Purges, begun they have.

Does any other major city have guaranteed seats for minority parties?

/seriously curious

Welcome to the place where American democracy started

Virginia?

T-Servo: Does any other major city have guaranteed seats for minority parties?

there are precedents. specifically, in pennsylvania, each county has three commissioners that govern it. each party can put up two candidates for the spots. that guarantees that there will always be two majority commissioners and one minority commissioner elected.

and as philly is both a city and a county, guaranteeing minority seats is in line with state tradition and practicehe

Go figure the home of the Marine Corps ruined by democrats


a farking shame

Ima10urin8: Go figure the home of the Marine Corps ruined by democrats


a farking shame

Birthplace, not home. Thanks for playing, here's your lovely parting gift.

"This is already a one-party town," said Goode, who called the minority-party quota "an arcane political tradition" and questioned whether Republicans had ever fulfilled the role of checking the city's dominant Democratic political machine.

Meh. He's just being honest. The democrats have run that city into the ground, and they're damn proud of the greed, corruption, and out of control murder rate. The philly Republicans, such as they are, aren't strong enough to oust the corrupt junta controlling the city. Oh, and by the way - those self same corrupt jackholes also have signficant influence over Arlen Spectre (our wonderfully spineless US senator) and Ed Rendell, our incompetent and asinine governor.


GaryPDX: Purges, begun they have.

Nah. There hasn't been a significant Republican presence in Philly in decades. That town is almost entirely and solidly Democrat. The city government is also mildly prejudiced against whites. Not rising to the point of a lawsuit mind you, but quite a few city officials make it pretty clear that they don't give a crap about what happens to white folks who get uppity.

Does any other major city have guaranteed seats for minority parties?

In Massachusetts city elections are non-partisan.

Weaver95: Meh. He's just being honest. The democrats have run that city into the ground, and they're damn proud of the greed, corruption, and out of control murder rate. The philly Republicans, such as they are, aren't strong enough to oust the corrupt junta controlling the city. Oh, and by the way - those self same corrupt jackholes also have signficant influence over Arlen Spectre (our wonderfully spineless US senator) and Ed Rendell, our incompetent and asinine governor.

I pin most of that on Eagles fans.

Why would any Republicans want to take any credit for the ridiculous wasteland of commerce that Center City has become?

ZAZ: Does any other major city have guaranteed seats for minority parties?

In Massachusetts city elections are non-partisan.

In Massachusetts, there are about 10 Republicans in the whole state. I was surprised that Romney was ever able to get elected there.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Why would any Republicans want to take any credit for the ridiculous wasteland of commerce that Center City has become?

They want to try and fix it, but lets face it - after decades of greed, mismanagement, plummeting property values, rising taxes and out of control violent crime nobody really wants to live there any more. They certainly don't want to open a new business in that city.

The Wilson Goode mentioned in the article is the son of the former clown mayor of this town whose claim to fame is that he once bombed a city block. The current mayor of Philly is appropriately named Nutter.

If the legislation passed and voters approved a change to the 1951 City Charter, a provision guaranteeing two at-large seats for minority parties would also vanish

That is kind of stupid...

mikemoto: The Wilson Goode mentioned in the article is the son of the former clown mayor of this town whose claim to fame is that he once bombed a city block. The current mayor of Philly is appropriately named Nutter.

well yeah, but in Mayor Goode's defense the MOVE cultists were farking wacko black power nutballs who made for very bad neighbors and liked to have shootouts with the cops.

What philly needs is someone like Frank Rizzo. that would get them back on track.

Goode responded: "Economic inclusion does not necessarily mean a quota system, which is illegal - so why maintain a political quota system?"

Ouch. It kind of sucks when the opposition uses your own logic against you...

Weaver95: They want to try and fix it, but lets face it - after decades of greed, mismanagement, plummeting property values, rising taxes and out of control violent crime nobody really wants to live there any more. They certainly don't want to open a new business in that city.

Oh people want to live here- there was a 10 year tax abatement for newly constructed homes. At least until the market dropped out and suddenly rent plummeted $200 to $300 a month in most houses in my section as the market became glutted with homes that were unsellable at the price asked.

No one wants to start a business here because of the ridiculous amount of taxes an employer has to pay- the 6% "Business Privilege Tax" is just ridiculous to inflict on small business owners on top of city wage taxes.

Eh. This happens everywhere. Look at the redistricting of Texas. By Republicans.

It's called politics. Meaning many bloodsucking parasites. Duh.

SphericalTime: Eh. This happens everywhere. Look at the redistricting of Texas. By Republicans.

It's called politics. Meaning many bloodsucking parasites. Duh.

