FOP is down on Lynne Abraham
Like Andrew Bynum and Mike Mamula before him, there are certain Philadelphia figures that you hope won’t resurface after collecting a big paycheck and leaving public life. You won’t be seeing Mamula suiting up in Eagles’ green this year, but unfortunately Lynne Abraham collected her big check and decided to return.
Ms. Abraham — like many politicians before her — took advantage of a pension program created to help the city retain talented workers and better plan for retirements in the workforce. She “retired” in 2010 and collected a $382,000 payout, and now collects a $27,035 state pension and $107,091 city pension annually.
Yet Abraham had the gall to criticize Jim Kenney for helping retired firefighters and cops collect a slight pension adjustment — even though she earns a pension four times larger than the average firefighter who worked for the city for the same amount of time.
Not that she did much to earn it. Toward the end of Ms. Abraham’s tenure as district attorney, Philadelphia had the nation’s lowest felony conviction rate — nearly two-thirds of defendants in violent crime cases walked free from Lynne Abraham’s courtroom. Even worse, only one in 10 people charged with gun assaults were convicted of that charge at the time.
Lynne Abraham failed our police when they were out on the streets risking their lives to arrest our most dangerous criminals. Now she’s failing them again by denying them a modest pension boost that still amounts to a fraction of her own annual payout. The men and women who keep our city safe — and those who we protect — can do much better than Lynne Abraham. That’s why the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police is endorsing Jim Kenney for mayor of Philadelphia.
John J. McNesby
President, FOP Lodge 5
Support for Taubenberger
As a small business owner, self-employed musician and lifelong resident of Philadelphia, it has always surprised me that there is so little support for small businesses in City Council. Now I realize most members say all the right things when it comes to supporting small businesses, but their actions often do not underscore their rhetoric.
I have known Al Taubenberger for many years. Recently our relationship has grown through my membership in the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, where Al served as president for 23 years. I have witnessed firsthand his strong support for small businesses throughout this entire region.
There is no question in my mind that we need a city councilperson fully dedicated to the interest of the retailers, small businesses, small industries, and shopkeepers of Philadelphia. We need someone with the passion and experience to look out for us. We need Al Taubenberger now.
Al Taubenberger is the best choice for City Council (at-large). I am urging small businesspersons like myself to support him so that we, too, have a voice in City Council.
Gary Grisafi
Grisafi Music Institute
We need open primaries
Here is a sad truth: I am a resident of Philadelphia and my vote will have zero impact on who will be elected the next mayor. That is because I am a registered Republican and there has not been a Republican mayor in Philadelphia in over 70 years.
So, after the primary election when a Democrat is nominated, there is a 99 percent chance that person will win the mayoral election. And since the primary elections in Pennsylvania are closed primaries, I cannot even elect who the Democratic nominee will be. There is something fundamentally wrong with the politics in this city. No party should be in charge for as long as the Democrats have been. But even so, I should at least have a chance to choose who is elected mayor.
Steve Palestini
Fox Chase
Now is the time to shake up City Hall
I am running to shake things up in City Hall as a Republican candidate for City Council at-large. As a lifelong resident of Northeast Philadelphia, I value hard work and responsibility like so many hard-working families in our neighborhoods.
As a proud graduate of Our Lady of Calvary and Archbishop Ryan, I learned first hand how sacrifice and determination can lead to success and achievement. With my family’s support and encouragement, I graduated with honors from Penn State with a dual degree in international business and business logistics and also studied abroad in Taiwan for six months. I know what it takes to work hard toward goals and overcome adversity. I want to help our citizens and this great city of ours by bringing new energy and bold ideas to City Council to put Philadelphia on the right track.
My plan is simple. I want to create good-paying jobs for local residents. I want to make Philadelphia an international energy hub and maximize its potential. I want to fight to keep taxes low and pledge not to support any tax increases. I want to help our seniors by increasing their quality of life and reducing their property taxes. I want to increase police patrols in local neighborhoods and improve our children’s education. I want to eliminate waste, fraud and mismanagement in City Hall and streamline city government to improve delivery of basic city services to all citizens efficiently. I will protect your hard-earned tax dollars and serve as a watchdog on City Council. I humbly thank you for your support and your vote on Tuesday, May 19.
Please push button #218 first to vote for me, Republican Dan Tinney, this Tuesday, May 19.
Dan Tinney
Republican Candidate for City Council At-Large
Hit and run driver should come forward
I am writing this letter to say “Thank You” to the person who side-swiped my car on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 on the 3300 block of Sheffield St. at approximately 3:15 p.m.
My car was legally parked facing westbound on Sheffield, you drove eastbound on Sheffield in the wrong lane, hit my car and then turned left onto Crispin Street traveling northbound. For your information, Crispin is a southbound street. So not only were you traveling down Sheffield Street on the wrong side of the street, you also were driving on Crispin the wrong way.
You left me with $3,500 in damages. I could call you a whole bunch of names — but you my friend, who are a coward, don’t deserve the time it would take me to write them all down. I know you know who you are or someone reading this knows someone who has damage on their driver front/side of their car.
I remember the days, when if someone hit another person’s car, they were man/woman enough to stop and either try to find the owner or leave a note on the car with a correct name and phone number, etc. But like everything else in our society, those days are gone. Respect is gone. Doing the right thing is gone.
I want you to know that I was at my mother’s house who has pulmonary issues and I was checking on her before work. I was doing the right thing. Due to financial reasons, I only carry liability insurance on my car. So unfortunately, the entire expense of your actions is on me.
A police report was filed, but since it was a hit and run they cannot do a thing. My hope would be that the right person is reading this and will come forth by going over to the 15th Police District or by contacting the Northeast Times to admit their wrongdoing and do the right thing, but I know in my heart, that will probably not happen.
So my friend, I will close with this, “Your life is not over yet and I can only hope that Karma does right by you and you get what you deserve before your end, because the road you are traveling now, is not the right road to be traveling.” Think about it when you put your head down on your pillow at night.
Joan Grey
Mayfair
Let’s pull out of war
Memorial Day has become a day to honor those who have died in war. As we honor our fallen soldiers, let us not forget those who lost limbs and suffer with PTSD. America has been involved in many wars.
Wars that became a part of history, some never to be forgotten, and others that have been forgotten. Now we fight another type of war. The war of terrorism. Possibly, little can be done about terrorism, but we can pull out of war.
It’s time for America to set an example of peace. This must be done for our young people of today and generations to come.
Marie Patton
Fox Chase
