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MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER lays wreath at Korean War Memorial, Penn’s Landing, to commemorate Veterans Day. Veterans Day service was one of many veterans events held in area to honor and salute those who have sacrificed so much for our country. Other pics, page 27

LAYING of Richard Vaux-Ivanhoe Wreath at Washington Square Revolution War Memorial were Councilmen David Oh and Bill Greenlee, Veterans, Masonic D.D.G.M. Chuck Holloway, John J. Kline, P.M., W.M., Mayor Michael Nutter, Judge Pat Dugan, Judge Joe Waters, Vietnam Memorial President Terry Williams and Controller Alan Butkovitz.

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City Commissioners Experience Once-In-A-Lifetime

Election From Hell (Page 2)

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Commissioners Experience Election From Hell

by Tony West In most years, the Philadelphia City Commission is a slightly sleepy agency charged with doing the same thing over and over: run two elections a year.

Change began last fall, however, when the Commission’s legendary Chairwoman Marge Tartaglione, who had run the office for 32 years, was herself turfed out of office. Two unusual new Commissioners were chosen for the three-member body, Democrat Stephanie Singer and Republican Al Schmidt. Both were bright young immigrants to the city, with experience in their respective parties’ City Committee leadership and a yen for reform.

Many observers hoped the two would bring a fresh perspective to the office. Joined by incumbent Democrat Commissioner Anthony Clark, the three elected Singer as their new Chairwoman and vowed to do work well together.

What happened instead was a wild ride. This year’s Nov. 6 general election turned into a toboggan down to hell.

Half of it was bad luck. In 2012, a national Republican campaign to impose voter photo-ID laws swept through every State that had fallen under Republican control – and Pennsylvania was among this number. Harrisburg rushed this measure through and Gov. Tom Corbett signed it in March, thoroughly diverting the new Philly team’s attention from its merry dreams of a New Day. They did indeed get a New Day; but it was someone else’s New Day, not theirs.

The voter-ID law sparked a firestorm of resistance by Democrats, who saw it as a move to suppress their numbers by making it harder for some of their core constituencies – students, elders, minorities – to vote. They retaliated with complaints and lawsuits. Corbett’s State Dept. Secretary Carol Aichele and staff played defense with a bewildering flurry of contradictory announcements on new voter-ID policies every week or so.

In the end, Republican Judge Robert Simpson ruled the new law was just too hard

NEW CO-CHAIRS of Phila. City Commission Al Schmidt, left, and Anthony Clark vow a better future for their agency. to implement in time for November. But the protracted struggle took its toll on the City Commission (as it did on other county commissions around the state).

“Voter ID was passed, it was challenged, it was stayed,” Schmidt said. “Every time there was a new twist, it caused whiplash. We had to keep redoing the training materials, the registration forms, the absentee ballots. We kept shooting at a moving target.”

This stressed the Commission’s fulltime staff of 100, most of whom are career civil servants. “Half the year we are overstaffed, the other half understaffed,” explained Schmidt. City Commission has a familiar system for hiring large numbers of temporary election-day workers. But its ultra-sensitive database of 1 million voters cannot be outsourced to a call desk in India.

Endless batting at voter-ID issues left permanent employees with less time to prepare other things.

One of those challenges was implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a result of a settlement in 2008, Philadelphia has been steadily shifting to polling places with handicapped access. This forced the loss of huge numbers of dependable locations; half of all divisions have had to move their polls since then. Shopping for handicapped-access sites is tedious and difficult.

This year, City Commission had to find 100 new ones.

There were internal problems too. Although she took readily to Philadelphia’s polit-

ical meeting circuit, becoming a darling of progressive players, Singer didn’t mesh with either her fellow Democrat Clark or her fellow PhD Schmidt. Both men (who had never met each other before) developed doubts about her leadership.

Management projects assigned to her – an improved, consumer-friendly website, for instance – languished as Singer threw herself instead into opposing photo IDs. She rallied in Love Park with visiting Democratic campaign Valkyrie Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz; she became a regular on MSNBC’s talk shows.

But ward leaders who had immediate questions about the business of running the election got less attention from Singer. Grumbling started in the April primary and never died down.

An October surprise struck City Commission, in the form of a Republican Party challenge to ballot petitions for the Libertarian Party statewide ticket. There were 48,000 Philadelphia signatures on these petitions. Each one of them had to be looked up and verified – and often debated with teams of opposing lawyers.

“For two weeks – 14 days – none of my employees did anything else,” said Acting Voter Registration Administrator Greg Irving. “Had it not been for that challenge, we would have finished processing late registrations by Oct. 19 and they would all have been in the books.” Instead, they wound up on supplemen-

tal sheets, which were nevertheless delivered on time to all polling places.

The cherry atop all this whipped cream was Hurricane Sandy. It arrived just when the State returns its official list of voters for the City to use; when voting machines had to be delivered to 1,687 divisions; and when 8,400 temporary workers needed to be coordinated into a seamless workforce seven days later.

