David Cohen
Encyclopedia
David Cohen was an American
lawyer
, Democratic
civil servant and politician
. For the last 26 years of his life, he was a Philadelphia city councilman representing the northwest district. Having served a four year term not consecutive to the other terms, he represented northwest Philadelphia for a total of 29 years. He died in office aged 90.
Cohen was a local Democratic and community leader during the mayoral administrations of Philadelphia Mayors Joseph Clark
and Richardson Dilworth
, a councilman during the administration of Mayor James Hugh Joseph Tate
and the police commissionership of Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, and a councilman in the mayoral administrations of Mayors William J. Green
, W. Wilson Goode, Edward G. Rendell, and John F. Street
. He served nearly 14 full years in City Council with future mayor Michael Nutter (who was elected mayor two years after Cohen's death). His views on city issues were often at odds with the majority in city government. Rendell described him as the most tenacious political leader he ever met.
Cohen supported labor unions, collective bargaining
, racial integration
, desegregation
, and equal opportunity
since the late 1930s. He claimed he had anticipated trends of increasing support for such positions. He campaigned with plank
s of civil rights
, workers rights, good government
, constituent
service and geographic inclusiveness.
In his first term on the City Council, he successfully sponsored in 1970 an air pollution
measure, and emphasized it in his next campaign. His chemical right-to-know
bill, in 1982, was one of the nation's first. He opposed waste incineration
within the city, successfully in the case of a proposed plant near the Philadelphia Naval Yard. During his tenure, two long existing waste facilities were shut down. He claimed that these curtailments in waste facility operations produced a saving of $1.5 billion in trash disposal costs over thirty years and enhanced the attractiveness of the city areas of South Philadelphia
, Northern Liberties, and Roxborough
as targets for development.
In 1995, Cohen declared himself "a Franklin D. Roosevelt Democrat", and thereafter refused any other public comment on supporting political alliances in the city.
At his death in 2005 at age 90, Cohen was one of the oldest American elected leaders in office, serving at large
on the City Council
, and thus representing all the city's 1.5 million residents. (U.S. Senators Thurmond
and Byrd
each also reached the age of 90 while representing a U.S. constituency with a population of a million or more, before and after him, respectively.)
Cohen first became active in politics as a campaign worker for Democratic mayoral nominee John B. Kelly, Sr.
in 1935. He was appointed an attorney for the Rural Electrification Administration in Washington, D.C.
in 1938 after graduating first in his class from the University of Pennsylvania Law School
in 1937 and winning a graduate fellowship. As a graduate fellow, Cohen did research used for upholding the constitutionality
of Pennsylvania's law providing for a minimum wage
equal to the federal minimum wage for some people not covered by the federal minimum wage.
As a Rural Electrification Administration attorney, Cohen drafted state laws for various states and became president of the agency union and participated in negotiations with two Secretaries of Agriculture
.
Cohen resigned his position with the federal government in 1943, then located in St. Louis, Missouri
as the federal government dispersed federal agencies around the country to forestall an enemy attack on them in World War II
, to prepare to enter the US Army
. Briefly working for the St. Louis Congress of Industrial Organizations
while awaiting the completion of enlistment processing, Cohen made the transition from volunteer union leader to union staffer.
His first job after returning from New Guinea
in the South Pacific
theater, where he had reached the rank of the rank of staff sergeant
, the highest rank for a non-commissioned officer
, after declining to attend Officer Candidate School
, was to legally represent federal union employees in New York City, where his wife's family lived, and help them unionize. In one case, after independent journalist I.F. Stone interviewed him, he recruited Stone as a volunteer legal aide so that Stone could get a first hand view of the obstacles facing union workers.
Cohen returned to Philadelphia in 1952 and developed a law practice representing unions
, individuals, and businesses. With law partner Morton C. Jacobs, he handled an early legal case holding that computer software
was patent
able. When Cohen moved to the Broad and Olney area of Philadelphia, he saw a newspaper ad seeking volunteers for the Presidential campaign of Adlai Stevenson. He volunteered and was appointed an assistant committeeman in Philadelphia's 49th Ward, 27th Division.
After an unsuccessful run for Judge of Elections in 1953, Cohen was elected a Democratic committeeman in his division in 1954. He later became Treasurer of the 49th Ward Democratic Executive Committee, President of the Northwest Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Congress
, and head of the Northwest Philadelphia Chapter of the Community Chest. He also was active in the Jewish War Veterans
, and often cited his experiences dealing with soldiers from rural areas in Missouri, running a health care clinic for soldiers in New Guinea and giving them legal advice as formative ones.
