POLS ON THE STREET: Time for Philly Election Workers to Change Any Foolish Ways

by Joe Shaheeli

VETERANS of the civil-right movement of yore, progressives Hal & Sue Rosenthal met up with veteran Congressman John Lewis at the Democratic National Convention.

It’s obvious the political pool fed by this City and State, especially the City of Philadelphia, has drawn fishhooks from the feds, who have proven they can’t fish nearly so well in waters where drugs flow freely. Pennsylvania is now inundated with heroin, for instance. But in Philly, constantly changing ethical rules championed by so-called reformers have set up many of our unwitting political leaders as easy catches for federal officers looking to beef up their résumé of convictions.

So this column addresses the need for the rank-and-file committee people, block captains, and others involved in getting out the vote this Nov. 8 to understand the federal fishermen will be dragnetting for all of you as well.

This means, in scores of divisions or election districts, that the rulebook must be followed carefully. In those divisions where the election board is composed of long-time neighborhood friends or of family, those divisions are likely to be earmarked.

For instance, in the old days (and we are not saying this is what still occurs in more-recent times), without a watcher around, some of those boards could ring up a score or more of straight-party votes or votes for one more individuals, and throughout the day, at their leisure, meticulously forge the signatures of as many voters as were needed to balance the tabulation at the end of the evening.

Some venerable judges of election would note absentee ballots that had been filled out, but not mailed back to the Registration Commission before deadline time – take those in and count them anyway.

Many other ways to tilt the voting scales have been devised over the years. But, we warn, if such practices were to be revised by anxious supporters of one or the other of the presidential candidates to help build up the vote for their candidate – if caught, they won’t be able to count on that presidential candidate to get them off the hook.

The machine ballot will be a bit more crowded than recent presidential elections. Rules have changed, lowering the number of signatures needed by independent candidates to make the ballot.

Candidates from the Green, Libertarian and Constitution Parties have submitted nominating papers for the fall ballot to have presidential candidates on the ballot. The Libertarian Party also has a candidate to run in the US Senate election – Edward Clifford III – who will face incumbent Republican US Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Democratic contender Katie McGinty. The Libertarian and Green Parties also filed petitions for candidates for State Treasurer and Auditor General. Libertarians also have candidates for State Treasurer, State Attorney General and two congressional races.

This could confuse the average voter, leading them to ask for help. When that happens, an election-board member, be it judge of elections or another, needs to be careful they don’t pull levers for the individual asking for help.

COUNCILMAN David Oh, 4th from left, held a ceremony naming the 3600 block of Hamilton Street “In-Ho Oh Memorial Way.” In-Ho Oh was murdered on the block in 1958. His amazing family responded by requesting the most-lenient treatment allowed by the courts and starting a fund for the youth who committed the murder. This is the first street in Phila. to be named after a person of Asian descent.

Don’t Count Out Gov. Wolf Just Yet

Back when Gov. Tom Wolf’s actions indicated he was biting the hand of the unions that had fed him by his earlier decisions, many politicos thought he was cooking his own goose.

However, the tentative contract agreement he has reached with the state’s two largest unions has changed that perception. The contract agreements with the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees union and the Service Employees International Union provides for five pay increases over the next three years. Their rank and file are happy with that.

What got him off on a bad foot was his approving liquor-sales permits outside of PLCB state stores. That hasn’t set well with the statewide United Food & Commercial Workers Union.

Under Wolf’s tenure to date, the budget seems to have improved somewhat. Moody’s Investors Service has changed Pennsylvania’s credit-rating outlook for Pennsylvania from “negative” to “stable.” Moody’s report stated, “The revision of the Commonwealth’s outlook to stable recognizes that Pennsylvania’s problems are sure to persist, but are unlikely to lead to sharp liquidity deterioration, major budget imbalances, or other pressures consistent with lower ratings for US states. Pennsylvania continues to make steady progress toward better funding of its pension liabilities, which remain large but not abnormally large by state standards.”

Looks Like Trump Has Pa. Headache

Quinnipiac University’s latest Swing State Poll shows Florida and Ohio appear to be tight, but in Pennsylvania, Clinton is now ahead by 10 percentage points, 52-42%.

The early August poll results were reinforced later in the day by a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll showing Clinton ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania, 48-37%. Republican Auditor General Candidate John Brown seems to have omitted mentioning his party’s affiliation in recent emails.

But here in Philadelphia, Republican City Committee Chairman Joe DeFelice knows something the polls don’t know. His party registrations have eclipsed the 120,000 mark and he feels confident the state presidential polls will narrow the gap between Clinton and Trump … and Philly Republicans could make a difference.

