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Heard in the Hall

Doc: No Johnny Come Lately

Philadelphia City Hall and political coverage from the Philadelphia Inquirer City Hall bureau.

22 comments

Doc: No Johnny Come Lately

POSTED: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 12:55 PM

Marcia Gelbart

Score two in the victory column for John Dougherty, business manager of electricians' union Local 98 and a failed state senate candidate to fill the seat of felon Vincent J. Fumo.

First, Dougherty won election last week as leader of Philadelphia's 1st Ward.

Then, last night, a Dougherty ally, Ed Nesmith, was declared the victor in the bruising battle for leader of the 2nd Ward.

Here's the way it went down:

Nick Schmanek, an aide to City Councilman Frank DiCicco, who is decidedly not a Dougherty ally, went to Democratic Party headquarters on Walnut Street to appeal to a "contest committee" that Nesmith inappropriately declared himself the winner of the 2nd ward race after Schmanek and Nesmith drew an equal number of votes.

Schmanek lost the argument, unable to persuade the contest committee, which ruled that in the case of a tie, the right thing to do is to defer to the incumbent ward leader - handing victory to Nesmith.

Another display of democracy in action?

Oh, and if anyone's curious, here are the ward leaders who sat on the contest committee: Democratic Party chairman Bob Brady, Mike McAleer (he chaired the committee), state Rep. Frank Oliver, Shirley Gregory, state Sen. Shirley Kitchen, Ann Brown, Edgar Campbell - and Dougherty, appointed by Brady to sit in for City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski.

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

22 comments

Next Story: Thumbs-up for McKeithen

Comments (22)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:48 PM, 06/15/2010

A summit of corruption personified. Reminds me of that famous picture of the card playing dogs!

— teckie

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:50 PM, 06/15/2010

Doc is still living in the past. Both of these wards supported him heavily yet he still got his behind kicked heavily. Ward politics matters to only those involved in ward politics - the rest of us could care less what the ward leader wants or who the ward leader supports.

— SoundGround

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:54 PM, 06/15/2010

Run this dude out of the city on a rail.

— yawns

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:10 PM, 06/15/2010

You may not care what the ward leader wants or whom s/he supports, but ward leaders and committee people often play a big part in running polling places in Philadelphia. Even if you don't care about the ward leader's opinions, I'm sure you care about how fairly and effectively the voting city's voting process is run. Next time Committee positions are on the ballot, just imagine you're hiring somebody to run your poling place.

— SirEdward

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:23 PM, 06/15/2010

It appears that Nesmith only got to a "tie" with the votes of five people WHO DON'T LIVE IN THE WARD. Perhaps the state Comittee will take another view of the vote

— joelpalmer

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:41 PM, 06/15/2010

Why would anyone vote for a creep like John Doc

— irishguy04

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:41 PM, 06/15/2010

Why would anyone vote for a creep like John Doc

— irishguy04

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:53 PM, 06/15/2010

Unions Suck

— UnionsSuck

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:05 PM, 06/15/2010

I wish Bob Brady would just go away. Really - just leave. And take Dougherty with you. You guys are all about protecting the few and strangling the rest of us who live in this city. Unions are an anchor when it comes to government finance. Between outrageous salaries, pension benefits nobody else in the private sector has, free lifetime healthcare after working just 5 or 10 years for a city/state (no matter what age you retire at), and the horrible work ethic bred by unions - it's costing taxpayers way too much. Think of all the funding cuts we could restore (libraries, public safety, arts & culture, streets, transportation) if we could just pay union workers a salary and pension that's consistent with the private sector - Philadelphia wouldn't be so broke. I'm as liberal as they come - but I hate unions.

— Rosie10

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:14 PM, 06/15/2010

Hey “soundgrounded” if what you say is true, then why, I ask you, do so many candidates, especially those with advanced degrees, fork over boatloads of money to these "ward politicos" without a second thought? I believe, my dimwitted friend, that you are as clueless as a U.N. weapons inspector.

— Papist

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:28 PM, 06/15/2010

"The usual suspects"

— Smokey

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:32 PM, 06/15/2010

Rosie10, I'm surprised you can count that high, you have managed to form a completely dim witted view of the current state of our fair city. So am I to believe that it is the fault of organized labor for the deplorable state of our city. You dear lady are a tool, how about looking in the mirror, our problems exist because no one take responsibility for their own actions. Stop blaming labor, the people who gave you a forty hour work week, the weekend, overtime, safe working environments...........etc......., how quickly we forget. As far as libraries go I don't think they are used too often, close them, have you seen the Public School testing results? Art and culture is fine when things are going well, and they are not, so let the people who utilize those assets (suburban commuters) pay for their own pleasures. To fund public safety and transportation, let's stop paying for free cell phones and 2 liter bottles of coke. Problems solved without all the anti union fodder.

— Papist