City Council hopefuls debate at Drexel Univ.

Supporters and candidates of the Consumer Party disrupted and then walked out of a debate among the 10 major-party candidates for City Council at-large seats at Drexel University last night. Consumer Party City Council at-large candidates Besse Weiner and Lance Haver led a group of 10 supporters in picketing in front of Drexel's Mandell Theater, the site of the debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters. As local League President Vanessa Abernathy began the debate, Haver yelled out, "Why has the Consumer Party been systematically denied access to this debate?" Abernathy responded that she and the other heads of the League were young leaders who made a "mistake." Haver then called for Weiner and himself to be added to the forum. Abernathy started to answer their calls, but then stopped mid-sentence and commenced the forum by introducing the moderator, WPVI-TV reporter Vernon Odom. As Odom began to speak, the Consumer Party supporters stood up en masse and walked out. Before the debate began, Haver criticized the League for trying "to quiet the only party to challenge the status quo." "Obviously, the League of Women Voters does not understand the difference between non-partisan and bi-partisan," Haver said. Council member Angel Ortiz said after the forum that he was upset that the Consumer Party candidates were not included in the forum. "I don't like it. They should have been part of the process," Ortiz said. Some candidates complained about the brevity of their response time -- one minute -- but they were only speaking to 50 people in the empty recesses of cavernous Mandell Theater. Drexel junior Richard Davis said the debate would have been helpful "if only Drexel students would show up." Abernathy said the low turnout was due to the debate being "put together with very little lead time," and she was "not disappointed with the turnout considering the time we had to work with." During the debate, Republican candidates stressed what they called the Democratic mismanagement of government, while the Democrats placed blame on the federal government and even on the Republicans. In his closing statement, City Council member Thacher Longstreth blasted 40 years of Democratic rule by charging voters to, "When in doubt, throw them out." City Council member David Cohen responded to his colleague's partisan attack by blasting the Republicans for supporting the last two city budgets which have put Philadelphia in its current fiscal mess. He also blamed Republicans for their role in handling the national Savings and Loan crisis. Many candidates called for changes in the City Charter. For example, Republican challenger Lawrence Tabas called for a Charter change to strengthen the executive power of the mayor. Tabas was picked by Republican leadership this summer to fill the vacancy on the ticket left by Joseph Egan's move to the mayoral race to replace the late Frank Rizzo. DeLores Weaver, another Republican challenger, said the "image of Council has to improve," and that the body should "review [legislation] in a responsible manner and give responsible input." Addressing the issue of taxes, Republican challenger Diana Roca said "the whole system needs to be revamped," and that taxes should be lowered to attract businesses and homeowners to the city. Countering Roca, Democratic challenger Happy Fernandez said that better collection of taxes, not a tax overhaul, would help the city by adding $10 million to $15 million in revenue. On the issue of crime, Tabas said, "Dial 911 in this city and sometimes it's like dialing Dial-A-Prayer." He also said that more funding and more police officers are necessary to curb crime. Republican incumbent City Council member Joan Specter stressed her record during two terms in Council citing her leadership on a City Charter change and other issues. In their closing statements, all of 10 candidates called themselves the right leader to bring Philadelphia out of its fiscal crisis and lead it into the 21st Century. Three-term City Council member Augusta Clark said, "Don't believe the doomsday prophets who say we are going to self-destruct."

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