State Labor Leaders Post Endorsements

The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO this week posted those candidates it wishes its rank and file will support and vote for Nov. 8. For President and US Senate and all but one member in the Congress, all the Democratic candidates are endorsed. The lone GOP exception was Congressman Tim Murphy (R-Allegheny) in the 18th Dist.

The Democratic candidates for State Treasurer, Auditor General and Attorney General were endorsed. All the Democrats in the State Senate were endorsed.

Exceptions did occur in the State House with nine Republicans getting the nod of approval. In this list, of course, are State Reps. John Taylor in the 177th and Tom Murt in the 152nd (both R-Northeast).

Toomey Tries an Outcry over McGinty’s Emails

Taking a leaf from Republican national ticket leader Donald Trump’s playbook, incumbent US Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and his operatives have been pressing for months to obtain all of Democratic challenger Katie McGinty’s emails during her tenure as Gov. Tom Wolf’s chief of staff – all 15,000 pages of them.

SPECIAL VISITORS to Overbrook Park Town Watch’s National Night Out were Sheriff Jewell Williams, left, native son State Rep. Lynwood Savage and City Council President Darrell Clarke.

The Governor’s Office has the right to review all such emails for confidential information first. Seven months into the process, it has been reviewing them lethargically, yielding only 75 pages to date. The State GOP did win a court decision which ordered the Governor to release more of the emails – a decision the Governor has appealed. The mills of appellate courts grind exceeding slow, so the Toomey campaign will be effectively denied access to the emails until after the November election.

In the meantime, the most Toomey can do is cry publicly for the release of the thousands of McGinty emails, hoping this cry will echo in the minds of Republicans and independents who have heard of the commotion surrounding Hillary Clinton’s unreleased emails from when she was Secretary of State. It is not clear the average voter cares enough about the communications of a Harrisburg chief of staff to want to read them, though.

Another Old-Timer Decides He’s Out

Ending a tenure in the General Assembly beginning in 1981 is State Sen. John Wozniak (D-Cambria), who is calling it quits. The 60-year-old legislator decided to drop out of the race after talking with family, friends and colleagues. He’ll serve out the rest of his current term.

“I’m cognizant of my lifespan,” he concluded. Wozniak told them. “I’ve got 10 good years left to do things before I kick back and smell the roses.”

He’ll see to it the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and local party officials from Cambria, Bedford and Clearfield Counties will vet a replacement. A potential is former Congressman Mark Critz. Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic, Jr. has also expressed interest.

Would You Believe Assembly Sees Crisis?

The Republican and Democratic House Policy Committees have hosted the first of several planned joint hearings on the state’s opioid crisis Monday. Sounds good; but many of the families of the victims know it’s all a dog-and-pony show by the committee members, who do well financially by attending these meetings, but have little power to push any serious curtailing action upon their return after recess.

Maybe they would do better by looking into why veteran suicide rates have climbed. The Dept. of Veteran Affairs states deaths for that group have risen to 22 per day.

Toomey Brings Campaign to City

US Sen. Pat Toomey doesn’t worry about the registration ratio of 8 to 1 in this city of Democrats to Republicans. This Saturday is being billed as “Super Saturday” for Toomey by the Republican City Committee. He will appear in Northwest Philadelphia at Dunkin’ Donuts, Germantown Plaza, 57l53 Wayne Avenue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. He’ll follow that up with another several hours in Northeast Philadelphia, at a site yet to be selected. Coffee and doughnuts will be provided.

Dems Offer Fall Campaign Fellowships

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is looking for smart men and women who are interested in its fellowship program during this campaign. This program trains fellows on the basics of organizing and campaign fundamentals.

This opportunity will give individuals invaluable work experience that can be applied to a variety of career fields and will allow them to be involved in one of the most historical elections of our lifetime.

Fellows must commit 15-30 hours a week to the campaign. They will participate in training on field organizing, messaging, and other activities. They will organize in a community, working in conjunction with grassroots leaders and campaign staff. They may be reaching out to volunteers and engaging new potential volunteers through phone calls and collect voter registration forms; holding organizational meetings to recruit new volunteers and supporters in communities; and using social networks.

Their office is located new Temple University at 1514 Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Anyone is able to apply, but this program is mostly geared towards high-school seniors, college students and recent grads who are looking for work experience.

Anyone interested in applying should email Clayton Menzel, Field Organizer, PAVictory 2016 (cmenzel@pavictory2016.org).

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