Joey Vento

BETWEEN the state politician who spends thousands of dollars a year on books, the DRPA and Peco giving millions to Sen. Fumo's favorite nonprofits, the Philadelphia school board employees traveling back and forth at taxpayers' expense, Rick Mariano giving out sweetheart deals, the Ron White deals, and on and on and on, we the citizens of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania do not stand a chance. There are no ethics with 95 percent of the politicians as they line their pockets and take care of their friends.

AH, THE MUMMERS Parade. A time for tradition, public drunkenness, and . . . blatant racism? We're talking about the B. Love Strutters Brigade float starring Joey Vento, the cheese-steak guy and fierce critic of immigration policy. His skit featured a horde of "immigrants" trying to break through a fence and being turned back by soldiers with fake guns. Vento himself appeared in the skit, throwing fake cheesesteaks to the cheering crowd. So, what's the problem with this piece of social commentary?

READER George Weber wrote that Geno's owner Joey Vento is "a businessman" and "wouldn't drive people away" - but in the very next sentence he wrote that "if people don't like sign, go elsewhere. " It seems to me that the sign IS driving people away. If I'm new in town, I see Geno's, then I see the sign, and I'm going elsewhere. Somehow, I don't see Geno's staff being "more helpful" to someone whose first language isn't English. My friend and I - both Americans and English-speaking - found ourselves at Geno's one day last summer.

The Philadelphia Human Relations Commission reached the correct decision on the "speak English" sign at Geno's Steaks. What took so long? The HRC spent 21 months determining there was insufficient evidence of bias. That's after the HRC's chairman filed the complaint since nobody from the public ever complained in the first place. What an embarrassment. Geno's owner Joey Vento called the decision a "good victory. " Not so fast, Joey. There's discrimination, and then there's just plain wrong.

Flush from his victory over the city in a case involving a sign outside his steak shop urging customers to speak English, Geno's owner Joey Vento yesterday demanded a revision of the Commission on Human Relations' practices. If nothing is done, he said, he will sue. Also, he wants an apology from Mayor Nutter. Vento said yesterday he was insulted by Nutter's returning a $1,000 donation he had made to his election campaign, and by the mayor's statement that the commission's pursuit of the case "was good for the city.

THERE WE go again, standing in a long line of blue uniforms to cry and pray over a hero. Once again another family has to say goodbye without their loved one hearing them, taken away by someone with no morals. Everyone says we need more police, but that's not the answer. We need the street thugs to be raised in a proper setting to know what true values are and the real meaning of respect. I worry that all that hiring more police does is put more ducks on the pond for target practice, for the thugs who don't give a damn.

KUDOS to Verizon for taking care of Carlos Mota's wireless Internet bill. But I'm troubled by some of the things reported in this story. How can a person live in the United States for 23 years and not be able to speak any English? If Mr. Mota came to this country for a better life - I won't ask if he's legal - wouldn't you think he'd embrace America for giving him an opportunity and want to learn English? If for no other reason than to communicate with other inhabitants of this great country without having his daughter nearby constantly to translate everything.

AS AN EX-Philadelphian, I say cheers to Joey Vento and Geno's. And jeers to the Human Relations Commission. Vento is a businessman and wouldn't drive people away. If you don't like the sign, go elsewhere - one of his competitors is right across the street. English should be our official language. You don't need to forget your native language, just learn English. When I was overseas, I always tried to order food in the native language and found the servers were even more helpful.

Whether you think Joey Vento's "speak English" sign was racist, silly or long overdue, it shouldn't take 18 months for Philadelphia's Human Relations Commission to decide. Vento, owner of Geno's cheesesteaks, was hit with a civil-rights complaint in June 2006. But the HRC didn't hold a hearing on the case until Friday. The show lasted more than six hours. And it's still not over. The commission took the matter "under advisement. " Lawyers have another 60 days to file briefs.

On the 26th anniversary of his murder in Center City, Officer Daniel Faulkner was memorialized yesterday in South Philadelphia at an event that was more festive and commercial than somber. With the Avalon String Band playing cheerful Christmas songs, hundreds of police officers and civilians gathered at Geno's Steaks to pay tribute to the officer whose convicted killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, is better known than the victim. This year, the ceremony attracted a larger crowd than before because it coincided with the release of Murdered by Mumia, a book by Maureen Faulkner, the officer's widow, that was intended as a counterpoint to Abu-Jamal's widely recognized campaign to proclaim his innocence.