CITY HALL SAM: Shotzbarger Rightly Honored With Jury Room

Highly respected former JURY COMMISSIONER GERARD P. SHOTZBARGER was honored with the dedication of the naming of a Jury Assembly Room in the Criminal Justice Center on Jun. 6. Jerry Shotzbarger was a terrific human being who passed away well before his time. The dedication of the assembly room was a small gesture of thanks for his large contributions to the legal community. The HON. PAMELA PRYOR DEMBE presided over the ceremony. Welcoming remarks were made by JURY COMMISSIONER DAN RENDINE, ESQ. Keynote speaker was JUSTICE SEAMUS P. McCAFFERY of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Family remarks were made by GEORGE SHOTZBARGER, the loving brother of Jerry. Also in attendance were Jerry’s wife SUSAN, a nurse, and their three kids: WILLIAM, who currently studies law at Syracuse University; MARY, who teaches elementary school in Maryland; and MARGARET, who is going to pursue nursing at Penn next year.

MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER once again made his trek to Harrisburg to lobby the Philadelphia Senate delegation on his budget plans for the Philadelphia schools. It seems every year the schools are in fiscal crisis and this year is no different. But this year Nutter has a better plan to restore sanity to the district. He also has a better Superintendent in DR. WILLIAM HITE. Dr. Hite has better interpersonal skills than many of the previous head honchos and is a former teacher and principal. But the main question is: Will the Republicans in Harrisburg support more funding for Philadelphia schools? Most of the other Senators are supportive of public education in their districts but are wary of any new funding for Philadelphia. The district is already closing schools and furloughing teachers and assistant principals. Schools are cutting art, music, and tutoring. The kids of Philadelphia are really being shortchanged.

The other big question is: Will all the Philly leaders support the Mayor’s taxing-empowerment plan? He wants to do an increase in the liquor-by-the-drink tax, which has not been popular with most of the Philly legislators. He also would like to increase the cigarette taxes, which may have the votes to pass. The reason the tobacco tax may get support is that Pennsylvania still has significantly lower tax rates for tobacco then surrounding states, including the states that border Philadelphia.

It is interesting to note the Mayor’s delegation consisted of eight to 10 people. His lobbying component has at least two firms, including the well-known HOLLY KINSER, formerly of the Wojdak agency.

STATE REP. Brendan Boyle discusses gun-safety legislation he introduced at safety rally in Harrisburg.

STATE SEN. DAYLIN LEACH’S most-recent fundraising letter identifies him as “a Northeast Philadelphia kid.” This must be a surprise to Northeast Philadelphia STATE REP. BRENDAN BOYLE, one of his

opponents. Boyle represents Northeast Philadelphia, which is about 40% of the congressional district CONGRESSWOMAN ALLYSON SCHWARTZ currently represents. So far Boyle is the only Northeast resident in the race if one discounts Leach. The other opponents are MARJORIE MARGOLIES and DR. VALERIE ARKOOSH.

Word on the street is that former PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON and FIRST LADY HILLARY CLINTON are calling around to clear the field for Margolies. Can the Clintons convince people that Margolies, who has been out of the public spotlight for over 20 years; is the best choice for Congress? It will not be easy, but you can never underestimate President Clinton’s powers of persuasion, intellect and reasoning.

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