“We worked with the Managing Director and the School District,” Schmidt said.

“Most of our polling locations are in schools or rec centers.

We hired additional movers and trucks.

“Our staff literally worked through the hurricane, even when the rest of city government was shut down,” Schmidt continued. “Everyone came in.” Commission civil servants only went home once – when the City ordered them to clear their building at Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street for fear of a storm surge. But they were back at work next day. Six employees were borrowed from the Revenue Dept.; they also worked through the hurricane.

Still, City Commission lost two full days of delivery time, right before the election.

By election day, though, all the locations, machines, binders and workers were in place, ready to go at 7 a.m.

“I cannot praise highly enough the professional regular staff hired by our predecessors,” said Schmidt. “They served the city heroically in a time of crisis. The person who deserves the most credit for this is Marge Tartaglione and her fellow Commissioners, and the team they assembled which we inherited.”

These labors would have satisfied everybody – if voting had proceeded like previous years. But it didn’t.

The voter lists issued to the County by the State are never perfect. Every election, some legitimate voters are left off the rolls. Provisional ballots are made available in advance for these individuals. The numbers needed usually don’t vary much from year to year.

Not this time, though.

While Delaware Avenue remained dry, a storm surge of missing names inundated election workers across the city, as voters showed up in droves for a fiercely contested national race. A remarkable number of them found their names were not in the binders – 27,000 of them, twice the usual amount. (There are also 23,000 absentee and alternative ballots, not an unusual number.)

The Democratic 20th Ward Leader, State Sen. Shirley Kitchen (D-N. Phila.), knows her ward well. In most years, she said, a division might use a half-dozen provisional ballots. This year, she reported 175 provisional votes were cast in her home division alone. Her entire ward was swamped by hundreds more.

She was not alone. Across the city, ward leaders reported voters had been dropped from the rolls. First-time registrants, people who had changed their address; women who had changed their last name; PennDOT and DPW registrants – all found themselves left off the rolls. But even voters whose status was unchanged, were surprised to find they weren’t in the binder, on the supplemental list of last-minute changes either. “Some of these people had voted religiously for decades,” said State Rep. Ron Waters (D-W. Phila.)

This created major problems. Polling places aren’t staffed to handle large volumes of paper-ballot voters, which can take up to 20 minutes to fill out; many of them don’t even have room for people to sit down and fill them out. Long lines and wait times ensued.

Whenever a division ran out of provisional ballots and City Commission learned of it, new supplies were delivered to it, affirmed Schmidt.

As of last Friday, he did not believe anyone was denied a vote for lack of a ballot.

Many ward leaders, however, complained they couldn’t get through to City Commission in the heat of election day. “The phones kept ringing, but no one answered,” said Kitchen.

(Cont. Next Page)

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sional ballots. “To be counted, they must be inserted in an envelope with the voter’s name on it,” he said. “But we have found some judges let the voter walk out with that envelope and just dropped the ballot into the box.

We have no way of determining who this voter is, then.”

The new co-chairs will closely review these and other lessons after the election is wrapped up. But there is much deadline work still to be done.

For now, said Clark, the two plan to take it one day at a time.

STATE REP. Ron Waters spoke for coalition of lawmakers and clergy to protest numerous errors in voter lists on election day – and to call for an independent investigation of Penna.

Dept. of State’s procedures which may have caused these problems.

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“When an organization is firing on all cylinders and is under strain, then you learn what you can do well and what you can do better,” he said. “Our focus is on what we can do better. We have incredibly talented, dedicated and hardworking staff, so I am confident together we can solve the problems we have encountered.”

There are many reasons why people may not appear in a division’s binders, Schmidt noted.

One is that a voter-registration campaign made errors when registering them; this way, a person could honestly believe they had registered, only to discover on election day their registration was invalid.

Some properly registered voters may also have been confused by the changes in polling location.

The private company that printed the polling books may have made errors in some cases.

City Commission is looking into that.

Schmidt has also reported to the Dept. of State there may have been problems with its voter-registration system, known as SURE. Each County sends its voter information to State via SURE; before an election, State then sends back an approved voter-registration list, also via SURE. That is the list poll workers wind up working off.

Independent observers confirm Schmidt’s suspicion. Democrat 27th Ward Leader Carol Jenkins handles Penn campus, which has thousands of young, first-time or transient voters.

“But my voters are computer-savvy,” Jenkins noted.

“When they arrived at the polling place and found their names were not in the books, some of them pulled out their laptops, accessed the Dept. of State’s database in Harrisburg and showed their names were there. They still had to vote by provisional ballot.”

Going forward, Schmidt described City Commission as an agency with 1 million constituents: the city’s voters. He said the new co-chairs have vowed to improve its service to voters, to ward leaders and to elective officials.

Clark said this election has already taught some lessons.

Election judges need better training on how to handle provi-

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

(Cont. From Prev. Page) The person most ward leaders most wanted to talk to was Chairwoman Singer. Too many of them were disappointed.

