Suits seeks to block passage of charter

City Councilman David Cohen filed suit against the Philadelphia Charter Commission Tuesday, seeking an injunction against the May 10 referendum which will determine whether the new Home Rule Charter will go into effect. The Home Rule Charter is described by Commission member Hal Fichandler as "Philadelphia's Constitution." It is designed to outline how city government is run. The old charter, conceived of in 1951 and considered at least partially obsolete, was revised over the last 18 months by a 15-member commission appointed by the City Council and the mayor. This is the first time that legal action was taken against the 1994 version of the charter. "The action of the Charter Commission is in violation of state law," Cohen said. According to Cohen, the commission held hearings as early as 7:30 a.m. and as late as 6 p.m. to keep citizens from voicing any dissenting opinion. Cohen also said that while the commission did translate the final charter into Spanish, none of the previous drafts were translated. He said that this effectively cut off Philadelphia's large Spanish-speaking population from debate over the charter. Cohen also claims the mayor and City Council illegally constrained the commission from revising certain sections of the charter, including those involving the day-to-day political operation of city government. Philadelphia lawyer and Commission Vice Chairperson Robert Heim called the lawsuit "frivolous." "Part of the reason [we held early and late meetings] was so that people who had jobs could attend the meetings," Heim said. "I don't know if every thing we do has to be bilingual, but I doubt it. "It was widely announced that we would look at operations of government and not political operations. If somebody raises something, we'll vote on whatever it is that we want to vote on," Heim added. Fred Voigt, executive director of the Committee of Seventy, an independent Philadelphia political 'watchdog' group, agreed with Heim. "I think [the suit] is totally without merit," Voigt said. "It will be promptly disposed of by the court." The suit is scheduled to be heard in Common Pleas Court on April 19, less than one month before the charter is scheduled to appear on the ballot.

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