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The Committee of Seventy is a non-partisan organization working to improve the Philadelphia region by demanding ethical conduct of public officials, educating citizens and safeguarding elections.

Headlines & Happenings

Councilmanic Prerogative: Is It Abuse Of Power Or Fair Government Practice?

It's called "councilmanic prerogative," also known as the advantage a district city councilmember gets when elected to office. One will not find councilmanic prerogative outlined in the home rule charter or any other rulebook in City Hall, but it has existed in Philadelphia government for decades.

College Students Persevered to Vote

College students around the region turned out in record numbers to vote, but probably few of them underwent the test of endurance that greeted students from Lincoln University in Chester County.

Specter, Rendell See Conciliation Ahead

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., yesterday voiced a sanguine outlook for an Obama administration despite the rough nature of the presidential campaign. At a breakfast forum held by the voting-oversight nonprofit Committee of Seventy at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia, the moderate Republican senator and liberal Democratic governor both saw potential for enactment of some of their priorities. They also saw a reduction of partisan rancor on the horizon.