Ward-Leader Dramas Play Out

Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Copyright 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer
June 7, 2006

Section: PHILADELPHIA

Ward-leader dramas play out

By Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Staff Writer

First, the leader of a therapy group for recovering addicts had to ask the politicians in the hallway to shush.

Then, the police were called.

Eventually, the high-decibel arguments ceased, the qualified electors retreated behind closed doors, and the Democratic leader of North Philadelphia's 43d Ward was chosen.

That drama played out Monday night on the second floor of a medical office building near Temple University Hospital as Democratic committee people across the city chose 69 ward leaders, the capos of the party machine.

Most of the meetings, quadrennial exercises in living-room democracy, were calmer than the 43d Ward's, but there were anxious moments in several. At least four wards got new leaders and, in other instances, incumbents hammered back stiff challenges.

"Nobody got beat up and nobody got locked up," said U.S. Rep. Robert Brady, chairman of the Democratic City Committee. "People say that the Democratic Party is dead, but I say it's alive and kickin'."

Still, party leaders now have to sort through several complaints of unfairness from losers in the fights, Brady said.

One complaint seemed sure to come from the 43d, where acting leader Tom Logan defeated Emilio Vazquez, 28-17. Before the meeting, men and women were screaming at one another over who could be admitted to the room to vote.

"They don't have certificates!" a Vazquez supporter yelled, arguing that Logan was packing the room with bogus committee members not elected in the May 16 primary.

Nonsense, Logan said. He said that his supporters had turned in their election certificates to a credentials checker, under party rules, while many Vazquez supporters held onto theirs and refused to show photo ID. "I'm keeping this on a high level," Logan said.

Vazquez forces called the police, and a patrol car arrived after the meeting adjourned. No charges were filed.

"They disenfranchised our committee people," Vazquez said, looking at a tally sheet on the sidewalk outside.

"They say your vote counts - not in there," said Kimberly Lambert-Tores, who voted for Vazquez. "These are the same people who've done nothing for the neighborhood."

Logan had bucked other party leaders to support Tony Payton Jr. over Vazquez in the race for the Democratic nomination for the 179th state House seat.

"For four months we've been going through hell" as both sides ran competing committee slates, Logan said. "Now we have to work together for the good of the community."

In other action Monday night:

Former 33d Ward leader Donna Aument told Brady that she defeated incumbent Candido Silva in a replay of their grudge match of four years ago.

But Silva said, "I beat her by one vote," before declining further comment. "Let me enjoy my victory with my family."

Aument did not return repeated telephone messages.

Brady said the party would review the results from the North Philadelphia ward.

Center City's Fifth Ward got a new leader for the first time in two decades. Michael Boyle, who had been chairman of the ward committee, was elected to succeed Sam Rappaport. Promising to run a more open ward, Boyle turned aside a challenge by Marlyn Kline, who was backed by liberal activists.

Rappaport, 73, declined to run for reelection, saying it was appropriate to retire. "It's time for fresh blood, fresh legs," he said. "You have to know when the party's over. There's a new generation coming up that deserves to have its voice."

City Councilman Juan Ramos was skunked in his effort to take over the 18th Ward, which is in Fishtown, Kensington, and part of North Philadelphia. Incumbent Helen "Lynn" Farrell won, 20-12, despite heavy lobbying by Ramos and fellow Council members.

"My committee people received at least 25 calls apiece," Farrell said, "and I still won."

She said she shook Ramos' hand afterward, but "I have nothing to say to him."

Farrell said she found it personally embarrassing that a police cruiser, summoned by Ramos' staff, was parked outside her home, where the ward meeting was held.

Ramos said that he hoped any "soreness" didn't last long and that he was eager to work with Farrell. "The election was very cordial and well-run," Ramos said. He said he had brought "more balance, more participation from the west end of the ward" by electing committee people in Hispanic neighborhoods.

In Mayfair's 55th Ward,lawyer Robert Delavella won a battle that centered on nepotism and accusations that his opponent was the pawn of State Rep. Michael McGeehan. Delavella bested Michael Lowry, the son of retiring ward leader Vincent Lowry, 34-22.

"We have a lot of energetic people, and it was a hard-earned victory," said Delavella, who has been chairman of the ward committee for more than a decade.

Michael Lowry is an aide to McGeehan, a potential candidate for City Council next year, and Delavella had argued he would put his boss' interests above the ward's. Michael Lowry filed a protest with the City Committee, charging that Delavella lives in a neighboring ward and thus was ineligible.

"He's going to be controlled by [House Speaker] John Perzel [R., Phila.] and [Councilwoman] Joan Krajewski," Michael Lowry said. "I was the true independent in the race."

Brady said that as long as Delavella is registered to vote in the ward, where his law office is, he's eligible. "It's tough for us to deal with residency challenges - we're not investigators or a court system," Brady said.

Carol Jenkins - an activist with the liberal groups MoveOn, Philly for Change, and Neighborhood Networks - was elected leader of the 27th Ward, in the University City area of West Philadelphia.

Nancy Ruane, the acting ward leader, did not seek election. The ward committee recalled ward leader Kevin Fassett last year for failure to discharge his duties.

"I would like to go out into the ward and get everyone more involved," said Jenkins, an adjunct professor of political science at Temple University and the University of the Sciences.