 APRIL, 2011

SHERRI XANTHOPOULOS RUSSO will be representing Collegeville, Pa. in pageant.