To the Editorial Board of the Inquirer:

I write today to express how disappointed, bewildered, and simply sad I am to read your editorial endorsing lawyer Larry Farnese for Senator from the First District over one of the most important and influential leaders to emerge in Philadelphia in 20 years, Anne Dicker.

I hardly even know where to start with this. It's almost too mind-boggling to understand...according to your argument, you want to stop John Doc (for some very good reasons), and the person who is supposed to do this is the candidate in third place, Larry Farnese, whose candidacy apparently has momentum, despite having actually sunk in the polls despite being up on TV for three weeks, spending thousands of dollars on mail and television ads. Dicker has remained in second the entire time.

In addition, by saying that "Farnese isn't taking money from Fumo," you are undermining the excellent reporting of your own news department, not to mention the Daily News article last week reporting that 13 Democratic Senators had agreed to raise money for Farnese without knowing anything about the guy. How could they? He’s never actually done anything. But Vince's word is good enough!
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080403_Farnese_gets__upport_from...

But the negative implications of this editorial go beyond mere willful ignorance or faulty logic. What the Inquirer has done, by going with the unknown-quantity entrant placed into the race by an empire that is literally falling apart under 139 charges that its leader stole rapaciously from the city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, sends one hell of a depressing message. It's as if the last two years of political change in this city hadn’t happened at all. As if I woke up in a time warp, and this had all been a dream, and it was fall of 2005 again - Frank Dicicco was still pro-casino, Ricky Mariano hadn’t gone to the big house and been replaced by Maria Quinones Sanchez, Carlos Matos hadn’t been convicted and was out there running around getting little “Emilio Vasquez” stamps made up, nobody thought Councilman Nutter would ever make it as mayor, and Darrell Clarke hadn’t bothered to show up to a community meeting in North Philly in 15 years.

Anne’s race for state rep in the 175th in 2006 was the current 1st Senatorial State Race in miniature: hard fought due to the fact that there is a enormously high concentration of money and valuable resources within the district boundaries, the desperate need to have representation that can make independent choices with regards to development (including casinos)…and the incredible bravery of Anne, in running against not only 2 powerful machines, but Senator Fumo himself, a political figure so feared that, when facing massive corruption charges, no one other than Anne in the entire state of Pennsylvania had the courage to condemn him publicly – let alone ask that he even think about resigning.

If anyone in the city of Philadelphia should understand the incredible impact that Anne Dicker has had so far in her very brief political career in this city, I would think it would be the Inquirer Board. The two years since she and Payton set an example by running against the machine have seen, first, in 2007, the highest number of contested district councilmanic seats and second, in 2008, the highest number of contested state house seats in more than 20 years – Philadelphians inspired by the two of them, community activists and organizers of all kinds claiming power and a voice in their own neighborhoods, people angered by the lack of responsiveness of the same entrenched faces and unable to escape the nagging moral sense that yes, indeed, government should not steal from its citizens.

Her organizing skill, willingness to challenge power, and strategic brilliance have completely changed the shape of politics on the Delaware waterfront, from the river wards on down. Her first race, then her founding of NABR and later Casino Free Philadelphia, acted as catalysts for literally thousands of people in very diverse communities to become involved in politics, go to meetings, have a say and become a part of the process. It is doubtful that the Philadelphia Neighborhood Alliance would even exist if Anne hadn’t appeared on the scene in 2006 and started fighting the good fight – but it has, and for the first time in the history of the world the civic groups of South Philadelphia are actually talking to each other.

And I am just talking about a few neighborhoods from the side of the city where I live. Not to mention Dicker's state rep race fed into Michael Nutter's election the following year. And in her spare time in 2005-6, she was Congressman Patrick Murphy's Field Director - for free!

But what’s really mindblowing, if you care to think about it, is that the casinos in Philadelphia are the last ones in the entire state of Pennsylvania that are still held up by opposition. Literally, every other casino that came out of the 2005 gaming act is either under way or already built, dozens of them across the state – except the casinos here, where Anne Dicker lives, with her tiny little shoestring non-profit. Here. Vince Fumo’s hometown. Here - Governor Rendell’s hometown. Technically, I think this might make her one of the most powerful people in Harrisburg already – and she hasn’t even been elected yet.

You have seen all of this; your reporters have documented it all. But I wonder now if you ever really understood it, or respected it. Anne represents not just herself, but the thousands of people all over city who have risked their reputations or even their livelihoods or businesses, to stand up for what is right against those who have the power and the money – not just on casinos, but on a myriad of issues and campaigns against lazy and corrupt officials. This editorial, “Choose Farnese”, with its crass situational ethics and mentions of his money, is literally a slap in the face to those of us who have had the courage to take on these fights. Your own Great Expectations project has done a tremendous job of nurturing leadership in everyday Philadelphians, but unfortunately this editorial effectively says, yes, civic leadership is all good and fine – but we don’t want any of that in our elected officials.

But you went even farther than that. You actively endorsed a man, Larry Farnese, who is little more than a vapor – a man who has never taken a controversial stand on anything, who has never stood up for anything when it was hard, a man who ran against Rep. Babette Josephs on virtually no issues and with the complete backing of John Dougherty, who you hate so much - who this time almost got thrown off the ballot because he forged so many of his signatures (and did them so badly and obviously, in clear contempt for the integrity of the electoral process!) There is no there there. There is no track record. I’m supposed to vote for a guy just because his direct mail says he fought with an insurance company for his parents? This is basic human decency and normal family behavior. This does not qualify him to be half a mayor.
But they obviously didn’t have anything else to put on the piece.

In the end, none of this matters. The deed is done.

People like Anne will continue to do what they do to make the city a better place - the same way Anne does it, without seeking reward, fame, or money, out of a cramped little one-bedroom apartment she shares with her husband, exhausting herself and taking endless criticism and intimidation from powerful people who are annoyed that she won't just put up and shut up and that she has the audacity to stand between them and their pile of money, doing all of this as a labor of love, because she believes in her city and she wants it to succeed.

Because hope, for some people, really springs eternal. We are rarely given the opportunity to elect a true public servant to office, and I hope in the future you are optimistic enough to seize those opportunities when they present themselves.

Sincerely,
Hannah Miller