Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH
share
email
font size
options
 
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Republican challenger Al Schmidt , who lost his bid for city controller on Tuesday.

Former city housing director Tommy Massaro was impressed enough with city controller candidate Al Schmidt's concession speech to send the original draft. He's right. It's a classy speech.

Schmidt, who was the Editorial Board's pick for controller, writes: 

"You're witnessing history tonight--because this is the first step in reform in Philadelphia in years. And you're witnessing it at a somber time in Philadelphia's history. The city is in a fiscal crises. Revenue is less than projected--expenses are higher than expected, and our leaders don't have a plan.

I'm disturbed that city agencies haven't been audited. I'm disturbed that the Parking Authority hasn't been audited. Why? I don't know. Are they covering something up? We're going to find out.
 
I'm even more disturbed that The Republican Party in Philadelphia is perceived as a division of The Philadelphia Parking Authority.

I'm disturbed that the City of Philadelphia is missing out on applying for federal stimulus money. That there's no clear leadership there. That's hundreds of millions of dollars we could be putting to good use. That's libraries remaining open. More police fighting crime. And increased city services. We're not getting that money because of well intended but weak management.
 
I'm disturbed that the city doesn't have a chief salesman. We haven't had a commerce director, the person in charge of bringing in new business--for eight months.
 
I could go on and on - but tonight, thank yous are in order. ... Thank you to Democrats, both citizens and elected officials, who had the courage to put registration aside and do what's best for the
fiscal prosperity of the city. And to the people who tirelessly worked for me (names) I thank you
from the bottom of my heart. ...

Historic movements start with courage - the kind the three freshmen in City Council have shown by banding together, doing what is right, and making a difference. The courage to do what's right ... It has to start somewhere. And that somewhere was here, today at the polls, and tonight with you. I'm thrilled to be witnessing it with you - together."
 

Posted by Russell Cooke @ 1:30 PM  Permalink | 4 comments
Comments   
Posted 02:24 PM, 11/04/2009
fafafooey
The Democrat Inquirer editorial board loves Republican speeches... as long as they are concession speeches. They are feeling nice because their guy won. (I know they endorsed Schmidt, but that was their token Republican endorsement.)
Comment removed.
Posted 06:35 PM, 11/04/2009
dreinterests
token endorsement? the Republican party is a joke, read the Philly mag article the same loser Meehan family has run it for generations and they are corrupt and contented.
Posted 08:37 AM, 11/07/2009
ccmomof2
That's a classy speech from a classy guy. He'd have my vote for mayor!
4 comments
About The Inquirer Editorial Board
Harold Jackson, a winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, grew up in Birmingham, Ala., during the civil rights movement. He graduated from Baker University in Baldwin, Kan., in 1975, with a degree in journalism/political science. He has also worked at the Birmingham Post-Herald, United Press International, the Birmingham News, and the Baltimore Sun. He was at The Inquirer in the mid-1980s, returned in 1999, and became editorial page editor in 2007.

Paul Davies is the deputy editor of the Editorial Page. His newspaper career has spanned more than 20 years and includes stints at The Wall Street Journal and the Philadelphia Daily News. He graduated from the University of Delaware and received a masters in journalism from Columbia University, where he was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow. He was born in Philadelphia and still lives in the city.

Tony Auth began drawing while bedridden for a year and a half at the age of five. He graduated from UCLA in 1965 and worked for six years as a medical illustrator while doing three cartoons a week for various college newspapers. Tony has been happily ensconced as The Inquirer’s editorial cartoonist since 1971. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1976, and has won numerous other awards, including five Overseas Press Club Awards, the Sigma Delta Chi award for distinguished service in Journalism, and the Herblock and Thomas Nast Prizes. Tony is married to Eliza Drake Auth, a painter of realistic landscapes and portraits.

Trudy Rubin is the foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and a member of The Inquirer’s editorial board. Her column appears twice weekly in The Inquirer and runs regularly in many other newspapers around the United States. She is the author of Willful Blindness: The Bush Administration and Iraq.

Kevin Ferris is an assistant editor on the Editorial Board who oversees the Sunday Currents section and writes a weekly column on a wide range of issues. In his 15 years on the board, he’s handled letters to the editor and the Community Voices pages and has been Commentary Page editor. He started with The Inquirer in 1986, and his assignments have ranged from the copy and news desks to the Chester County bureau and the national/foreign desk.

As an editorial writer for The Inquirer for the past two decades, Russell Cooke has written on a wide range of topics covering government, legal, civic and social issues. Before joining the Editorial Board, he was a reporter in the Inquirer’s City Hall bureau.

Editorial writer Dave Boyer joined The Inquirer in 2002. He writes about politics, government, the economy, sports and many other subjects, but draws the line at writing about "Jon & Kate Plus Eight." He has won journalism awards and insists bribery was not involved. A native of Allentown, Boyer graduated from Penn State. He and his wife reside in Center City, where they enjoy strolling and paying the wage tax.

Melanie Burney joined the editorial board in January 2008 after covering education at the Inquirer for eight years. She previously worked at the Associated Press in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. She is a graduate of Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Josh Gohlke has been The Inquirer’s op-ed editor since last year, editing the daily commentary page and writing occasional editorials. He came to the Inquirer after eight years at The Record of Bergen County, N.J., first as a reporter covering local and state politics and government and ultimately as the deputy editorial page editor. He also worked as a reporter for several smaller papers in New Jersey and California. Josh was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Stanford University. He lives in Philadelphia.