Second-youngest at-large Council candidate launches campaign

BRANDING HIMSELF as the candidate to help make Philadelphia the major energy hub it's striving to be, Dan Tinney, of Northeast Philly, has thrown his hat into the ring for an at-large seat on City Council.

Tinney, 33, is the second-youngest announced candidate, behind Jenné Ayers, daughter of former Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. But the two are on opposite sides of the aisle. Tinney hopes to be the top vote-getter in May's Republican primary.

Having grown up in a largely blue-collar family from the Northeast's Millbrook section, Tinney, when interviewed, said he knows exactly what he wants to do if elected to the at-large Council seat.

"Business development. Job creation. Infrastructure," Tinney said yesterday when he sat down with the Daily News inside the very Council chambers he hopes to occupy.

"Philadelphia, as the next energy hub, I want to maximize its potential."

Tinney was critical of Council President Darrell Clarke's move to bypass hearings on the sale of Philadelphia Gas Works to UIL Holdings of Connecticut, which would have netted almost $2 billion toward the city's beleaguered pension fund.

"They should've had a hearing and it should have been a transparent process," he said.

"To not have the hearing, I believe, it's astounding . . . The way that entity is set up, they don't have access to capital, so if you privatize it, then you can replace the mains. I've worked in pipelines and things of that nature - so you have an aging system that needs replacement - but they can't get access to the capital needed."

Tinney, currently the treasurer of his 66th Ward, has worked in finance since he graduated from Penn State, where he earned dual degrees in business logistics and international business.

After college, Tinney said, he spent some time in Taiwan, where he studied Mandarin and political science. When he returned home, Tinney joined the Steamfitters Union Local 420, which has endorsed him.

Tinney started his PAC last year, and last month alone he raised $46,000, he said. He intends to solicit a total of $300,000, about half of which he would spend on the primary.

"I believe that we have a plan," he said yesterday. "We have a lot of good momentum."