He developed national concerns as well. He attended the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream
" speech, and marched with Dr. King and many others for voting rights in Selma, Alabama
in 1965. He had spent the end of 1964 gathering information about violations of African-American voting rights in Mississippi
in support of the challenge to the seating in Congress of Mississippi's Congressional delegation.
Following the one man, one vote decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, the wards of Philadelphia were redistricted, and the 49th Ward was split in half. Cohen was elected Democratic leader of the 17th Ward in 1966, and was continuously reelected henceforth. In 2002, he became the most senior Democratic ward leader in the City of Philadelphia, and he continued to serve as the 17th Ward Democratic leader until his death.
Sworn in as a member of City Council in 1968, Cohen became a leader of the independent factions of the City Council, and worked to focus the City Council on previously slighted problems dealing with zoning, public health care, air pollution, governmental ethics, delivery of city services, and race relations. Elected a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention
, Cohen supported the Presidential campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy
and Eugene McCarthy
, and frequently spoke at rallies opposing the War in Vietnam.
Cohen resigned to run for Mayor
of Philadelphia in 1971. After failing to garner adequate support to win the Democratic mayoral nomination, he withdrew and supported Congressman William J. Green, who lost to former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Frank L. Rizzo.
Cohen remained active in Philadelphia politics and civic life, campaigning for George McGovern
, running unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for City Controller in 1973 and for Councilman at large in 1975. He joined an unsuccessful effort to recall Mayor Rizzo in 1976 after Rizzo, who had won two elections opposing tax increases, pushed through the largest tax increase in Philadelphia history. Cohen was one of the leaders of the successful opposition to Mayor Rizzo's campaign to amend the City Charter in order to allow Rizzo to seek a third consecutive term as mayor.
He returned to the Philadelphia City Council in 1980, this time as a Councilman at Large. He began his tenure by working to make the rules of City Council more effective and democratic. When City Council President George X. Schwartz, Council Majority Leader Harry Jannotti, and Councilman Louis Johanson
were taped accepting bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab
sheiks in the nationally prominent Abscam
scandals, he and freshman councilman John F. Street
, who later became Mayor of Philadelphia, began regularly demanding explanations and resignations from the implicated City Council members. When Schwartz resigned as City Council President in the fall of 1980, Cohen backed his successor as District Councilman in the 8th Councilmanic District, Joseph E. Coleman
, whom Cohen had defeated in 1967 for the Democratic nomination, as Council President. Coleman, the first African-American to serve as Council President, later appointed Cohen as Chairman of City Council's Rules Committee.
Cohen's 25 years as at large councilman were the longest tenure in that position since it was created by City Charter amendment in 1951. Throughout it, Cohen was an independent voice in City Council, actively examining and often seeking to modify or defeat the proposals of Mayors William J. Green, W. Wilson Goode, Ed Rendell
, and John F. Street. He identified with people who did not have institutional power and were adversely affected by governmental decisions he considered arbitrary and unfair.
His achievements included legislation providing sixty day notice for mass layoffs by employers, which served as a model for national legislation signed into law by President Ronald Reagan
; divesting city pension funds of investments in South Africa
; making Philadelphia a pioneer in the recycling of trash, saving the city of Philadelphia $1.5 billion in estimated costs of establishing a trash to steam plant; shutting down Philadelphia's existing incinerators; restricting increases in locations for billboards; and achieving improvements in Philadelphia's service delivery systems.
, was succeeded by the oldest Pennsylvania governor, David Lawrence
, in 1958, he repeatedly commented on that fact. Celebrating his 90th birthday as a member of City Council on November 13, 2004, Cohen told The Philadelphia Inquirer
he would not retire from City Council and would run for reelection in 2007.
Over 500 people attended a "Tribute to Change" reception at the University of Pennsylvania, held to raise money to fund Bread and Roses
, a Philadelphia charitable foundation, and to honor him and his wife Florence Cohen for their lifetimes of activism, on September 12, 2005. The event, held near the law school where he had graduated first in his class more than 68 years earlier, turned out to be his last public appearance before his death.
He was buried in Har Nebo Cemetery
in the Oxford Circle
section of Philadelphia. His grave is located at the intersection of Israel and Shalom streets near entrance number 2. On his gravestone, unveiled on October 22, 2006, are the words "conscience of the city."
His son Denis P. Cohen served for 24 years as an assistant district attorney
, and was a leader of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He was also a President of a community association in the Overbrook Farms section of Philadelphia and a Vice-President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Philadelphia. He was appointed a judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by Governor Tom Ridge
in 2000, and was nominated and elected by both the Democratic
and Republican
Parties for a ten year term in 2001.