The Wednesday after the storm, lightning struck.

Scheduled was a regular City Commission meeting. In a surprise move, Schmidt and Clark voted to remove Singer as chairwoman and to name themselves co-chairs.

The two men had not planned this in advance, Schmidt insisted. In fact, he noted, it is illegal for any two Commissioners to discuss policy outside their official weekly meetings.

Last Friday, a coalition of Black clergy and Democratic state legislators held a press conference to voice frustration and fury over the chaos they had witnessed. Pennsylvania Black Legislative Caucus leader Waters and others called for an independent investigation into the Dept. of State’s handling of the voter lists at both state and federal levels.

But they were also in a stew over Wednesday’s coup at City Commission. Wanda Peebles, who heads Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, expressed “outrage” that a “minority chair” had been appointed at City Commission and wondered darkly if Republican high jinks underlay the goings on there as well as in Harrisburg.

Not so, retorted Clark. Complainers like these “do not understand the inner workings of the Commission,” he said.

By law, there are three Commissioners. For a lifetime, the Democrats have elected the two top vote-getters while the third seat belongs to the top Republican. So the Commission is always dominated by the Democratic Party and its leadership always reflects that fact.

As of Friday, the new cochairs are focusing first on finishing the count of paper ballots.

They must complete this by 21 days after the election.

Schmidt has already heard enough to be concerned. “There have been so many false alarms,” he said, “it has been difficult to distinguish the real from the false.” But he acknowledged City Commission had faced problems, and must study how they arose and how they can be prevented in the future.

Page 3

Election Fueled Headaches

Page 4 The Public Record • November 15, 2012

Dems Moan Losses Due To Redistricting

by Joe Shaheeli Redistricting federal and state legislative districts is a problem that, in the end, costs taxpayers in several ways.

The first is in the pocketbook, when money is spent for lawsuits that occur whenever districts are due for a redrawing based supposedly on population.

Secondly, the voting taxpayer will continue to find he or she has no say in how the legislative maps are withdrawn – though in Pennsylvania, a statewide map drawn by a piano teacher did move the State Supreme Court to reject

the General Assembly’s first offering of a redistricting plan mandated by the Census.

Thirdly, no matter what, redistricting plans will always be drawn to favor the party controlling the legislative branches up for redistricting.

This is not only so in Pennsylvania, but throughout the 50 states.

State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) has renewed his call for redistricting reform, following an election where there were eight fewer Democrats elected to Congress from Pennsylvania than Republicans despite Demo-

cratic Party candidates’ earning 75,870 more votes for Congress than Republicans.

He said, “The results from the latest congressional election proves partisanship trumps fairness and balance in redistricting and a new process is needed to ensure proper representation. Voters should be electing their representatives. Instead, politicians are handpicking their voters.

That’s not democracy.”

Congressional maps are redrawn every 10 years by an act of the General Assembly, while the General Assembly is redistricted by a commis-

Rep. Williams Presents Pioneers Award

PAVING way for those yet to come, State Rep. Gary Williams, 197th Dist., hosted his Pioneers Luncheon, honoring eight who have paved the way. Helping Williams in presenting awards were State Sens.

Shirley Kitchen and Anthony Williams. Honorees included Adam Bruckner, Elba Torres-Duca, BRAVO Health, Gwendolyn Collins, Gloria Gregory, Gladys Meade, Nellie Reynolds, Rev. Barbara Montague. Awardees not pictured are State. Rep Frank Oliver and Rev. Henry Wells.

Photo by Martin Regusters, Leaping Lion Photography

sion of appointed leaders and a fifth member-appointed member. Winning Democratic candidates won by an average more than 185,000 votes, whereas winning Republican candidates won by an average of 55,000 votes.

“If this General Election has taught us anything, it’s that the will of the people is much stronger than partisan tactics,” Leach added. “Pennsylvanians deserve a political process that is fair and reflects their best interests, not the interests of one political party.

We need to take a long, hard look at how the State determines its districts and reform the process.”

Leach has introduced a legislative redistricting reform plan which would expand the membership of the commission and require a supermajority to pass a plan. He said that he is exploring changes that could be made to reapportioning congressional districts to make that process fairer. Odds are he will be frustrated in his effort in the next session of the General Assembly.

Leach has introduced a legislative redistricting reform plan which would expand the membership of the commission and require a supermajority to pass a plan. He said that he is exploring changes

STATE REP.-ELECT James Clay, 167th Legislative Dist., 4th from left, took time out from campaigning election day to host, along with Ward Leader Dan Savage, members of UN Observer Team visiting here. that could be made to reapportioning congressional districts to make that process fairer. Odds are he will be frustrated in his effort during the next session of the General Assembly.

Leach needs in part to credit Philadelphia’s margins for its 1st, 2nd and 13th Dist.

Congress Members’ margins for the overall lopsided figures.

A few states have tried to wrest redistricting from control by their state legislature.

