SEPTA users ‘took over’ Joe Picozzi’s office. He never showed.
About 20 SEPTA users "took over" Picozzi's office for two and a half hours, determined to get his attention. They have vowed to come back.
Harvey Chanin, 78, entered Republican State Sen. Joe Picozzi’s office Monday thinking he had nothing to lose, except SEPTA service.
The Northeast Philly resident was one of about 20 SEPTA riders, who, with the help of the grassroots group 215 People Alliance, participated in a sit-in at his legislator’s office. Chanin previously tried visiting Picozzi, the first Republican to represent Philadelphia in the state Senate in more than two decades, but staff said the senator was unavailable.
Though Chanin knew there was a nonzero chance of arrest, he had hoped returning to the office with a larger group would get Picozzi’s attention.
If “taking over” Picozzi’s office for two hours seems extreme, it’s because a lot is at stake, said Chanin, a former educator. He cited the tens of thousands of students who rely on SEPTA to get to and from school.
“We have a hard enough time keeping our kids in school when they’re dropped off at the door,” he said as a handful of police looked on.
SEPTA, whose fiscal year started July 1, is slated to cut service by 20% starting Sunday — the day before school starts in Philadelphia — and bus and metro fares will rise to $2.90 on Sept. 1.
The sit-in on Monday afternoon was the latest effort to get Picozzi to more aggressively address SEPTA’s $213 million operating deficit with his Republican colleagues. Still in his first year in office, Picozzi has said his constituents “need a robust and funded transit system,” but like his Republican colleagues has emphasized the need for more accountability measures and added safety in the system. He did not make an appearance Monday, and his office did not return a request for comment.
The latest funding proposal put forth by the Republican-controlled Senate and backed by Picozzi was a nonstarter for Democrats. It called for tapping into a special fund for capital projects that has $2.2 billion in sales tax revenue, almost half of which is currently unallocated.
The Senate measure targeted the unallocated portion of the fund. Republicans propose taking $832 million from the Public Transportation Trust Fund over two years to address SEPTA’s operating deficit. But there’s a catch: Republicans wanted half of those funds to go to rural roads and bridges.
This funding would be supplemented by internet-gambling tax revenue. Between the gambling funds and the special fund, rural roads and SEPTA would have about $1.2 billion, which they would evenly split.
The demonstrators Monday argued that by dipping into capital funds, SEPTA would suffer a different kind of death from deferred maintenance. They said the proposal was “robbing Peter.”
What’s more, a Senate floor speech by Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) further inflamed Democrats in Southeastern Pennsylvania, who saw the proposal as a punishment for the region.
Referencing past instances when money went from road projects to transit, Pittman said, “Doesn’t feel so good, does it?”
At the sit-in, demonstrators accused Picozzi of capitulating to his Republican colleagues at Philadelphia’s expense.
“He needs to care more about us than Republicans in Harrisburg,” shouted one person in the group.
The group passed the time sharing how they have relied on SEPTA — to get to work, go to school, get children to the doctor.
A drummer in a Gritty mask led the demonstrators in songs such as “You Are My Sunshine” rewritten to give them a pro-transit spin.
Some in the sit-in shared good experiences with Picozzi. They described him as someone with good ideas, a SEPTA supporter, earnest, and nice; many described encouraging exchanges at community events. They also described being blindsided by Picozzi voting in lockstep with the rest of the GOP.
Fox Chase resident Marion Brown, 80, another constituent, said she has seen him at childcare events and thinks he cares about families.
“The only problem I have is how he votes,” Brown said. “I just want him to represent us.”
Picozzi has called himself a “bridge builder.” In an interview with NBC10 over the weekend, he said he didn’t think the bill was perfect but argued it got SEPTA “every penny” Gov. Josh Shapiro had asked for.
Back at Picozzi’s Northeast Philly office, demonstrators joked about how “no-show Joe” was positioning himself to be a one-term lawmaker.
The afternoon had a natural endpoint, with the group disbanding at 4:30 p.m., when the office was slated to close. Most of Picozzi’s staff had left by 3:45 p.m. anyway.
Burholme resident Diane Payne, 75, said Monday was not the last time she would be popping into Picozzi’s office, though he is not her senator. She would come every day if necessary, she said, because this is one of the most important issues in the city.
“My message is it doesn’t matter if you’re an everyday SEPTA rider or if you’re a never SEPTA rider, you’re going to be affected by this,” she said. “Our entire region is going to be affected by this, economically, conveniently, health-wise, in every way imaginable.”