While the race between Mayor John Street and GOP challenger Sam Katz is receiving all the attention, most of the control of the city rests with the members of City Council. On Nov. 4, South Philadelphians in both the First and Second councilmanic districts will be asked to choose their local leaders.
First District
While Councilman Frank DiCicco battled erstwhile candidate Vernon Anastasio in the courts before May’s Democratic primary, Republican challenger Rick Cataldi stayed in the shadows, letting the two slug it out.
Although the 43-year-old attorney said he began campaigning in January, he no longer has to shout to be heard above the fray.
Cataldi grew up in Port Richmond and bounced around Center City for a while before settling in Bella Vista 10 years ago. He lives near Seventh and Fitzwater streets with his wife and two children.
In addition to his law practice, the Temple University Law grad has worked as a waiter at Morton’s in Center City for 19 years.
His campaign is focusing mostly on the season’s two popular issues: taxes and crime.
"There are a lot of seniors who are being exposed to a dramatic increase in real estate taxes," Cataldi said. "They are unaware of the outlets there are to help them and they are being forced out of their homes, where they were born and raised."
The city needs a creative solution to the property tax issue, Cataldi said, and he believes he is the candidate to offer one. He is suggesting the city freeze residents’ property tax payments at their current level, but continue to reassess the property value. Then, he explained, when a homeowner sells his home, he owes the city the difference in the reassessed value.
Cataldi, like Katz, does not believe Operation Safe Streets has been effective in all sections of the city.
"It is probably working in John Street’s neighborhood in North Philly," he said, "but in Port Richmond, Kensington, South Philadelphia, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, there are still drugs, muggings and robberies."
Cataldi believes, if elected, he could introduce impactful legislation, even as part of Council’s minority party.
It is more difficult for voters, he said, to look beyond party labels.
"Instead of doing what they have been doing for the last 40 or 50 years," he pleaded that voters "take a chance and do something different."
Having triumphed in his primary scuffle, DiCicco knows those who tried to knock him out of office are still around.
Many, including the two-term councilman himself, believe the opposition was orchestrated by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers business agent John Dougherty.
With no horse in the race, the Dougherty camp has been quiet. DiCicco said he has not witnessed any of the overt campaigning against him that he saw in the primary — at least not yet.
"I’m not worried about that. [Dougherty’s] got his own problems. He’s trying to reelect Mayor Street," DiCicco said. "I’m trying to reelect Frank DiCicco."
The councilman, 57, predicts the members will face the unresolved issues from last session, including the wage tax debate. Like he did last year, DiCicco suggests a different approach than the mayor.
Street is satisfied to continue the small reductions scheduled to take place over the next five years. Katz wants to cut the wage tax to 3.5 percent from its current rate of 4.5 percent.
DiCicco, along with Councilman Michael Nutter, introduced legislation last spring to continue the modest cuts to the wage tax that Street had originally tried to stop. Now he appears to be leaning toward the Katz philosophy.
"People want to see much more dramatic reductions to the wage tax, more quickly," DiCicco said.
The incumbent also has been at the forefront of property tax reform.
A bigger issue than taxes, he said, is crime. The number of violent crimes has risen in the Third and Fourth police districts — both in DiCicco territory.
"Operation Safe Streets is apparently affecting some areas, but others not as much," he said. "Arrests are down, but crime is up."
DiCicco has not backed away from his criticism of his party’s mayor, even in an election year.
"And that’s OK for me to do because that’s my job," he said. "I’m not elected to be a ‘yes person’ for anybody, whether it’s my party or another party."
Second District
The Second Councilmanic District race pits Council President Anna Verna against Republican Paula Terreri.
Terreri resides in the Republican enclave of Girard Estate. She moved there 27 years ago after being raised in Port Richmond.
This is Terreri’s first venture into city politics. She decided to run, she said, at the request of several Republican ward leaders in Frankford. She has been a block captain for 22 years and was elected committeeperson of the 26th Ward’s 13th Division two years ago.
"I’ve always been involved in community service as far as trying to help my neighbors resolve some problems that should be resolved from City Hall," said the 48-year-old, who is married and has a grown son. "I’ve been the one to fight all the battles for everyone."
Terreri is also a member of her church’s fundraising committee, the Roman Catholic High School Mothers Alumni Association and Girard Estate Area Residents. She worked as the general manager of Shane’s Candies, Front and Market streets, until resigning in May.
Her campaign efforts have largely been focused on attending community meetings, Terreri said, plus any spillover she can get from helping with the Katz campaign.
"I think we need a change. Everyone is a little too comfortable in their job and may feel they don’t have to jump on a problem that doesn’t seem big to them," she said. "But to a resident and a taxpayer in Philadelphia, it is."
Terreri is promising better city services and has latched onto the Katz platform, including his proposal to cut the wage tax. The Council candidate believes tax reductions are the only way to keep residents from fleeing to the suburbs.
She also opposes the mayor’s Operation Safe Streets.
"I have believed since the moment Operation Safe Streets started that it was a failure," the lifelong Republican said. "They have taken the drug dealers off the corners, where the parents knew they were. Now when the children are outside playing, they have no idea there are drug deals going on right on their own streets."
The challenger has a formidable opponent in Verna, who has remained popular among residents since taking her Council seat in 1976. In 1999, the local GOPers couldn’t even find someone to run against her. She has said that, if reelected, she intends to seek the Council presidency again.
Verna believes to keep people in the city, Council must work to improve the public schools, provide affordable housing and lower taxes. The councilwoman, 72, cosponsored legislation last session to cap property tax increases at 10 percent annually. The legislation passed in City Council, only to be vetoed by the mayor.
"In my district they were raised to the point of being utterly outrageous," she said of property taxes. "They were doubled and tripled."
Verna supports continued reductions of the wage tax, but said the city cannot afford the Katz plan without affecting city services.
"It is extremely important that we be competitive. The way to do that is to address both the wage and the business taxes," Verna said, noting the recent attempts from South Jersey to lure businesses from the Food Distribution Center.
Last week, Verna attended a neighborhood meeting to discuss the rise in crime. She is critical of Operation Safe Streets.
"Crime has been horrendous in South Philadelphia. With Safe Streets, we have put the police officers on the corners and the drug dealers know where they are going to be located and they just relocate the business," she said. "It’s moving the drugs from one corner to another."
The Council President has said she’s pleased with the progress schools CEO Paul Vallas has made, and that she hopes to continue supporting him — with the state official in charge of the district, that means providing funding.
Verna’s office also has been instrumental in the progress of housing programs, like the senior-citizen complex at 16th and Reed streets, 18 new market-rate homes at 16th and Federal, and the development of the Anthony Wayne School at 28th and Morris.
