Late councilman's wife, 89, seeks his seat

Those who remember late City Councilman David Cohen favorably may not have to look far for someone to fill his shoes; his 89-year-old widow, Florence Cohen, wants to take his seat.

Cohen held a rally outside City Hall yesterday, calling for a special election during the primary this May that might allow her to serve out the remainder of her husband's term, which would have lasted until January 2008.

David Cohen died while in office last October.

"David was considered the conscience of Philadelphia, the conscience of City Council," Cohen said of her husband. "And I want to follow in his footsteps."

However, City Council President Anna Verna is the only person with the authority to call special elections, she does not intend to do so in this case.

Verna released a statement yesterday saying that, while she has the "greatest respect" for Florence Cohen, she does not intend to call special elections in the May primary.

"We've been advised that it's too late to get it on the ballot logistically," Verna said in a statement. "There have to be all kinds of provisions for voting machines."

She added that, because David Cohen was an at-large councilman and did not hold a district seat, his constituency is being served by the remaining six at-large councilmembers.

Verna also said that the Council has decided to keep two of Cohen's staff members on the city payroll in order to "service the special constituency that counted on Cohen ... senior citizens and labor."

Nevertheless, Cohen is asking supporters to call and urge Verna to schedule a special election.

But even if the Council president does call for one, candidates must be selected for the ballot by party ward leaders.

As a result, Cohen is also encouraging her supporters to call Bob Brady, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Philadelphia.

Brady was unavailable for comment.

Yesterday's rally was led by Tom Cronin, the president of a local city workers' union, and was attended by community leaders and union members as well as by Cohen.

Temple University graduate student Jennifer Murphy, a member of the graduate student union at Temple, spoke to the crowd about David Cohen's help in the group's recent battle for unionization.

"Cohen introduced legislation forcing Temple to drop their legal battle against the student union," Murphy said.

The deadline for Verna to call special elections for May is April 17, 30 days before the scheduled primary voting.

Freda Egnal, a member of the workers' union who attended the rally, said that she could not understand why Verna would not call for an election.

"We're for democracy in Iraq and we don't even fill seats in Philly," Egnal said. "How can you leave a seat vacant for two years?"

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