Photographs by Jeff Fusco

On the Waterfront

Reform candidate Anne Dicker, who wants to represent the river wards in Harrisburg, may not win Tuesday's primary, but the progressive movement she represents is clearly gaining momentum.

by Gwen Shaffer

This election season the river wards can claim something else unique to Philadelphia: an election with three qualified candidates.

With only days till the May 16 Democratic primary, the 175th District-a political tract that runs from rich to poor, old to young, upscale to decaying-has an open seat up for grabs. The district claims about 60,000 residents, but because it's now ground zero in a battle over two very big issues-waterfront development and casinos-what happens there could impact the entire city.

Needless to say, there's big money and big names.

The candidates-Terry Graboyes, Mike O'Brien and Anne Dicker-all have experience and a solid base of support, and all three hold similar political positions. They are pro-choice and favor "smart growth." And they advocate property tax reform.

As is often the case in this city, the contenders are distinguished not by their politics, but by their political ties. The demographics in the river wards are definitely shifting. Longtime residents are moving out, and young professionals from outside the city are taking their place. These neighborhoods are rapidly filling with homeowners who are college-educated and upwardly mobile.

"I'd bet a large percentage of residents in this district have lived here less than six or seven years," says political consultant and one-time state House candidate Larry Ceisler. "They don't care who the Democratic leadership is supporting."

Could the party machine be losing relevance?

Reform candidate Anne Dicker, a former Howard Dean supporter, hopes so. She may not pull off a win Tuesday, but the progressive movement she represents is clearly gaining momentum.

"The fact that Anne has traction shows that hard work pays off and the river wards are changing," says Ceisler.

Dicker's tongue-in-cheek campaign slogan boasts that she's the only "FBI-free" candidate in the race. She claims no ties to the party structure, as evidenced by the fact that she's raised just $15,000 in small donations. Dicker, 33, is instead relying on her message and a cadre of volunteers to win.

After campaigning for Dean in 2003, Dicker ultimately quit corporate life and co-founded a grassroots organization, Philly for Change, that led the fight to kill pay raises in Harrisburg.

With neighborhoods like Queen Village, Northern Liberties and Fishtown increasingly skewing younger and more monied, Dicker could do surprisingly well.

"My long-term vision is changing the culture of Harrisburg and really representing these neighborhoods," she says. "Because I'm running with no strings attached, I can take the spirit of the river wards to Harrisburg."

By contrast, 53-year-old Terry Graboyes owns a multimillion-dollar window company and is backed by Vince Fumo, the state senator and well-known kingmaker.

Graboyes has been running TV ads for six weeks, thanks to nearly $200,000 in checks signed by the glaziers, carpenters and other building trades unions.

Graboyes, who lives in Society Hill, sees no reason to stop bidding on contracts in the 175th District. In stump speeches, she highlights her two-year stint as a legislative aide in the state welfare department in the mid-'70s. But the Harrisburg she knew back then had a part-time legislature and a Democratic majority. Still, pols say Graboyes deserves credit for ushering women and people of color into the building trades, and for her genuine desire to improve city life.

When Fumo backs a candidate, electricians union boss John Dougherty typically supports the opposition. In this case Dougherty is sponsoring Mike O'Brien, who served for 10 years as chief of staff to the retiring district Rep. Marie Lederer.

O'Brien, 51, is known for providing adept constituent services. He's backed by nearly every ward leader in the district, and by the Democratic City Committee. But potential conflicts exist. His $150,000 campaign budget relies heavily on Dougherty, raising concern he'll be indebted. O'Brien also owns undeveloped land in Fishtown and Kensington, where speculation is rampant.

"There are so few true races in this city, but the 175th District seat is actually contested," says Matt Ruben, president of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. "Slots casinos, development in general-this election is about preserving the fabric of Philadelphia neighborhoods."

Marc stier, co-founder of the progressive political group Neighborhood Networks, characterizes the race as incredibly important for the whole city.

