Posted on 02/07/2006 11:30:23 AM PST by AbeKrieger
Mayoral aspirant John Dougherty offers anti-violence plan
By Thomas Fitzgerald, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
With a kickoff worthy of a campaign rally, labor leader John Dougherty today announced the creation of a new non-profit corporation to combat violence in Philadelphia by signing up union members as mentors to at-risk youth.
Enough is Enough Inc. will pair workers with children in hopes of steering them away from violence, with start-up funding from Dougherty's union, Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electoral Workers.
"Government cannot do it alone," said Dougherty, who is a potential candidate for mayor in the 2007 Democratic primary. "This isn't a time for think tanks and commissions - it's a time for action."
Dougherty was joined at a news conference at the Local 98 union hall on Spring Garden Street by a variety of leaders from other unions, religious figures and former Eagles receiver Irving Fryar.
"Unfortunately young people, it's not all your fault - adults have falsified what success is: money, the car you have, a big house, fancy clothes," Fryar said. "But success is who you are when no one's watching." Dougherty said many of the details of how the program will work have yet to be developed. He said that Enough Is Enough would raise money on its own, and Angela McIver, a former official with the Philadelphia School District, was introduced as the executive director of the new group.
Though working on such a high-profile problem might benefit his efforts to build a mayoral campaign, Dougherty said his impulse was charitable rather than political.
"Running for mayor has nothing to do with this," he said. "This is personal for me."
This guy better concentrate on staying out of jail once Philly City Councilman Rick Mariano starts rolling on people to keep out of the lockup himself.
Shouldn't this be "Electrical Workers"?
Totally brain-dead
I can only imagine the lessons he's giving those kids;
"Before you destroy their kneecaps or smash out their teeth with a tire iron, make sure they're Republicans first. That way you won't be prosecuted in Philadelphia."
That tells the whole story about "pay-to-play" and the city of Philadelphia, when someone corrupt to the marrow can be identified as the best at anything except pressing out license plates. Which is where he'll soon be.
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