Greens running with or without backing

Last week was the deadline for independent candidates to file for the November election, and three Green Party aspirants submitted their petitions to get on the ballot.

The problem is the party is endorsing only two of them.

Candidates seeking the Green imprimatur must attend monthly membership meetings and present their platforms. The members then vote on whether the candidates can carry the banner.

For the November election, the party has given its blessing to Cheri Honkala for sheriff and Richie Antipuna for city commissioner.

The third Green candidate, Brian Rudnick, is running for Council in the Eighth District without an endorsement.

Rudnick, a lawyer, librarian, and activist, is registered to vote as a Green, and he ran with the party's backing in 2007. He was going to run a write-in campaign in the fall, but he decided a few weeks ago to get on the ballot officially after the Greens showed little enthusiasm for his write-in effort.

"After they sort of dissed my campaign, I put on my website, 'Rudnick goes rogue,' " he said. "That really offended people."

Carol McLean, the Green Party membership secretary, said Rudnick circumvented the nominating process.

"I think we're going to have to take a look at this situation and decide what we're going to do," she said.

In a July 22 letter Rudnick provided to Heard in the Hall, party officials said they had limited resources and were concerned about Rudnick's write-in strategy and his "going rogue."

For those reasons, his candidacy wouldn't be on the agenda of the party's July meeting. Perhaps the two sides can make up this month.

Of the seven candidates who submitted petitions last week week to run as independents for mayor and Council, four could be considered repeat customers.

Alicia R. Burbage, Rhaim Dawkins, and Francis J. Graff Jr. all tried to run in the primary as Democrats but were knocked off the ballot by challenges. Bobbie T. Curry ran in the primary and collected 8 percent of the Democratic primary vote. Graff, a Fairmount native well-known in political circles, was the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation manager who oversaw state roads in Philadelphia and attained local celebrity for giving television reports on snow and road conditions. He was knocked off the primary ballot after signatures on his petition were challenged.

He said he was running for the senior citizens squeezed by tax increases and would rather be an independent.

"My party fought against me. My party didn't want me," he said. "I want to go down there and take a shot at this."

- Troy Graham