His son Mark B. Cohen
was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in May 1974, and served continuously thereafter, holding the governmental positions of Chairman of the Labor Relations Committee, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and Democratic Majority Whip. A member of the Democratic State Committee continuously from 1984, he was a delegate at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
that nominated Senator John F. Kerry.
His daughter Sherrie Cohen was a trial lawyer in Florida
and Philadelphia, as well as an activist for public, political, and gay
causes.
His daughter Judy Cohen Minches was a reporter in New Jersey
, a leader in her synagogue
, and a mother of three.
, a few blocks from his home of 53 years. The cause of death was heart failure, although he had entered the hospital for kidney failure. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Claude Lewis, a longtime observer of Philadelphia politics, metaphorically suggested in an October 5, 2005 column that he had died of heart failure because "he used his heart so much."
He had served in City Council over a period of nearly 38 years, more than any Democrat in Philadelphia history, and had served as Councilman at Large for almost 26 years, more than any Philadelphia Councilman at Large. He called himself a "true Roosevelt Democrat."
He was an unabashed liberal and tenacious champion for causes of the poor and downtrodden, as well as for the middle class. In the midst of his 2003 re-election campaign, he told the Philadelphia City Paper for February 27-March 5, 2003 "My colleagues will tell you that I'm the most active member of City Council. For years people have been saying I should step down, but it's not because of my age, it's because of my politics.
"I believe that government must help people to a better life, to see to it that everyone has an equal chance at the American dream, no matter what their economic background. That may not make me popular with some people, but the voters have elected me to Council (at Large) six times, so I must be popular with someone....
"I have more zest now than when I first started. When I leave is up to the Lord and the voters."
published an editorial cartoon by prize winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson
. The cartoon featured a pair of battered boxing gloves, falling apart, held together by band-aids, with Cohen's name on them. To their right was a fight card entitled "City Council Heavyweight Bouts," listing "Cohen v. Injustice," "Cohen v. Stadiums," "Cohen v. Trash to Steam," "Cohen v. Corporate Welfare," "Cohen v. Vietnam War," and "Cohen v. Racism."
The Daily News editorial of October 5, 2005 employed the same theme. It was "David Cohen, A Glove Story."
"No one wore the boxing gloves with as much relish as the Councilman," the Daily News editorialized. "Cohen was a champ because he fought for what he believed in.... Cohen was ... not truly a professional politician. We can't imagine Cohen ever commissioning a poll to decide which way to vote on an issue. Cohen acted on something more important: his conscience and beliefs.
"In all his battles, he was guided by doggedness rather than expediency, courage rather than deal making....
"David Cohen was a true champion."
In 2007, the Ogontz branch of the public library was renamed after him. He had been instrumental in its establishment back in the 1960s.
Awards have been established in his name by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Community High School of Philadelphia, and the Joseph Pennell Elementary School. A section of books at the Bushrod Library in Northeast Philadelphia was dedicated in his memory.
. What would happen if Wal-Mart was the only place that sells food?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 30, 2005.
"It's time to stop treating smokers so politely.... They have no right to make our air impure." Philadelphia Weekly, March 23, 2005.
"The main problem with the Democratic Party is that it seems to be too much like the Republican Party. But Kerry seems to be a fresh change. In Kerry's language I see the kind of government that F.D.R. fought for." "Voter Interviews: Plebes Primed to Pick President," Philadelphia Independent, October, 2004.
"Rittenhouse Square
has always been a special place....Rittenhouse Square has character....This is the last place in Philadelphia where we need such a development (parking lot and cinema). Let Rittenhouse Square be what it is now. This is what attracts people to Philadelphia. I think Rittenhouse Square ought to be Rittenhouse Square and not become like Times Square in New York." The Weekly Press, July 7, 2004.
His "most important interest (after returning from World War II)... was not to work for those who already have economic power
." He returned to Philadelphia in 1952 because he "felt (he) belonged here." After his election as councilman at large in 1979, he worked "to make government more responsive politically to the powerless." Elizabeth Rossi, "Phila. political elder backs 'powerless,'" Daily Pennsylvanian, March 29, 2004.
"Get rid of them immediately," (reacting to a court decision ordering a billboard company to take down hundreds of billboards made illegal by a 1991 law he had sponsored banning new billboards within 660 feet of playgrounds, parks, schools, and various other places.) Anthony S. Twyman, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 2004. Posted by Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) at urbanblight.org.
