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 editBob, 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.
This is a quote from Barry Howell, President of Northwood Civic: “If I was the pres.of Frankford Civic ,I would check to see what council canidate in the 7 district race ,recived donations from NET ,It’s good to know whos on your side in the fight your haveing stoping the rehabs in Frankford .Good luck Barry”
Well Barry, I guess we know now which canidate in the district 7 race received funds from the owner of the property where the Bridge wants to move.
Lorraine This is no guessing game ,do your homework and make it public on this blog,the winner is not always the one with the most money.Ithink it it would be public record, while your at it ,say what groups recived money from NET.Northwood didn’t take any ,I can tell you that Lorraine get some facts. Barry
It’s clear there is some bias here against the current Councilperson, can someone tell me why the contribution from Terrance McSherry (Net CEO)is not listed here for Mr. Savage, it’s on his report, but the editorial didn’t mention that fact. Typically when reading this bias blog, the Gazatte has been protecting Mr. Savage the entire race. I am so glad she cleaned his clock, this race showed that Mr. Savage is weak and his time in this district is over, along with the rest of his followers. It wasn’t even close, horrific performance from all of Mr. Savage followers… It’s a new day finally.
Kathleen, thanks for the new information. I missed it. I did not look at donors of small amounts. You are right about there being some bias but I have some reservations about both candidates. I am ambivalent about the outcome. Frankford will continue to make progress regardless. It looks like we will just have to do it ourselves.
Donations to candidates are always made public; there are no secrets. It would be naive of us to think that elections aren’t influenced by money; everything is influenced by money. I would make a wager that there is a lot more money donated to candidates in some of the more affluent areas of the city. I would like to see larger and more numerous donations in the 7th district in the future; it’s a sign of that district becoming more prosperous and businesses wanting to expand. When politicians receive this money as contributions, it’s commerce stating they want to continue doing business in their district. Anyone with any intelligence wants to maintain and expand the businesses in their business corridors, and it helps when you have the cooperation of politicians and neighborhoods. As for the types of businesses being highlighted here; NET, The Bridge, etc. those are the businesses Frankford currently attracts because the neighborhood, not the politicians, allow drugs to flow freely on their streets. Therefore this service becomes necessary and will flourish. Too bad you can’t maintain an economy funded by federal drug programs, state welfare, city housing and poor education. Frankford residents should welcome political donations; in turn they should hold the donors and politicians accountable for the promises they make. Because when a business donates to a candidate they are donating to you and the future of your neighborhood.