May20
Incumbent Alan Butkovitz, far left at NEastPhilly and WHYY's debate, won the Democratic primary for city controller
By Shannon McDonald
Alan Butkovitz, incumbent Democratic candidate for city controller, won yesterday’s primary race, in which he ran against Brett Mandel and John Braxton.
Butkovitz faced off against his opponents in three debates, one co-hosted by NEastPhilly.com and WHYY. The Castor Gardens resident will go up against lone Republican candidate Al Schmidt in the November general election.
May7
Updated: 9:37 a.m. 5/8/09
By Shannon McDonald
NEastPhilly.com and WHYY partnered last night to host a debate for the city’s three Democratic candidates for city controller, Alan Butkovitz, John Braxton and Brett Mandel. The debate was moderated by WHYY’s Chris Satullo and took place in the John Perzel Community Center, where the Mayfair CDC operates. Among the hot topics were real estate taxes, department audits and the day-to-day duties of Philadelphia’s city controller. WHYY has audio and video clips from the debate, courtesy of Alan Tu.
Audience Question: How would you most effectively serve as City Controller
*Alan Butkovitz: “There has to be a sense of good faith that you’re really solving something.”
*John Braxton: “Impact is the most important. It’s not enough to audit.”
*Brett Mandel: “You have to develop a relationship that’s not a gotcha relationship.”
Tension was high at last night’s debate for the three Democratic candidates for city controller. Incumbent Alan Butkovitz joined his opponents Brett Mandel and John Braxton at a table in the front of the community room at the John Perzel Community Center in Mayfair, where insults flew back and forth and compliments were few.
On more than one occasion, moderator Chris Satullo had to reign the three men in, at one point commenting that the atmosphere had “gone from zero to nasty.”
A common theme of the night seemed to be Braxton’s and Mandel’s questioning Butkovitz on annual audits, the focus of previous debates between the men. Mayor Michael Nutter’s endorsement of incumbent Butkovitz also came up multiple times.
The two challengers took several shots at Butkovitz regarding what they considered his neglect for a major duty of the city controller position.
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May6
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By Shannon McDonald
NEastPhilly.com and WHYY will co-host a debate for the city’s three Democratic candidates for city controller tomorrow night. Two of the candidates, incumbent Alan Butkovitz and one of his opponents, Brett Mandel, have ties to the Northeast.
The city controller oversees Philadelphia’s finances, so this year’s election is especially important, and everyone from the NEast should take interest, since it’s fairly rare for two candidates for a major public office to be from the Northeast.
The debate will take place at 7 p.m. in the community room of the John Perzel Community Center, home of the Mayfair CDC. Come early, as seating is limited. If you cannot make the debate, e-mail us your questions for the candiates by noon tomorrow, and they will submitted along with audience questions during the debate.
Apr30
By Shannon McDonald
NEastPhilly.com and WHYY will cohost a debate for the city’s three Democratic candidates for City Controller, two of whom have ties to the NEast.
On Thursday, May 7 at 7 p.m., Chris Satullo of WHYY will moderate the forum between incumbent City Controller Alan Butkovitz and his opponents Brett Mandel and John L. Braxton. The event will be held in the John Perzel Community Center and hosted by the Mayfair CDC.
This event is open to all civic organization leaders, and the public is encouraged to get involved. If you’d like to come, get there early, as seating is limited. If you have questions for the candidates regarding their campaigns for the city controller position and how their plans will affect you and your community, come and get involved.
For those who can’t make it next week, we will post a place for you to ask your questions, which we’ll then compile into a list for the debate night. Minutes from the forum will be inlcuded in a follow-up story on NEastPhilly.com after the debate.
This is a great opportunity to make a bigger name for the NEast within the city. This is the first of two city controller debates in the city, which was spearheaded by our Web Editor, Chris Wink. The Democratic primary election is Tuesday, May 19. To make an informed vote, get the answers you’re looking for straight from the candidates at our debate next Thursday.
Continue reading to see the official press release.
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Feb20
More than 400 people showed up for a budget workshop held at St. Dom's in Holmesburg on Feb. 12.
WHYY may have trouble placing St. Dom’s or Holmesburg on a map, but we give them credit for posting video of the budget cutback advice from 50 NEasters, as provided at the budget workshop held at St. Dominic’s in Holmesburg last week.
See your neighbors give their opinion on the city’s new $1 billion shortfall.
Tell us what you think.
Image courtesy.
Feb18
UPDATE: In yet another It’s Our City post about last week’s budget workshop at St. Dom’s, the school is again listed as being in Frankford. Fourth time’s not the charm.
Outside media don’t care about the Northeast. We have all seen them misuse, misspell and mistake our neighborhoods and our streets, so we at NEast mag wanted to do something about it. When they get it wrong, we set it right in a segment we like to call Right NEast/Wrong NEast.
By Shannon McDonald
This is getting embarrassing.
In yet another article about last Thursday’s budget workshop at St. Dom’s, WHYY writer Alan Tu called us the “North East.” Really, Alan?
It may seem insignificant, but I don’t see anyone referring to Southwest Philly as the South West. I’m not sure what WHYY’s editing protocol is for online stories, but it looks bad to mislabel a section of the the city three times in a blog called “It’s Our City.”
I really enjoy reading the articles, so I hope the WHYY reporters can invest a little more time in NEast research. Maybe fourth time’s the charm?
Feb15
Outside media don’t care about the Northeast. We have all seen them misuse, misspell and mistake our neighborhoods and our streets, so we at NEast mag wanted to do something about it. When they get it wrong, we set it right in a segment we like to call Right NEast/Wrong NEast.
By Shannon McDonald
WHYY might need some new copy editors.
Writer Chris Satullo’s article about Thursday’s budget workshop at St. Dom’s placed the Catholic grade school in Frankford, nowhere near its home in Upper Holmesburg.
To make matters worse, after we pointed out Satullo’s error, a “correction” of sorts was made. St. Dom’s is now qualified as being situated in the lower Northeast, a term the City of Philadelphia reserves for neighborhoods like Fishtown and Kensington, neither of which are NEast.
The third strike? No one even admitted to the mistake. Rather than cross out the initial Frankford reference, someone subtly snuck in and changed the location without noting the correction.
Someone should warn St. Dom’s students that this will make for a longer commute to school.
See other Right NEast/Wrong NEast posts.
Feb10
Municipal union leaders and some neighborhood groups cast aspersions on citizen budget workshops. Photo courtesy of WHYY.
By Christopher Wink
Labor and union groups are calling foul play two days before Mayor Michael Nutter is coming to Holmesburg to talk budget.
“There’s no way that the large corporations of this city, the Walmarts the Sunoco’s can’t afford to help us out in these times,” Eric Braxton of the Coalition To Save Libraries told Tom MacDonald of WHYY. “That’s the solution to that problem.”
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