In 2008, California voters passed a referendum creating an independent citizen commission to handle redistricting.

In previous cycles, the two major parties had struck an informal deal protecting incumbents on each side. This time, State Rep.

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a group of eight citizen-commissioners held dozens of public meetings to help shape their proposals.

Advocates for redistricting reform have praised California, but it’s unclear how much the new system really changed the results. Even here, politics managed to rear its influence. Parties were found setting up fake citizens groups to represent the specific parties’ interests at public meetings, influencing the shape of the districts on the agenda.

It’s a sad, but true fact, no single system works for every state. Legislators will work the system to insure they keep their own jobs.

Now the US Supreme Court may upend every state’s effort to bring order to mayhem, with its announcement it intends to revisit its 1962 ruling states must redraw their congressional and state legislative districts every 10 years, after release of new (Cont. Next Page)

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Local 57 Donates To Hurricane Relief

37th Ward Rally

Suspended With Pay!!

LABORERS’ Local 57 presented $5,000 check to American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief at their monthly meeting. From left are Local 57 officers: Recording Secretary Esteban Vera, Jr., President Stanley Sanders, Business Mgr. Walt Higgins, Red Cross’s Chad Lassiter and Secretary/Treasurer Michael Carfagno. his 34th Ward on election day, delivering 17,656 votes to President Obama as opposed to 683 for Romney.

His was the highest ward percentage in turnout by wards throughout the city.

Whither Goeth The City GOP? Republican City Committee’s General Counsel Michael Meehan believes present Republican efforts in this city will continue to show poor results unless “We could sway voters and get our message out to Blacks, Hispanics and Asians.”

He said, “We are a city of minorities and we need to reach out to them through touching their families and

friends, one at a time and explaining to them how they can benefit by enrolling in a party that will not take them for granted.”

Meehan pointed to the reelection victory of State Rep. John Taylor (R-Kensington) in the 177th Legislative Dist. as an example of a legislator who had done just that.

He also needs to see more Republicans stepping up to challenge every one of the Democratically controlled legislative seats in this town.

“It is possible to wage effective challenges,” he explains, by putting together a small, dedicated army of volunteers made up of family, friends, colleagues, and alumni and work at it from now until the

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Thank you to our brave veterans and current service members for their great service to our country. A veterans’ services coordinator is now available by appointment at my office at 8016 Bustleton Ave. to assist with various issues, including housing for homeless vets, access to medical services, obtaining deceased vets’ medals for surviving families and more. To make an appointment, call 215-695-1020.

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37TH WARD held Obama-Brady Rally at 11th & York Streets with Ward Leader El Amor Mapenzi Brawne Ali on the bullhorn. She was accompanied by her Chairperson “CDC” Bridges and Natalie Davis, legislative aide to State Rep. Curtis Thomas.

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next go-around.”

Rick Hellberg, director of the state-supported Republican City Committee here, also added his congratulations to Taylor.

The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court has suspended Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas M. Nocella, pending formal charges from the Judicial Conduct Board.

Judge Nocella is charged with misrepresenting his legal qualifications to the Philadelphia Bar Association in 2009 and 2011, reportedly failing to report lawsuits and other legal problems while interviewing with the bar association to determine if he should be recommended for election as a judge.

Judge Nocella will continue to receive his regular pay and benefits.

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

House Republicans control at least 110 of 203 seats in the next session.

In the Senate, Democrats picked up three open seats to narrow the GOP majority to 27-23 in the 50-member chamber.

Brady Aids Family On Way To Ukraine

Congressman Bob Brady (D-Phila.) reached out to help a family facing a threeday deadline passed ending their efforts to adopt a teenager in Ukraine. They had come to Philadelphia’s airport to emplane for the Ukraine when they realized their passports were gone.

A call to Brady’s office, though closed for Veterans Holiday, did bring a quick response. With new passports, the family was on its way and expected in time to meet the deadline for the orphan’s adoption.

It was obvious Congressman and Party Chairman Bob Brady put his money where his bragging rights are into

Republicans Lost Seats In Harrisburg

Page 5

(Cont. From Prev. Page) census data. This was done to ensure everyone receives roughly equal representation. But the high court largely allowed the states to decide how they would go about it.

While most states have general guidelines for drawing new districts, including that they must be relatively compact in shape, most allow the legislature to draw lines largely as its members please.

The only strict federal law, coming from the Voting Rights Act, is district maps must adequately represent the state’s minority voters.

The idea is to prevent legislators from packing minorities into a small number of districts or spreading groups across too many to dilute their vote. In several states

with a history of discrimination, the federal government must approve (“pre-clear”) new maps.

This ruling may become a casualty when the US Supreme Court makes its decision on the Voting Rights Act this time around.

Page 6 The Public Record • November 15, 2012

City Blows Millions On Corridor Programs City Controller Alan Butkovitz reports the Commerce Dept. has blown millions of taxpayer dollars on its Cultural & Commercial Corridors Program by failing to provide adequate oversight over the $135.5 million program.

