Philadelphia Daily Record

Vol. II No. 171 (331)

Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia

October 29, 2011

Philadelphia Daily Record

Northeast Night Life

SHAWN DILLON’S WARD 66A routinely puts on one of the best-attended ward affairs in N.E. Phila. at Chickie’s & Pete’s. Last night’s pre-election gala was no exception as hundreds passed by to give their regards. Among them were banker Marty Bednarek, Dillon, 64th Ward Leader Lorraine Bednarek, Councilman at Large Bill Green and his wife Margie. Photo by Harry Leech

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Oct. 2845th Anniversary Celebration of Black Panther Party at Hilton Phila.

City Ave. Hotel, 4200 City Line Ave., 6-11 p.m. Bobby Seale, keynote speaker. Tickets $65.

Hosted by National Alumni Association of BPP. Call (215) 787-0857 or Clarence (215) 276-4453. Sunday free to public 1-4 p.m. workshops.

Oct. 28Donna Aument’s 33rd Ward super Halloween Party at Juniata G. C., M & Cayuga Sts., 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Beef & Beer, BYOB, costumes optional.

Tickets $25. Inviting all Democrat and Republican candidates. For reservation or ticket info Donna (215) 427-1645.

Oct. 29Phila. Federation of Young Republicans hosts candidates meeting with GOP leaders from 2nd, 5th, 8th, 14th, 27th and 30th Wards at St. Michael Russian Orthodox Ch., 335 Fairmount Ave., 10 a.m.

Oct. 30Fundraiser for 1st Dist. Council candidate Mark Squilla at Shooting Stars Club, 1931 S. 3rd St., 2-6 p.m.

Platinum host $1,000, Host $500, Sponsor $100, Friend $35. RSVP (267) 290-8836.

Oct. 31Democrat City Committee throws Autumn Cocktail party at Penn’s Landing Caterers, 1301 S. Columbus Blvd., 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tickets $150. RSVP by Oct. 21. For info (215) 241-7804.

Nov. 1Republican City Committee Fall Cocktail Party at Cannstatter Volksfest Verein, 9130 Academy Rd., 6-8 p.m. Tickets $125. For info Republican City Committee (215) 5610650.

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Nov. 1Latinos for David Oh at Orlando’s Gallery, 433 W. Girard Ave. Contribution $100, $250 or $500. For info Eunice Lee (215) 561-2000 or elee@zarwin.com.

Nov. 2OpportunitiesPA hosts fundraiser with National Homeless Youth Awareness Month at Univ. City Science Ctr., 3711 Market St., 5-9 p.m.

Ticket $30. For info (215) 779-6827.

Nov. 3tate Rep. Louise Williams Bishop hosts Energy Workshop & Lunch at Calvary Baptist Ch., 6122 Haverford Ave., 11 a.m.-1 p.m. For info (215) 879-6625.

Nov. 3Rally for Council candidate Al Taubenberger at Village of Cottage Green, Ashton & Willits Rds., 7 p.m. For info (267) 507-4282.

Nov. 3The Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia, Inc. will host Beef & Beer fundraiser at EOM Hall, 138 Moore Street. Ticket $25.00 in advance and $30.00 at door. for info, contact Alison Sprague at 215-551-3360 or website at www.vwssp.org.

Nov. 4State Rep. Jewell Williams’ 16th Ward Fish Fry at Lou & Choo’s, 21st & Hunting Pk. Ave., 5-9 p.m. Donation $10. For info Andrew Smith (215) 609-5876.

Nov. 5St. Edmond Parish holds Back in the Day Celebration in honor of its centennial at church hall, 21st St. & Snyder Ave., 7-11 p.m. Buffet dinner, beverages, and sweet table. Dancing, a live DJ, door prizes, and lots more.

Tickets $25. Open to all. For info (215) 334-3755.

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Additional Charges In Tacony Kidnappings; Casey Calls For SSA Reform The District Attorney’s Office charged Linda Ann Weston, Eddie Wright and Jean McIntosh with Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping, Conspiracy, Unlawful Restraint, False Imprisonment, Simple Assault, and REAP last night. These charges are in connection with the abuse of a 19-year-old relative who was locked in a bathroom closet for at least two weeks in Philadelphia.

The victim was only let out of the closet twice a day to eat and occasionally use the bathroom. When police discovered the victim she had several injuries including hand fractures, a healing tibia fracture, ecchymosis (bruising) to her left eye, and several hypertrophic scars across her body.

