One of the most frustrating things about covering politics here in Seattle is the almost total lack of colorful and/or corrupt politicians, a depressing fact I was reminded of recently when I received an unexpected phone call from a friend of friend, Stephanie Singer, informing me that she was running for Philadelphia City Commissioner.
“That’s the elections office, isn’t it?” I responded. “You mean Marge Tartaglione’s old seat?”
“It is Marge Tartaglione’s seat,” Singer informed me. “She’s my opponent.”
Tartaglione was the acid tongued, 1970’s-era, Frank Rizzo crony who administered Philadelphia elections with an iron fist—in my mind, a veritable icon of corrupt Democratic machine politics at its most mechanistically corrupt heights. Under Tartaglione’s watch, the broken voting machines somehow always seemed to find their way into the black precincts, and voter rolls somehow seemed to purge themselves in curious ways.
I remembered Tartaglione as a cranky, old lady thirty years ago, and so I was surprised to learn she was still alive, let alone still in office. Yet there she is in this video above from the 2008 election, in classic Tartaglione fashion, just waving off concerns about broken voting machines and long lines at black precincts:
Tartaglione: “Did you see people waiting for baseball tickets, all night long outside? Did you see the line that they wanted a new iPod, they all waited overnight and waited in line? Do you go to the supermarket, do you see people waiting in line? They complain, they grumble, some of them. Some of them talk. So what is the difference?
Reporter: “I’m sorry, are you comparing voters who possibly have to work during the day to people who are standing in line for an iPod or Phillies ticket?”
Tartaglione: “It’s the same people. Same people. Same people. Come on, you’re mixing apples with… sit down!”
Oh God would my job be so much easier, and a helluva lot more fun, if Washingtonians would only elect a few politicians like Marge Tartaglione. Instead, during our big election “scandal,” we were all left covering King County Elections Director Dean Logan, a colorless, nonpartisan technocrat so astoundingly dry, the mere sound of his voice could make your eardrums chap. Fuck… even our Republicans—stupid, selfish, and misguided as many of them might be—can’t be counted on to produce a decent scandal beyond the occasional DUI or clichéd gay-bashing-lawmaker-caught-banging-gays story. (Yawn.)
Having grown up in Philadelphia during the Rizzo years, having watched sitting councilmen and congressmen hauled off to jail, having witnessed the Philadelphia police end a standoff by dropping a fire bomb on a house, ultimately burning down an entire residential block, and with no serious repercussions… I am constantly amazed at how little appreciation the locals here have for how clean (and sometimes even competent) our government officials are. You know… relatively.
And while I know I should be thankful, I can’t help but being more than a little bit bored.
It does take a lot more legwork for a journalist around here to spot the genuinely interesting stuff going on. And seems like nobody’s paying journos to do that legwork any more, so….
I suppose McGinn’s the most lookit-me politico we’ve had around here in a long while; maybe he’s inspiring a new wave of officeseekers intent on cultivating a media image as capital-C characters.
But in the meantime, it’s kind of fun watching you struggle with your boredom. Every time you get out your sledgehammer to pound the mosquito of the Times Ed Board I smile fondly and am glad you’re able to busy yourself somehow.
The political monoculture that was created by the democratic machine in the big cities (Chicago, Philly, NY) brought about that level of corruption, because there simply was no competition. It never ceases to amazes me that we have managed to create a political monoculture here in Seattle, and have thus far avoided that kind of corruption. I for one would like it to stay that way, even if it meant Goldy moving back to Philly out of boredom.
Personally, I think Tim Eyman is under-utilized in this regard.
You missed the absolute best part of Philly politics in the 80s: the narrowly-thwarted attempt to arrange a televised boxing match between two city councilmen. One of whom, John Street, later went on to become mayor!
And of course, you can’t mention John Street without thinking about his brother Milton, the itinerant hot-dog vendor (who’s unlicensed and uninspected truck never seemed to attract a single ticket) who mysteriously became a $3,000-a-day “political consultant” after his brother’s ascension to the mayor’s office.
Man, some days I miss Philadelphia. The city was broken in so many ways, but you could never accuse it of not being entertaining.
You’re overlooking the Mic Dinsmore years at the Port of Seattle. Granted, it was no Taminy Hall but there was enough sweetheart reach around no-bid contracting and featherbedding action to quicken the pulse of a fan of corrupt government.
I’ve long complained of our lack of corruption when compared to the east coast. We would have had a rail system and multiple tunnels built if we had the right people greasing palms.
You should clarify that it was not Rizzo who dropped the bomb on the city, but the good Mayor Goode. Those were the days.
I still remember the political cartoon I saw during the Rizzo years, of a Philly police car with a “we accept Mastercharge Visa Diner’s Club” sign on the door.
Frank Rizzo murdered a relative of mine for the sole reason of Rizzo not liking him dating Rizzo’s sister. He sent cops to take the guy’s guns one night and then (surprise!) the next night my relative died when his place burned down with him in it. Everyone in the neighborhood knew who did it and no complaint was ever filed.
Rizzo later became mayor. Yes, those were the days.
Of course we do have State Senator Pam Roach, Republican of the 31st District (Auburn). Probably not corrupt in the purely $$$ sense but bat-shit crazy none-the-less. Lots of colorful coverage there for an enterprising reporter. Tweaked ever so slightly, she’ll say or do something new, to add to her bizarre resume.
jenesasquatch@8: you have my sincere condolences. It’s all well and good to wax ironically nostalgic for the five-and-dime antics of Milton Street, but Frank Rizzo really was scum, and it is to Philly’s eternal shame that he remained politically relevant up until the moment of his too-long-delayed death.
I am slack-jawed with amazement. My little backwater town, for all its provincialism and conservatism, is unfailingly respectful of citizen comments and press inquiries.
Is there no one in Philadelphia who will tell this harridan in an open meeting that she is spectacularly rude, an embarrassment, and an affront to the ideal of public service?
Dig deeper.
Twenty years on, I’m still breathing a sigh of relief that I live here and not there. By there, I mean most of the east coast. I’ve got much better shit to waste my time on than holding my breath for the next travesty. Honestly, I don’t mind being the Ned Flanders of the nation.
So Goldy, are you saying the black vote in Philly is REPUBLICAN? Because that’s how I’m reading your tale of Marge’s shenanigans…if the broken voting machines were in the black precincts, how does that equal Democratic corruption unless the blacks were voting for the Rs?