State Rep. James Roebuck

State Rep. James Roebuck invites West Philadelphia residents to three events he will host this fall, starting with his “Report to the People” meeting about the state budget, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Kingsessing Recreation Center, 5100 Chester Ave. He hopes “you’ll bring your neighbors and your questions, too.”

Roebuck will also sponsor two other events this fall:

A free document-shredding event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Roebuck’s district office, 4712 Baltimore Ave. This will help people to protect themselves from identity theft by safely disposing of unneeded documents that contain personal information, such as Social Security numbers, bank or credit card account numbers, credit card applications, canceled or unused checks, insurance and income tax records and pension information. Please note that digital or electronic media, such as computer discs, CDs or DVDs, will not be accepted at the event.

A veterans’ event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the University of the Sciences, McNeil Science and Technology Center, 4320 Woodland Ave. Representatives of federal, state and local government agencies will be available to answer questions about benefits and other veterans’ services.

For more information on any of these events, please call Roebuck’s office at 215-724-2227. For updates, check out Roebuck’s legislative Facebook page or Twitter.

James Roebuck speaking at the Mariposa Food Co-op in 2012. (Archived photo/West Philly Local)

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of Q&A’s with local political candidates before the primary election on May 20. Our first Q&A, with Algernong Allen, is here. Next up is Matt Wolfe, who is running for a seat in Philadelphia’s City Council. Also, today is the last day to register to vote in the primary. For more information, visit: http://www.votespa.com.

Since assuming office in 1985, James Roebuck has represented West Philadelphia and the rest of the 188th district as state representative, and focused on education as the chairman of the House Education Committee.

Roebuck says he leans on his background as a trained teacher and former Drexel University professor to inform his work as an educational advocate. Through his years of service in the legislature, and under former Governor Ed Rendell, Roebuck lays claims to many successes, including an improved pre-K system and an increase in educational funding. And, on his off-time, he says, you can find him at any local school, reading to grade school students or tutoring second graders.

“To me, education is not just about the way you fund the schools, it’s also about the way you involve yourself in local schools,” Roebuck told West Philly Local.  Continue Reading

James Roebuck.

As the May primary elections approach here’s a great opportunity for residents to meet local candidates James Roebuck (incumbent) and Algernong Allen (challenger) who are running for State Representative position in the 188th District.

The Garden Court Community Association (GCCA) is hosting a Candidates’ Forum on Thursday, April 10, at the Community College of Philadelphia west campus (4725 Chestnut St.) and all are invited. The event is designed to equip you with the information and perspective necessary to choose the community’s representation at the state level.

The candidates will answer eight prepared questions related to the topics of Economic Development, Education, Safety, Political Ethics, and Gentrification/Neighborhood Development, and will also take questions from the audience. The forum will be moderated by James Wright, a community development professional and West Philadelphia resident.

Algernong Allen.

The forum will begin at 7 p.m., but neighbors are also invited for a food & networking event beginning at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit GCCA’s (newly updated!) website

What:  GCCA Candidates’ Forum
When: April 10, 2014
Candidates’ Forum: 7:00-8:30 p.m.;
Food and Networking with Neighbors: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Community College West, 4725 Chestnut Street

State Rep. James Roebuck has fended off a challenge from Fatimah Loren Muhammad in a 188th District General Assembly race that centered on school vouchers.

With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Roebuck stands with 56 percent of the vote this morning. Muhammad, who was defined in the press by her connection to big, pro-vouchers donors, was vying to upset Roebuck, who has been in the seat since 1985. A Democratic primary victory, of course, virtually assures reelection in the fall election.

Elsewhere in the city, longtime legislator state Rep. Babette Josephs appears to have lost her 182nd (Center City and South Philadelphia) District seat to her former campaign treasurer Brian Sims, who would be the first openly gay member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The Associated Press called the race for Sims.

While the presidential election has been the focus of most media in the last several days, here are the results for local politicians.

Overall, 709,767 ballots were cast in the Nov. 3 election in Philadelphia (62.85 percent of all registered voters), according to unofficial results provided by the Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners. 356,125 ballots were cast at the polls and 353,642 ballots were cast by mail (so far). As of this morning, mail-in ballots are still being counted in the city and it may take a few more days to finish processing them.  Continue Reading

We won’t know the official results for more than a week, but it looks like a couple of upsets are brewing following Tuesday’s primary election.

It looks like Amen Brown will be the Democratic candidate in November for the State House of Representatives 190th District. Several news outlets have already projected Brown to win the seat. He had about 49 percent of the votes as of Wednesday. G. Roni Green, who won the seat in a special election earlier year, stood in second place with 29 percent.

The results won’t be final until mail-in ballots are counted, which could take several days, according to election officials.  Continue Reading