Dear John and Larry,

Well, it’s over. Months of campaigning, a lot of money spent, and you, Larry Farnese, beat you, John Dougherty, in the 1st senate race. So now what?

Well, John, you sent out an email last week that left me wondering. You said:

We will continue to be a force to be reckoned with and will demand accountability and transparency from those elected officials who represent us, here and in Harrisburg. In other words, we'll be watching. And waiting.

Does that mean you are going to run again in 2012?

The count in last week’s election was close, but it wasn’t that close: Larry won the race decisively. It’s your right to run for office, but if you already know you plan to run again, it means you are going to spend a lot of time in the next four years trying to run Larry down.

And that is business as usual right? Dougherty vs. Fumo (with Larry as a proxy)?

That may be the way things have always been, but this fight is getting really, really tired, mostly because you both have more much important stuff to be doing:

Larry. Nobody was harder on you in 2006--at least online--than I was (except maybe Dan). I did not want to see you unseat Babette. And since then, I have gotten to know you better, and I like you--I’ll never forget how you went above and beyond for Philly Against Santorum from tabling in the square to getting me into highrises to speak (your help was especially notable to me as I had written some pretty harsh stuff about you in your 06 election).

So, among the folks who will crawl out from under rocks to tell you, soon-to-be Senator Farnese, how great you are, you can trust me to tell you the truth.

Here it is: there are voters who worry about your ties to Vince Fumo. He is in fact being indicted. Although I think there is a real argument to be made that, despite skimming some off the top for himself, Fumo ultimately brought more money and services to his district than any other Senator in the state, the fact is there is a significant cohort of voters who are tired of Fumo's fiefdom. Fair or not, you are going to need to prove that you are not beholden to Vince Fumo and his political supporters.

Beyond that, you need to vote for, sponsor and shepherd good legislation through the Senate (something Sen. Fumo was often a leader on), and you need to help elect other progressives. There are after all big fights coming up in the State Senate this year like the Philly gun laws, a same-sex marriage ban, healthcare, property taxes, and hey, maybe you can do something about that stupid uniformity clause.

Most important, you have a district that contains some of the wealthiest zip codes in the city, and some of the poorest, and a lot of people in the middle. They all want more services and amenities. But there are some competing interests that have produced racial and class tensions that need to be addressed and, as much as possible, healed.

Your attention being diverted to the Fumo-Doc feud can’t help that healing, or enact any of the other goals above.

As for you, Doc...you have a lot of hiring to do!

According to Tom Ferrick, if we leave out the Laborers, only 1/3 of all building trades members live in the city, and 80% are white, and nearly 99% are men. Meanwhile, 1/3 of all Philadelphians, a larger proportion black than white, live in poverty.

What is wrong with this picture?

I can’t get over the fact that a guy as powerful as you, who built up a union whose membership had been falling, hasn’t done more to hire women and people of color. I know you’ll tell me you’re doing better than some, but the fact is you lead one of the most powerful local unions, (in a sector of employment that’s not portable) and you owe it to the residents of this city, many of whom subsidize local development through their tax dollars, to hire many, many more women and people of color.

Since you won’t be going to the Senate, maybe you can focus all the extra time you had set aside for that on this problem? In this arena, you are more powerful than a State Senator and have the privilege to make real change.

Here are some other things you can do now to demonstrate your leadership:

1) Get all the trades in the state to stop opposing RxforPA. Elected officials listen to you. Lots of people don’t have healthcare. Something needs to be done.

2) Stop propping up Republicans like Mario Civera and Rick Santorum. Your support of Santorum, for dredging or not, was unforgivable in my eyes.

3) Withdraw your current challenge to campaign finance laws, and don’t challenge any more.

Doc, before you pick up the phone to call me, I am not writing this to communicate between you and me, so much as to air the thoughts and ideas I have been hearing from a lot of people in the past few days. I had plenty of chances to say what I thought to your face during the campaign, but speaking on behalf of a larger set of interests, I do challenge you to make significant progress on these issues before you raise the specter of running against Larry in 2012,

The bottom line is that, if you Larry, and you John, both do your jobs well, the people who live in the 1st will benefit. And those citizens need help from both you much more than they need a constant skirmish lasting until the next election (whether for Larry’s seat in 2012, or in a proxy like the 1st councilmanic seat in 2011, DA next year, or maybe a fight against Brady in 2010).

After all, no matter what Anne Dicker did or didn’t do well or right in her own campaign, the 18% of voters who supported her mostly did so because they were sick of voting for either Jets or Sharks, and they want and need real change in their neighborhoods.

The district you live in, and the city you both want to serve, needs more action, and less feuding. As wounds are still healing from the campaign, I hope you’ll both consider that.

Respectfully yours,
Ray

Next week, I am voting for Larry Farnese for State Senator. Till then, I am mentally checking out of the First District race.

I have said plenty about Doc. While I think he has some legit good qualities: ie, a true Philadelphia populist streak- they are far outweighed by all the negative stuff. Plus, I think he will be indicted, which will just be super for our district.

Until recently, I have stayed somewhat silent on Anne v. Larry. I always thought Larry, with his Fumo money, had a better chance to win, and to me, beating Doc is paramount. But, considering that I have volunteered for Anne in 2006, know her reasonably well and think she generally has progressive instincts, I told her on email I was not going to openly criticize her on the blog as I made up my mind.

But, Anne really screwed up with all the stuff that has gone down. There is too much smoke surrounding her meeting with the Doc team to not believe what is being rumored: that after a meeting with them, she has decided to go right after the base of Larry. Now, has sent emails around (or emails from her address) which also basically chide any progressive for thinking about not voting for her, and preemptively blame them for any loss.

