Vol. III No. 55 (423)
Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia
March 23, 2012
Philadelphia Daily Record
Homecoming
STATE REP. CHERELLE PARKER, left, gets surprise visit from Dr. Gladys J. Willis. She was future State Rep’s professor at Lincoln University. Teacher and student pitched in together on a new educational project – see page 3. Photo: Harry Leech
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Mar. 2382nd Airborne’s All American Dinner and awards ceremony at Iron Workers 401 Union Ha., 11600 Norcom Rd., 6 p.m. Gov. Ed Rendell speaker. Tickets $35, includes dinner, dessert open bar, entertainment. Make checks payable to 82nd Airborne/HM Chapter and mail to 1818 Market St., 13th fl., Phila. PA 19103. Mar. 23Bernice Hill hosts Democrat 63rd Ward Spring Fling at American Legion Post 810, 9151 Old Newton Rd., 7-11 p.m. DJ, dancing, drinks, refreshments, raffle. RSVP (215) 698-9421. Mar. 25Annual Men’s Day Breakfast in Fellowship Hall, Zion Baptist Church, 3600 N. Broad St., 8 a.m. Speaker Michael A. Rashid, President and CEO AmeriHealth Mercy. Donation $8.
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Mar. 25Fishtown Neighbors Association announce 2012 Chili Cook-Off at Skybox at 2424 Studios, 2424 E. York St., 1-4 p.m. Mar. 26Congressman Bob Brady takes to airwaves via WURD 800 AM from 7 am to 10 am at Woodlawn Village Restaurant, 5234 Woodland Avenue. For info, contact Andale at
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21`5 724-6600. Mar. 27-29 AFL-CIO State Convention hosted by Phila. Council AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding at Sheraton Downtown Hotel, 17th & Race Sts. Mar. 28: COPE Dinner. Mar. 2966A Ward Leader Shawn Dillon hosts fundraiser for Ed Neilson, Democrat State Rep candidate, at Bridgeman’s Ha., 11600 Norcom Rd., 7-9 p.m. Tickets $30. Beef and beer. For info Shawn Dillon (215) 637-6360. Mar. 29State Rep. Rosita Youngblood hosts fundraiser at Finnigan’s Wake, 3rd & Spring Garden Sts., 7-9:30 p.m. Dinner, open bar, dancing. Tickets $75. For info (215) 745-4306. Mar. 29Fundraiser for State Rep. Pam DeLissio at All Seasons Wash & Lube, 6722 Ridge Ave., 5:30 p.m. For info (215) 808-9167. Sponsor: $150, Friend: $75. Bring checks or send to DeLissio State House Campaign, POB 46-606, Phila., PA 19127. Mar. 30Fish Fry fundraiser for State Rep candidate James “Scoot” Clay at Wilson Amer. Legion Post, 2006 Orthodox St., 6-9 p.m. Food, wine and beer. Tickets $20.
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Lutheran Seminary Breaks New Ground
LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY launched major expansion yesterday. Breaking ground from left are Dan Muroff, development expert and E. Mt. Airy community activist; Kimberly J. Turner chief of staff for State Rep. Dwight Evans; State Rep. Cherelle Parker; and Dr. Gladys J. Willis. Photo: Harry Leech 3|
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Toomey, Casey Unite In Praising Jobs Act US Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) came together in support of the bipartisan passage of the JOBS Act (HR 3606) in the US Senate. The legislation, which passed 73-26, includes three job-creating bills authored by Sen. Toomey: • The Small Company Capital Formation Act with Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) (S. 1544): This legislation would cut regulatory burdens on small businesses and make it easier for them to raise much-needed capital through public offerings. • The Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act with Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) (S. 1824): This legislation would raise the shareholder limit from 500 to 2,000 for community banks and non-banks and would exempt employees from this cap. As a result, small businesses will have the flexibility to focus on long4|
term growth, job creation and creating better environments for their employees. • The Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) (S. 1933): This legislation would make it easier for growing firms to go public by reducing the hurdles of an initial public offering by phasing in many of the costliest obligations over time. • “The Senate’s passage of the JOBS Act today is a victory for growing companies across the country,” Sen. Toomey said. “By lessening the regulatory burden on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and other job creators this legislation represents a limited-government solution for spurring economic growth without using taxpayer dollars. In our struggling economy, quicker entry into the market, greater access to capital and reduced regu-
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lations will help small companies expand, hire new workers and create thousands of new jobs. I am pleased Congress was able to work together in a bipartisan fashion, and I appreciated the opportunity to help craft this bill. I hope the House takes up this bill in a timely manner and sends it to the president to sign it into law as soon as possible.” For his part, Casey, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, commented, “This bill is an important step forward for the economy, the people of Pennsylvania and the nation. It not only puts important measures in place to help business grow, create jobs and improve the economy it also shows the American people that their representatives can work together in a bipartisan effort to get things done in the best interest of the nation.”
