Jeff Brown Gets Nasty, Shows His “Angry Man” Side

ShopRite mogul Jeff Brown gets nasty with Helen Gym at Thursday’s debate (Image courtesy PhillyCAM)

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Jeff Brown Gets Nasty With Helen Gym During Last Night’s Debate

Like many people, I don’t know exactly who I am voting for in the mayoral primary. But I do know that I’m not voting for Jeff Brown.

Not just because he’s a grocery store mogul with zero experience in political office. (All of his viable competitors have political experience, some of it very impressive.)

Not just because he actually shut down my neighborhood ShopRite. (But he’s supposedly the savior of food deserts.)

And not just because he’s not a real Philadelphian — he’s a New Jerseyan at heart. That’s where he’s from and though he lives in a palace on Delancey in Center City, his head is firmly planted in the Garden State. (Think about it: When was the last time you saw Jeff Brown anywhere in Philly before he was running for mayor, other than when he came out of the woodwork to whine about the Soda Tax?)

There’s also just the simple fact that Jeff Brown is not cut out to be the leader of the sixth largest city in the nation.

He demonstrated this extremely well at a debate on Thursday night. He showed his true colors. (He’s had a problem with that of late!) In responding to remarks about the Land Bank and poverty made by Helen Gym—who was seated two seats away from him with Allan Domb in between—Brown went off on her. “Helen is the least informed person on this stage,” he said. “She knows nothing about the free market. She knows nothing about real estate. She’s never built anything in her life. And this is what politicians do. They make stuff up. And she’s the queen of making stuff up.” (He later added: “She never managed anything.”)

Say what you will about Gym (I realize there are a lot of people out there who aren’t big fans), but she did a swell job of shooting him down and making him out to be the “angry man” that he’s portraying himself to be, rightfully pointing out that his remarks were “sexist” and that he is disrespectful to women.

You can watch the whole grueling thing play out here:

May 16th can’t come soon enough. I want this to be over.

Gee, Thanks, 5th Square

It’s fair to say that there are more than a few people out there who’ve narrowed down their mayoral choices to Helen Gym and Rebecca Rhynhart. Both are progressive. Both are women. So Philly’s leading urbanist PAC, 5th Square, was absolutely no help when they announced their endorsement for mayor earlier this week. Which one did they endorse? Both. Yes, 5th Square endorsed both Helen Gym and Rebecca Rhynhart for mayor.

I think that’s what they call taking the easy way out.

By the Numbers

10: Hours some local EZpass customers say it’s taken them to fight violations that clearly aren’t theirs.

12: Products that may have been tampered with by an area grocery store employee, who is accused of putting sewing needles into products like Tastykakes and cat food.

$6.15 million:Donation the Wawa Foundation is making to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I guess I’ll keep buying those Sizzlis then. (Just not those dreadful Wawa soft pretzels.)

$17: Average cost of a gram of legally-purchased marijuana in New Jersey, compared to about $8 in Maine and $4 in Oregon. Yeah, I think I’ll stick with my regular guy.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Just because it’s Friday and just because I think you might need a pick me up, here’s hometown hero Patti LaBelle performing the ABC song on Sesame Street. I promise you: It’s worth a watch.

And from the Play-That-Song! Sports Desk …

Looking for Sixers highlights? Check back later this morning!

Meanwhile: Baseball!! The Washington Post reported yesterday that late arrivals to MLB games this season are missing out on a “particularly acute” new burst of offense in the first inning thanks to the rules changes. And the Rockies were true to form in the first of their four-game series against the Phillies, as they started last night’s match-up off with a blast — a two-run C.J. Cron homer off starter Matt Strahm. They scored one more off Strahm in the sixth after they challenged a call on a contested play at home and won. Andrew Bellatti came in to pitch, and the bases wound up loaded; another run scored on a walk. Still loaded! Two outs, though, and Bellatti got Ezequiel Tovar to ground out to first.

The Phils almost got something going in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases, but Alec Bohm struck out to end it. Connor Brogdon replaced Bellatti for the seventh and struck out the side, then Luis Ortiz replaced him for the eighth and got three quick outs. The Phils had another flurry in the bottom of that inning, but nothing panned out. Oh, man, the Rockies scored again in the ninth: 5-0. And that’s right where it stayed. The Fightin’s get another chance today at 7:05, then have games against the (last-place) Rockies Saturday at 4:05 and Sunday at 12:05.

The Union are in Toronto on Saturday night for a 7:30 match.

Feeling a tad discouraged by the Phils loss? Take heart. In a Bleacher Nation survey of NFL fan engagement study, guess who came out on top? Go Birds!

All Philly Today Sports Desk coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.