"I don't think you can create an artificial park that can do what LOVE Park can do. I understand that there are competing interests here, but as Council members we often deal with such conflicts. And I put the interests of skateboarders pretty high. The younger people are so often put into a corner." Carla Anderson, "When Will Skaters Roam LOVE Park?" Philadelphia Daily News, November 10, 2003
"I'm sorry to hear that my colleague believes that skateboarders are causing the damage. I don't believe it for a moment. The real issue is anti-skateboarder bias.... He (city planner and skateboard advocate Ed Bacon) is a little older than me, so he's obviously got more wisdom than I have." Sara Kelly, "City Hall: Save the Children," Philadelphia Weekly, June 18, 2003. Posted at Free LOVE Park at ushistory.org.
"We don't need bigger government or smaller government; we need better government." Charlesdog12, Daily Kos, December 28, 2003 and subsequent dates.
"The war (in Iraq) must not be used as an instrument for curtailing people's rights." Andrea Miller, "City Opposes Media Consolidation," Daily Pennsylvanian, March 21, 2003.
"This is a movement in the opposite direction of what we've had for many years. I think it's very heartening. And I think it's good for everybody in Philadelphia." (The decision of congregation Mishkan Shalom, founded in the Philadelphia suburbs, to build a new synagogue in Philadelphia) Ami Eden, "Shuls Heading for Cities, Bucking Suburban Trend), Forward, January 11, 2002.
"The point of this bill (an anti-mask ordinance introduced in anticipation of the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to nominate George W. Bush) is to sabotage Philadelphia, to make sure we're all on nice behavior." Jacquelyn Horkan, Inbox, Florida Business Insight, July 3, 2000.
"The mayor didn't say 'I'm going to think about it.' He didn't say 'I'm going to try to do it.' He said 'I'm going to do it.' We assumed it had been done. You don't make commitments like that unless you follow through with them."
"Mayors have to be cheerleaders. Philadelphia is not unanimously behind this merger.... Philadelphia seems to be practically unanimously opposed to this merger (between First Union and CoreStates banks)."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
civil servant and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. For the last 26 years of his life, he was a Philadelphia city councilman representing the northwest district. Having served a four year term not consecutive to the other terms, he represented northwest Philadelphia for a total of 29 years. He died in office aged 90.
Cohen was a local Democratic and community leader during the mayoral administrations of Philadelphia Mayors Joseph Clark
Joseph S. Clark
Joseph Sill Clark, Jr. was a U.S. lawyer and Democratic Party politician in the mid-20th century. He served as the mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 until 1956, and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1957 until 1969...
and Richardson Dilworth
Richardson Dilworth
Richardson K. Dilworth was an American Democratic Party politician, born in the Pittsburgh area, who served as the 91st Mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962.-Education and early career:...
, a councilman during the administration of Mayor James Hugh Joseph Tate
James Hugh Joseph Tate
James Hugh Joseph Tate was an American politician. He served as the Mayor of Philadelphia between 1962 and 1972. He originally ascended to the office of Mayor when Richardson Dilworth resigned to make an unsuccessful run for Governor of Pennsylvania in the 1962 election. Tate was elected to full...
and the police commissionership of Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, and a councilman in the mayoral administrations of Mayors William J. Green
William J. Green, III
William Joseph Green, III is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Green also served as the 94th Mayor of Philadelphia.-Youth:...
, W. Wilson Goode, Edward G. Rendell, and John F. Street
John F. Street
John Franklin Street was the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004...
. He served nearly 14 full years in City Council with future mayor Michael Nutter (who was elected mayor two years after Cohen's death). His views on city issues were often at odds with the majority in city government. Rendell described him as the most tenacious political leader he ever met.
Cohen supported labor unions, collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
, racial integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
, desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
, and equal opportunity
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
since the late 1930s. He claimed he had anticipated trends of increasing support for such positions. He campaigned with plank
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
s of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, workers rights, good government
Good government
Good government is a normative description of how government is supposed to be constituted. It has been frequently employed by various political thinkers, ideologues and politicians.- Thomas Jefferson and Good government :...
, constituent
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
service and geographic inclusiveness.
In his first term on the City Council, he successfully sponsored in 1970 an air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
measure, and emphasized it in his next campaign. His chemical right-to-know
Right to know
"Right to know", in the context of United States workplace and community environmental law, is the legal principle that the individual has the right to know the chemicals to which they may be exposed in their daily living. It is embodied in federal law in the United States as well as in local laws...
bill, in 1982, was one of the nation's first. He opposed waste incineration
Incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
within the city, successfully in the case of a proposed plant near the Philadelphia Naval Yard. During his tenure, two long existing waste facilities were shut down. He claimed that these curtailments in waste facility operations produced a saving of $1.5 billion in trash disposal costs over thirty years and enhanced the attractiveness of the city areas of South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west.-History:...