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Thomas Queries Plans For Divine Lorraine State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas (DN. Phila.) is wary of the latest scheme to develop the historic Divine Lorraine Hotel that sits on Broad Street at Fairmount in his district. Developer Eric Blumenfeld is the latest to come up with a proposal to develop the National Historic Landmark. Although he doesn’t now own the property, Blumenfeld, who previously owned the property, has been talking to Philadelphia School District officials about clustering four area schools – Masterman, Franklin Learning Center, Ben Franklin and Parkway Center City – on one campus on a lot behind the hotel. According to the plan, the schools would share a cafeteria and gymnasium. Thomas said a lot of questions need to be answered about this latest proposal. “First of all, the communities surrounding the hotel have not been consulted about this proposal. How do they feel about this? I would not support any project of this type where the surrounding community is not involved in the planning.” “Second, have the parents of the
students been consulted? Members of the parent/teacher associations must be involved. In my opinion, it makes no sense whatsoever to combine four schools on one campus. It’s a recipe for disaster. More importantly, our children need equalization of a comprehensive, quality education first and foremost. I will not support someone’s money-making scheme involving our children’s education.” According to media reports, Blumenfeld has not disclosed whether he is negotiating to purchase the property, but has said he is planning to purchase the lot on 13th Street behind the hotel for the new school. His plan also includes working with an arts collective to turn the hotel into an art museum that would offer arts education to the students. “To date, neither students nor parents, residents of the West Poplar community, Sen. Farnese nor I have been consulted about another experiment with young people,” said Thomas. “It was not that long ago that the School District of Philadelphia and the city spent millions of dollars for architectural renderings and
studies to relocate the Franklin Learning Center on this same land. The relocation never happened. Today, we have two huge lots filled with trash, high weeds, debris and maybe bodies on these lots. Eric Blumenfeld did not keep the lots cleaned when he owned the Divine building before. It is time to develop and implement a comprehensive education plan for high school students in North-Central Philadelphia. The students and parents of North-Central Philadelphia are experimented out. We are still waiting for implementation of a plan for William Penn High School which is already in place.” Thomas said he does not support Blumenfeld’s plan and that a comprehensive development plan with community input needs to be in place. “Before we come up with a master facilities plan we need to develop a community economic development ideology with community input. This community needs job training and economic opportunity. Bottom line – we are not interested in another hodge-podge experiment using our children.”
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Boyle Bill Would Stop Discriminating Against Unemployed Jobseekers State Rep. Brendan Boyle (DNortheast) has introduced legislation to prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating against unemployed workers in job advertisements and hiring. “Currently, some job advertisements circulating stipulate that candidates must be presently employed or that unemployed need not apply,” Boyle said. “I am truly surprised and saddened by the idea that employers are excluding thousands of qualified and capable workers from even applying for consideration for a work opportunity – especially in light of our current economic conditions.” Boyle said such actions create unnecessary roadblocks for Pennsylvanians actively seeking gainful employment. More than 500,000 Pennsylvanians are out of work. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 44% of these individuals have been looking for 6|
jobs for more than six months. Boyle’s legislation (HB 2157) would create the Pennsylvania Fair Employment Opportunity Act to establish a complaint process within the Pennsylvania Dept. of Labor & Industry and authorize administrative fines for employers and employment agencies that run such advertisements or refuse to consider unemployed candidates. It would also support efforts to help residents seeking reemployment. The bill is part of JumpstartPA, the House Democratic job creation plan emphasizing infrastructure maintenance and repairs, restoration of education cuts made in the Corbett budget, worker training, and tax credits to help employers hire more workers. HB 2157 awaits consideration by the House Labor and Industry Committee.
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Babette Scores 100% On Environmental Votes State Rep. Babette Josephs (D-S. Phila.) has received a perfect 100% rating based on her votes regarding Marcellus Shale natural-gas drilling. The Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Scorecard was created by four of Pennsylvania’s largest citizen-based environmental organizations: the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, Clean Water Action, PennEnvironment and the Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania. “The extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale could be a boon to our economy. But it really is an environmental catastrophe that ruins county roads, pollutes air and water, contaminates wild and scenic rivers, curtails the forest-product industry, cuts tourism, fragments the state forests, and endangers the aquifer that makes agriculture our biggest industry. The only people who benefit are out-ofstate international oil and gas conglomerates,” Josephs said. “That’s what Tom Corbett and the Republicans have chosen for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.
“I am proud to have received a 100% rating from these environmental groups, who rightly understand that this environmental crisis is hurting every single Pennsylvanian and that when I voted against HB 1950, which levied a meager impact fee on the oil and gas industry, it was the right thing to do.” The scores are based on a series of votes on HB 1950 (Act 13 of 2012) held by the legislature between November 2011 and February 2012. The four citizen-based environmental organizations work through advocacy and grassroots action to protect Pennsylvania’s environment. Josephs is a member of the Green Dog Legislative Caucus in the House, which promotes legislation to enhance and protect the environment. She also is a member of PennEnvironment, PennFuture, Sierra Club, Clean Air Council, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and Pennsylvania League of Conservation Voters.
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Sims Whacks Josephs For Not Debating Brian Sims, who is challenging State Rep. Babette Josephs of the 182nd Dist. in the Apr. 24 primary, criticized her yesterday for declining his calls for a series of debates. “This evening was the fifth and final night that Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club had offered as an opportunity to debate in front of its members. I agreed to all five dates, as you saw in this YouTube video, but Rep. Josephs refused to debate,” said Sims. “Rep. Josephs has agreed to only one debate for this campaign, one week before the election, in her own neighborhood. Today I issue a challenge for her to agree to at least five more debates so that all voters can hear from both in person. “The 182nd Dist. is made up of a 8|
diverse set of neighborhoods, and I have welcomed the opportunity to give voters a chance to hear from the incumbent and myself in their neighborhood. This race is too important for her to rob the voters from across the entire district of the chance to hear us debate. “Rather than throw my hands up in the air, I issue this challenge. Voters in Bella Vista, Washington Square West, the Gayborhood and Grays Ferry deserve to hear a debate, not just voters in Rittenhouse Square. Voters in Logan Square and Graduate Hospital should not have to travel out of their neighborhood for the one opportunity to hear a debate. There are condo, apartment and coop buildings with hundreds of voters in them: I will debate in any and every high-rise in this district.”
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Time For An R-Toon
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