“Although these funds had the laudable goal of increasing citizen exposure to the arts and business communities, it is highly questionable as to whether taxpayer funds were spent in the most-economical and -effective manner possible,”

said Butkovitz.

In one instance, The Merchants Fund, a nonprofit organization with one employee, received $1 million in grants and provided funding to 18 retail locations for renovations to coffee shops, restaurants and retail stores. These 18 received an average of $42,000 without any criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of each project’s outcome.

“We question the soundness of Commerce’s decision to use a small organization having only one employee to administer $1

million in grant funds,” said Butkovitz. “It’s even more troubling Commerce did not maintain adequate records of site visits while the renovations were ongoing.”

In fact, one award recipient, the Village at 63rd Street, which operated a coffee shop, was no longer in business and the property has since been sold. A restaurant, the Gold Standard Café, was found to have owed thousands in state and federal taxes prior to receiving $50,000.

Further, Butkovitz questioned

the openness and competitiveness of the award and bidding process for the $1 million disbursed under this program. TMF used a private email list and only sent notifications to 170 organizations and agencies on that list.

“Limiting the application process to a select group of people not only increases the potential for fraud, waste, or abuse, it deprived entities that may have been more deserving of an opportunity to apply,” said Butkovitz.

Another aspect of the Com-

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mercial Corridors Program was an $8.5 million low-interest loan program administered by another nonprofit, The Reinvestment Fund. Under this program, 13 projects received loans ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000 to assist in the acquisition and development of activities along the city’s commercial corridors. As the loans were repaid, TRF would use the proceeds and interest to create an ongoing fund to finance future development projects.

Two recipients, who received a total of $1.5 million ($500,000 to Progress Trust and $1,000,000 to Broadnu Enterprises) or almost 20% of the $8.5 million allocated to this program, obtained loans that were later forgiven. TRF decided both for-profit businesses would be burdened by too much debt or not be able to meet the debt service requirements.

“With Progress Trust having no investment in their project and Broadnu Enterprises having less than 4%, it was obvious these projects would carry a high debt burden,” Butkovitz said.

Butkovitz also stated, “By forgiving nearly 20% of the funding, TRF was limiting the pool to assist future projects. In contrast, the $1 million loaned to Philabundance enabled it to triple their refrigerated storage capacity and increase services to

the hungry and needy in the community, while at the same time repaying its loan.”

The Controller noted other findings.

Commerce did not properly scrutinize the documentation supporting the expenditures of bond funds.

Vendor invoices submitted for payment provided insufficient detail to determine whether the expenditure was appropriate for the project.

Commerce did not require that city bidding procedures be followed for 30 streetscape projects.

Sub-recipients were not required to document and retain bids for awarded projects.

“Taxpayers will be paying for the projects through debt service payments over a 25-year period and better oversight and monitoring was needed to ensure that public funds were properly safeguarded,” said Butkovitz.

“We hope in the future the City will put such safeguards in place.”

The Cultural & Commercial Corridors Program is funded through a $135.5 million bond issued in 2006 by the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development. Interest rates on the bonds ranged from 4.00% to 5.17%. The Commerce Dept. was responsible for the oversight of the Program.

Notice of Termination of Parental Rights Action.

To: Unknown Father, From: Clerk of Family Court A Petition has been filed asking the Court to put an end to all rights you have to your child , a baby girl who was born on October 23, 2006 in Philadelphia, PA. The Court has set a hearing to consider ending your rights to your child. That hearing will be held in Courtroom "O" before Hon. Walter Olszewski at PHILA. Family Court, 1801 Vine St., Phila., PA, on November 30, 2012 at11:30 a.m. You are warned that even if you fail to appear at the scheduled hearing, the hearing will go on without you and your rights to your child may be ended by the Court without your being present. You have a right to be represented at the hearing by a lawyer. You should take this paper to your lawyer at once. If you do not have a lawyer or cannot afford one, go to or telephone the office set forth below to find out where you can get legal help. You are also warned that if you to appear at the hearing to object to the termination to your rights or file written objection to such termination with the Court prior to the hearing your rights may also be terminated under Pa. C.S.A. Sec. 2503(d) and Sec. 2504(c) or Sec. 2511 of the Adoption Act. Contact immediately the Law Offices of Deborah E. Spivack, PO Box 56182, Philadelphia, PA 19130, 215-763-5550 or Phila. Lawyer Info. Serv., 1101 Market St., 11th Fl., Phila., PA 19107 Tele.: 215-2386333.

Page 7

Our Opinion ...

Let’s Put It To Rest

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

Voting abuse will always exist – but not by government officials or government agencies entrusted with making sure all citizens can exercise their right to vote.

This is borne out by our story in this issue on the City Commissioners who faced a record turnout and, although erroneously reported elsewhere in the immediate aftermath as responsible for the mass of confusion over paper ballots, had a seasoned staff that kept the ship upright and functioning.

