Taubenberger:
‘I never say never’

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Al Taubenberger believes the city needs a mayor with a friendly face, a warm personality and a relationship with the business community.
Taubenberger, the Republican nominee for mayor, thinks the next mayor needs to woo businesses to Philadelphia to provide jobs and tax revenue.
In his opinion, he’s the man for the job. He’s done everything from selling Schmidt’s beer to taverns to more than tripling the membership in the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, which he heads.
"I’m a salesman by nature," he said.
Taubenberger outlined his campaign agenda last week during an address at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Frankford-Northeast Philadelphia.
The group meets every Tuesday at noon at Torresdale-Frankford Country Club. Upcoming guest speakers include School District of Philadelphia interim CEO Tom Brady on July 17 and CBS 3 traffic reporter Bob Kelly on July 31.
Taubenberger, of Fox Chase, is seeking to become the first mayor from the Northeast. He faces Democrat Michael Nutter, a former city councilman.
As a Republican, Taubenberger is the decided underdog. Democrats hold a 5-to-1 voter-registration advantage, and no Republican has won a mayoral race since 1947. Also, Nutter has the ability to raise a lot more money than his opponent.
But, as Taubenberger points out, nobody gave Nutter much of a shot until two weeks before the primary. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was the early favorite, with many others expecting U.S. Rep. Bob Brady to prevail when he entered the race. Multimillionaire Tom Knox led in polls until Nutter overtook him in the end.
On the campaign trail, Taubenberger tells supporters that, "The smallest donation is accepted," adding that Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980 with the help of a large number of modest donors.
The election, according to Taubenberger, shouldn’t be about party affiliation or campaign war chests. Instead, it should come down to which candidate has the honesty, management skills and care for the people to run the city.
The Republican senses an opening because of the relatively low turnout among Democrats in the primary. He thinks he has a chance if voters focus on those issues.
"I never say never," he said.
Taubenberger likes Nutter, whom he met at about 60 forums leading up to the May 15 primary.
After Nutter won, the two dined at Mercer Café on East Westmoreland Street in Port Richmond and just last week they met at City Hall to voice agreement on tax cuts. Both men thus far have honored their pledge to run positive campaigns.
"I’m not going negative," Taubenberger said, adding that he’d hire Nutter to work in his administration.
Taubenberger argues that creating jobs will give individuals more of an incentive to stay away from drugs and other criminal activity.
In addition, he said, the wage and business taxes from the new jobs will bolster the city treasury, allowing him to avoid painful budget cuts.
In office, he would continue a city Department of Commerce initiative that brings Philadelphia’s 1,400 manufacturers together to work on ways to preserve that part of the job market.
On other issues, he will fund arts and culture programs to give youths a productive activity. He will also back efforts to bring accomplished artists to museums and concert halls, noting that arts and culture bring more annual revenue to the city than all the sports teams combined.
"It’s something we need to promote," he said.
Taubenberger labels as "wrong" the five-year contract that the Philadelphia Housing Authority board of commissioners gave executive director Carl Greene in March. Greene receives $275,000 a year, along with cost-of-living-adjustments, great benefits and possible bonuses. The new mayor should have the right to choose the PHA boss, Taubenberger said.
On crime, he wants to add more police officers and deploy them better. He favors a return to beat officers.
A 30-year police veteran in attendance told the candidate that the department needed a "big, big change" in leadership, urging him to hire an outsider who’d report directly to the mayor.
If elected, Taubenberger said he hopes to hire a commissioner from the Philadelphia Police Department to replace the retiring Sylvester Johnson.
At the same time, he expressed admiration for former Commissioner John Timoney, now chief of police in Miami.
"I’d love to have him back," he said. "We’ll see if that happens."
One hire Taubenberger promised to make was Dr. Paul Bogosian, a Burholme chiropractor and Rotary member, as "Minister of Cleanliness," to make the city streets more beautiful. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com