My wish list for my next state senator

I've mentioned before how my wife and I support Anne Dicker (left) for the Pennsylvania State Senate. We live in the First District, which encompasses parts of south and west Philadelphia.

Dicker's opponents in the April 22 Democratic Primary are Johnny Dougherty and Larry Farnese. I won't even consider voting for either one, however. Dougherty is disqualified because he represents the thuggish ways of Philadelphia's labor politics, a time period I can only hope is fading into history (but not nearly quickly enough). Farnese gets my immediate disqualification because, by all appearances, he is the departing Vince Fumo's choice, and I despise Fumo, so Farnese loses by association. I've been receiving a lot of junk mail campaign literature from both Dougherty and Farnese, and I barely give it a look. I have to mention that I think it's funny that Farnese's flier that arrived yesterday didn't mention anywhere that he's running for State Senate. How funny is that? Talk about amateur hour.

Anyway, here is my wish list for the candidates in the First District (and I will e-mail this to all of the candidates).

Mass Transit, Traffic & Infrastructure
It's amazing to me how this is not much of an issue at the state and national levels. With rumors of gas prices rising to $4 per gallon, federal and state governments have basically yawned their collective mouths toward mass transit. Put simply, mass transit must be a much larger part of our multi-plan goal of energy independence.

For instance, here in Pennsylvania, the oft-discussed and nearly abandoned Schuylkill Valley Metro would make a world of sense. Of course, the federal government has denied funding, and Governor Rendell has been less than helpful. A few years ago, he announced the funding would not be forthcoming and that the project should be considered dead. Lots of anger ensued, so Rendell backpedaled somewhat, blaming the federal government for lack of funding. I'd take that at face value, except that in light of the federal government's tax deferment rebate checks economic stimulus plan, it was reported that the powers that be in Harrisburg are considering a similar plan. Of course I'd like another rebate - who wouldn't? But, as I sit in a traffic jam on I-76 tomorrow morning, thoughts of being able to take the train to work will be dancing in my head. Instead of the politically beneficial yet fiscally stupid decision of giving a few hundred dollars four tanks of gas back to taxpayers, how about addressing congestion and traffic issues? Better yet, how about elected officials in Harrisburg do what they are really elected to do - look out for out best interests? Since Pennsylvania has so many infrastructure issues, it sure would be refreshing to hear all legislators make a promise not to vote themselves a pay raise for five years. Better yet, maybe a pay cut to finance some of our needed infrastructure improvements? Yea, I know, fat chance.

There have been numerous proposals to expand routes 422 and I-76, and each and every time, the word "funding" gets in the way. There have been numerous proposals to add an upper deck to I-76, with light rail on top (part of the Schuylkill Valley Metro) in the middle and four new lanes on I-76. Route 422 should also be expanded. And if anyone reading this thinks I'm off my rocker, try getting from Pottstown to Philadelphia at around 7:30 in the morning. Then do it again. And again. And again. Do it for a week, and you'd be as frustrated as I am. My point is that expanding either I-76 or 422 won't get it done, because both of these highways are extremely congested. I'd really like to see the SVM get built AND see expanded highway capacity. The Philadelphia area needs both to serve current needs, much less to allow for growth in the area. The city is always saying how it wants to attract businesses, and I wonder how many have looked at the traffic situation and said, "No thanks"?

This decade, I've written dozens and dozens of letters to my federal, state and local representatives, begging for some solutions, and I mostly get nothing in return. Andrew Warren, when he was the Philadelphia region's PENNDOT director, finally called me on the telephone one day while I was working for Lucent, explaining that PENNDOT is pushing mass transit as a solution to Philly's traffic problems. Fine, but it sounded to me like he was passing the buck a little bit, too. I basically got the impression that he was irritated with all of my letter writing, which made me even more irritated than he was. I was crestfallen that Warren ended up running for public office after I moved from Bensalem, because I was looking forward to voting against him. He lost anyway.

I also heard from Senator Roger A. Madigan, the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, who wrote me a letter saying that I was basically proposing a bridge from King of Prussia to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia that would cost several billion dollars. As I read the letter, I smiled, and said out loud, "Yep, that's exactly what I'm proposing."

Anyway, mass transit must be at the forefront of the energy independence and climate crisis debates.

Closely related to that is the need to upgrade our infrastructure. It angers me that so many of our bridges and highways have been neglected for so long. I just heard on the radio the other day that over 20 percent of Philadelphia area bridges are "structurally deficient," but PENNDOT states they are "still safe." I guess I need to go back to grade school, because I learned that "deficient" means lacking in some way. Quickly now, are any of you comfortable knowing that one quarter of our area bridges need attention? I'm no engineer, but there certainly is an unpredictability factor to these issues as well, as evidenced by the sudden I-95 closure last week because large cracks began appearing in a critical support column. I suppose we should all be thankful that it was caught in time to avoid catastrophe, but that's another thing that won't be too comforting as I travel over and under dozens of bridges on my commute tomorrow.

Speaking of I-95, that needs major upgrades as well. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Here's a very real hypothetical, however - imagine two critical closures happening at once in Philadelphia? For instance, I-95 has another structure issue, and there's a bad traffic accident on the collision-prone Schuylkill Expressway (or worse, a simultaneous structure issue) - can you imagine what it would be like in the Philadelphia area? Forget about work, errands or entertainment - staying home would be the only sane option for anyone who commutes. But, if we had more mass transit options...

Gay Marriage
Dicker has solid credentials on this issue, since she is openly bisexual. I'm not interesting in exploring her sex life, unlike many on the radical religious right who go on a self-righteous crusade against people who have choices that differ from theirs. Sadly, it takes courage to be open about such things in our society, and definitely in our state. We may have a Democratic governor, but it wasn't all that long ago when we had a Republican governor and two Republican U.S. Senators. My point here is that Pennsylvania is a moderate state on many issues, but conservative on many social issues.

I'm really hoping that Pennsylvania gets on board the tolerance train and passes a civil union law. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not giving up, either. Dicker has plenty of leverage on this issue. Any people in the GLBT community who are voting for anyone other than Dicker in the primary really ought to rethink their choice.

Casinos
Dicker has been in the anti-casino fight for some time now, and I've got absolutely no problem with that. I see very little benefit to having casinos in Philadelphia - history has shown that there are as many disadvantages as advantages to having them in a city. Yes, we would receive more tax revenue, but also increased traffic, crime and all of the other unattractive things that come with casinos. What's more, Farnese is openly pro-casino, and for the life of me I can't find anything on Dougherty's Website about casinos as of this writing, so it's another reason to cast your ballot for Anne Dicker.

Healthcare
Anne Dicker has talked openly about getting universal healthcare for all Pennsylvanians, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. What's more, she isn't hiding behind the pipe dream of the federal government enacting uni healthcare, which may never happen.

Transparency
I'm skeptical whenever I hear politicians talk about openness and transparency in government. Usually, it's a nice campaign meme, but I believe Dicker more than the others; Dougherty is old school Philly, and as I've written on numerous occasions, we need to do away with that; and Farnese is Fumo's hand-picked successor, and I've never confused Fumo with someone who uses his best judgment.

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More about this Pa. State Senate race in the coming days.