Former state rep enjoying the dog days

Chillin' Wit is a regular Monday feature of the Daily News profiling a name in the news away from the job.

FORMER STATE Rep. Babette Josephs ambles down Pine Street with her beloved rescue pit-bull mix, Sweetpea, to a slice of heaven for the four-legged - Seger Dog Park at 11th and Lombard.

Like a mom at a playground, Josephs urges blond-haired, well-mannered 2 1/2-year-old Sweetpea to play with her own kind.

"Look at that handsome fellow!" the 74-year-old Josephs gushes yesterday. Sweetpea, who had bounced around earlier, lays in the shade at Josephs' feet and doesn't budge.

"It's like raising children," says Josephs, a diminutive mom of two and grandmother of six. "My goal was always to get them more worn out than I was."

And that's a feat. Josephs is energizer triple A.

Married to lawyer Herbert Newberg, who died in 1992 at the age of 54, Josephs went to law school in the 1960s.

"I didn't think it was fair that I was married to an attorney and he wasn't," she says with a grin.

She was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1984, representing the 182nd District, encompassing Center City and South Philadelphia. She held office for 28 years - the longest-serving woman.

"It's a little dull being a private citizen," she says.

So she's spiced it up a notch.

She co-hosts "Conversations Across Time," a public access TV show that depicts challenging discussions with past historical personalities. The show airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on Philadelphia Community Access Media. (Comcast Cable 66/966 or Verizon FIOS 29/30).

"My role is to provoke and make people angry," she says.

Josephs works on the Justice for Nizah Morris Committee. Morris, a transgender entertainer, died from a severe head injury in December 2002. The Police Department's handling of her death had sparked protests.

She is also active in the 8th Ward and serves on the board of the ACLU and the Jewish Social Policy Action Network.

"Compared to my former life, I think I'm getting lazy and self-indulgent," she says.

She never remarried. "I think my job scared off men," she says. "And now there are not many men left."

-Barbara Laker