, Northern Liberties, and Roxborough
Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Roxborough is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bordered to the southwest, along the Schuylkill River, by the neighborhood of Manayunk, along the northeast by the Wissahickon Creek section of Fairmount Park, and to...
as targets for development.
In 1995, Cohen declared himself "a Franklin D. Roosevelt Democrat", and thereafter refused any other public comment on supporting political alliances in the city.
At his death in 2005 at age 90, Cohen was one of the oldest American elected leaders in office, serving at large
At-Large
At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
on the City Council
Philadelphia City Council
The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number...
, and thus representing all the city's 1.5 million residents. (U.S. Senators Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
and Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
each also reached the age of 90 while representing a U.S. constituency with a population of a million or more, before and after him, respectively.)
Early political career
Cohen, a child of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, was born in south Philadelphia.Cohen first became active in politics as a campaign worker for Democratic mayoral nominee John B. Kelly, Sr.
John B. Kelly, Sr.
John Brendan Kelly, Sr., also known as Jack Kelly, was one of the most accomplished American oarsmen in the history of the sport of rowing. He was a triple Olympic Gold Medal winner, the first to do so in the sport of rowing. He won 126 straight races in the single scull...
in 1935. He was appointed an attorney for the Rural Electrification Administration in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1938 after graduating first in his class from the University of Pennsylvania Law School
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Law School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Ivy League, it is among the oldest and most selective law schools in the nation. It is currently ranked 7th overall by U.S. News & World Report,...
in 1937 and winning a graduate fellowship. As a graduate fellow, Cohen did research used for upholding the constitutionality
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
of Pennsylvania's law providing for a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
equal to the federal minimum wage for some people not covered by the federal minimum wage.
As a Rural Electrification Administration attorney, Cohen drafted state laws for various states and became president of the agency union and participated in negotiations with two Secretaries of Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
.
Cohen resigned his position with the federal government in 1943, then located in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
as the federal government dispersed federal agencies around the country to forestall an enemy attack on them in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, to prepare to enter the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. Briefly working for the St. Louis Congress of Industrial Organizations
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
while awaiting the completion of enlistment processing, Cohen made the transition from volunteer union leader to union staffer.
His first job after returning from New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
in the South Pacific
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
theater, where he had reached the rank of the rank of staff sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
, the highest rank for a non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
, after declining to attend Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....
, was to legally represent federal union employees in New York City, where his wife's family lived, and help them unionize. In one case, after independent journalist I.F. Stone interviewed him, he recruited Stone as a volunteer legal aide so that Stone could get a first hand view of the obstacles facing union workers.
Cohen returned to Philadelphia in 1952 and developed a law practice representing unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, individuals, and businesses. With law partner Morton C. Jacobs, he handled an early legal case holding that computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
was patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
able. When Cohen moved to the Broad and Olney area of Philadelphia, he saw a newspaper ad seeking volunteers for the Presidential campaign of Adlai Stevenson. He volunteered and was appointed an assistant committeeman in Philadelphia's 49th Ward, 27th Division.
After an unsuccessful run for Judge of Elections in 1953, Cohen was elected a Democratic committeeman in his division in 1954. He later became Treasurer of the 49th Ward Democratic Executive Committee, President of the Northwest Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Congress
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress describes itself as an association of Jewish Americans organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts....
, and head of the Northwest Philadelphia Chapter of the Community Chest. He also was active in the Jewish War Veterans
Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America
The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America is an American Jewish veterans' organization, and the oldest veterans group in the United States. It has an estimated 37,000 members.-History and purpose:The Jewish War Veterans were established in 1896...
, and often cited his experiences dealing with soldiers from rural areas in Missouri, running a health care clinic for soldiers in New Guinea and giving them legal advice as formative ones.
He developed national concerns as well. He attended the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream
I Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination...
" speech, and marched with Dr. King and many others for voting rights in Selma, Alabama
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
in 1965. He had spent the end of 1964 gathering information about violations of African-American voting rights in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
in support of the challenge to the seating in Congress of Mississippi's Congressional delegation.
Following the one man, one vote decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, the wards of Philadelphia were redistricted, and the 49th Ward was split in half. Cohen was elected Democratic leader of the 17th Ward in 1966, and was continuously reelected henceforth. In 2002, he became the most senior Democratic ward leader in the City of Philadelphia, and he continued to serve as the 17th Ward Democratic leader until his death.
