PhillyDeals: A conversation with State Sen. Andrew Dinniman
State Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D., Chester) gets in the news for efforts to protect his wealthiest of Pennsylvania's 67 counties from, say, weak upstate colleges (he wants prosperous West Chester University cut loose) and urban food nonprofits like Philabundance (he wants local charities to get first crack at local grocery surplus).
State Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D., Chester) gets in the news for efforts to protect his wealthiest of Pennsylvania's 67 counties from, say, weak upstate colleges (he wants prosperous West Chester University cut loose) and urban food nonprofits like Philabundance (he wants local charities to get first crack at local grocery surplus).
I wanted to know how Dinniman and his constituents in Chester County see their role and responsibility toward less prosperous parts of the commonwealth, so I stopped by his West Chester office.
Glad you asked, he said. Excerpts from his comments follow. (See the transcript at www.inquirer.com/phillydeals)
On open space. "In the horse country, almost all those people know me from open-space preservation [tax breaks for undeveloped land]. That helps explain why I'm the first Democrat to hold this seat since the 1890s."
Talk right. "You can be progressive, but you have to speak the language of Chester County.
"You don't talk about 'poor vs. rich' here. You refer to 'our Quaker tradition,' 'our respect for the dignity of each person.' You can state a progressive stance, get people behind you on an issue, they'll vote for you. But you have to state it in the cultural terms of Chester County."
Keep out. "Chester Countians think their schools are pretty good. So when the state this year wanted to impose graduation exams, you'd think people here would say, 'Fine, our students will do well.' But opposition to the graduation exams came from my district. They want the federal and state government to stay out."
Chester County life. "To be a Chester Countian, you may start in a townhouse, but you want to end on a 10-acre spread, with two horses. That's how you know you've made it. There's a great caring about animals.
The other day in Harrisburg, they were asking me why I support the horse industry. They said, 'You don't have racetracks.' I said, 'It saves the open space in Chester County. And equine agriculture is big business in Chester County. That, and growing mushrooms.' We're farms and pharms. We have to keep both alive."
Won't poorer colleges hurt if West Chester quits the state system? "All Senator Tomlinson (R., Bucks) and I are saying is, 'Listen, this [state system with declining enrollment] is a house of cards that's coming down, man. And, by the way, we have some models here, you might want to see why West Chester is succeeding.' "
Quaker plus. "No one comes to Chester County without being deeply moved by the Quakers, their sense of [public service]. It is like the idea of Tikkun olam in our Jewish heritage, 'repair the world.' It's in a lot of faith heritages.
Our first obligation is to help our family, which is Chester County. Our second obligation is to reach out to our extended family, the Philadelphia region.
But don't punish us, don't push us back, don't destroy our excellence by state and federal edicts that are contrary to being prosperous."
215-854-5194 @PhillyJoeD