A few weeks ago, bummed by recurring headlines documenting the no-show, non-voting tendencies of City Commissioner Anthony Clark, an overseer of elections who doesn’t even bother to vote (not even for himself!), we decided to attach some action to our handwringing. When Clark’s fellow commissioner Al Schmidt opined that nobody really cared about Clark’s shenanigans, we wanted to test the proposition and launched a petition on change.org asking City Council to abolish the elected Commissioners office.
Well, we’ve answered Schmidt. To date, 1,179 citizens have let their voices be heard; all 17 Council members received an automated email from each signatory, and the messages added by some of these everyday Philadelphians were truly inspiring:
“I am a taxpayer,” wrote Francine Gelo. “I work in the school district. I buy all the nursing supplies for my 900 kids, that I see in my unheated office. We could use the money wasted on Clark, et al.”
From Pittsburgh, Gaetan Sgro weighed in: “I am a proud native Philadelphian and this episode is an embarrassment to our fair city.”
“I am signing because I love Philadelphia and am truly offended by someone sponging off the city,” wrote Robin Morris.
“Politicians will never vote to eliminate their own jobs, even when the are clearly unnecessary,” added Kevin O’Shea. “Citizens have to speak up to be heard.”
Amen, brother. Reading through the petition’s comments is a kind of reality check, a visceral reminder that the insular world of Philly politics—where seemingly every deal is transactional, often at the expense of the common good—is actually the outlier and not the way things ought to be.
Time is of the essence. We host the Democratic National Convention this summer. All eyes will be on Philadelphia—including Donald Trump’s. Can’t you just imagine how he will seize on our dysfunction to paint Philly and our one-party rule as a symbol of backwardness and corruption?
We launched the petition in a Risky Business-like WTF moment; it’s only now, in retrospect, that we recognize it as nothing less than an exercise in local patriotism. That’s not a new phrase. In fact, though he’s recently fallen out of favor, Woodrow Wilson defined it in December of 1897, when he said that “patriotism begins at home.” Covering Wilson’s speech to the New York History Club, The New York Times reported: “A community which is careless about the character of its local and domestic government is not entitled to be called a patriotic community, no matter how profusely it may wrap itself in the American flag.”
I couldn’t help but think of the Wilsonian notion of local patriotism as I read the comments of those who signed the petition. Countless spoke of their love for our city. Just imagine how world class we’d be if all our elected officials loved them back.
To be clear, this issue goes beyond Clark’s transgressions, offensive as they are. (Like his filing for a nearly $500,000 DROP windfall, the early retirement program never intended for elected officials, or his comment that he ran for office because he wanted to “work smart, not hard.”) As many commenters noted, Philadelphia spends more than any comparable city on its elections oversight body, in a system wrought with patronage and abuse. It’s time for reform.
Committee of Seventy CEO David Thornburgh, whose full-throated call for reform motivated us to get off the sidelines, says the petition is a step forward. “It represents the greatest number of supporters for an online good government petition in our history,” he says. “It answers the call that Al Schmidt put out there. Philadelphians do care.”
Okay, thanks for the shoutout, but let’s keep it real: There are a whole lotta caveats to Thornburgh’s praise, like the fact that there haven’t really been any other online good government petitions. But, still: Nearly 1,200 people speaking up about a behind-the-scenes administrative row office is a lot. When’s the last time 1,200 people showed up en masse to let Council know how they felt about an issue?
“Politicians will never vote to eliminate their own jobs, even when the are clearly unnecessary,” added Kevin O’Shea. “Citizens have to speak up to be heard.”
There’s some evidence that your voice is having an effect. While City Council President Darrell Clarke was dismissive of the idea that Council might introduce an ordinance paving the way for the abolishment of the elected office, Mayor Kenney said through a spokesperson that he “supports City Council considering such a move.” Even Commissioner Al Schmidt, whose vote made Clark the body’s chairman, isn’t opposed: “I am in favor of efficient and effective government and fair and honest elections,” he told Newsworks, “and I’m interested in anything that furthers that. But without a plan, I can’t comment if it’s better or worse.”
There are rumblings among insiders that City Council might actually take up the issue. Reformers are holding out hope that some combination of Council members Derek Green, Bobby Henon and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez will sponsor an ordinance that will then require Kenney’s signature in order to put to the voters the question of whether the Commissioners office ought to be an appointed office, as in so many other cities. To send emails of encouragement directly to these three would-be change agents, click here.
Time is of the essence. We host the Democratic National Convention this summer. All eyes will be on Philadelphia—including Donald Trump’s. Can’t you just imagine how he will seize on our dysfunction to paint Philly and our one-party rule as a symbol of backwardness and corruption? Let’s not let that happen by proactively dealing with our shit.
Header Photo: Flickr/Jim Kelly
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