CITY HALL SAM: Gay-Marriage Ruckus Could Become Quicksand For Corbett

The likable Register of Wills of Montgomery Co. BRUCE HANES has been getting national headlines. He made it a point to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Apparently this exceeds his actual power but he believes it is a principal worthy of fighting for. GOV. TOM CORBETT has sued Hanes and Montgomery Co. for breaking state law that requires marriage to be between one man and one woman. The last thing Corbett needs is a socially divisive issue, and he is trying to run away from the gay-marriage issue.

The Governor appeared in Bucks Co. for the groundbreaking of the Pennsylvania Turnpike construction job that will expand the turnpike to I-95. It should’ve been a day to celebrate. Instead, Corbett was barraged by reporters with questions about his stance on gay marriage. Corbett attempted to dismiss the questions as being irrelevant to the groundbreaking but reporters continue to agitate the Governor. LT. GOV. JIM CAWLEY used the opportunity to give a positive speech regarding infrastructure and made it a point of celebration for Bucks Co. Also on hand were Bensalem MAYOR JOSEPH DiGIROLAMO and his cousin STATE REP. GENE DiGIROLAMO. STATE SEN. TOMMY TOMLINSON also attended the event.

Tom Corbett is not the only one receiving bad polling. Philadelphia MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER is receiving some of the lowest numbers of his entire six-year reign. Pundits believe it has been his failure to enact real solutions to school funding that has hurt him. He gets scooped in the headlines by executives like DAVID L. COHEN and NICK DeBENEDICTIS, who work out education-funding plans by going to Corbett. In the meantime, local politicians such as STATE SEN. ANTHONY WILLIAMS and Council PRESIDENT DARRELL CLARKE are unable to move their tobacco-tax legislation. Philadelphia’s two biggest issues are being run by billionaire corporate executives and an out-of-touch Governor.

CONGRESSMAN BOB BRADY had the best quote at the Firefighters’ press conference last week. He said, “I’m embarrassed to be here.” Brady was talking about the fact Nutter continues to refuse to approve a new contract for firefighters. Firefighters have three different awards, two from arbitration panels and one from a court, stating the city owes them a new contract. There were 15 other politicians at the press conference but he was the one most quoted. It demonstrates his down-to-earth style always trumps high-priced consultants and fancy rhetoric.

This week we had another day and another building collapse in Philadelphia. City Council continues to hold hearings on the issue of construction safety and construction inspections. According to COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA, the collapse was caused by an explosion fueled by a contractor lighting up a cigarette and then stepping into a house being renovated while natural gas was swirling around.

This explosion opened people’s eyes to two important issues that the Nutter Administration does not want to address: construction safety and the age of natural-gas pipes under city streets. These are two headaches Mayor Nutter does not need. He and his administration are also converting their headaches into migraines by refusing to answer City Council questions at construction-safety hearings. The Administration has to improve relations with City Council to get progress on these two issues and their agenda. Can this team do it? Time will tell.

   Send article as PDF