Cleaning Up the Philadelphia GOP
By way of introduction, my name is Kevin Kelly and I am the founder of a grass roots organization known as The Loyal Opposition. Formed 3 years ago, a number of concerned citizens reacted to the absence of anything resembling critical and healthy political debate in Philadelphia, and began taking on much of that responsibility, long since abandoned by a feckless Philadelphia Republican façade.
It quickly became apparent that Northwest Philadelphia, a formerly flourishing area of the city, was perhaps the most neglected community of all in this regard. Over the past few years, I’ve tried to understand how this once politically vibrant community had come to run so far under the radar with such unbalanced, uncompetitive elections. Elections here are routinely decided on the primary ballot, with a paltry 30% of the vote; hardly an effective process for selecting quality leadership. Disturbing as this was, when I learned how hundreds of millions in public dollars were squandered through the Germantown Settlement veneer over decades, I was forced by common decency to try and do something about it. I reached out to a respected journalist with whom I was acquainted, Jason Fagone of Philadelphia Magazine, and suggested he look into this "non-profit", votes for money political operation. He spent numerous months of in depth research and ultimately published an article entitled, "The Man Who Duped City Hall" in the October edition of the magazine. That expose, coupled with ongoing federal court action should bring to light one of the longest running scandals in this city.
My concern for this community and the political neglect I saw encouraged me to run for Ward Leader in the 22nd Ward in Mt. Airy. Although I won that election twice, the crooked power base wants no part of reform, and will break almost any law to stop it.
The corruption in our city has reached terribly destructive levels. One need look no further than the hundreds of millions of YOUR tax dollars that were stolen and wasted on the Germantown Settlement debacle to realize politicians rarely have your best interests at heart. They trade in the currency of votes, not solutions. Their biggest concern is always how to keep their comfortable job complete with car, benefits, pension, big salary, DROP payment, and free chicken dinners. They therefore routinely use (your) public money to make sure that gravy train keeps running; remember that. It is easy for a politician to play Santa Clause. In the end however, Santa is just a child’s fantasy.
But the days of "bailouts" and politicians "bringing home the bacon" were foolish; we enabled them and now, they are over. The only thing left is the bankruptcies, debt, and destruction that invariably come from such long term foolishness. I fear the worst is in front of us as our city and state are now forced to dig out from the massive hole we’ve created for ourselves, our children, and our grandkids. Make no mistake, we voted for these people, and we are to blame for what’s coming. There are some who still refuse to believe it is coming; but disbelief won’t hold back the inevitable tide of reality.
Most of our city’s problems are the direct consequences of a dysfunctional and lopsided political system; an unaccountable Democratic machine and a spineless, but no less corrupt and complicit, Republican apparatus. The fruits of such a broken system are right before our very eyes. A bankrupt city pension fund, some of the highest crime rates in the country, failing schools, pitiful basic city services, obscene taxes, and fleeing private sector jobs all courtesy of a career political class we elect time and time again.
Our only hope is in first recognizing the problem, and then voting in public servants who are serious about making the hard choices that must be made. But the entrenched machines will not go quietly. Take the Republican City Committee for example. The GOP in our town is run by the grandson of the same guy who ran it over sixty years ago. A marionette lawyer named Vito Canuso is the official "Chairman" of the party, but everyone knows that Michael Meehan inherited the party from his father, and his father inherited it from his father. Get the picture? I seem to remember a history lesson wherein a bunch of guys with white hair fled this type of system, setting up shop at 5th and Chestnut about 235 years ago.
Anyway, Michael Meehan has a sweet deal with the Democrat machine; he agrees to not run any serious candidates for office or try to build up the Republican Party in Philly, and the Democrats agree to let him keep some patronage jobs for his friends and a few no-bid Philadelphia Parking Authority legal contracts for himself. That’s it. Good deal for us, right?
Just to give you an idea how desperate they are to cling to power through corruption and deceit, there was an official election for 22nd Ward Leader last spring. I won that election by a vote of 4-3. Until the night of the vote, I had never personally met any of the committeemen who voted me into that position. I phoned them a few days before and discussed some ideas for building the ward and making our city a better place to live. Despite not being allowed in the Infusion Coffee House on the night of June 7th, the place where the election was held, the majority of committeemen voted for me. The meeting was chaired by Mrs. Carol Mack, a 46 year member of Republican City Committee and a pillar of the Mount Airy / Germantown community. The rules and bylaws of the RCC were strictly enforced, by the book. Anyone who knows Mrs. Mack can attest to her integrity; she is a no-nonsense kind of woman.
As you can imagine, Michael Meehan and Vito Canuso were not happy with the outcome of this vote. After a stunned silence from them for weeks, they deceptively determined the vote was "unfair" and convened a comical "election hearing" chaired by one of their Parking Authority sycophants, Chris Vogler. Mr. Vogler’s job at the Parking Authority came as a result of his relationship with Michael Meehan. Since Mr. Vogler knows where his bread gets buttered he, after what can only be described as a Keystone Cops mock trial, miraculously came to the same conclusion as Michael Meehan (shocking I know), and a second election was scheduled by RCC, one in which the outcome would be pre-determined by them.
A month later, official notice went out to select committeemen in the 22nd Ward concerning a "new" Ward Leader election to be held on 21 July 2010 at the United Republican Club at 7:30pm. When the RCC found out on the day of this 2nd election that I intended to show up with a majority of committeemen with me, they hastily tried to cancel at the last minute. Unfortunately, their own bylaws specifically require written notice of an election cancelation at least 48 hours prior. In the end, the election was held in accordance with their official correspondence and I unanimously won the 2nd election as well, 4-0. We took this nice picture after the election.
Giving up all attempts at a true and fair election, Michael Meehan recently "appointed" Mr. Calvin Tucker as 22nd Ward Leader after realizing he could never beat me in a legitimate election. This, my friends, is the "Meehan way" of representing the citizens. By the way, Mr. Tucker is not even a duly elected committeeman in the 22nd Ward per their own rules. Calvin thinks so much of you, the citizens of Mount Airy and Germantown, he didn’t even take time to gather the measly 10 signatures required to appear on the official ballot in May 2010, and received only one write-in vote for committeeman; his own. According to their own recent bylaw change, he is ineligible to vote in ward elections. Meehan, however, saw no problem with making him the "acting 22nd Ward Leader". Mr. Tucker is now an accomplice to this election crime. I am certain Mr. Tucker is a good and decent man. If he ever decides to do the right thing, I welcome his support in rebuilding the 22nd Ward.
As for Mr. Chris Vogler, he is seeking a run for City Commissioner, a post entrusted with assuring free and fair elections citywide. With your knowledge of his less than honorable actions last spring, please vote your conscience this May.
I am humbled to be the duly elected 22nd Ward Leader and will continue to recruit new committeemen and committeewomen in an effort to give the good people of Mount Airy a real alternative in elected leadership. So far, our choices for political leadership in the Northwest have failed to properly represent the citizens. No time like the present to change course. We must constantly demand better from our elected leaders. That starts with some leadership from us, the citizens. Let’s make sure they get this employee / employer relationship straight. They work for us, not the other way around. Very respectfully,
Kevin J. Kelly
22nd Ward Leader
Postscript: At Mr. Kelly’s legal request the Pennsylvania State Republican Party, of which he is an elected committeeman, commissioned a Credentials Committee to investigate this and other serious matters regarding election fraud, forgeries, and other deliberate misconduct by the Philadelphia Republican City Committee. The Credentials Committee unanimously decided to remove Mr. Vito Canuso as the Chairman of RCC and ruled that a new, supervised election be held. The RCC has failed to schedule a new vote.