City council
City Council redistricting left Northwest Philadelphia without an incumbent councilman, and Cohen was elected to that position in 1967, quintupling the November victory margin of the previous incumbent.Sworn in as a member of City Council in 1968, Cohen became a leader of the independent factions of the City Council, and worked to focus the City Council on previously slighted problems dealing with zoning, public health care, air pollution, governmental ethics, delivery of city services, and race relations. Elected a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
, Cohen supported the Presidential campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
and Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, and frequently spoke at rallies opposing the War in Vietnam.
Cohen resigned to run for Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Philadelphia in 1971. After failing to garner adequate support to win the Democratic mayoral nomination, he withdrew and supported Congressman William J. Green, who lost to former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Frank L. Rizzo.
Cohen remained active in Philadelphia politics and civic life, campaigning for George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
, running unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for City Controller in 1973 and for Councilman at large in 1975. He joined an unsuccessful effort to recall Mayor Rizzo in 1976 after Rizzo, who had won two elections opposing tax increases, pushed through the largest tax increase in Philadelphia history. Cohen was one of the leaders of the successful opposition to Mayor Rizzo's campaign to amend the City Charter in order to allow Rizzo to seek a third consecutive term as mayor.
He returned to the Philadelphia City Council in 1980, this time as a Councilman at Large. He began his tenure by working to make the rules of City Council more effective and democratic. When City Council President George X. Schwartz, Council Majority Leader Harry Jannotti, and Councilman Louis Johanson
Louis Johanson
Louis Carl Johanson is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, serving from 1965 to 1966....
were taped accepting bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
sheiks in the nationally prominent Abscam
Abscam
Abscam was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation run from the FBI's Hauppauge, Long Island, office in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
scandals, he and freshman councilman John F. Street
John F. Street
John Franklin Street was the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004...
, who later became Mayor of Philadelphia, began regularly demanding explanations and resignations from the implicated City Council members. When Schwartz resigned as City Council President in the fall of 1980, Cohen backed his successor as District Councilman in the 8th Councilmanic District, Joseph E. Coleman
Joseph E. Coleman
Joseph E. "Joe" Coleman was an American politician, attorney and chemist. He was a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:Coleman was born in 1922, and grew-up in Mississippi during a time in which the southern United States was dominated by racial segregation and the Jim Crow laws. In 1948, he...
, whom Cohen had defeated in 1967 for the Democratic nomination, as Council President. Coleman, the first African-American to serve as Council President, later appointed Cohen as Chairman of City Council's Rules Committee.
Cohen's 25 years as at large councilman were the longest tenure in that position since it was created by City Charter amendment in 1951. Throughout it, Cohen was an independent voice in City Council, actively examining and often seeking to modify or defeat the proposals of Mayors William J. Green, W. Wilson Goode, Ed Rendell
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell is an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell, a member of the Democratic Party, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003...
, and John F. Street. He identified with people who did not have institutional power and were adversely affected by governmental decisions he considered arbitrary and unfair.
His achievements included legislation providing sixty day notice for mass layoffs by employers, which served as a model for national legislation signed into law by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
; divesting city pension funds of investments in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
; making Philadelphia a pioneer in the recycling of trash, saving the city of Philadelphia $1.5 billion in estimated costs of establishing a trash to steam plant; shutting down Philadelphia's existing incinerators; restricting increases in locations for billboards; and achieving improvements in Philadelphia's service delivery systems.
Advanced years
Cohen had always demonstrated a strong work ethic, telling a nephew in the early 1950s that he intended never to retire. When the youngest Pennsylvania governor, George M. LeaderGeorge M. Leader
George Michael Leader served as the 36th Governor of Pennsylvania from January 18, 1955 until January 20, 1959. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and a native of York County, Pennsylvania. Currently he is the only person from that county ever to be elected governor of the state.-Early...
, was succeeded by the oldest Pennsylvania governor, David Lawrence
David L. Lawrence
David Leo Lawrence was an American politician who served as the 37th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1963. He is to date the only mayor of Pittsburgh to be elected Governor of Pennsylvania. Previously, he had been the mayor of Pittsburgh from 1946 through 1959...
, in 1958, he repeatedly commented on that fact. Celebrating his 90th birthday as a member of City Council on November 13, 2004, Cohen told The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
he would not retire from City Council and would run for reelection in 2007.
Over 500 people attended a "Tribute to Change" reception at the University of Pennsylvania, held to raise money to fund Bread and Roses
Bread and Roses
The slogan "Bread and Roses" originated in a poem of that name by James Oppenheim, published in The American Magazine in December 1911, which attributed it to "the women in the West." It is commonly associated with a textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts during January-March 1912, now often...
