New faces scramble for City Council as seven-term veteran Tasco bows out

THE MAY 19 DEMOCRATIC primary election is shaping up with some new faces expected on the ballot and one veteran city politician wrapping up her tenure.

City Councilwoman Marian Tasco, leader of the 50th Ward, told her committee people Monday night that she will not run for an eighth term in the 9th District.

Tasco yesterday said she hopes state Rep. Cherelle Parker takes her place on Council.

Parker, who started her career as a high-school intern in Tasco's City Hall office, said she has been in "nonstop" conversations since Monday's announcement.

"I will tell you I've been very encouraged by the affirmative response that I've received from stakeholders in the 9th Council District," Parker said.

Tasco was the city's first African-American city commissioner, elected in 1983 before running for Council in 1987.

Parker, a full-time Tasco Council staffer for 10 years, won a 2005 special election for the state House's 200th District seat. She now represents Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy.

Parker, who was unopposed in last year's primary and general election, in August lost an appeal to state Superior Court to overturn a drunken-driving conviction from a 2011 arrest. Her attorney is now appealing that ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Tasco's announcement gave rise to political speculation that she had been waiting to see if Council President Darrell Clarke would run for mayor.

Clarke on Monday said that he will seek a fifth term on Council.

Tasco, who made bids for the Council presidency in 1999 and 2011, said she had no interest in a third try.

"I had no notion of being president of City Council," Tasco said. "I tried it. It didn't work. And I wasn't interested anymore."

In other political news, Paul Steinke, who resigned Dec. 31 as general manager of Reading Terminal Market, last night told an enthusiastic gathering of about 150 supporters that he is a candidate for an at-large Council seat.

Steinke, 50, who would be the first openly gay person on Council if elected, said his experience running Reading Terminal for 13 years and helping to create the Center City District and University City District has prepared him to help create jobs and economic development on Council.

"Creating growth and producing results: This has been the theme of my life's work. It will be the theme of my campaign for Philadelphia City Council," Steinke said on stage at the Field House restaurant on Filbert Street, across from Reading Terminal.

"I am so ready to elect somebody to Philadelphia City Council who is out and proud," said state Rep. Brian Sims, the first openly gay person elected to the state Legislature, who introduced Steinke.

"I can't think of anybody in Philadelphia that has a track record of supporting small businesses and sustaining that growth than Paul," Sims added.

Keven Parker, no relation to Cherelle, and the owner of the Reading Terminal's soul-food restaurant that bears his name, told the crowd that Steinke was a visionary leader for the market and will be likewise on Council.

"He is always going to give you his best," said Parker, who also owns the Ms. Tootsie's Restaurant Bar and Lounge on South Street.

Meanwhile, Tom Wyatt, a partner in Dilworth Paxson's corporate and business department, on Saturday declared his candidacy for a Democratic at-large Council seat.

Wyatt, who lives in South Philly, spoke about education and poverty and how they are affected by what he called the city's "dysfunctional tax policies."