Candidate:

John Staggs

Socialist Workers Party Candidate John Staggs works for Showcase Foods, Co. in North Philadelphia, where he is a meat trimmer. Staggs, who was raised on a farm in Avon, Illinois, graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in agriculture before coming to Philadelphia in 1991. Staggs is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 56 and has spent much of his life as a union and civil rights activist. He helped put together an affirmative action rally that took place in Washington DC on April 1st in addition to an Immigrants Rights Freedom Ride at Flushing Meadows, New York on October 4. In 1995 Staggs ran for City Council at Large, but was unsuccessful. Staggs and his wife live in Germantown.

Business Development

• Eliminate the wage tax for the first $50,000 dollars of an individual's income and institute a progressive tax system that increases through each income bracket.
• Shorten the work week to thirty hours in order to create more jobs and the double the minimum wage.

Crime

• Work to abolish the death penalty.
• The police records of those who have paid their debt to society should be expunged so that they can avoid discrimination in the job market.

Education

• The Socialist platform would push to provide education to everyone.
• Opposes the private and state takeovers of Philadelphia schools that have resulted in cuts in education spending.

Neighborhood Development

• Rebuild the cities infrastructure from the ground up, providing numerous employment opportunities.
• Provide funds to community organizations to improve the housing conditions for the neighborhoods that need it most and eventually to all areas.