To their credit, especially the professionals who head various divisions of the City Commissioners’ office, no Philadelphian can honestly claim he was not able to cast his vote, provided he was properly registered.

Feeding all the confusion was the intensive campaign throughout the summer waged by those trying to cope with the provisions of the voter-ID legislation. That campaign produced at least 60,000 duplicate registrations, an overload which the Registration Division effectively handled, although it required personal sacrifice on many of the employees in that division.

The machinations that led finally to a change in power in the City Commissioners’ office is understandable, since the power of the chair has always been to ensure the smooth running of all the elements under its jurisdiction which are designed to see voters get to vote.

Commissioner Stephanie Singer, unfortunately, in her zeal to insure voters could comply with that legislation and insure their eligibility to vote, may not have been fully aware of the logistical demands made on her staff and the departments they man.

The role of chair is better understood by Co-Chairmen Anthony Clark and Al Schmidt ... a truly bipartisan effort guaranteed not to advance the agenda of any one group or special interest.

Voter abuse will occur, regardless of their efforts, but at the division level, not by any one ward leader, nor by any committee people. But it will usually occur when members of that division’s election board make well-intended decisions, allowing people to vote who may not have the proper credentials.

Seldom can those numbers be considered a factor in a win or loss for a candidate. But even that can produce unfair results in a close election. So a word to the Commissioners: Press for election boards that are well trained and that understand fully their responsibilities.

So let’s put the voter-abuse bull back into the pen where it belongs. It is a non-event.

Keep State Lottery, Sen. Hughes Insists

Let’s Open These Cans

“deeply concerned this Private Management Agreement for the Pennsylvania Lottery is being proposed when the General Assembly is not in session” and legislators have been kept in the dark about the aspects of the proposal.

He also said the speed with which the Governor is considering this change is astounding.

“We were only made aware of the Governor’s plans this morning during a telephone conference call involving staff,” Hughes added.

“When the Governor raised the possibility of considering privatization alternatives, we thought there were assurances no steps would be taken without further input and consultation with the General Assembly,” Hughes said.

Hughes declared, “The plan to turn over the management of this valuable asset without any real scrutiny by the legislature and without public meetings is a real problem.”

Nov. 15- Friends of Babette Josephs host farewell wishes for State Representative at Ten Stone, 21st & South, 5:30-8:30 p.m. RSVP req u i r e d tmtmom68@verizon.net.

Nov. 16- Introduction to Indonesian economy by Hon. Consul General Ghafur Dharmaputra at Temple Univ.’s Alter Ha., 7th fl., 1801 Liacouras Walk, 8:30 a.m-12 m. Free breakfast provided. Register by phone (215) 204-3856.

Nov. 17- Latin American American Legion Post 840 invites all to Discovery of Puerto Rico Parade, from Norris Sq. Pk. North, ending at Fairhill Sq. Pk., 4th & Lawrence Sts., starting 12 noon. For info Wilfredo Gonzalez (215) 425-7050.

Nov. 17- Watoto Children’s Choir Concert of Hope, raising awareness about Ugandan orphans, free-will donations accepted, at ASCANA Hall, 5524 Chester Ave., 7 p.m.

For info (215) 729-8225 x105.

Editorial Warning!!

Letters from an unidentified informant without any contact information cannot be considered for publication, no matter how valid their contents.

www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000

A management agreement for the Pennsylvania Lottery could be made before December and a contract could be executed in early January, according to Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration.

This doesn’t make sense, according to Lottery executives and its rank-and-file emThe Philadelphia Public Record has developed a proud his- ployees, who for years have tory of bringing to the taxpaying citizens of this city stories labored to make it one of the about waste, sometimes through corruption, which need to be more-successful state lotteries corrected. in the nation.

In this issue, we continue to ask why the Office Of Housing State Sen. Vincent Hughes & Community Development defends a Community Develop- (D-W. Phila.) has stated, ment Corporation under its oversight, obviously in a mess which “There are so many unancould lead to criminal charges. swered questions about this These CDCs have proven valuable over their histories, since plan and how it impacts senior they invest tax money given them by OHCD to better the com- programs. The lottery is a wellmunities for which they are responsible. run, highly efficient agency, It is clear relations develop between OHCD’s top overseers nationally recognized for its and long-time staff in the CDCs. That lends itself to a laxity in success and has been counted rule enforcement and a tendency to ignore report deadlines and on to fund key senior programs slush-fund inadequacies. for years. It should not be It is time for City Council to revisit OHCD and its operations. threatened with privatization.”

Also in today’s issue, City Controller Alan Butkovitz has reHughes, who serves as the vealed a potential scandal in the way the Commerce Dept. has Democratic chair of the Sennot properly monitored its use of millions of dollars – your ate Appropriations Commitmoney, by the way – in one of its major efforts. tee, called for greater Is anyone in authority watching and reacting on behalf of our legislative transparency of this citizenry? process, stating he was

Nov. 19- Phila. Tea Party Patriots-Combined S. Philly/CC Group Mtg. at Prudential Bank Bldg., 1834 W. Oregon Ave., parking and entrance in back, 7 p.m. For info Mary DeChristopher (215) 2089790.

