Political Commentary by John Buffington is another installment in a series. His opinions are entirely his own.
My friend, Matt Wolfe, is running in a special election Tuesday. This is Matt Wolfe the insurgent Republican, not Tom Wolf the Democrat who looks likely to get the nomination to challenge the catastrophic current Governor Corbett.
I decided long ago that I prefer Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz to be the one to go after Corbett. Any of the current four candidates would be a vast improvement over Corbett, but I have observed Allyson Schwartz for years and she looks like the best choice in that race to me.
Philadelphia city council however is a whole different matter from the governor’s race. We need some competition in local politics to put a cork in corruption, nepotism and waste.
I can’t imagine trying to take on the thoroughly entrenched machinery of Philadelphia politics so I had some questions for Matt Wolfe:
JB: “What makes you interested in an utterly hopeless run for an at-large city council seat?
MW: “I wouldn’t have done this if I thought it was hopeless. People are starting to recognize just what bad financial shape this city is in. “
JB: “You seem to be taking out after Mayor Nutter as much as the fools on the current city council. Isn’t the mayor the kind of reformer that the city needs?”
MW: “He talks the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk. The city’s biggest problem right now is the bankruptcy of public education. There is no greater municipal responsibility than educating our children and no facet of government is currently failing more than public education.
The core responsibilities of city government are public safety, public education, keeping the city clean, and maintaining infrastructure. The current crowd is neglecting those duties and spending money on secondary stuff.”
JB: “How did your opponent get on the ballot?”
MW: “He used to be the political director of John Dougherty’s local of the electricians union.”
He might turn out to be a little better than the turkeys currently in place. I hope so, since Matt’s candidacy is clearly hopeless at present. The only Republican on the ballot isn’t going to do all that well on a day when it’s mostly Democratic primaries, in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.
Still, if anybody is listening, please think about casting a vote Tuesday for Matt Wolfe and competition in local politics. We need to encourage whatever brave souls step up to challenge the stupidity on the current Council.
Also there is a ballot question Tuesday. Current city council members want to be allowed to keep collecting their salaries while they run for higher office. Please vote against that atrocity.
John Buffington May 2014 Johnbton47@gmail.com
