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November 2011 Election, May 17 (7 AM-8 PM)

St. George's Greek Orthodox Church (in the back hall, not the church itself)

8th Street, between Spruce and Locust (enter on 8th, through church parking lot)

PA Superior Court: David Wecht (D)

Wecht is a judge in the Pittsburgh area; he got a "Highly Recommended" rating from the Pennsylvania Bar, while his Republican opponent just got a "Recommended" rating.

PA Commonwealth Court: Kathryn Boockvar (D)

Boockvar is an attorney from Bucks County, running against Anne Covey, whose webpage contains several catchphrases aimed at appealing to the Tea Party base, like "not looking to international law for precedent". This court is the home for likely upcoming key rulings on things like voting rights and Marcellus Shale, and with all branches of the Pennsylvania government increasingly dominated by Republicans, we need every balancing voice we can muster.

Phila Common Pleas Judge: Charles Ehrlich (D, R), Barbara McDermott (D), Kenneth Powell (R), Carolyn Nichols (D), Diana Anhalt (D)

There are 17 candidates for 11 slots in this race for judgeships in the main court in Philadelphia. We've listed here those candidates that we endorsed in the primary who made it through to the general election. They have solid experience: Ehrlich in the Philadelphia DA office for 24 years, McDermott as a DA and now as a capital murder defender, Powell as a Municipal Court Judge, Nichols as a civil rights attorney, and Anhalt as an assistant DA working on rape and domestic violence cases. We also got to meet most of them in person and were quite impressed.
Phila Municipal Court Judge: Marvin Williams and Joyce Eubanks (Running unopposed)
Phila Traffic Court Judge: Christine Solomon  
Mayor: Michael Nutter There are good things and bad things to say about Nutter's first 4 years: he seems to have instilled a much higher level of service and accountability among the people he has appointed and has made some noticeable changes (recycling, 311, etc.), but has also been remarkably tone-deaf at times in how he has handled the challenges of the recession. His opponent has far too little experience to make her a viable opponent.
City Commissioners: Stephanie Singer (D) and Al Schmidt (R) Singer, the top vote-getter in the primary, offers a real chance to modernize this office (which oversees elections). Two other candidates -- Anthony Clark and Joe Duda -- are incumbents in an office that has been an obstacle to open-ness and innovation. The two Democrats will likely win, plus one of the Republicans. If it's Duda, he seems likely to support Clark as chair of the commissioners, which would reduce the chances of seeing real reform. Al Schmidt, in contrast, seems committed to increasing access to voting and likely to support Singer as chair.
Register of Wills: No vote The incumbent joined the DROP program but is still running for re-election. Worth a protest.
Sheriff: Jewell Williams The Sheriff's office has been plagued by corruption for years. Williams (currently a state rep) has experience in the office and made a convincing case that he would reform it. Cheri Honkala has been endorsed by a lot of progressive groups but seems a long-shot here.
City Council At-Large Representative: (vote for 5): Bill Green (D), Bill Greenlee (D), Blondell Reynolds Brown (D), Dennis O'Brien (R), David Oh (R) Five Democrats and five Republicans are running for seven slots, which means the Democrats are likely to sweep the top five, so the real race is among the Republicans to finish in the top two. Among the Republicans running, O'Brien seems to be widely viewed as the most competent (he got an Inquirer endorsement, for example) and cooperative (e.g., he was Speaker of the State House a few years ago in a term when it was nearly evenly divided between the parties). David Oh almost won this election four years ago, and seems to be capable and likely to be a pragmatic and productive force on Council, as asserted by several current Council members.
City Council District Representative:Mark Squilla After winning the primary, Squilla is running unopposed in this election, so will become our district's new Council rep (replacing Frank DiCicco).
Retention races for Judges: Yes to all except James Lynn (Common Pleas), Robert Rebstock (Common Pleas), and James DeLeon (Municipal) These three judges are the only ones not recommended by the Bar for retention

Ballot Questions (See full text and read Committee of Seventy's discussion of the ballot questions

1. To create a "rainy day fund" where the city would deposit funds in years when there was a surplus above a stipulated level. The city might run a surplus some day? That's a good one. More seriously, the Committee of Seventy recommends YES on this question, arguing that rainy day funds are established good-government budgeting tools used by many cities and states (including Pennsylvania), at least as long as rigorous controls are in place, which they say are present in what is proposed here. That sounds good enough to us.
2. For the city to borrow $111 million for various capital projects What a surprise! A bond issue on a Philadelphia ballot? We get annoyed by seeing these year after year, but in an era where we need employment and borrowing is cheap, it feels like YES is a good choice on this one.