1st District Council Race Heats Up
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1st District Council Race Heats Up
Catherine Lucey
It looks there's a candidate interested in the 1st Councilmanic District, currently represented by Councilman Frank DiCicco.
Attorney Vern Anastasio, who has unsuccessfully run against DiCicco in the past, sent this email out today to supporters, indicating his interest in running in the Democratic primary next year. What's interesting is that Anastasio is referring to seat as open -- noting that DiCicco is in the controversial DROP retirement program. But DiCicco earlier this year told us, via his spokesman, that he was going to run again.
Anastasio told us that he will not run if DiCicco does run for re-election. "I’m running under the assumption that it’s an open seat. If he is still occupying that seat, I will not be running."
Asked if he was encouraging him to retire, Anastasio said: "I would never suggest that he ought to retire. As long as folks are healthy, people should be able to work for as long as they want."
We've put a call into DiCicco and will update when we hear from him.
Dear Friends:
In case you missed it, here's the link to Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer column by Monica Yant Kinney highlighting my efforts to stand up and speak out against City Hall's attempts to balance its budget on the backs of small businesses: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/97751084.html
As I stated in the column, City Hall has always made it hard to start, build and sustain a small business in the city. With City Hall's current budget crisis, things have gotten worse. Absurd, random and inconsistent fees and other taxes make these difficult economic times harder for the people who go to work, pay the bills and keep this city alive. In the column, I call City Hall's treatment of Philadelphia's small business community "Bizarro World".
As the next First District City Councilperson, I will fight to end the hostile environment that City Hall has created for small business people. We cannot have a strong local economy if we continue to burden those who create the local economy.
In order to win the Democratic Primary for this open seat (as the incumbent is enrolled in the city's DROP retirement plan), I will need your support NOW. I need you to visit www.vernanastasio.com and hit the CONTRIBUTE button today and make a contribution to our campaign for a fresh start in the First Council District.
Any contribution you can make TODAY will make a difference. Though contribution limits are currently $2500.00, no contribution is too small. With your support, we can change how City Hall treats our small businesses and get our economy growing again.
Visit www.vernanastasio.com today and make the contribution that will make all the difference. I thank you for your kind consideration and support.
Respectfully,
Vern Anastasio
Vern who?- Good luck Vern. All these people bit** about how bad city council is and refuse to anything about it. Best of luck in your endeavor.— Fox Irvin
I am glad to see that Vern is working in tandem with Councilman DiCicco. DiCicco has done a great job for the people in our district and will continue to win, based on his outstanding performance. When DiCicco leaves office, Vern Anastasio will need all the help he can get as long as the members of Club Fed (Lee Beloff, Ozzie Myers, John Dougherty & his henchmen and Ed "the Illegal (sic) ward leader Nesmith, who btw is the illegal pawn of DOugherty and has been pawned and paid for)are around. Seems that the FBI went to sleep on this crew... or did they?????- If DiCicco or any city council members who are in drop run again they are crooks. If we vote them back in we deserve to be treated like the morons the treat us like now.— gemini48
- Is this the Vern Anastasio that was accused of plagiarism and once worked for the RDA? Well there are a lot of people waiting on Vern and DiCicco!— Real Deal Philly
- Is this the Vern Anastasio that was accused of plagiarism and once worked for the RDA? Well there are a lot of people waiting on Vern and DiCicco!— Real Deal Philly
- Hey Real Deal Philly... the only people who ever accused Anastasio of plagarisim was his hack opponents...one of whom is now a convicted felon...so don't even try that nonsense. Good luck to Vern. He's a good and honest guy with judgement and courage. I'd be glad to have him as my council man.— denaria1982
- Hey Denaria1982 Check Out This article by Stu Bykofsy Philadelphia Daily News Date Thursday, March 1 2007 (DiCicco vs. The Reformer) where Vern says that was a dumb MISTAKE and Vern admits plagarisim— Real Deal Philly
- wow, if you go to his website, which by the way is apparently his lawfirm's site, its a big picture (and i mean big!) of his head and a button to contribute. no platform, no policy papers, no statements on the issues... its clear what kind of candidate vern is.— rabbit23
- I followed the suggestion of rabbit23 and visited website. I was struck by fact that this guy clearly represents that he has been helping people with legal issues for 15 years but he has only been a lawyer for 5 years. Not a good way to induce folks to hire him unless he is looking to help out on the Family Court matter!— Optomist
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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