David Cohen (politician) - Quotations

Quotations

"This bill (banning stores the size of Supercenters) is plainly aimed at Wal-Mart. What would happen if Wal-Mart was the only place that sells food?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 30, 2005.

"It's time to stop treating smokers so politely.... They have no right to make our air impure." Philadelphia Weekly, March 23, 2005.

"The main problem with the Democratic Party is that it seems to be too much like the Republican Party. But Kerry seems to be a fresh change. In Kerry's language I see the kind of government that F.D.R. fought for." "Voter Interviews: Plebes Primed to Pick President," Philadelphia Independent, October 2004.

"Rittenhouse Square has always been a special place....Rittenhouse Square has character....This is the last place in Philadelphia where we need such a development (parking lot and cinema). Let Rittenhouse Square be what it is now. This is what attracts people to Philadelphia. I think Rittenhouse Square ought to be Rittenhouse Square and not become like Times Square in New York." The Weekly Press, July 7, 2004.

His "most important interest (after returning from World War II)... was not to work for those who already have economic power." He returned to Philadelphia in 1952 because he "felt (he) belonged here." After his election as councilman at large in 1979, he worked "to make government more responsive politically to the powerless." Elizabeth Rossi, "Phila. political elder backs 'powerless,'" Daily Pennsylvanian, March 29, 2004.

"Get rid of them immediately," (reacting to a court decision ordering a billboard company to take down hundreds of billboards made illegal by a 1991 law he had sponsored banning new billboards within 660 feet of playgrounds, parks, schools, and various other places.) Anthony S. Twyman, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 2004. Posted by Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) at urbanblight.org.

"I don't think you can create an artificial park that can do what LOVE Park can do. I understand that there are competing interests here, but as Council members we often deal with such conflicts. And I put the interests of skateboarders pretty high. The younger people are so often put into a corner." Carla Anderson, "When Will Skaters Roam LOVE Park?" Philadelphia Daily News, November 10, 2003

"I'm sorry to hear that my colleague believes that skateboarders are causing the damage. I don't believe it for a moment. The real issue is anti-skateboarder bias.... He (city planner and skateboard advocate Ed Bacon) is a little older than me, so he's obviously got more wisdom than I have." Sara Kelly, "City Hall: Save the Children," Philadelphia Weekly, June 18, 2003. Posted at Free LOVE Park at ushistory.org.

"We don't need bigger government or smaller government; we need better government." Charlesdog12, Daily Kos, December 28, 2003 and subsequent dates.

"The war (in Iraq) must not be used as an instrument for curtailing people's rights." Andrea Miller, "City Opposes Media Consolidation," Daily Pennsylvanian, March 21, 2003.

"This is a movement in the opposite direction of what we've had for many years. I think it's very heartening. And I think it's good for everybody in Philadelphia." (The decision of congregation Mishkan Shalom, founded in the Philadelphia suburbs, to build a new synagogue in Philadelphia) Ami Eden, "Shuls Heading for Cities, Bucking Suburban Trend), Forward, January 11, 2002.

"The point of this bill (an anti-mask ordinance introduced in anticipation of the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to nominate George W. Bush) is to sabotage Philadelphia, to make sure we're all on nice behavior." Jacquelyn Horkan, Inbox, Florida Business Insight, July 3, 2000.

"The mayor didn't say 'I'm going to think about it.' He didn't say 'I'm going to try to do it.' He said 'I'm going to do it.' We assumed it had been done. You don't make commitments like that unless you follow through with them."

"Mayors have to be cheerleaders. Philadelphia is not unanimously behind this merger.... Philadelphia seems to be practically unanimously opposed to this merger (between First Union and CoreStates banks)."