Tone turns combative in Phila. mayor's race

No one hit the deck Thursday, but it was not for lack of trying.

The general civility that had marked Philadelphia's Democratic mayoral primary campaign was quickly set aside Thursday during a second televised debate, with Nelson A. Diaz dredging up inflammatory quotes from James F. Kenney's past, T. Milton Street Sr. challenging State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams' management skills, and Williams suggesting that Kenney favored assault weapons.

In all, the debate was the liveliest exchange of the campaign and evidence - supported by the latest polls - that it remains a close affair and is rapidly taking on a negative edge as the May 19 vote nears.

Held at St. Joseph's University, the debate was recorded at midday, and broadcast Thursday night on Fox29 - even as the candidates were gathering again for an evening forum on school issues. It followed a televised debate last month that was marred when Lynne M. Abraham fainted and left the event just as it got underway.

Abraham was a full and feisty participant in both of Thursday's debates, showing no signs of wear. Rather, the former district attorney proved a challenge to the moderator with her long-running responses.

At the evening debate at the Global Leadership Academy, a charter school in West Philadelphia, the candidates focused on education.

Williams said it was an "extraordinary moment." Until Thursday, he had been the only candidate unabashedly friendly to charters in the race. In front of an audience of mostly charter parents, though, the field was warmer to charters than in previous debates, Williams said.

"I am not a charter school opponent. I am a public school fan," Kenney said, adding that a restoration of charter reimbursement from Harrisburg was among the most pressing issues facing the city and schools.

In the first debate, the more combative tone was set early by Diaz, who took off after Kenney on abuse of police power.

The former judge noted that in 1993, Kenney flippantly suggested that a double-murder suspect have a hand amputated rather than its being surgically repaired at taxpayers' expense.

"Twenty years ago, I said something unfortunate related to a murderer who killed an 8-year-old boy in a grocery buying a bag of cookies," Kenney said in response. "... I regret I said it, and I would not say it now, but that was the emotional position I was in with the death of that 8-year-old."

Diaz was not placated, launching into Kenney again the next time he was given an opportunity.

"Which Kenney do you have? The one 20 years ago or the one today?" Diaz asked. "Why is it convenient today to say the right thing? Because he is running for mayor? Which Kenney are you electing? The one who has absolutely no regards for human beings?"

Diaz's line of attack was consistent with a broader challenge being made by Kenney's opponents to his claim to the mantle of the field's progressive leader.

Williams took his shot later in the debate, when talk turned to tough decisions the candidates had made.

Kenney, a former city councilman, told of his stand against an expansion of the controversial DROP retirement program, which passed Council by 16-1 - his lone dissent earning him the ire of city unions at the time.

Williams told listeners that 16-1 was also the vote in 1993 when Council passed a measure to ban assault weapons and that Kenney was the one who opposed the measure. (Actually, the vote was 13-4, although Kenney was in the minority.)

Following the debate, Kenney said he voted against the gun bill because it was "unenforceable," since only the legislature could pass such a ban.

"In 2008, however, I realized that the message we needed to send to the rest of the commonwealth was that we wanted the ban. And I voted for it in 2008," Kenney said after the debate. "It seems like my opponents have to go back 20 years or more for anything they have to criticize me on."

In speaking to reporters, Kenney questioned more recent votes by Williams, a longtime state senator who twice since 2010 has supported legislation expanding an individual's right to use deadly force when threatened.

"I think Anthony Williams made a couple of dumb votes when he brought 'stand your ground' to Pennsylvania," Kenney said. "That is a real serious problem. That puts people in danger. My vote didn't put people in danger."

Williams has said in the past that he was responding to requests from constituents for greater leeway in defending themselves and their property. He has supported other gun control measures.

During the debate, Williams briefly became a target of Street, who pointed to a charter school Williams had founded.

Named after his father, the late political leader Hardy Williams, the school had a rocky run, with its academic achievement generally poor. At one point, the School Reform Commission tried to close it. Eventually it was taken over by Mastery Charter Schools.

Street questioned whether Williams could be counted on to solve the city's pension crisis if he "could not successfully manage an 800-student charter school."

Williams dressed down Street, saying the school had not performed as poorly as he had claimed. Its merger with Mastery was not a sign of failure, Williams said.

"We partnered with Mastery not because it was failing," he said, "but because we are not satisfied with average."