Abraham pays a visit
to Somerton meeting

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

When Lynne Abraham leaves elected office in January 2010, it will be with no regrets.
Philadelphia’s longtime district attorney often gets asked why she never managed to take the next step in her political career by running for mayor. But speaking at the monthly meeting of the Somerton Civic Association on June 10, Abraham boasted that she could have won the office twice.
She figures she could’ve done it in 1999 when John Street beat out top rival Marty Weinberg in the Democratic primary and hard-charging Republican Sam Katz in the general election, then again last year when Michael Nutter won a crowded Democratic primary before trouncing Northeast GOP candidate Al Taubenberger in the general.
Abraham, a Democrat, said she passed on both primary contests not because she had doubts, but because, “I decided at the time, this wasn’t for me.”
She has made it no secret that she holds the same view on next year’s district attorney election and will not run for a fifth full term and sixth term in all, choosing rather to spend more time with her husband of 31 years, talk-radio legend Frank Ford.
By then, Abraham, now 67, will have spent an unprecedented 18 years as DA and more than 33 consecutive years in elected office, having previously served more than 15 years as a Common Pleas Court judge and a Municipal Court judge before that.
Though many have disagreed with her on issues of public debate over the years, Abraham contends that she has always maintained the highest personal integrity.
“In my offices of public trust, I have never gotten a free lunch from the city of Philadelphia. I have yet to put in a bill in for lunch,” she said.
Abraham has been a frequent visitor to the Northeast over the years. Last week, Ford — whose birth name is Edward Felbin — accompanied her to the Somerton meeting.
On the way, Abraham said, Ford asked her why she felt the need to travel to the farthest reaches of the city so much. Abraham replied that it’s her way of showing her appreciation for the support the Northeast has given her over the years.
“I said, ‘Ed, you have to dance with the people who brought you,’” Abraham said.
The prosecutor also outlined some of the initiatives that her office is administering.
A program to combat the illegal purchase and transfer of guns, so-called “straw purchasing,” has resulted in 265 gun confiscations and 600 criminal investigations in the last two years. The program is a partnership between the DA’s office and the state attorney general’s office. It’s funded by grant money from the state legislature.
Abraham cited state Sen. Vincent Fumo as the driving force behind the grant. Fumo remains in office despite his indictment last year on federal corruption charges. The case has yet to go to trial.
Abraham said that her office is also a partner in the city’s “misdemeanant” court, a new branch of Municipal Court in which non-violent offenders, such as convicted prostitutes and shoplifters, are sentenced to programs such as psychological counseling, drug counseling and job counseling, instead of jail time.
One goal of the program is to give misdemeanor offenders the resources to rehabilitate. Another goal is to relieve some of the pressure on the city’s overpopulated prison system.
SCA president Mary Jane Hazell and zoning chairman Dominic Ragucci reminded Somerton residents to notify the civic association of any orange zoning notices that they see posted in the community over the summer. Call the SCA at 215-464-1260.
The next SCA meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7:15 p.m. at Walker Lodge 306, 1290 Southampton Road. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com