"The waterfront belongs to us all, and we need a substantive urban planning process," says stier, who lost a bid for a state House seat in 2004. "We already have I-95 cutting off neighborhoods from the river, and now giant condos are further limiting public access."

For both voters and the candidates, this district seat may hinge on casinos-along with the crime, traffic and litter that could accompany these 24-hour operations. Four of the five proposed sites for slots are in the river wards. The state gaming board is expected to choose two operators by year's end, and at least one casino is certain to end up in the 175th.

"This race has become a pissing contest because of gambling," says a high-level Democratic Party official and former state rep. "All sorts of labor leaders who shouldn't be involved suddenly have a stake."

Developers are flocking to the long-neglected banks of the Delaware River like gambling junkies flocking to a blackjack table. A slew of high-rise luxury condos, as well as entertainment and retail complexes, are already changing the waterfront skyline. The rapid construction recently compelled Gov. Ed Rendell to call for a moratorium. (Graboyes and Dicker support the temporary ban; O'Brien opposes it.)

A river runs through it: The 175th District extends from the Delaware to around 15th Street, and from around Tasker to Tioga.

New construction has transformed once-commercial corridors like Pennsport and Northern Liberties into residential neighborhoods, and Fishtown's demographics continue to shift. Third-generation residents who bought row homes from their parents for a buck have been flipping these properties to transplanted artists and musicians for $300,000 and up for several years.

A couple 175th District neighborhoods, like historic Queen Village and Society Hill, boast some of the highest property values in the city. Others, like Port Richmond and Kensington, are still plagued by a longstanding culture of drugs and prostitution.

Homeowners throughout the 175th worry real estate taxes will skyrocket when the city reassesses property values next year. Public schools, parking, the minimum wage, abortion rights and the soaring cost of healthcare are also hot-button issues.

While all three candidates generally agree on everything but the details, their styles and backgrounds are as varied as the neighborhoods they're vying to represent. Dicker and her volunteers have spent the past six weeks campaigning door-to-door. Graboyes and O'Brien, meanwhile, are hoping money spent on the airwaves and billboards has been well invested.

Of the two strategies, Ceisler says, grassroots tactics may yield bigger dividends.

"The state House is the last vestige of retail politics," he asserts. "You can still win a race knocking on doors. TV commercials alone aren't going to get you there."

Marc stier of Neighborhood Networks agrees. "I don't see any reason that Terry and Mike are running television ads, except to intimidate Anne," he says.

Ironically, Dicker doesn't own a TV and claims she hasn't seen the commercials.

Just weeks before Election Day, constituents seem undecided.

A light breeze wafts through the second-floor tasting room at Yards Brewing Co. in Kensington on April 19. Peering down onto the street through a big open window, kids can be seen chasing one another across the cracked pavement.

Dicker: For changing the culture of Harrisburg.

Inside the brewery, the distinct smell of hops and malt permeates the air. About 40 neighborhood residents are gathered to hear O'Brien, Graboyes and Dicker.

The crowd is all white, but generationally diverse. Old-timers who've lived in the neighborhood their entire lives occupy half the chairs. The remaining seats are filled with tattooed artists and young professionals who recently migrated to Kensington.

Dicker's schpiel doesn't seem to resonate with the older crowd. When she mentions her move to Queen Village from out of state in the late '90s, some audience members sigh audibly.

"She can't possibly know our neighborhood problems," Fishtown resident and O'Brien supporter Peter Zaccagnino says.

Ted Kazantzis, who moved to Fishtown about five years ago, attended a candidates' forum at the Fishtown Recreation Center the next day. There he agreed with Dicker's contention that Harrisburg has historically given river wards short shrift. But, he asked, "How's she gonna sway other legislators entrenched in the system?"

Ceisler actually thinks Dicker's youth and independence will work to her advantage. "I believe no one over 40 should go to Harrisburg as a freshman because it's a seniority-based system. Age matters," he says.

