Philadephia Voters Choose Mayor, Council Members
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The extremely quiet Philadelphia mayor's race comes to a conclusion tonight, but the real action will be in the races for City Council, where at least half-a-dozen newcomers will be voted into office.
Despite the warm weather, an extremely light turnout marked today's general election in Philadelphia, as voters chose a mayor and all seventeen members of City Council.
Officials with the city and with the independent election watchdog group Committee of 70 reported turnout on the order of 15 to 20 percent -- lower even than earlier pessimistic predictions. No serious problems or issues were reported at city polling places going into the final hours of voting.
In the race for mayor, voters were deciding between giving incumbent Democrat Michael Nutter a second term in office or voting in his little-known challenger, Republican Karen Brown. Nutter barely broke a sweat during the general election campaign, as Brown struggled to raise money and grab attention in the face of little apparent support even from the local GOP.
For City Council, five incumbents -- Frank DiCicco, Anna Verna, Joan Krajewski, Donna Miller and Jack Kelly -- are retiring after this year. A sixth, Frank Rizzo, lost in the May primary. All six were touched in some fashion by the controversy over the DROP lump sum pension payout (see related stories).
Democrat Mark Squilla, a systems analyst formerly with the state auditor general's office, is unopposed and will succeed DiCicco in the 1st District.
Democratic state representative Kenyatta Johnson is expected to succeed the retiring Anna Verna in the 2nd District. His Republican challenger is boxing manager Ivan Cohen.
In the 6th District, Democrat Bobby Henon is the front-runner to succeed the retiring Joan Krajewski. He faces Republican Sandra Stewart, an interior designer.
Democrat Cindy Bass, a former advisor to Congressman Chaka Fattah, is expected to succeed the retiring Donna Miller in the 8th District. Her only challenger is attorney Brian Rudnik of the Green Party.
Incumbent district councilmembers Curtis Jones, Darrell Clarke, Maria Quinones Sanchez, and Marian Tasco are unopposed. Third District councilmember Jannie Blackwell is opposed by Alicia Burbage, who is running as an independent.
One of the hardest-fought council races is in the 10th District in Northeast Philadelphia, where incumbent Brian O'Neill, a Republican, is seeking his ninth term on Council. He is challenged by former city employee and former city pension board member Bill Rubin. The DROP controversy has reared its head in that race as well.
The five incumbent Democratic at-large members -- Blondell Reynolds Brown, Bill Greenlee, Wilson Goode, Jim Kenney, and Bill Green -- are expected to win re-election.
Two new Republican faces will also to occupy the two at-large seats reserved for the minority party, now held by Rizzo and Kelly. The five vying for those seats are State Representative Denny O'Brien, attorney David Oh, banker Joe McColgan, businessman and former mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger, and attorney Michael Untermeyer. The top two vote-getters among those five will win the two at-large seats.
There will be a new sheriff in town as well. State Representative Jewell Williams is the front-runner over Republican Joshua West and the Green Party candidate, activist Cheri Honkala. The winner will succeed acting sheriff Barbara Deeley, who took over after longtime sheriff John Green resigned this year amid a financial accounting scandal.
Philadelphia voters will choose three city commissioners -- the folks who run elections. Longtime commissioner Marge Tartaglione, also touched by the DROP controversy, lost in the primary and is not on the ballot. The four candidates are incumbent Democrat Anthony Clark, Democratic challenger Stephanie Singer, incumbent Republican Joseph Duda, and Republican challenger Al Schmidt.
Incumbent Register of Wills Ron Donatucci is seeking his ninth term in office and is challenged by Republican Linda Bateman.
Finally, Philadelphia voters face two ballot questions: one is to authorize a borrowing of $111,000,000 for the city's capital needs; the second is to change the city charter to mandate a "Rainy Day Fund," forcing administrations to set aside cash reserves to help the city weather recessions or other unforeseen difficulties.
Reported by Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio 1060
