Civil Society/Government/Theme

 Since the signing of the Home Rule Charter consolidated Philadelphia County and the City of Philadelphia, the Democratic Party has ruled in Philadelphia. So much so that seats had to be reserved for minority parties to at least lend the city a veneer of bipartisan rule. People still remember with cold hatred the tenure of Frank Rizzo as Mayor and how his racist policing policies and handling of the MOVE standoff where over 1,000 uniformed officers surrounded the home of black activists. Or in 1985 when a city manager colluded with city police and fire to drop a satchel charge on the roof of a MOVE building, killing numerous people and setting an entire neighborhood on fire. The jailing of Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal for allegedly murdering a police officer, or the ongoing saga of Meek Mill's probation for a single drug charge all tilt the scales of public opinion away from support for the city's leadership.

 Within the halls of power, there is no partisan gridlock. There is no effective resistance, no honorable opposition. Just what the powerful want done and what they don't. Inroads are being made in certain parts of the city as activists successfully force progressive candidates onto the At Large seats of council and swallow up much desired airtime on local news with tales of single party corruption. Philadelphia remains a city where you will absolutely receive a parking ticket if your meter expires for even a minute, but where the pot hole in front of your house won't be filled for months unless you spray paint a penis around it.

 So what are you after? Change? Or pocket change?