Written by Christopher Moraff
Tribune Correspondent
Monday, 26 October 2009 20:34
Michael Untermeyer promises reform
and operating efficiency
There is a quiet ritual that plays
out in Philadelphia politics. It usually happens at the height of the primary
season before a major election, when the city’s Democratic hopefuls are
slogging it out on the debate circuit or stumping it up on the local TV
networks. And if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to miss.
It’s when the Republican City
Committee, typically in the person of Chairman Vito Canuso, announces the
candidate it will field in the general election.
You saw it in February 2007 when,
with little fanfare, Al Taubenberger — president of the Greater Northeast
Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce — emerged as the GOP’s candidate for mayor.
And it happened again two years later, when an Old City lawyer and real estate
developer named Michael Untermeyer threw his hat into the 2009 district
attorney race.
Last February, the 67 ward leaders of the
committee endorsed Untermeyer as their candidate, reportedly choosing him over
three other interested parties. It didn’t much matter that he wasn’t a
Republican, or that he’d already considered entering the race — as a Democrat.
THE ARTICLE "Court clerk
fires back at calls by judge, D.A. to fold office" (Sept. 23)
addresses a major problem facing our city: bail.
Philadelphia's bail system has become a sham and
our city must be held accountable. As the Republican candidate for district
attorney, I advocate reform of the bail system and insist that real bail be
ordered in all criminal cases.
At present, we may as well put up a billboard welcoming criminals to
Philadelphia since they won't be held accountable by the clerk's office
or bail system.
Last week, Republican
candidate for District Attorney Michael Untermeyer began to practice what he
preaches.
Many criminal offenders can
be safely – and cheaply – controlled outside prison by using state-of-the-art
radio monitors, Untermeyer asserts. It is one of the key planks in the platform
of the former assistant District Attorney turned successful real-estate
investor, who is now running for DA himself in the Nov. 3 General Election.
PHILADELPHIA
(AP) -- Voters in
Philadelphia
will have an easy time telling where one candidate for district attorney stands
- with the help of a GPS ankle bracelet.
Republican district
attorney candidate Michael Untermeyer is wearing an electronic monitoring
bracelet for the next month. Visitors to Untermeyer's Web site, http://www.untermeyerforda.com
, can track the his movements minute-by-minute for the next 30 days.
Most politicians struggle to carve out a little private
time.
But for the next 30 days, Michael
Untermeyer's life will be an open book, 24/7, to anyone with Internet access.
The Republican candidate for
Philadelphia district attorney yesterday had
himself equipped with an electronic ankle bracelet to demonstrate how city
taxpayers could save millions in prison costs by making more use of monitoring
technology for nonviolent criminal defendants.
Despite Odds, Untermeyer Optomistic About DA Chances
by Joe Shaheeli
The odds are "as high as an elephant's eye, and it looks like they're climbing clear up to the sky."
Michael Untermeyer, the Republican candidate for the position of
District Attorney, may hum that refrain from the musical "Oklahoma!"
periodically, but he doesn't believe it.
He believes he's got the right message. He says it's "zero
tolerance".He's for putting gun-toting criminals behind bars and making
sure parole would be hard to come by for them. Every time I take part
in a vigil or memorial of someone killed senselessly on the streets, I
can only believe, as I look in the faces of mourning family members,
they need a District Attorney who practices and not just preaches zero
tolerance," he states.
Stu Bykofsky: D.A. candidates tell us how we can trust the system again
By Stu Bykofsky
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Columnist
June 15,2009
How to rebuild confidence? Why not ask the guys whose job it
will be - Philadelphia D.A. candidates Democrat Seth Williams and
Republican Michael Untermeyer?
I asked them, separately, for their best idea to restore citizens'
belief that the system can be made to work. I didn't tell either what
the other said, nor let either criticize the other. I wanted answers,
not political posturing.
Mike Responds To Inquirer Article
RE "The True Cost of a Con" (April 20):
So it costs $289 million to lock up criminals in Philadelphia?
But while your stats are interesting, count me as one who'd gladly
pay to keep another child from being introduced to drugs, pay to keep
another grandparent or business owner from being beaten and robbed, pay
to keep another drunk from running down a grade-schooler, pay to keep
another heartless thug from gunning down a police officer . . .
Untermeyer Seeks Best Practices for Phila. DA's Office
Legal Intelligencer
By Amaris Elliott-Engel
April 08, 2009
Michael Untermeyer is taking his campaign for Philadelphia district attorney on the road.
As part of his preparation to run as the Republican candidate,
Untermeyer has visited with the New York County District Attorney's
Office and plans to visit the San Francisco District Attorney's Office
in order bring back the best practices from those offices and apply
them to Philadelphia's justice system.
GOP candidate for Phila. district attorney is driven
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer
Last of six profiles of candidates for Philadelphia district attorney.
Five years ago, Michael Untermeyer, the lone Republican candidate
for Philadelphia district attorney, crashed a single-engine plane he
was piloting over Martha's Vineyard.
The next morning, he rented another plane and took off again before
fear grounded him. In his wallet was a prescription written by an
emergency-room doctor who had treated him for minor injuries from the
crash. It read simply:
"Wake up every day and remember how lucky you are to be alive."
"I don't have a death wish," said Untermeyer, 58, a lawyer and real estate developer. "I just have a wish to push."
A Republican running for district attorney in this city would need
that kind of drive come November, when Untermeyer will face the winner
of tomorrow's primary fracas among five Democrats.
Untermeyer is not among the city's better-known figures. But loyal
friends are eager to fill in details, describing the trim, 5-foot-11
divorced (no kids) Old City resident as a charismatic nerd with money,
moxie, and a fast-firing brain.
He was a Philadelphia assistant district attorney for four years and
a Pennsylvania deputy attorney general for 11 years, with a specialty
in prosecuting drug cases. "There's something about narcotics," he
said, "an element of danger. And you're dealing with bad characters."
Taking on the drug guys appealed to what friends call Untermeyer's adrenaline need.
"He's an intellectual genius, but he's also a daredevil," said
lawyer and pal Rania Major-Trunfio, who likes to tell the plane-crash
story and the oft-repeated tale that Untermeyer was, at 18, the
youngest ambulance driver in the history of New York City.
Read Full Story