The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 19

3i r1 i 1 11 err 1 1 Wat Inquirer SUNDAY August 18, 1991 REVIEW OPINION SECTION Thornburgh seeks to regain the luster tarnished in D.C. I i mm suggested, will melt away during the campaign as so much inside-the-Beltway carping by a liberal press and restive Democrats. Thornburgh's tour of duty in Washington was supposed to give him a national showcase where, like cream, he would rise naturally to the top. Buoyed by a favorable media image based on his cool handling of Three Mile Island, Thornburgh, the scenario went, could parlay his way onto the national ticket. Even before he was installed as attorney general in 1988, he was angling for vice president; his real ambition, said those who watched him over the years, was even higher.

Another statewide campaign just wasn't part of the picture. But his three years at Justice changed all (See THORNBURGH on 5-C) will that was extended to him as he rode in to clean up Edwin Meese 3d's demoralized Justice Department is matched now only by a sheaf of negative editorials from across the country decrying his partisanship, his unfulfilled potential and his hard veer to starboard. "He's limping back into his home port," said James Carville, the rapier political operative working for Thornburgh's opponent. "His sails are tattered." And yet, Thornburgh remains the overwhelming favorite against Democratic Sen. Harris Wofford in the Nov.

election. "The polls we've seen so far show him to be the strongest political figure in Pennsylvania today," said Murray Dickman, Thornburgh's aide-de-camp in both Harrisburg and Washington. And any criticism of Thornburgh's performance as attorney general, he By Katharine Seelye Inquirer Sufi Writer Wth his resignation last week as ILS. attorney general, Dick Thornburgh returns to Pennsylvania with contact lenses instead of his old tortoise-shell glasses, with new credentials as a card-carrying conservative and with a heavy load of political baggage. Thornburgh arrived in Washington three years ago after two terms as governor and a stint at Harvard, crowned by a solid reputation as an effective administrator, a crime-busting prosecutor and a savvy politician.

Today, as he embarks on his quest for the VS. Senate seat held by John Heinz before his death, all those labels have been called -Into question. In a surprising reversal of fortune, the luster is off, the reputation dulled. The good Unrtad Prau International Thornburgh addressing the National Governors Association in 1989. 20 years ago, Camden erupted -If BMyiiirHi' -rrrr- Minority firms feel the loss of set-asides ZZJ I A Iff 3 fcPz ''Ja Jl -ill if' jl JLA ''iJLn0 i ''-AS? if I I r- Ss.m.jSss- 1 "ti-ff-in 1-1 i fc inlWM- A- By Thomas Turcol Inquirer Stall Writer In 1989, John Simon did an estimated $50,000 worth of business selling plumbing supplies to the city.

The next year, after a federal judge invalidated Philadelphia's minority set-aside law, the black businessman could get only $10,000 in city contracts, forcing him to lay off several employees at his JHS Plumbing Supplies and cut his operation to the bare bones. Others fared even worse. Some minority-and female-owned companies that depended on city contracts went out of business; others are barely staying afloat, hoping the city succeeds in its effort to steer contracts to them once again. "It decimated the program and put a lot of people out of business," said Maria S. Hamilton, director of the city office that helps minority- and female-owned businesses obtain public contracts.

Hamilton was referring to the April 1990 U.S. District Court decision that overturned the law requiring that IS percent of city business be reserved for minority-owned firms and an additional 10 percent for companies owned by women. An appeal by the city is pending. The ruling, and similar rulings around the country, followed a 1989 VS. Supreme Court decision striking down a similar program in Richmond, Va.

The assaults were mounted by contractor groups, which argued that the laws geared to establish and assist minority and female businesses amounted to reverse discrimination by limiting the opportunity for white males to compete for government contracts. Their successful campaign to wipe out the set-aside laws has sapped the fortunes of black- and female-owned companies that depended on government contracts. "A significant portion of the population has had the economic door shut on them," Hamilton said. "They deserve an opportunity but without a law, non-minority firms just will not do business with minority and female companies." The numbers bear that out. A study commissioned by the city shows that in the year preceding the court decision, firms controlled by blacks and a scattering of other minorities earned $45.5 million or roughly 18 percent of the $257 million in contracts awarded by the city.