, a Philadelphia charitable foundation, and to honor him and his wife Florence Cohen for their lifetimes of activism, on September 12, 2005. The event, held near the law school where he had graduated first in his class more than 68 years earlier, turned out to be his last public appearance before his death.
He was buried in Har Nebo Cemetery
Har Nebo Cemetery
Har Nebo Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in the Oxford Circle neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Notable interments:*David Cohen, Philadelphia City Councilman*Harry Gold, atomic spy...
in the Oxford Circle
Oxford Circle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oxford Circle is a neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Its namesake is the much used traffic circle...
section of Philadelphia. His grave is located at the intersection of Israel and Shalom streets near entrance number 2. On his gravestone, unveiled on October 22, 2006, are the words "conscience of the city."
Personal background
In 1946, Cohen married Florence Herzog, whom he had met when she too worked for the Rural Electrification Administration. Together they had four children. Several members of his family followed him into public service. His wife headed a community organization, the Ogontz Area Neighbors Association, and two political organizations, the 17th Ward Democratic Women's Club and the New Democratic Coalition of Philadelphia. From January 1980 until her retirement in September 1996, she served as his City Council Chief of Staff.His son Denis P. Cohen served for 24 years as an assistant district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
, and was a leader of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He was also a President of a community association in the Overbrook Farms section of Philadelphia and a Vice-President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Philadelphia. He was appointed a judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by Governor Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
in 2000, and was nominated and elected by both the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Parties for a ten year term in 2001.
His son Mark B. Cohen
Mark B. Cohen
Mark B. Cohen is a Democratic politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Succeeding Eugene Gelfand, he has represented Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 202 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since June 10, 1974, making him the most senior member in the Pennsylvania...
was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in May 1974, and served continuously thereafter, holding the governmental positions of Chairman of the Labor Relations Committee, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and Democratic Majority Whip. A member of the Democratic State Committee continuously from 1984, he was a delegate at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated John Kerry and John Edwards as the official candidates of the Democratic Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the 2004...
that nominated Senator John F. Kerry.
His daughter Sherrie Cohen was a trial lawyer in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and Philadelphia, as well as an activist for public, political, and gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
causes.
His daughter Judy Cohen Minches was a reporter in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, a leader in her synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, and a mother of three.
Death and summation of career
David Cohen died on October 3, 2005, at the age of 90, after a hospitalization at Albert Einstein Medical CenterAlbert Einstein Medical Center
Albert Einstein Medical Center is a tertiary care teaching hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An important aspect of the medical center is that of educating graduating physicians. The medical center offers residency and fellowship training programs in many specialized areas...
, a few blocks from his home of 53 years. The cause of death was heart failure, although he had entered the hospital for kidney failure. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Claude Lewis, a longtime observer of Philadelphia politics, metaphorically suggested in an October 5, 2005 column that he had died of heart failure because "he used his heart so much."
He had served in City Council over a period of nearly 38 years, more than any Democrat in Philadelphia history, and had served as Councilman at Large for almost 26 years, more than any Philadelphia Councilman at Large. He called himself a "true Roosevelt Democrat."
He was an unabashed liberal and tenacious champion for causes of the poor and downtrodden, as well as for the middle class. In the midst of his 2003 re-election campaign, he told the Philadelphia City Paper for February 27-March 5, 2003 "My colleagues will tell you that I'm the most active member of City Council. For years people have been saying I should step down, but it's not because of my age, it's because of my politics.
"I believe that government must help people to a better life, to see to it that everyone has an equal chance at the American dream, no matter what their economic background. That may not make me popular with some people, but the voters have elected me to Council (at Large) six times, so I must be popular with someone....
"I have more zest now than when I first started. When I leave is up to the Lord and the voters."
Eulogies, posthumous honors and evaluations of record
The October 5, 2005, Philadelphia Daily NewsPhiladelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
published an editorial cartoon by prize winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson
Signe Wilkinson
Signe Wilkinson is an editorial cartoonist best known for her work at the Philadelphia Daily News. She is the first female cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1992 and was once named "the Pennsylvania state vegetable substitute" by the former speaker of the...
. The cartoon featured a pair of battered boxing gloves, falling apart, held together by band-aids, with Cohen's name on them. To their right was a fight card entitled "City Council Heavyweight Bouts," listing "Cohen v. Injustice," "Cohen v. Stadiums," "Cohen v. Trash to Steam," "Cohen v. Corporate Welfare," "Cohen v. Vietnam War," and "Cohen v. Racism."
The Daily News editorial of October 5, 2005 employed the same theme. It was "David Cohen, A Glove Story."
