The re-opening of the Holme Avenue Bridge was one of the main discussion points at the October Holme Circle Civic Association meeting. Photo by Stephen Schultz.

The Holme Circle Civic Association held its annual “Meet the Candidates Night” during its monthly meeting on Wednesday at St. Jerome’s School Hall.

The local candidates in attendance were City Councilman Brian O’Neill and Democratic challenger Bill Rubin; Democratic at-large Councilman Jim Kenney represented by his aide, John DelRica; Republican candidates Denny O’Brien and Michael Untermeyer; and Republican candidate for City Commissioner Al Schmidt represented by his aide, Steven Boc. Each candidate was given five minutes to expound on their platforms culminating with questions from the 40 member audience. continue reading »

The Somerton Civic Association met for its regular monthly meeting Tuesday to discuss a variety of issues within the community. The first issue addressed was the recent resignation of the association’s vice president, Michael Smith. The board encouraged members to step up and put themselves in the running for the position. Whoever is elected will serve until June 2012, when elections for the entire board will take place. “We would love to see some new blood,” Pat Cantwell remarked.

The board also thanked everyone who participated in the Community Day event last month. The only issue with the event was that the members wished they had more time to plan the festivities. It was noted that if there is a Community Day in 2012, it would be held in the beginning of October.

Officer Rich Simon spoke to the association about recent criminal activity in the area. In the last month there have been 11 burglaries, either physical or attempted.

“Keep your windows and doors locked. Be vigilant,” warned Simon. One patron expressed concern about the delayed response time of police officers to the area when called.

“It took 2 ½ hours for an officer to respond to my call,” said the upset community member, who would not go into specifics of the issue. Another issue brought to attention was the sighting of teenagers partying around the Red Lion Bridge on nights and weekends. Simon urged community members to document any incidents by calling 911. A complete video of Officer Simon’s report is available below. continue reading »

Eight of Philadelphia’s City Council-at-large candidates were at last Wednesday’s Holme Circle Civic Association meeting. We’ll be interviewing them over the next few weeks, but below are their short introductions of themselves. continue reading »

Election day is tomorrow, and being an off year (no mayoral or presidential candidates), voter turnout in Philadelphia is typically low. But voting is always important – especially for the offices in this election.

Tomorrow at the polls, you’ll have the chance to elect candidates for two citywide offices – District Attorney and City Controller – in addition to six judicial positions.

Some of these candidate have ties to the Northeast, while others have made the rounds at many civic association meetings.

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A class-action law suit against property owners who rent their homes in Northwood could be looming in the coming months, warned neighborhood civic association President Barry Howell at last night’s meeting.

“I don’t know how rentals came to Northwood, but they won’t stay,” Howell said to 26 attendees. “If they don’t own it, they can leave.”

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Democratic district attorney candidate Seth Williams discusses the city's geographic assignments at the Lawncrest Civic Association meeting.

The Lawncrest Civic Association hosted many guests at its meeting last night, with Democratic District Attorney candidate Seth Williams being the highlight.

“No matter who you are or where you live,” Williams said, “everybody wants the same things: a good job, to go home to your family and be safe.” As the potential new district attorney of Philadelphia, Williams promised the packed meeting he’ll take steps to provide those things for the city. continue reading »

Lynn Abraham discusses her decision not to seek re-election after 19 years as district attorney.

District Attorney Lynn Abraham addressed many issues at last night’s Greater Bustleton Civic League meeting, including her decision not to run for re-election this term.

“It was not that I really wanted to go,” Abraham said, as she corrected those who said she is retiring. The 19-year DA said her decision was based on the health of her husband of 33 years, who became ill around the time Abraham would have been starting a fresh campaign. The decision was an easy one, she said. Her husband has since passed away.

But the longtime public official made it clear she isn’t finished with her career

Continue reading for notes from the rest of the GBCL meeting, and a hot zoning issue. continue reading »

Bill Dolbow leads Tuesday night's Lawncrest Civic Association meeting

The agenda for last night’s Lawncrest Civic Association read like a who’s who of local figureheads – much to the attendees’ delight.

Aside from the usual address from board members Bill Dolbow and Phil Grutzmacher, guests included representatives from the offices of City Council members Marian Tasco, Brian O’Neill, Jack Kelly and Bill Greenlee; Senator Shirley Kitchen; and representatives Dwight Evans, Mark Cohen and Brendan Boyle. Officer Mark Mroz of the 2nd District spoke, in addition to Bill Conaway from the Philadelphia Protestant Home and Debra Mikus with the Lawncrest Library.

The highlighted speakers were Al Schmidt, Republican candidate for City Controller, and Michael Untermeyer, Republican candidate for District Attorney. Needless to say, the meeting’s agenda was packed – and Lawncrest residents came ready with questions.

Below, you can read highlights from each part of last night’s meeting, which are broken down according to topic. continue reading »