Companies owned by females received $19.5 million or roughly 8 percent of the (See SET-ASIDES on 2-C) The (unlikely) joys of summer Phils' streak By Bill Lyon Inquirer Sporti Columnist The PhilsdstpMa Inquirar In a 1971 photo taken near Camden City Hall, where the first clash occurred, police officers and a crowd across the street hold a wary standoff. A riot, that redefined a city By Jeff Gammage, Joseph N. DiStefano and Dwight Ott Special to The Inquirer started with a man named Rafael Gonzales, who was pulled over by Camden traffic police and ended up dead, and with a woman who demanded an explanation. Afterward, Camden changed dramatically. The Hispanic population greatly increased; many whites fled.

The city is among the nation's poorest. It has no major department store and no movie theater. ut The PMatMphia Inqurar BONNIE WfcOER Rosa Santiago, whose anger her Camden home. She is now led to the demonstration, at 67 and dying of cancer. ITTSBURGH It was a giddy, dizzying 1 run and it lasted for almost two full weeks.

Rosa Santiago helped lead a march to City Hall that was met with dogs and riot sticks. That trek and what followed was a plea for justice. It was also a demand for better housing and jobs, a cry of anger over discrimination, a wail of resentment against white authority. And, for many, it became an excuse to plunder and rob. That was the week Camden burned.

Twenty years ago this week, the August heat erupted into three days of rioting and looting, a terrible yet defining event in the history of the city. Bitter racial tensions exploded in the night, fueling fires that destroyed parts of Camden and hardened the lives of those who lived through it. That week has taken on the aura of legend, especially in Camden's Latino community and in the city's Police Department There had been unrest before, but nothing approached that devastation. Tear gas rolled thick as fog through city streets. Police, outnumbered and sometimes afraid, were pounded by torrents of bottles and rocks.

Sniper fire cracked from darkened rooftops. "You were in a regular war zone," said Timothy McCarthy, then a patrolman and now an undersher-iff with the Camden County Sheriff's Department. Many who were there including policemen say some officers lashed out in the confusion, clubbing anyone within reach. Marauding gangs looted stores and set countless fires, and angry crowds waited for the men who responded. At times, firefighters who feared for their lives could not take the time to uncouple their hoses, but used axes to hack them in half and flee.

Firefighter William O'Dennis ran inside a burning building as gunfire splattered around him his chances were better in the flames. When Police Chief Harold Melleby called Philadelphia for assistance, Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo sent 800 canisters of tear gas. When it was over, Camden had changed. Within a decade the city would be smaller and poorer. The population dropped 17 percent, from 102,000 to 85,000.

Whites fled in droves nearly 60 percent left by 1980 while the black and Hispanic populations increased substantially. The poverty rate for families doubled to 32 percent, and today Camden is among the nation's poorest cities. Property damage was estimated in the millions, though the eventual cost was greater. The business (See CAMDEN on 4-C) Camden total Camden population by race Suddenly, in the dead of summer, 120,000 population HISPANIC BLACK WHITE 80,000 i i 1 40,000 27,123 I I at a time when the city tossed and turned restlessly in air-conditioned hibernation, the Phillies awoke. They galvanized the town.

They began to win and they couldn't seem to stop. And Philadelphia, which has always had a passionate though mostly unrequited love affair with baseball, was moved by old stirrings, old yearnings. There was no warning of what was to come. Nor was there any logical reason to expect it The Phillies, after all, had fallen upon hard times. After a glorious decade of sustained success, from the mid-70s to the mid-'80s, they had become afflicted by a spreading dry rot.

In: the last seven seasons, they have won more than they have lost only once. Their farm system fell into wanton neglect, and only now-are the first twitches of recovery evident. They played the first half of this season as they had the previous two, which is to say worse than anyone else in their worse than almost any other team in the major leagues. As July curled to conclusion, the Phils (See PHILLIES on 2-C) 11.000. 1 UULJ UHm I II 'ii 70 '80 '90 70 '80 '90 70 "80 '90 70 80 '90 Unofficial estimate Radal and ethnic figures may not add up to total population because some individual are included under mow than one category.

Percentage of all Camden families living in poverty: 1970: 16.1 1980: 32.3 (1990 not available) The Philadelphia Inquirer KIRK MONTGOMERY SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, Camden Public Library.