Ed Verrall, who's lived in Fishtown for 16 years, came to the neighborhood meeting concerned about the future of the waterfront. "There's no master plan for development," he asserts. "Five new towers are going up, and we're already losing access. How are they going to get a river walk around those buildings?"

After listening to the candidates, Verrall, a retired Teamster, says, "I liked them all."

Some of the city's influential political organizations are also having a tough time figuring out whom to support. Last month the Liberty City Democratic Club hotly debated whether to endorse Graboyes or Dicker. With members split down the middle-the bylaws require a 55 percent majority-the club is officially endorsing neither.

The week before the April 5 Liberty City vote Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal invited club co-chair Renee Gilinger to lunch at Famous Deli, a favorite Queen Village hangout for Democratic insiders.

Between mouthfuls of a chocolate chip cookie, he asked Gilinger to ensure no candidate in the 175th District would win the group's stamp of approval.

"Renee told him she's supporting Anne Dicker, and that she has no control over a secret ballot process," says Liberty City endorsement committee member and Dicker supporter Ray Murphy.

Segal acknowledges he and Gilinger met, but says the two only "discussed" the upcoming endorsement meeting. "I explained I'd be supporting Graboyes," he says.

Segal is close to both candidate Graboyes and her supporter Fumo. Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods-a nonprofit started by Fumo, and the subject of an ongoing FBI probe-forgave $500,000 of a loan made to Segal after fundraising for his Elton John concert flopped last Fourth of July.

"Segal tried convincing us Terry has more political experience," Murphy says, recalling the meeting. "But she's spent the past 22 years amassing a fortune, while Anne quit her job to ensure progressives win elected office."

Segal scoffs at this assessment, characterizing Dicker as a "hack tool" who lacks knowledge and character. "She organized against Iraq? Terry's been fighting since the Vietnam War."

In March Dicker met with Liberty City members, and revealed she's bisexual and had led a gay student association in college. (Dicker has been married to a University of Pennsylvania physics professor since 2000.)

Segal contends Dicker was merely pandering to the group for an endorsement. "She's a member of our community? Where's she been for the last 10 years? It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

But Liberty City's Gilinger disagrees.

"Anne is brave enough to run as an out candidate, and she deserves the support of the LGBT community," she asserts. "I'm terribly disappointed in the endorsement vote."

Another reform-minded organization, Neighborhood Networks, retracted its endorsement of Graboyes after steering committee members apparently miscalculated the votes. "It was our first attempt at endorsements," explains Marc stier, who co-founded the group nine months earlier. "It had been a very long night, and we were exhausted."

But some observers suspect Neighbor-hood Networks withdrew the endorsement because of harsh criticism. In one widely circulated letter to the organization, Bella Vista activist Vern Anastasio characterized the endorsement as a "very sad turn of events."

"You have shown me, by not endorsing progressive Anne Dicker, that scoring points in petty, polluted politics is far more important to Neighborhood Networks than improving the lives of the people of Philadelphia," wrote Anastasio.

O'Brien: For smart development along the riverfront.

Mike O'Brien is the youngest of five children born to a Teamster and a full-time mom, both staunch Republicans.

During the 1956 presidential election season, when O'Brien was a precocious 2-year-old, his dad trained him to approach little old ladies and exclaim, "My name's Mike and I like Ike." Sixteen years later O'Brien's father warned him to not bother returning home from the voter registration office with the word "Democrat" on his new card.

But like a lot of boomers affected by Vietnam and Watergate, O'Brien developed a left-leaning political philosophy. In 1994 he signed on as Rep. Lederer's chief of staff.

O'Brien speaks diplomatically of Lederer, his longtime boss, but stresses that they disagreed over the years. He's vague about his reasons for resigning in 2004. "I wanted to do some stuff in the private sector," he says. Lederer, who didn't return requests for comment, is publicly supporting O'Brien's bid to succeed her.