Bail for Linda Ann Weston and Eddie Wright was set for $2 million, and Jean McIntosh’s bail was set for $1 million.

In the wake of the shocking captive case, where eight children and five adults with physical and intellectual disabilities were found to be abused and living in squalor, US Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is calling on the Social Security Administration to finally crack down on a loophole that allowed the suspects to evade police for years.

As part of their scheme, the suspects in the Philadelphia captive case are alleged to have fraudulently collected Social Security benefits on behalf of those who had physical and intellectual disabilities and others. In some in28 OCTOBER, 2011

stances, the captive case suspects stole the identities of others, collecting Social Security benefits on their behalf as well.

following the 2004 law and start the process of checking criminal backgrounds for those applying to be representative payees.

“The Philadelphia captive case is both saddening and disturbing on its own, but what’s worse is that we had the tools to catch these suspects and didn’t use them because those in charge of their protection were asleep at the switch,” Casey said. “It’s time the Social Security Administration step up and close this loophole.”

Fattah Welcomes Labor Secretary Solis To Philadelphia

A 2004 law, The Social Security Protection Act of 2004, is designed to bar individuals who have been imprisoned for more than a year from becoming representative payees, those who cash someone else’s check, but a 2010 report by the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General showed that the SSA was not enforcing the law. For years, suspects in the captive case were allowed to collect Social Security checks on behalf of the teens and the adults, even though they had spent more than a year behind bars.

The 2010 report by the SSA watchdog showed that staff members do not perform background checks to determine if those applying to cash checks on another’s behalf have criminal records, and that self-reporting by applying individuals is unreliable.

In his letter to the Social Security Administration, Casey called on the agency to immediately begin THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

Congressman Chaka Fattah (DPA-02) announced the Philadelphia Jobs Corps Center will receive $37,384,542 from the US Dept. of Labor over the next five years to continue training young Philadelphians for economy-lifting employment.

At the same time Fattah, is welcoming to Philadelphia the US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis for a youth-oriented program today.

Both are participating in a panel discussion at Esperanza Academy Charter HS in Juniata Park. The program is expected to include presentations on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) subjects that are crucial to advancing educational and economic prospects for college-bound students.

“The Job Corps has a long record of success in Philadelphia and nationwide,” Fattah said. “I have been advocating for this program and supporting its funding since day one. And I was honored to speak last year to the graduating class at the Navy Yard. Every federal dollar spent on this valuable training is repaid many times over as these tax-paying young people |

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step out from the Job Corps into tomorrow’s global economy.

“It’s appropriate Secretary Solis is visiting our city as her agency makes such a valuable contribution to the Philadelphia region,” Fattah said.

The Job Corps Center is located in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, at 2810 S. 20th Street, and currently has more than 350 students enrolled. The Labor Dept. administers Job Corps as a free education and career technical-training program for those aged 16 to 24 seeking to improve their lives.

Philadelphia is the nation’s first non-residential Job Corps Center, catering especially to motivated young men and women in an urban environment.

This morning, Solis delivered remarks and participated in an interactive discussion on our nation’s economic recovery, President Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act, current federal job-creation incentives, and how business leaders and policymakers can work together to get more Americans back to work. It was part of a roundtable discussion with Fattah and Philadelphia African-American faith and community leaders at Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing.

Additionally, they engaged with mentors and mentees in the Amachi Program, a youth-mentoring program. They also toured a home for neglected and abused boys in Southwest Philadelphia.

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Pa. May Take Red-Light Cameras Statewide The Pennsylvania Senate passed a red-light camera bill, but some groups are urging caution regarding the measure.

The Senate this week approved a bill to expand the use of red-light cameras throughout the state, sending the bill to the State House of Representatives for consideration. Last session, a similar bill didn’t even make it out of committee in the Senate.

But now that it has gotten out of one chamber, some groups are urging caution as lawmakers move forward on the proposal, which was mentioned by Gov. Tom Corbett’s transportation funding advisory commission as a potential source of transportation revenue.

Home Sales In City Down 13% From Last Year City Controller Alan Butkovitz today released his monthly economic report that found total yearly home sales in the City of Philadelphia have dropped 13% compared to the same reporting period from last year.

Since January 2011, homes sales in the City over the last nine months have totaled 7,591, compared to 8,723 sales over the same period in 2010. During the peak home-buying season from late spring and into the summer of 2011, Philadelphia realized the largest decreases in total sales

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28 OCTOBER, 2011

which included -21% in April, 30% in May and -33% in June.

