Philadelphia Council races shaping up to be dramatic

With three sitting members of City Council headed for retirement, and others facing uncertain futures, Philadelphia's legislative body could be headed for a shake-up of seismic proportions.

Four years ago, three new members arrived in office and rattled the foundations of the 17-member Council, taking on such sacred cows as pension perks, row offices, and accepted tax policy.

If reelected, those freshmen - Bill Green, Curtis Jones Jr., and Maria Quiñones Sánchez - will be joined by at least three new members in January 2012. Incumbent Democrats Joan Krajewski and Donna Reed Miller will not run, and Republican Jack Kelly is expected to make his retirement official Monday.

With Mayor Nutter looking to have little competition in the May 17 primary, City Council, fresh off a 10 percent property-tax increase, with some incumbents sure to face fire over an embattled pension perk, will be where the action is. Nutter has not indicated whether he will push a slate of candidates friendly to his agenda.

Council members are paid $117,991 a year and serve four-year terms. Leadership positions pay more, up to $148,090 for president. The body is made up of 10 district and seven at-large seats, the latter elected citywide.

Already, candidates have been talking about repeating the first-ever, informal orientation that Green, Jones, and Sánchez volunteered for before taking office in January 2008.

Thomas H. Massaro, the former city housing director who organized the series of seminars on government operations and policy, said the trio benefited from the bond they struck.

"They were the first to enter Council with a group to collaborate with, instead of a group to compete with," Massaro said.

There still may be surprises before Feb. 15, the first day for candidates to file and circulate nominating petitions.

Council President Anna C. Verna, whose Second District covers parts of South and Southwest Philadelphia, has yet to declare her intention.

Some veteran observers say they believe Verna will not run, but even if she returns, her hold on the presidency is not guaranteed. The next two ranking Democrats - Majority Leader Marian B. Tasco and Majority Whip Darrell L. Clarke - have been drumming up support for their own runs at the presidency.

Verna said she had no intention of returning if not as president. But she also said she believed she would hold on to the seat if she does run.

Council's first female president, who succeeded John F. Street in 1999, is torn about her decision and how it will affect her legacy.

"There are some people that I really want to talk to," Verna, 79, said. She would face a rematch with lawyer Damon Roberts, whom she beat handily in 2007.

If Verna's out, former Green aide Marita Crawford is likely to get into the race, said John J. Dougherty, the electricians' union chief who said he would back her.

If Verna runs again, she fears she will become the poster child for the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), and its controversial use by elected officials.

With nearly 60 years of city service, Verna is in line for a DROP payment of nearly $585,000 in January 2012.

The law authorizing DROP says employees can amass monthly pension checks in an interest-bearing account, to be collected when they retire.

It also states those employees must retire within four years. Council members have determined, with opinions from two city solicitors, that they can run for reelection in November, collect their DROP payments in January, and retire for one day before their swearing-in.

Krajewski was the first to do that in 2008.

Of the Council members in the DROP program, Kelly and Miller will not exercise the loophole.

But Tasco (due $478,057 through DROP), Democrat Frank DiCicco ($424,646), and Republican Frank Rizzo Jr. ($194,518) intend to run.

Tasco, whose Ninth District covers much of Northwest Philadelphia, is regarded by observers as the most likely to retain her seat.

DiCicco, whose First District covers parts of Center City, South Philadelphia, and the river wards, has announced he will return his salary if reelected.

At least five candidates are snapping at his heels ahead of the Democratic primary, including Joe Grace, former mayoral spokesman for Street.

Also after DiCicco's seat are lawyer Vernon Anastasio, ward leader Mike Boyle, retired schoolteacher Karen Brown, and labor organizer Jeff Hornstein. Republican Lou Lanni, a retired Philadelphia police officer, said he would run.

The race for the two Republican at-large seats may be the most fascinating. With Kelly out of the race, it will be Rizzo against the world. Rizzo, because of his famed namesake and father, former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, is considered tough to beat.

Each party nominates five candidates for the seven at-large positions; that means the minority party is guaranteed two seats. The Democrats consistently take the first five spots, with the top two Republican finishers taking the two minority slots.

The field should be strong.

David Oh, who finished a close third to Kelly in 2007, has both Republican and Democratic support, and former mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger has citywide recognition. State Rep. Dennis O'Brien, former speaker of the state House, said he was leaning toward running, and Elmer Money, a hospital administrator from the Northeast is favored by dissident Republicans. City Council aide Tim Gerard has formed an exploratory committee.

All five Democratic at-large Council members - Blondell Reynolds Brown, W. Wilson Goode Jr., Green, William K. Greenlee, and James F. Kenney - plan to run. Some have openly worried about the anti-incumbency mood fueled by the economy and DROP, even though none of them is in the program.

Others looking at a run in the Democratic at-large primary are Lawrence P. Clark, Sherrie Cohen, Christopher Hayes, Donna Gentile O'Donnell, and Andy Toy.

The races to replace Miller and Krajewski are already dynamic.

Krajewski has thrown her support in her Sixth District, covering Port Richmond and parts of the Northeast, to Martin Bednarek, a former School Reform Commission member. Bednarek emerged as the front-runner after State Rep. Michael McGeehan bowed out last week.

But the Sixth has attracted interest from the electricians' union, whose chief political strategist, Bob Henon, said Friday he would make a run.

The electricians are expected to put their full campaign-finance machine behind Henon. "Bobby Henon will have everything he needs to run one of the best campaigns this city has ever seen," Dougherty said Friday. Sandra Stewart has declared for the Republican nomination.

In Miller's Eighth District, a crowd is gathering. Cindy Bass, a policy adviser to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Phila.), has committed to run, as have former ward leader Greg Paulmier and Verna Tyner, a community leader in Tioga and former aide to Council members David Cohen and Greenlee. Andrew Lofton, a Mount Airy native, is making his first run for office. Latrice Byrant, an aide to Goode; and Derek Green, legislative counsel to Tasco, have also indicated an interest.

Incumbent district Council members are usually tough to beat, and Clarke appears to have a firm grip on his Fifth District in North Philadelphia and Center City. He is being challenged by Suzanne Carn.

In West Philadelphia's Third District, Democratic Council veteran Jannie Blackwell is taking seriously a challenge from Alicia Burbage, a former aide to State Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Phila.). Burbage owns a shoe store in the district.

Jones' Fourth District, which includes parts of West Philadelphia, Roxborough, and Manayunk, appears to be secure, with no candidates listing campaign committees yet.

His fellow freshman, Sánchez, may have more trouble in a rematch with former Councilman Daniel Savage, a ward leader who lost to Sánchez in 2007 after winning a special election in 2006.

Minority leader Brian O'Neill, a 31-year Council veteran, should cruise through the Republican primary, with excitement reserved for the November election against Board of Elections supervisor Bill Rubin, who is expected to declare his candidacy later this month.