For the last two years, O'Brien says, he's "cobbled together a living." His recent gigs include working as a consultant for Gessler Appraisal, a firm that assesses real estate values for, among others, the Redevelopment Authority (RDA). O'Brien and several investment partners have purchased a number of vacant lots and empty buildings.

"Just small stuff," he says. In July the partners bought the former 26th Police District building for $275,000. They turned around and listed the building, near Dauphin and York streets, for $1.2 million.

O'Brien has placed his properties in a blind trust.

"My investment partners will make all decisions without consulting me," he says. "I'll simply open my mail one day to find either a check or a bill."

Though Dougherty has O'Brien's back in this race, the candidate insists he'd run without support from the electricians union. "Although I'd have to work a lot harder to raise money," he concedes. Local 98 also provides street workers on Election Day-troops known to tip a close race by rallying folks to the polls.

O'Brien disagrees with Rendell's call for a moratorium on development. He fears that if interest rates shoot up, planned retail and residential projects could die. He also questions the governor's motives: "Where was this concern for strategic planning in 1990 when Rendell first proposed riverboat gambling?"

In the northern sections of the 175th District, O'Brien is a rock star. At an April 19 meeting in Kensington, supporters pumped his hand and thanked him for helping them over the years. Noting how many of his campaign posters adorn windows in Queen Village as well, O'Brien asserts, "Word on the street is that I'm the frontrunner."

Graboyes: For small-business bennies from casino construction.

Terry Graboyes, however, contends O'Brien may be in for a rude awakening on Election Day.

"One-on-one, Mike couldn't beat me," she asserts. "But with Anne in the race, it's anyone's seat.

Graboyes presents herself as a progressive candidate. Yet she's quick to rattle off names of party bigwigs who support her bid for office-Rendell, Mayor Street, Lynne Abraham, city controller Alan Butkovitz and Council members Michael Nutter, Frank DiCicco, Juan Ramos and Marian Tasco. During an endorsement meeting last month, she reportedly waved her cell phone in the air and boasted that state Rep. Dwight Evans' phone number was programmed into it.

Graboyes comes across as down to earth and personable. She raised her 22-year-old son on her own and is involved in the community theater scene. She smashed through the mythical glass ceiling and built a successful business in the male-dominated construction industry.

She insists she's "not close" to Fumo. "But I welcome his support," she adds.

Graboyes seems to barely distinguish between her role as president of a commercial window company-which did about $13 million in annual sales last year-and her candidacy. Her business office on North Seventh Street doubles as her campaign headquarters.

The window company's chief financial officer is the campaign's treasurer.

Most troubling to reform-minded voters is Graboyes' intent to remain "the deal opener and the deal closer" for the window company. "I'll make decisions about the jobs we bid and our prices," she says.

If she's elected, Graboyes sees no reason to forgo bidding on projects in the 175th District unless community members oppose them. "I don't think there could be a perceived conflict of interest," she says.

In the past Graboyes has installed windows for public agencies like the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the School District. And critics charge that Graboyes is willing to ignore her liberal political convictions for profits.

In recent years she's donated more than $3,000 to right-wing House majority leader John Perzel, and forked over $1,500 to Republican Party campaign committees. Regardless, Graboyes has consistently espoused progressive ideals during the campaign, from protecting abortion rights to raising the minimum wage.

And if casinos are destined for the river wards, Graboyes says, Philadelphia must ensure that local businesses benefit. "Casinos are a mixed blessing."

Anne Dicker, meanwhile, characterizes the prospect of gaming in the 175th District as a curse. She's calling on the gaming control board to extend the licensing period so communities learn more about potential negative impacts.

She claims the board has failed to explain why it sanctioned proposals near densely populated residential areas. "These neighborhoods are about to be inundated," she says. "Two casinos are too many."

Like her opponents, Dicker says a master plan for riverfront development is needed before skyscrapers and strip malls steal the unique character of the neighborhoods.

Most significant, Dicker says she's outraged by corrupt machine politics. She grew up in a conservative middle-class home in rural northeastern Ohio. Her dad ran small retail stores; her mom taught in Toledo public schools. Then, after 25 years of marriage and five children, her mother became a nun.