Nov. 21- Councilman Curtis Jones hosts Emerging Leaders Reception at Maggiano’s Little Italy, 1201 Filbert St., 4-7 p.m. Tickets $25. RSVP cjjrfriends@gmail.com or (267) 225-0118.

Dec. 5- 32nd Anniversary Celebration of United Republican Club of Phila., 5:30-7 p.m. at Sheraton Society Hill. $100 per person, $175 per couple. For info (215) 5452244. Honoring John J. Egan and Fran O’Brien.

Dec. 7-9- Penna. Society annual meeting at Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Dec. 8- Swedish Museum St. Lucia Festival and Christmas Mkt., 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Adults: $10, children 4 to 12: $4. For info (215) 389-1776.

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

Page 8

KELVIN JEREMIAH:

Union Labor…

Building it right for a better and stronger community!

Laborers’ District Council of the Metropolitan Area of Philadelphia and vicinity is comprised of four unions: Local 332, Samuel Staten, Jr., Vincent Primavera, Jr. Business Manager/Co-Chairman L.E.C.E.T. Co-Chairman Local 135, Daniel L. Woodall, Jr., Damian Lavelle Business Manager L.E.C.E.T. Management Trustee Local 413, James Harper, Jr., Fred Chiarlanza Business Manager L.E.C.E.T. Management Trustee Local 57, Walt Higgins Harry Hopkins Business Manager L.E.C.E.T. Management Trustee Laborers District Council, Ryan N. Boyer, Business Manager.

Over 80,000 men, women and children know the Philadelphia Housing Authority as their landlord. There are also 100,000 more clamoring at its doors for the chance to enjoy the decent, safe housing provided by the Authority.

To that world of subsidized housing, dramatic change has come and it is being felt everywhere there is a rental site operated by the agency.

It can be seen in the fact for the first time in years, their landlord is looking to add to its police force, an important crime deterrent that had been allowed to attrition down to just 28, making it almost nonexistent in the sprawling world that was their jurisdiction.

Change means their police force will be more than doubled when the Philadelphia Housing Authority holds its first Police Job Force Thursday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1800 S. 32nd Street.

Making and demanding the changes is a newcomer at the

KELVIN JEREMIAH ...this smile means business. helm of the Authority. He’s 39-year-old Kelvin Jeremiah, PHA’s interim executive director.

He can be forgiven for being another import to head the Authority. He was recruited by two locals with a sterling history steeped in what housing authorities need: Estelle Richman and his popular predecessor Mike Kelly.

It is obvious Jeremiah knows what has to be done.

He understands the continued need, started by Kelly, to change the culture of entitle-

ment, extravagance of staff, the “country club” attitude of some tenant leaders; to end the corruption that had crept into the system; and the need to return to the main mission of the Authority, which is to provide decent housing to those in need.

He was New York City’s Housing Authority Inspector General. In that role, his investigations of tenants, employees and contractors, as well as participants of the Housing Choice Voucher program, resulted in more than 500 arrests and 200 criminal referrals to state and federal prosecutors. Those arrested had cost the New York City Housing Authority over $5 million. Through his efforts, $3 million was collected in restitution and judgments were obtained of more than $2 million.

In order to fund the new hires for PHAPD, Jeremiah is overseeing the cutting of a portion of its spending on pri(Cont. Next Page)

Congratulations

www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000

To Laborers’ District Council promotes a safe work environment, jobs completed on time and on budget, and represents union members, who are well trained, productive, professional, and take pride in their work. Union labor…building better and safer communities in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.

This ad is presented by LECET The Laborers Employers Cooperation and Education Trust 319 N. 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Telephone: 215-922-6139 Fax: 215-922-6109 Web: www.ldc-phila-vic.org Juan F. Ramos Administrator

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Jeremiah’s commitment to his job is obvious. He has moved his family into Northwest Philadelphia and has made the city their home.

He sees his key responsibility is “to repair a broken structure, to end the climate of corruption that was allowed to grow, and to enable our residents to move forward through opportunities to gain employment with an end to their dependency on public housing.”

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agency car take-home privileges gone – now only 19 can do this.

PHA has hosted the firstever PHA Scholars event, honoring students with high scholastic achievements and those that have improved over the academic year with a weekend college visit to Cheyney University. The twoday event served as a reward program for honor students and an introduction to higher education.

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ing with the University of Pennsylvania and other key employers to develop a new job pipeline model to operate out of its Workforce Development Center.

Jeremiah’s emphasis over resident needs vs. employee perks has seen catering contracts reduced and the employees’ $5,000 mortgageassistance program eliminated, as well as their $5,000 dependent-care subsidy. Over 200 employees have seen their

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

cess to opportunity.”