There's quite a difference between redistricting and eliminating seats.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: No one wants to start a business here because of the ridiculous amount of taxes an employer has to pay- the 6% "Business Privilege Tax" is just ridiculous to inflict on small business owners on top of city wage taxes.

I liked it when Fast Eddie tried to raise taxes on the rest of the state to fund 'infrastructure development' in philly. He was absolutely flabbergasted that not only did the rest of the legislature disagree with him but that he couldn't just have the Republicans taken out back of the capitol complex and shot for their impertinent attitudes. I hear he was furious when his tax hike was shot down. Ed still hasn't adjusted to the fact that Harrisburg is a two-party kinda town.

mikemoto: ZAZ: Does any other major city have guaranteed seats for minority parties?

In Massachusetts city elections are non-partisan.

In Massachusetts, there are about 10 Republicans in the whole state. I was surprised that Romney was ever able to get elected there.

Not an accurate portrait really... Yes Republicans are a minority party in the Commonwealth, but the majority of our governors in recent decades have been Republican, and they do have a decent presence in the legislature.

Of course, MA Republicans would probably be considered "Moderate Democrats" compared to Republicans in other states... but I guess that's true with much of New England. Mitt Romney had to adjust a lot of his positions to be more in tune with the National platform.

GaryPDX: Purges, begun they have.

Yeah, this is the first time in history this has ever happened in the US.

FTFA:
"a provision guaranteeing two at-large seats for minority parties would also vanish."

So they're eliminating an affirmative action measure and the Repubs are whining because they're the minority in this case?
Awww, boo-farking-hoo.

If that is what you get when Democrats control a city, I am voting Republican in every election for the good of the country.

Procedural Texture: FTFA:
"a provision guaranteeing two at-large seats for minority parties would also vanish."

So they're eliminating an affirmative action measure and the Repubs are whining because they're the minority in this case?
Awww, boo-farking-hoo.

I believe you have managed to completely and totally mis-understand the situation.

See...philly (and pittsburg, although nobody likes to admit it) ultimately control who gets elected to the US senate, as well as who gets to sit in the govenor's mansion. Those cities also control our electoral college votes. That's why they're so important.

however....the philly democrats are Bad News. I mean it. Greed. Corruption. Money laundring for drug dealers. Mafia connections. Quite a lot of allegations and investigations going on that seem to run into the philly democratic party. Oh, some of them are clean. But quite a lot of them aren't. And therein lies the problem.

Remove all Republicans: The problem is that the Republicans refuse to acknowledge the work that the national GOP has done to destroy the area. It's clear that eight years of Republican power in DC has resulted in Democratic areas being underfunded and mismanaged. It's time for the Republicans to leave the area and let the Democratic leadership manage it for everyone.

citation needed.

No, really. citation needed. Because Arlen Specter (a Republican senator) has always bent over backward to suck off the philly democrats whenever they felt the need for more money.

mikemoto: There's quite a difference between redistricting and eliminating seats.

Eh. Not really. Partisan politics to disrupt the opposition is still partisan politics.

SphericalTime: mikemoto: There's quite a difference between redistricting and eliminating seats.

Eh. Not really. Partisan politics to disrupt the opposition is still partisan politics.

As near as I can tell, it's only 'partisan politics' when the OTHER guys do it. If your team pulls the exact same stunt, it's not 'partisan'.

welcome to the 21st century.

Big cities like Philly and New York shouldn't be run on a council system any way. When you're talking about cities with populations several times that of some states, having a 17 (Philadelphia) or even 51 (New York) person legislature is ridiculous, as is the ridiculously strong concentration of power in the executive that many of these cities have. These cities don't need small, weak (compared to the mayor) "councils". They need actual citizen legislatures along the line of what many states have. New Hampshire, for example, has 400 members in the lower house of its legislature. That's about 1 for every 3,000 people, and because of that the NH General Assembly is incredibly accessible to the people. You're likely to run into your state rep. while you're doing your grocery shopping or picking your kid up from school. Compare that to Philadelphia's ten district-elected city council members who each represent almost 150,000 people- more than twice the size of the average Congressional district. (The rest of the council is elected at-large, so their district is in effect the whole damn city of 1.5 million people). Of course such skewed citizen:legislator ratios produce corruption and unaccountability, compounded by an electorate that often just votes straight-ticket Democrat.


They shouldn't be reducing the number of people on the Philadelphia City Council, they should be increasing it by a factor of ten.

hubiestubert: Goode responded: "Economic inclusion does not necessarily mean a quota system, which is illegal - so why maintain a political quota system?"

Ouch. It kind of sucks when the opposition uses your own logic against you...

Not if universally observed and uniformly enforced throughout government. It only sucks when they pick and choose where to apply it.

Jerky Boys Frank Rizzo

/NSFW language

Weaver95: I believe you have managed to completely and totally mis-understand the situation.