Forget whether her new strategy is magically going to make her win (which it won't). To me, it simply shows a lack of judgment to take advice from the Doc campaign, and it was not something we ever would have heard about except it was in the paper. And, it follows a pattern (like with backing Tom Knox) that I am uncomfortable with, in someone who self-identifies as a leader of the progressive movement in Philly, and who's bff calls "one of the most important people of the last 20 years." I don't think she has the staff or money to win, and I don't think she is particularly trying anymore, and is instead going for second place.

As for Larry, I have no illusions that he is a progressive dynamo, or that he is not deeply connected to the Fumo machine. And, I doubt you would find a website that was more critical of him in 2006 than this one. But, since 2006, what I have seen from him is that while he may not always be as progressive as we like initially, he will work very hard, and that he legitimately believes in representing the interests of his district. If he wins, I think the progressive community can help him become a pretty good Senator.

So, I am done. I will even lay off of Doc for a couple days. Instead, I would like to focus on other issues, and other candidates (like Byron Davis, Tony Payton and Vanessa Brown), where I think we can make a real difference.

When thinking about Larry Farnese these days, I keep thinking about the old Moody Blues song 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.' In this case, however, it's 'Every Good Boy Does NOT Deserve Favour.'

Farnese may be a decent guy with decent progressive views, but there are a lot of arenas where he could bring those positives into use. I don't think elected politics is one of those arenas. Not every progressive has what it takes to be an elected official.

The seeds of my doubts about him were planted last Fall, and ever since, his actions have only served to reinforce my doubts.

Some random things to note:

1)The WIP Primary. If Angelo and the morning crew are any indication, Obama is going to do pretty well in the white guy from Philly demographic. For those who don't know, following the Rev. Wright controversey, Obama went on 610 WIP (Sports talk) morning show, and became buddies with the morning crew. This morning, he was back on again. Smart move for Obama.

There is probably very little that could brand you as acceptable to a middle-class to working-class white guy in Philly than to have Angelo constantly singing your praises.

2) My favorite guy, and likely next State Senator, John Dougherty is emailing around a poll showing him ahead of Anne Dicker and Larry Farnese. I will have more on Doc later today, because the ethics board responded to his stupid campaign finance challenge with a brief that basically destroys him.

But, anyway, for now Doc says it goes like this (last month in parenthesis):

Dougherty: 31 (14)
Dicker: 18 (13)
Farnese: 14 (4)
Undecided: 37

The earlier numbers are with Fumo in the race, so, Larry seems to have benefited the most from the exit of Fumo. If people want to beat Doc, given his lead, the only way it seems possible is to somehow pick between Larry and Anne. I have some, uh, personal experience with that type of scenario, and I can tell you how unlikely that is. And, progressive groups are already split (like Philly for Change vs. Liberty City).

Meanwhile, for Doc, rumors about grand juries swirl, and Farnese is about to hit him directly with corruption stuff.

3) We're number 1, we're number 1! Oh, crap, number one for this:

Philadelphia has the highest rate of incarceration in jails in the country, according to a new study from the Justice Policy Institute.

In Philadelphia county, 602 people were in jail for every 100,000 in 2006, according to "Jailing Communities: The Impact of Jail Expansion and Effective Public Safety," a study by the institute, a Washington, D.C., criminal-justice think tank. That's up from 369 per 100,000 in 1996, the study says.

Two Tennessee counties followed Philadelphia: Davidson (includes Nashville), with 596 per 100,000, and Shelby (includes Memphis), with 594.

Obviously, that is a shockingly high number. However, we might not really be number one, because the article ignores that it is misleading to compare Philly to other counties in the US. The article- certainly the headline at least- really wants it to look like Philly is special. But frankly, we do not know that to be the case.

If I am not mistaken, we are either the only, or one of the only Counties, to have its borders exactly match the City borders. So, Pittsburgh might be just as bad, but the suburbs of Allegheny County will help their numbers. Same goes for Detroit, et. al.

If we really want to see how Philly stacks up, we would need to see a City, not County, comparison. The article itself- talking about the overall rise- is important. But, c'mon Daily News, if that is your headline, you should at least acknowledge the obvious: as a City (who thinks of us as a County, anyway), we might not actually be number one.

OK, YPP soon won't have Vince Fumo to kick around any more. I can see why he dropped out of the race: combine his heart issues with the massive indictments against him, and he probably figured it wasn't worth the trouble to keep fighting.

The big question is: who does this help? You've gotta think that the favorite now is John Dougherty, given his already high profile. Then again, either Anne Dicker or Larry Farnese could easily focus on Dougherty's faults as a candidate, and take him down a few notches. But could Dicker + Farnese, in effect, split the 'reform' vote, giving Johnny Doc an easy win?

Looks like lots of fun + games in the 1st PA Senate district,
-Z

Pebbles Bam Bam it will be recalled predicted / championed Rene Gilenger running for State Senate against Vince Fumo, which many folks (including myself) pooh-poohed saying "But she's running Larry Farnese's campaign, pshaw". Well it appears she was half right. Rene Gilenger is running Larry Farnese for State Senate against Vince Fumo.

And also for State Rep against Babette Josephs at the same time - which much to my surprise is perfectly legal.

Under state law, Farnese can keep his options open for a long time - even to appear on primary ballots as a candidate for both House and Senate.

"State law does not prohibit multiple candidacies for public office," said Cathy Ennis, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State. "They just can't hold more than one elected state office."

Well you learn something new every day.