Rendell seeks Greene votes
With the primary election only six weeks away, former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell brought his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor to Waynesburg Saturday in an effort to garner support from township supervisors. “I don’t believe ads alone can win or lose elections,’ Rendell told the crowd during a luncheon at the Golden Corral restaurant. “I need ordinary folks who can say, ‘I know him. I heard him speak. He’s smart. He’s going to do things.”
Western Pennsylvania is playing a crucial role in this election, and Rendell, who said he doesn’t have a lot of organized support in Greene County, chose to speak to township supervisors because he believes they are close to the people. And maybe not so different from himself.
“Do you know the difference between Philadelphia and your townships?’ he asked. “Size.’
He added, “I understand local government and will not treat local government officials as the enemy. We are partners.’
Rendell, who received standing ovations from the supervisors, opened his remarks by addressing negative advertising being run against him by Auditor General Bob Casey Jr. of Scranton.
He called Casey a “decent guy’ but added, “decent guys sometimes make mistakes.’ Rendell said, “I regret the turn the campaign is taking.’
Defending his record as Philadelphia’s mayor, Rendell said that the city’s turnaround was so great that it attracted media attention from the New York Times and Toronto Star as well as articles from newspapers around the state.
“Does that mean I solved all the problems in eight years? Absolutely not. The problems Philadelphia had were 50 years in the making. But did we turn around the city and make it believe in itself? Yes. We revitalized it and created jobs,’ he said.
In fact, Rendell said when he became mayor, Philadelphia was losing 2,700 jobs a month. He actually added 20,000 jobs in his second term.
When he became mayor, Philadelphia was on the brink of bankruptcy. During Rendell’s administration, the city developed a $300 million surplus.
He put nearly 1,000 new police officers on the streets and took a pro-active stance against crime by keeping track of high-crime areas and placing more officers there. Homicides fell from 502 in 1990 to 290 in his last year as mayor.
Rendell said the city’s new construction projects and the new jobs they brought halted the flow of people from the city and bolstered it against the nation’s recent economic downturn.
And in the area of education, Rendell noted that Philadelphia mayors appoint members of the board of education who are in staggered terms. Along with that, he supported the introduction of all-day kindergarten, increased parental involvement to help keep discipline and other standards that saw test scores rise.
“Did I take a bad education system and make it perfect? Of course, not. Did I take a bad education system and make it better? I did and no TV ad can change that,’ he said.
Rendell said he accomplished his goals without raising taxes or making layoffs. Instead, he cut government waste, including such moves as cutting employee sick days from 20 to 15 a year and cutting holidays from 14 to 10.
Rendell wants to carry this philosophy to the governor’s office where he plans to increase state subsidies for education from its current 35 percent to the 55 percent it was 30 years ago.
“What’s gone up when the state stopped paying 55 percent (for education) and started paying 35 percent? Property taxes,’ said Rendell. “There are property tax problems all over the commonwealth.’
He said his plan to raise subsidies back to 55 percent would allow property taxes to come down 25 to 40 percent and take the load off local school boards.
Rendell said he’ll accomplish this by cutting government waste, raising cigarette taxes from 31 to 62 cents (which he said is still lower than Maryland’s 66 cents, New Jersey’s 81 cents and New York’s $1.10), and by placing slot machines at race tracks.
“It’s not like our folks don’t gamble,’ Rendell said. “They’re gambling and we’re not getting the upside. It’s time to be realistic.’
In addition, Rendell wants all-day kindergarten for all Pennsylvania children and class sizes no bigger than 14 for students in kindergarten through third grade. He said the state can issue bonds to help pay construction costs for additional classrooms so the burden won’t fall on local communities.
To further help local municipalities, Rendell wants to offer a revolving loan fund to allow local governments to acquire land and fix it up for development.
He also said, “There’s a way to manage the environment without hurting progress. I want DEP to be cooperative with local government.’
And Rendell said if he’s elected governor, he plans to keep his campaign bus and drive across the state on business trips instead of flying so he can stay in touch.
Rendell said, “We’ll spend eight years listening as well as talking to people.’