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The Official e-newsletter of the Philadelphia Libertarian Party
A Chat with The Liberty Belle - Pia Varma Those familiar with Philadelphia politics might not know the name Pia Varma…but that’s about to change. A Libertarian-minded Republican candidate for Philadelphia's 1st Congressional District, Pia comes from a long line of independent thinkers. Both grandfathers were freedom fighters in the Indian Independence movement, and her parents moved to America from the United Kingdom during the 80s at a time when government intervention was on the rise and economic prosperity was in decline in that nation. As Pia grew up and became more politically aware, she realized that what attracted her parents to America – freedom from government, celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit, etc. – was quickly evaporating. Rather than stand by and watch what she loves most about the United States disappear without a fight, she decided to become an active part in the fight to return America to her Constitutional principles. Perusing her campaign website, it’s clear that Pia is no ordinary Congressional candidate. Her outgoing personality and straight-talk approach is sure to shake up the establishment in Philadelphia and attract more attention to the Liberty movement that continues to gain momentum throughout the country. My parents are originally from India and grew up in England, and at that time England was known as the 'Sick Man of Europe'. Unemployment was very high, and my parents moved to the U.S. because the opportunities were greater here for people who wanted to become successful. Q: How did you first learn about the principles of the Founding Fathers, and why did they have such an influence on you? Read the rest of the Interview: lpphilly.org
Philadelphia’s Watchdog Organization, the Committee of Seventy, has been calling for the elimination of six elected positions: Three City Commissioners, The Register of Wills, the Sherriff, and the Clerk of Quarter Sessions. The reason is simple, and one Libertarians can get behind: the offices are filled with patronage and cost the city considerably in excess of what it should cost to carry out their functions. The problem with all of these Row Offices is that the employees are outside of the Civil Service System and the Management Controls that are placed on other City Agencies. Autonomous from the City Government, there is no accountability of these offices, except to the voters, who are generally oblivious to their function and existence. In a one party system, as we have here, combined with invisible offices with large budgets, the result is obvious. By far the worst of the six are the Clerk of Quarter Sessions and the Register of Wills. Both of these offices perform small administrative roles, that could be handled by far fewer workers if transferred to other departments. Having these positions elected provides no check or balance, just a lack of accountability. The Sherriff is the most visible of the positions, but in this County, the Office’s functions are limited to Collections Enforcement. There is no value to having the City’s Chief Debt Collector be elected versus run as a Municipal Court Department. Of the six positions that Seventy has called for eliminating, by far the most important are the three City Commissioners. The City Commissioners job consists entirely of serving as the County Elections Board. Seventy, which is heavily involved in Elections Monitoring, is not happy with the job our County Elections Commissioners have been doing, and that observation alone is justification for calling for a shake-up in the Elections Board. However, I’m not sure that replacing our Elected Elections Board with an appointed one is the right answer. I think some changes to the City Commissioners should be considered before their abolition. First, the name of the office on the ballot should be “City Elections Commissioner”, which immediately explains to the voters what the office does. Second, the election should be moved to the off cycle instead of the Mayoral year. When the Mayor and Council are up for election it is hard to bring attention to the election of the Elections Commission. The amount of supervision of the office should be increased. There is an opportunity for the LP with the City Commissioner’s Office: because no party is allowed to hold all of the seats, an independent or third party has a shot at winning the third seat.
Philadelphia in the last 2 years put in hundreds of BigBelly Solar Trash Cans. These solar cans operate much like a mailbox. You drop the trash in, and it can't come back out. This is great since trash can't blow in the wind and you won't see any unsightly trash when passing by. It also acts as a solar powered compactor. Sealing 5 times the amount of trash of a regular trash can, they eliminate 5 times the number of trash collection. Once full, they send a text message to headquarters to be emptied. In terms of new technology, these trash cans are pretty cool. The problem is we don't have money for them! At $3,000 to $3,900 each, these trash cans are expected to pay for themselves in 3 to 4 years. However, that doesn't include maintenance or the cost of replacement. In the end, keeping the trash cans as they were would have saved about $400,000 of much needed money today. Spending $400,000 on new technology that might pay for itself in 3-4 years during budge cuts and a recession just sounds like a waste. Soda Tax & the Constitution Mayor Nutter is pondering a tax on soda with a dual goals of fighting obesity and aiding the city's bottom line. Seriously? In a time when the city is broke and you're considering shutting down our public libraries, maybe it is not the time to worry about our citizens waist lines or squeeze them them for every penny! Bottom line is: Link to the Constitution text: Please, if you haven't read it, Read it!! ___________________________________________________________________ Articles reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Philly LP. Have a letter to the editor, article, event, or suggestion? Send it along to Vice-chair@lpphilly.org! We want our newsletter to fit the interests and needs of our members. |
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