See...philly (and pittsburg, although nobody likes to admit it) ultimately control who gets elected to the US senate, as well as who gets to sit in the govenor's mansion. Those cities also control our electoral college votes. That's why they're so important.

however....the philly democrats are Bad News. I mean it. Greed. Corruption. Money laundring for drug dealers. Mafia connections. Quite a lot of allegations and investigations going on that seem to run into the philly democratic party. Oh, some of them are clean. But quite a lot of them aren't. And therein lies the problem.

THIS.

PA politics is pretty awful. And Philadelphia joins Newark, Detroit and DC for long and proud histories of scandals. My friend in PA hates the Republicans and is a Registered Democrat from NY who only votes 3rd party for anything less that President since the Ds are so godawful in PA.

One down and 18,443 cities to go.

rcain: One down and 18,443 cities to go.

so you're ok with corrupt, racist assholes running the show just so long as they've got the same party affiliation as you...?

Republican City Committee counsel Michael Meehan said it was ironic that Goode, Council's champion of opportunities for African Americans and other minorities in city contracting, the construction industry and banking, would set his sights on eliminating a political minority.

Goode responded: "Economic inclusion does not necessarily mean a quota system, which is illegal - so why maintain a political quota system?"

pwnt.

/Stay classy.

GaryPDX: Purges, begun they have.

Run candidates. Get elected. Take seats in city council. Stop whining.

I thought you dudes were against affirmative action?

Uh, subby, the elimination of the seats is not in opposition to democratic principles -- the two GOP seats are mandated by law regardless of the will of voters. It's anti-democratic.

That being said, mandating that major parties get at least *some* representation is a VERY VERY VERY good idea. I've said many times: majority does not rule, majority governs. The inclusion of minority opinion, even though not significant enough to change anything, ensures that dissenting views will usually get a hearing, and may lead the majority to temper their actions so as not to oppress the minority.

This seems pretty pointless, all in all. I mean, if the Dems there already dominate, what's their beef?

Weaver95: rcain: One down and 18,443 cities to go.

so you're ok with corrupt, racist assholes running the show just so long as they've got the same party affiliation as you...?

Yeah, I gotta say, everything I've seen of Philadelphia, politics, everything...

Well, if it was the choice between that and Mayor 9/11, I'd take Giuliani ten times a day. And I'm one of those crazy far leftists that's destroying the country.

Er.. I should read more. Never mind. I guess these are just some kind of weird law-required "other guy" seats. That's also odd, so I'm just gonna STFU and wonder what the hell's up with those guys over there in Philadelphia.

Well, if them uppity Democrats aren't welcome in Small Town America...

Why should Republicans be welcome in Big City America?

I get sad ,when, we as people of this nation, divide when we should unite.

/welcome to the election months

FTA: "With all due respect to my colleague, what he is proposing is blatantly undemocratic," Kelly said.

I'd never thought I'd say this but, I have to agree with the Republican. Ugh. I feel dirty now.

But, really, keep the seats. It's always good to have an opposing view point around. "Yes" men will make you soft, dumb and lazy.

So Republicans purging Democrats = good
But Democrats purging Republicans = bad

Republicans set the tone with their actions when they gained control of Congress by trampling on the rights of the minority party, rights that the Republicans enjoyed while they were the minority. I am not saying this is a good thing, but if you are a Republican, you have only yourself to blame for this.

Relatively Obscure: This seems pretty pointless, all in all. I mean, if the Dems there already dominate, what's their beef?

You don't understand the mindset of the philly democrats - they cannot stand even the merest hint of rebellion, let alone having to share a council chamber with people who think differently than they do. I'm not saying all democrats are like that (or even all politicans for that matter) but the guys running the philly DNC are extremely intolerant and viciously territorial. They also hold grudges. For years. And if they don't like you, sooner or later they'll get you.

GaryPDX: Purges, begun they have.

Have the republicans gone that far? One has to wonder. Purges implies Vlad Lenin is in da house. Municipal government kinda seems like a bottom-up revolutionary sort of action by The People. I guess we have to wait and see what happens in Philadelphia as a test case...at the top of a slippery slope...

parties suck

kronicfeld: Virginia?

QFE

As long as they let me go to Gino's, I don't care if I'm banned from the rest of the city or their city council.

Befuddled: So Republicans purging Democrats = good
But Democrats purging Republicans = bad

Republicans set the tone with their actions when they gained control of Congress by trampling on the rights of the minority party, rights that the Republicans enjoyed while they were the minority. I am not saying this is a good thing, but if you are a Republican, you have only yourself to blame for this.

wow. not only did you completly miss the point, but you drove 90 miles out of your way to get there.