Although overall sales are down through the first nine months of this year, sales posted in every month of the third quarter have outpaced sales from the same quarter last year by an average of 12 percent. The areas of Fitler Square and Graduate Hospital realized the most home sales with 428 through the current year.

Neighborhoods located in the South Philadelphia zipcode 19148 had the second- most sales with 358.

Neighborhoods with the lowest home sales were in sections north of Center City, which include Fairhill (19133) and West Kensington (19122). These year-to-date sales totaled 22 and 37, respectively.

Along with a look at yearly home sales, the City Controller’s economic report shows Wage/Earnings/NPT collections for the month totaled $110.8 million, a five percent increase compared to the same month last year. Total collections for the first three months of the fiscal year are less than one percent higher than the same period last year. Total salestax collections for the current fiscal year were $61.6 million, a 6% decrease compared to the same period last year.

To view the Economic Forecast and Monthly Snapshot, please visit the City Controller’s website at www.philadelphiacontroller.org.

28 OCTOBER, 2011

Mayor Sets OEO Participation Goal At 25% Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the Office of Economic Opportunity’s Fiscal Year 2012 participation goal will be 25%.

This maintains the City’s current goal, which was exceeded this past fiscal year.

This benchmark is set through the City’s Disparity Study, which calculates the goal percentage based on the availability of minority, women and disabled-owned business enterprises with the capacity to utilize the contract opportunities. OEO also released an Annual Report that commits the City to reaching this participation goal and offers strategies for the City to achieve it for FY 2012, which started on Jul. 1, 2011 and will end on Jun. 30, 2012.

Nutter said, “Minority, women and disabled-owned business participation is vital to a vibrant, competitive marketplace and OEO has done a commendable job of offering these businesses the tools they need to be successful. The City has many contracting opportunities, and I would like to encourage companies to register with the City to learn more.”

The Disparity Study was submitted by Econsult Corporation and Milligan & Co. Angela DowdBurton, Executive Director of OEO, commended these firms for THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

their new approach to the analyzing the availability of M/W/DSBEs based on the City’s spending patterns, “This method allows us to appreciate the number of businesses in the market that sell the products and services that the City actually needs and supports,” she said.

The FY 2011 Annual Report provides the cumulative M/W/DSBEs participation results for the City of Philadelphia operating departments and quasi-government agencies. The City achieved a 25.6% participation rate on $892.6 million awarded to the private sector, up from 23.7% in FY 2010.

To view the FY 2010 Annual Disparity Study or the FY 2011 Annual Report, please visit www.phila.gov/oeo.

SRC Meetings Will Go Live Next Week Next Wednesday, Nov. 2, The School District of Philadelphia will for the first time broadcast the School Reform Commission meeting at 3:00 p.m. on the District’s own cable channel PSTV. The meeting will be accessible on Comcast Channel 52, Verizon Fios Channel 20, as well as live on the internet, accessible on the District’s website at http://www.philasd.org.

During the meeting, which is also open to the public, the School Dis|

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trict will present long-term recommendations for the Facilities Master Plan (FMP), as well as introduce the community engagement strategy for the process moving forward. The FMP

presentation is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.

By broadcasting the meeting live, the District hopes to provide an alternative channel for students, parents, and the community to stay

informed on important matters such as the FMP. For further information on this meeting, please visit http://www.philasd.org.

Sheriff Candidate Honkala Wins Artists’ Endorsements The Cheri Honkala for Sheriff of Philadelphia campaign has received another show of support and endorsement just days before the Nov. 8 general election. Los Angeles-based emcee Open Mike Eagle, whom the Los Angeles Times recently called “one of the genre’s smartest voices,” performed a free show on Oct. 27, along with J Natural, Philadelphia’s own Has-Lo (http://mellomusicgroup.com/has-lo.html) and Curly Castro.

The show was part of “Open Enrollment Presents: The Natural Causes East Coast Get-downs.”

Rapper Open Mike Eagle supports the message of Cheri Honkala’s

campaign, which aims to help support people occupying their homes during a time when the nation has been inspired to occupy the streets in an effort to show their frustration with the current economic situation.

Honkala, a member of the Green Party, www.gpop.org, has received support from artists all over the country who have participated in concerts, house-parties and informal shows to aid the cause. The candidate made news recently when she stage-dived and crowdsurfed at a Dead Milkmen concert before receiving their endorsement. The group Yeye Organic Pop (whose lead singer appeared on the

popular television show “Valores Juveniles”) recorded a song asking for people to vote for Cheri Honkala, who is working to keep families in their homes by ending evictions based in foreclosure.

