Quinones-Sanchez ready
to restore order in the 7th

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Maria Quinones-Sanchez said she’s ready to perform the dirty work needed to clean up the 7th Councilmanic District.
"(Former Mayor Ed) Rendell changed the city by changing the light bulbs at City Hall and getting underneath the toilets," she said. "I have to do some of that, too."
Quinones-Sanchez, a Democrat, faces Republican Gary Grisafi and independent Luis Pineda in the Nov. 6 general election. She defeated incumbent Dan Savage in the primary.
The Democrat is confident enough of victory that a mutual friend with experience in city government is helping her and fellow Democratic candidates Bill Green and Curtis Jones learn the system.
Since winning the primary, she has not spoken with Savage, but she hopes to connect with him before he leaves office. Either way, if she wins the seat, they’ll probably work together since Savage is Democratic leader of the 23rd Ward.
"It’s in our best interests to make this transition as smooth as possible," she said in an interview last week with the Times editorial board.
Quinones-Sanchez, of Norris Square, knows little about Pineda and labels Grisafi as "well intentioned" but thinks she has the experience and vision to be an effective member of Council.
A married mother of two, she has been an activist for a variety of causes for more than 20 years. Her jobs have included being a Council aide and serving a five-year stint as regional director for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.
In her first try for the seat in 1999, she finished a distant second in a three-way primary behind incumbent Rick Mariano.
In March 2006, Mariano was convicted of federal corruption charges. He resigned two months later and began serving a six-and-a-half year prison sentence in August 2006.
Interestingly, before reporting to prison, Mariano made a supportive phone call to Quinones-Sanchez, urging her to stay independent and giving his blessing for her to criticize him if it would help her campaign.
Quinones-Sanchez wanted to succeed Mariano but knew she had no chance of being the Democratic nominee in a special election because two ward leaders and the daughter of a ward leader were seeking the nod.
So, she stayed on the sidelines as Savage beat Grisafi in a special election last November.
In the May primary, thanks in part to an endorsement by Gov. Ed Rendell, she beat Savage and another opponent.
Thanks to a huge Democratic voter-registration advantage, she enters the fall campaign as the prohibitive favorite.
If she wins, she will open an office in the center of the oddly configured district. She will also meet with constituents monthly at separate locations.
Her staff will be made up of people who want to make a difference for constituents and the city.
"Public service is something you live every single day," she said.
In office, she wants to restore integrity in the 7th Councilmanic District seat following the Mariano saga and elevate the dialogue so Council is not considered a "laughingstock."
As the councilwoman, she wants to strengthen the Frankford Community Development Corporation and other CDCs in the district. She thinks East Frankford needs affordable housing while West Frankford could use assistance to preserve a relatively strong community. She’d be hands-on when it comes to enforcing zoning violations.
As a former Council aide, she knows the importance and power of being proactive when it comes to working with the mayor’s department heads.
"Commissioners respond to Council people who are engaged," she said.
Traditionally, the 7th district representative has chaired the Licenses and Inspections Committee, and Quinones-Sanchez has already told Council President Anna Verna that she wants the position.
On taxes, she does not consider wage tax cuts to be a priority. Instead, she’d like to see a decrease in the gross receipts portion of the business privilege tax and tax incentives for businesses that hire individuals getting out of prison.
Quinones-Sanchez expects Democrat Michael Nutter to be elected mayor and hopes to work with him to pass balanced budgets while securing enough money to fund necessary demolition and construction in certain areas.
"I have to maintain a good relationship with the mayor to be able to do this," she said.
Quinones-Sanchez sides with Nutter when it comes to his stop-and-frisk policy, as long as police officers are trained and the community is consulted that officers will become more aggressive in looking for illegal guns.
"New York has shown it can be done. Chicago has shown it can be done. Why can’t we do it in Philadelphia?" she asked. ••
NEXT WEEK: Gary Grisafi
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com