We are about a month out now from the May 17 primary. Of great importance to many of us this primary is the change in who will represent the 1st District. The district goes from South Philadelphia, through Queen Village, Society Hill, Center City and Northern Liberties along the river wards to Frankford. But most importantly for our readers is that it includes the Gayborhood.
Since 1996, our councilperson has been Frank DiCicco. It will be a tough act for anyone to replace him. In fact, I doubt they can. Frank has been an excellent representative of his district. He is what an elected official should be, working tirelessly for the people, bringing compromise that all can live with. The district has seen much controversy over the years. Frank never ran from that; instead, he dived in to help his district come to terms with it and that dedication and work ethic has created growth.
On LGBT issues, he is only dwarfed in accomplishments by Councilman Jim Kenney — who, being in council an additional four years now, has introduced more LGBT legislation than any other councilmember.
For the record, this columnist would have gladly endorsed him for reelection, regardless of that one word, “DROP,” which now will deny us the services of one of the best district council people in the city.
With Frank bowing out, there is a vibrant campaign among four candidates to replace him. They are Vern Anastasio, Joe Grace, Jeff Hornstein and Mark Squilla. It has been my pleasure to know or get to know all four of them.
There is one overriding issue in this campaign for the 1st Councilmanic District and our community, and that is the giant building project that will bring the William Way LGBT Community Center up to code and create an LGBT-friendly senior affordable-living facility. It is the largest LGBT brick-and-mortar project in the commonwealth. And it not only has bipartisan support but the support of the majority of the current council, the congression-al delegation and almost any elected official you can name. And I’m very proud to say that in each of my talks with the four candidates for 1st District, where the project is located, each has expressed their full support and have stated that it will be a priority for them.
With my involvement in that project, and realizing the tangled web of each of their political supporters, it would be crazy to alienate any one of the candidates. They all are equal on our issues and they all support the largest LGBT project. Therefore I, for one, have no intention of endorsing anyone. It’s a bright day to be able to say whoever wins that seat is someone we can partner with to continue the growth of our community.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at [email protected].