"My dad is a neocon and my mom is a theo-con," Dicker jokes.

She moved to the Philadelphia area in 1998 to work as an analyst for Spencer Gifts, a national chain with more than 600 mall locations. She says she loved the day-to-day challenges of corporate life, and especially the generous salary. But she decided to give up both to dedicate herself to the grassroots reform movement.

Dicker's opposition to the Iraq war compelled her to campaign for presidential candidate Howard Dean in 2003. "We organized 4,000 antiwar protesters to rally in front of the Constitution Center," she recalls. "We wrote 10,000 letters to voters and to Congress, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars at house parties."

After Dean bailed out of the race, Philly for Dean morphed into Philly for Change. Members, led by Dicker, successfully campaigned to reverse the controversial legislative pay raise in Harrisburg and to fight President Bush's Social Security privatization plan.

What's more, members began recruiting independent Democrats to run for elected office. "We found that people who aren't connected to the old-time machine or to corruption are willing to run," she says.

When Lederer announced her retirement, Dicker spent only 24 hours mulling over whether to run for the seat. Shortly after tossing her hat in the ring, Dicker says Fumo summoned her to his district office at 12th and Tasker streets.

Dicker and supporter Ray Murphy tromped downstairs and through a hallway lined with the senator's Mensa certificate and newspaper stories. At the end of the tiled corridor they found Fumo and veteran political consultant Howard Cain-both dressed in sportcoats, jeans and loafers.

Reportedly, Fumo warned Dicker he'd be "very upset" if Mike O'Brien wins the 175th District seat. (Some political observers agree that Dicker and Graboyes could split the progressive vote, allowing O'Brien to win handily.)

"Fumo has a lot of audacity to tell me to drop out when he's the subject of an FBI investigation," Dicker says, adding that Dougherty also phoned with the reminder that "O'Brien is his guy."

Dicker finds it ironic that progressive candidates are willing to challenge incumbents in City Council, but no one wants to take on Harrisburg. "Philadelphia can't achieve reforms without a culture shift in the General Assembly," she says. "Locally, we want a more progressive tax structure, control of gun laws and campaign finance reforms-all of which depend on legislation in Harrisburg."

Pushing through reforms in the state House will be an uphill battle, should Dicker win on Tuesday. Even with 27 open seats, voters are unlikely to see major differences in Harrisburg. "Freshman members don't represent a change in leadership," says political pollster Terry Madonna.

A couple weeks ago O'Brien's campaign mailed out fliers that assert, "It's not about going to Harrisburg. It's about what you can do once you're there."

In a few days voters in the 175th District will line up at the polls. Whom they ultimately elect will say a lot about broader trends in citywide politics, which many believe are in flux.

Voters will find out how well money and party endorsements fare when up against committed volunteers and a rage-against-the-machine attitude. They'll learn whether the blog generation is truly poised to replace politicians who prefer cutting deals at the Palm.

Marc Stier of Neighborhood Networks is convinced that Dicker has laid the necessary groundwork to declare victory in Tuesday's primary. "She's been the most outspoken candidate on waterfront issues, and she's proven herself a leader in grassroots activism."

Ray Murphy, another Dicker supporter, says all the hype about the influence carried by Dougherty and Fumo is mere nostalgia for "their glory days." Alliances are irrelevant today, he says. "Even if Anne doesn't win next week, a new Philadelphia is coming to a head."

Even Larry Ceisler, who works as a consultant to Dougherty, acknowledges that support from the political machine could be a liability in this race.

Younger voters in particular may "resent" the fact that the City Committee is backing O'Brien, and that Fumo is aligned with Graboyes, he says. "If Anne is able to excite people and get them to the polls to vote in an off-year election ... well, all bets are off."

Gwen Shaffer (gshaffer@philadelphiaweekly.com) last wrote about an accident that closed part of Penn's Landing.