By Julian Walker
Times Staff Writer

Dr. Melissa Brown’s barnstorming tour through the Northeast continued last week with her appearance at the monthly meeting of the Greater Bustleton Civic League.
An eye surgeon from Flourtown, Montgomery County, Brown is the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the recast 13th Congressional District. The territory includes much of Northeast Philadelphia and a sizable chunk of Montgomery County.
Brown hopes to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-13th dist.), of Abington, Montgomery County. And she has made it a point to be as visible as possible, going door to door and attending as many community functions as possible.
According to civic league president Bernice Sikora, the Brown campaign called the group and asked for time to speak to members.
The Hoeffel camp, on the other had, said Sikora, was invited but did not visit with the group due to scheduling conflicts.
During her remarks at the Oct. 23 GBCL session, Brown said that it was her concerns about the solvency of the nation’s health-care system that first prompted her to consider politics.
Brown’s husband Gary battled a serious illness in recent years.
He has recovered, but the candidate said she realizes that the care he received may not be around for others who become sick in years to come if the system is not preserved.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to get a representative who understands the (health-care) system and will work on it.”
Though Brown has first-hand knowledge of the medical system by virtue of her profession — and she vows to make fixing the system a priority of her office if elected — it is another issue that has become the focal point of her campaign.
Through speaking with Northeast residents, Brown said “it didn’t take long for me to learn that the Section Eight program is a problem.”
The Housing Choice Voucher Program, or Section 8 as it is commonly called, is a federal program under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that provides rental subsidies to elderly, disabled and low-income folks.
Locally, the program is administered by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. According to PHA, Philadelphia is home to 14,400 Section 8 recipients, including 5,000 in the Northeast.
Brown said that conversations with area residents lead her to the conclusion that the program is being mismanaged by PHA to the point that problem tenants are having a ruinous affect on neighborhoods.
“Most people in the Northeast, and the U.S. in general, don’t have a huge stock portfolio,” she said. “What they have is the value in their home, that they worked all their lives for. But in the last few years Section Eight has caused changes in the neighborhoods that takes value from homes that people invested in or want to pass on to their children.
“The problem has festered for years but has not been fixed. I’m a surgeon. I like to fix things. They won’t know what hit them if I get to Washington,” she continued, referring to her fast-paced, results-driven work ethic.
HUD Secretary Mel Martinez recently visited Philadelphia to offer his endorsement to Brown and to discuss the local problems of the Section 8 program.
Brown admitted some initial trepidation about broaching the subject with party leaders because Martinez and President George W. Bush favor a plan that enables Section 8 participants to transfer their subsidies from rental to mortgage payment assistance over a period of seven years.
But Martinez was receptive to Brown’s ideas, she said.
The Republican wants to use methods like more frequent unannounced property inspections, criminal background checks and drug testing to clean up the program before it is expanded.
Brown also countered what she described as the efforts of the Hoeffel camp to portray her views about Section 8 as racist.
Hoeffel took exception to a mailer the Brown campaign distributed which links he and Mayor John Street as the culprits behind the problems with the program.
“Please don’t misunderstand me; I don’t see this as a racial issue,” she declared. “It’s a livability issue, a neighborhood issue.”
In other civic league news:
• Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission consumer information specialist Shari A. Williams spoke to the group about utility monopoly deregulation efforts and the effect they have on consumers.
The PUC has already overseen deregulation of the telephone and electric industries. Next up: gas service.
Williams said the goal of the PUC is to let consumers “know how we fit into your community and how you can use us to your benefit.”
Deregulation, which has happened with Verizon and PECO in recent years, essentially opens the market to outside competition from other phone and electric companies, respectively.
The intent of the competition is to provide consumers with different options for utility service providers, which consequently may save folks money on their monthly bills.
But though folks can opt to purchase service from a different provider, explained Williams, the wife of state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a Democrat who represents sections of Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County, it still is delivered through the network of the local utility.
Thus, consumers end up paying two bills; one to the service provider and one to the local utility through whose pipes or wires the service is transmitted.
“It has to come from somewhere. It has to be generated from somewhere, and it has to be transmitted to you,” Williams explained.
But, she warned, the savings may not be immediate.
“The art of competition is still evolving. Down the line, prices will get better. Look at the airline industry today. There are so many choices for consumers, but it took time to develop.”
The PUC Web site (www.puc.paonline.com) and that of the Pennsylvania Utility Choice campaign (www.utilitychoice.org) offer consumer comparison tools and charts that help folks pick and choose utility companies based on their individual needs.
Folks can also file complaints about utilities failure to deliver guaranteed service or for the so-called practice of “slamming,” whereby companies switch customers utility service without notice or authorization, with the PUC at 1-800-782-1110.
Additionally, Williams invited group members to participate in an upcoming “Be Utility Wise” consumer information fair scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 22 at Community College of Philadelphia, 1700 Spring Garden St., in the Student Life Building.
• The civic group distributed lawn signs that it they purchased that bear the slogan “Will We Trade Peace For Convenience? Don’t Bank On It” which they hope area residents will place in their yards.
The yellow signs, which feature a large red “C,” are meant to convey the message that the community is united in its opposition to the plans by Commerce Bank to build a branch at the southwest corner of Haldeman Avenue and Red Lion Road on land zoned residential.
The City Zoning Board of Adjustment last summer granted the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based bank a zoning variance allowing it build on the site formerly occupied by two residential properties, 9992 and 9996 Haldeman Ave.
GBCL has appealed that ruling to Common Pleas Court. It hopes to recruit hundreds of Bustleton residents to display the signs in their yards.
• The GBCL will not hold a November meeting because the regular meeting date falls too close to Thanksgiving. So a combined November/December meeting possibly will be held on Dec. 4, said Sikora.
Meetings are held at the American Heritage Federal Credit Union, 2060 Red Lion Rd.,
For more information about the Greater Bustleton Civic League, call 215-676-6890. ••
Reporter Julian Walker can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jwalker@phillynews.com