"No one wore the boxing gloves with as much relish as the Councilman," the Daily News editorialized. "Cohen was a champ because he fought for what he believed in.... Cohen was ... not truly a professional politician. We can't imagine Cohen ever commissioning a poll to decide which way to vote on an issue. Cohen acted on something more important: his conscience and beliefs.
"In all his battles, he was guided by doggedness rather than expediency, courage rather than deal making....
"David Cohen was a true champion."
In 2007, the Ogontz branch of the public library was renamed after him. He had been instrumental in its establishment back in the 1960s.
Awards have been established in his name by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Community High School of Philadelphia, and the Joseph Pennell Elementary School. A section of books at the Bushrod Library in Northeast Philadelphia was dedicated in his memory.
Quotations
"This bill (banning stores the size of Supercenters) is plainly aimed at Wal-MartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. What would happen if Wal-Mart was the only place that sells food?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 30, 2005.
"It's time to stop treating smokers so politely.... They have no right to make our air impure." Philadelphia Weekly, March 23, 2005.
"The main problem with the Democratic Party is that it seems to be too much like the Republican Party. But Kerry seems to be a fresh change. In Kerry's language I see the kind of government that F.D.R. fought for." "Voter Interviews: Plebes Primed to Pick President," Philadelphia Independent, October, 2004.
"Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The park cuts off 19th Street at Walnut Street and also at a half block above Manning Street. Its boundaries are...
has always been a special place....Rittenhouse Square has character....This is the last place in Philadelphia where we need such a development (parking lot and cinema). Let Rittenhouse Square be what it is now. This is what attracts people to Philadelphia. I think Rittenhouse Square ought to be Rittenhouse Square and not become like Times Square in New York." The Weekly Press, July 7, 2004.
His "most important interest (after returning from World War II)... was not to work for those who already have economic power
Economic power
There is no agreed-upon definition of power in economics. At least five definitions of power have been used:*Purchasing power, i.e., the ability of any amount of money to buy goods and services. Those with more assets, or, more correctly, net worth, have more power of this sort...
." He returned to Philadelphia in 1952 because he "felt (he) belonged here." After his election as councilman at large in 1979, he worked "to make government more responsive politically to the powerless." Elizabeth Rossi, "Phila. political elder backs 'powerless,'" Daily Pennsylvanian, March 29, 2004.
"Get rid of them immediately," (reacting to a court decision ordering a billboard company to take down hundreds of billboards made illegal by a 1991 law he had sponsored banning new billboards within 660 feet of playgrounds, parks, schools, and various other places.) Anthony S. Twyman, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 2004. Posted by Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) at urbanblight.org.
"I don't think you can create an artificial park that can do what LOVE Park can do. I understand that there are competing interests here, but as Council members we often deal with such conflicts. And I put the interests of skateboarders pretty high. The younger people are so often put into a corner." Carla Anderson, "When Will Skaters Roam LOVE Park?" Philadelphia Daily News, November 10, 2003
"I'm sorry to hear that my colleague believes that skateboarders are causing the damage. I don't believe it for a moment. The real issue is anti-skateboarder bias.... He (city planner and skateboard advocate Ed Bacon) is a little older than me, so he's obviously got more wisdom than I have." Sara Kelly, "City Hall: Save the Children," Philadelphia Weekly, June 18, 2003. Posted at Free LOVE Park at ushistory.org.
"We don't need bigger government or smaller government; we need better government." Charlesdog12, Daily Kos, December 28, 2003 and subsequent dates.
"The war (in Iraq) must not be used as an instrument for curtailing people's rights." Andrea Miller, "City Opposes Media Consolidation," Daily Pennsylvanian, March 21, 2003.
"This is a movement in the opposite direction of what we've had for many years. I think it's very heartening. And I think it's good for everybody in Philadelphia." (The decision of congregation Mishkan Shalom, founded in the Philadelphia suburbs, to build a new synagogue in Philadelphia) Ami Eden, "Shuls Heading for Cities, Bucking Suburban Trend), Forward, January 11, 2002.
"The point of this bill (an anti-mask ordinance introduced in anticipation of the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to nominate George W. Bush) is to sabotage Philadelphia, to make sure we're all on nice behavior." Jacquelyn Horkan, Inbox, Florida Business Insight, July 3, 2000.
"The mayor didn't say 'I'm going to think about it.' He didn't say 'I'm going to try to do it.' He said 'I'm going to do it.' We assumed it had been done. You don't make commitments like that unless you follow through with them."
"Mayors have to be cheerleaders. Philadelphia is not unanimously behind this merger.... Philadelphia seems to be practically unanimously opposed to this merger (between First Union and CoreStates banks)."