Honkala’s son, actor/director Mark Webber (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Explicit Ills) visited Philadelphia last month to call on artists of all kinds to support Cheri Honkala’s historic campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia. David Rovics who has been called “the musical voice of the progressive movement” was another musician who used his artistry in support of the campaign.

SEIU Protests For-Profit Schools, Student Debt Crisis Today, at a street-theater event in Centre City, participants protested EDMC and its subsidiary, the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where students are saddled with high loan debts. EDMC, or Education Management Corporation, is a publicly traded company that runs a string of for-profit colleges around the country.

“We are alarmed by EDMC subsidiary Art Institute’s high default rate,” Wayne MacManiman, Jr., SEIU 32BJ Mid-Atlantic area director, said. “Thousands of our members are minorities and they 6|

have kids in college. In these hard economic times, it is even more important that working- and middle-class families are not crippled by high student loan debts.”

MacManiman said that at EDMC, which owns the Art Institutes of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, 90% of net revenues from tuition and fees comes from federal student loans.

“If they’re going to get so much money from taxpayers, they have an obligation to support our communities by providing good jobs THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

and high quality and affordable education to students,” he added.

Protesters carried skeletons representing students dressed in graduation caps, with balls and chains around their bony ankles, drowning, as 32BJ members dressed as Art Institute honchos in fake gold and fancy cigars sail off with fake money.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, EDMC is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by the United States Dept. of Justice, with at least eight participating attorney 28 OCTOBER, 2011

generals, for violating State and federal false claims laws with illegal recruitment practices. The companies deny the claims.

EDMC colleges, including the Art Institutes, have among the highest tuition rates of publicly traded companies in higher education, running on average $50,000 for an associate’s degree and between $77,000 to nearly $100,000 for a bachelor’s degree, according to a 2010 JP Morgan Chase report.

The Art Institute of Philadelphia students had the highest first-year Title IV loan default rate for students of a college offering at least a Bachelors degree in 2009. Factoring in the Pittsburgh Art Institute, the two schools together made up 25% of all first year Title IV loan defaults in the state of Pennsylvania for colleges offering at least a Bachelors degree in 2009.

The high student-loan debt rate has been the focus of the burgeon-

ing Occupy Wall Street protest movement and protesters in Pittsburgh have carried their marches to the doorstep of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The Obama administration also weighed in on Wednesday with programs to offer students some relief from high loan debts.

With more than 120,000 members in eight states and Washington, D.C. 32BJ SEIU is the largest union of property-service workers in the country.

Former Philadelphian Comes Home To Handle PHA’s Books A man who left Philadelphia to begin his career in the Midwest after graduating from Temple University nearly 25 years ago is coming back home as chief financial officer at the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

career in the accounting and financial services industry and since that time has been involved with property management, real estate companies and finally for the past three years the Chicago Housing Authority.

Elias Rosario, who has been overseeing a billion-dollar-plus budget as CFO at the Chicago Housing Authority, becomes the latest senior executive to join PHA in Executive Director Michael Kelly’s pursuit to rebuild the organization’s structure.

“My first goal is to establish controls that will ensure fiscal integrity and cost efficiency to all PHA financial operations. PHA is known nationally for its innovations in real estate financing. I want to build on that record and also build public confidence that we are investing with the sole purpose of advancing our mission and improving neighborhoods,” said Rosario. “I am especially motivated and grateful to have the opportunity to make those efforts in the town I used to call home.”

“We are very fortunate to have attracted a candidate with Elias’ unique skills and experience. His background as a CPA and running his own businesses in the private sector, combined with his expertise in managing a large housing authority’s complex finances make him a perfect fit for us,” Kelly said.

Rosario, who is bilingual and fluent in Spanish, begins his tenure at PHA on Nov. 21. He will earn a salary of $168,000.

Rosario spent the first half of his 28 OCTOBER, 2011

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Donner Jacoby Lawyers Make ‘Best Lawyers’ List Jacoby Donner is proud to announce that shareholders Henry J. Donner and B. Christopher Lee were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America ® 2012 in the field of construction law (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 leading attorneys cast Henry J. Donner B. Christopher Lee almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in tier practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most-respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

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28 OCTOBER, 2011