City Councilmember Cindy Bass challenges her opponent to take responsibility for fatal shooting of political canvasser

Councilmember Cindy Bass asked during a debate this week whether her Democratic rival, Seth Anderson-Oberman, would take responsibility for an argument-turned-shooting between two canvassers for a political group promoting his campaign.

Bass, a three-term Democrat in Northwest Philadelphia’s 8th District, is in one of the few competitive district City Council races. Anderson-Oberman is one of several candidates running for city office endorsed by One PA, a progressive independent-expenditure group that by law can not coordinate with political candidates.

Bass’ remark came when Bass went on the defensive in response to an earlier comment Anderson-Oberman made about one of her political appointees to the now-defunct Germantown Special Services District pleading guilty to embezzlement charges.

“I wanna ask him if he really wants to take that stance after [the shooting] and what happened,” Bass said near the end of the nearly two-hour debate. “Do you want to take the responsibility for something that something else did, that you weren’t there, that you weren’t a part of, as someone was handing out your literature yesterday? Do you really wanna take that stance about responsibility for other people’s actions? Because if that is so, that’s something that you need to address.”

The moderator of the debate, hosted by G-Town radio, cut Bass short as the crowd began to loudly boo.

Gun violence has surged in the 8th District — a racially and economically diverse swath that runs from Germantown to the Chesnut Hill — but to date, the heated race has focused heavily on issues of development and affordable housing.

The comment marked the latest in an unusual political firestorm triggered by the shooting, which erupted hours after a 22-year-old canvasser in East Germantown shot and killed a 46-year-old, Eddie Brokenbough.

Police said the two men knew each other and the shooting happened after they got into an argument.

One PA also endorsed mayoral candidate Helen Gym and was canvassing on her behalf, as well as for a slate of City Council candidates that included Anderson-Oberman, Rue Landau, Amanda McIllmurray, Isaiah Thomas, and Erika Almirón.

Bass brought the shooting up again in closing statements, also in response to a reference to the now-defunct special services district.

“Germantown Special Services District — with a board appointed solely by you — embezzled money from small-business owners and taxpayers, and you’ve refused to take any responsibility for that,” Anderson-Oberman said.

“Do you take any responsibility for what happened?” Bass interjected, referring to the shooting.