City Councilman Bill Green's support for a bill to eliminate the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office has earned him some enemies in the African American political community, with State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D., Philadelphia) leading the way.
Green obviously was not quite prepared for the political blowback he reaped in June when he cosponsored Councilman Frank DiCicco's bill to eliminate the Sheriff's Office. The political community was abuzz last month after State Rep. Jewell Williams, the city Democratic leadership's choice to succeed Sheriff John Green, had words with Councilman Green at Councilman Curtis Jones Jr.'s birthday bash.
But now Sen. Williams, a recent candidate for governor and head of the United Ward Leaders of Color, is going out of his way to target Councilman Green. Williams cited a number of reasons, among them what he regarded as Green's undermining of Mayor Nutter, and his singling out the Sheriff's Office among other row offices dominated by white politicians (Register of Wills and the City Commissioners). Oh, and that little thing about Green's backing Dan Onorato in the May gubernatorial primary instead of Williams, who ended up finishing third in a four-way race.