The primary election on May 17th was a low turnout event as was expected.  Councilwoman Maria  Quiñones-Sánchez defeated Danny Savage for the Democratic party nomination for the 7th District City Council seat.  Congratulations to them both for a hard fought contest.

I was curious about who was supporting which candidate.  Sanchez raised over twice as much money as Savage did, so I took at look at the contribution reports.  Both candidates got  a lot of money from other politicians, businesses, unions, lawyers, PACs and such.  There were also many small donors in the hundred dollar range.

There was only one surprise and I found it on the Sanchez contribution list.  The 8th largest contributor gave $5,200 on April 4th.  This contributor, COSAN LLC is the owner of the property where the Bridge has proposed to relocate on Adams Avenue.

A zoning variance is required before that can happen since the property is now zoned G2 heavy industrial.  At present the Northwood and Juniata Civics have both indicated that they would write a letter of support to the zoning board for the change (past coverage here).  Tony Payton, State Representative has also indicated support.  Councilwoman Sanchez at last hearing said she was undecided.

Jason Dawkins Says:
April 14th, 2011 at 12:04 pm edit

Bob, Councilwoman Sánchez did not express any decision on the Bridge. She stated before that she was going wait until all community members voted, before making any public decision.

There is nothing wrong with giving to the candidates.  Many of the donors gave to both candidates, I guess to cover all the bases.  Many of the donors gave to other candidates for other offices in the election.  The donors make their donations for various reasons.  See the Inquirer story from Sunday about the donations from the soft drink folks.

Thanks to a commenter, I have another surprise.  I did not know Terrence McSherry but he is the CEO of NET (Northeast Treatment Centers).  He donated $100 to the Savage campaign and $100 to Sanchez.  Thanks Kathleen. If anybody finds anything else, let me know.

Elections cost a lot of money.  Money has to be raised and there is nothing inappropriate in taking any donation you can get.  That is a fact of life.  It’s politics.

You can see what the donations for Sanchez and Savage look like below.  If nothing else, it’s interesting.  Thanks to the Committee of Seventy for help in finding the information.

Sanchez donations here.

Savage donations here.

Tom Waring of the Northeast Times covered the great debate last week and his report is linked here.  This is an important election for our community, keep informed.

Savage website here.

Sanchez website here.

Deni Clean Up Crew

The Deni Whiz Kids held their annual park clean-up to kick off the 2011 Baseball Season.  It was a day of brooms, rakes, trash bags, teamwork, and fun. Players, parents, and coaches put on their work gloves to sweep, pull weeds, and remove litter. The Deni Playground Advisory Council and the Whiz kids maintain the park in the absence of an on site recreation leader from the City of Philadelphia.

Danny Savage, President of the Deni Playground Advisory Council and founder of the Deni Whiz Kids said, “It is great to see everyone work hard and take pride in caring for our home field.”

Nolan Allen, Deni Whiz Kids Baseball Commissioner noted, “The Deni Whiz Kids love baseball and they love this park.”

This is the 5th season of baseball for children at Deni Playground. The Deni Playground Advisory Council was formed in 2007 via Danny Savage and Lizz McCollum-Nazario to bring back an absence of youth sports for over 20 years.

Dan Savage

It seems clear that Dan Savage is in the race for City Council.  The kick off petition party will be held on February 16th.

There is a good story in the Inquirer on the council race coming up.  Read that here.

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the great work that was done this past Saturday! 36 hard working, caring neighbors and friends worked cleaning up our park and getting it ready for winter. THANKS to everyone! You raked the perimeter of the Park, cleaned up the sidewalks, filled 50 bags with leaves for composting in Fairmount Park, and 12 contractor bags of trash/weeds. Together you weeded and mulched 9 garden beds – dug up two beds of Canna bulbs for winter storage, planted 6 chrysanthemums, 12 Easter lilies, and mulched 20 trees! The park will look beautiful this spring thanks to all the great work our volunteers did this past Saturday. I also need to thank the generous contributions from Tony Payton’s office for flyers, Dan Savage for pretzels, Lorraine Fortino for water, ROTC Joe for doughnuts and the rest of our group for their time and commitment to Overington Park! Without your help the park would not be the wonderful place we have come to enjoy. Thanks for your hard work, and time you have all given to make Frankford a better place! It was a beautiful day, made better by your caring! Diane Kunze, Friend of Overington Park