Jeremiah strongly believes living in PHA housing is not a permanent entitlement. “We need to enable families to become more income-sufficient, and to understand they need to move up and out to make room for others more needy.”

With that in mind, PHA is signing a new agreement with the Building & Construction Trades Council to establish the STEP-UP Apprenticeship program. PHA is also work-

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given to its student population.

PHA has established a 501(c)(3) organization, PhillySEEDS, that allows the agency to begin philanthropic activities aimed at building outside support of PHA’s resident-services programs and initiatives.

The organization will focus on Self-Sufficiency, Empowerment, Employment and Direct Services. Philly-SEEDS will be a component unit of PHA, and as such, will appoint its board, which will include PHA residents, staff and community leaders.

Jeremiah is promoting a Quality of Life Task Force comprised of PHA residents, staff, and external partner, committed to finding new and innovative ways to improve the quality of life for residents and reduce the likelihood and incidence of crime at PHA properties.

Jeremiah has also set an aggressive goal of creating 6,000 new affordable housing units through partnerships with public, private, nonprofit, and publicly-minded organizations.

Jeremiah sees PHA’s priority to serve “at-risk” populations, including veterans, the homeless, persons with disabilities, and youth aging out of foster care, among others. The agency will also seek to develop locations that give residents easy access to transportation, education, health care, and other services, also known as “access to opportunity.”

PHA has lowered the aggregate financial impact of provisional employees by eliminating their fringe payments of $13 million per year.

The Philadelphia Housing Authority has set a goal of creating 6,000 new affordable-housing units through partnerships with public, private, nonprofit, and publicly minded organizations. Jeremiah sees PHA’s priority to serve “at-risk” populations, including veterans, the homeless, persons with disabilities, and youth aging out of foster care, among others. The agency will also seek locations that give residents easy access to transportation, education, health care, and other services, also known as “ac-

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(Cont. From Prev. Page) vate security contracts by up to $6 million. The funding for new police officers supplements other planned initiatives that are part of a broader safety and security plan, which includes an $8.5 million investment for closed cir-cuit television systems and layered building-access controls.

During the 1990s, PHAPD was the fourth-largest police department in Pennsylvania.

However, by 2007, the department began to decline from a force of approximately 300 officers to its current force of only 28 sworn personnel, due to funding challenges.

Other changes pushed by Jeremiah will continue to be felt and physically seen throughout all the developments and scattered sites by PHA residents.

PHA Staffs have learned there are new rules and they are stringent. One key area is how they spent PHA money when it came to expense policies. No longer is anything taken for granted. Expense requests are no longer automatically granted. Under Jeremiah, PHA has rebuilt its internal capacity to handle legal matters with the result HUD closed eight of the 10 outstanding findings.

PHA has provided to HUD all of the requisite information and documents, for HUD to use to determine whether PHA will have to reimburse HUD $30.5 million for payments made for external legal services.

Jeremiah has moved to clean up the liens imposed upon some of its properties by the City’s Dept. of Licenses & Inspections which totaled more than $9 million. He’s come to an agreement that reduces that figure to $6 million, saving PHA $3 million.

PHA has hired a Deputy General Counsel with the directive he makes sense of PHA’s procurement, contracting and payments processes consistent with applicable law and regulations.

Jeremiah understands PHA still needs to augment the needs of its resident families.

Over 5,000 book bags and school supplies have been

Page 9

New PHA Director Brings Major Changes

Page 10 The Public Record • November 15, 2012 www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000

The herd was not happy with the election.

With a week to digest the results, this elephant is still not happy, but realizes everything is not as bad as it seemed last Tuesday. While we did not regain the White House, we were prepared for that.

We were prepared for six more years of SEN. BOB CASEY – although TOM SMITH would have been better for Pennsylvania and the country.

On the bright side, we added a Republican to the Pennsylvania delegation to Congress with KEITH ROTHFUS’ victory over Democratic CONGRESSMAN MARK CRITZ. In Washington, we kept the US House of Representatives. While we did not take control of the US Senate, the Democrats are five seats short of the key number 60.

We may even add to our ranks if SEN. JOHN KERRY becomes either the Secretary of State or Defense. SEN. SCOTT BROWN might have a better chance of going back to the Senate in a special election. I believe PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA at the top of the ticket in deeply blue Massachusetts helped ELIZABETH WARREN beat Brown.

Thirty state Governors are Republican, including ours.

In Pennsylvania we kept both the State House and Senate.

We were prepared for State Treasurer Democrat ROB McCORD to garner another term. We were hoping JOHN MAHER would become the next Auditor General, but unfortunately he lost. The row-office loss we are most concerned about is Lackawanna Co. prosecutor KATHLEEN KANE’S defeat of Cumberland Co. DAVID FREED for the job of Attorney General.

At this point, I am turning my quill over to a female in (Cont. Page 30)

Admittedly, last week’s presidential election was a bit high-stakes for everyone.

For many people, myself included, the winner would help make a decision on whether or not to give up on the experiment that is America.

As someone who was on Day 13 of a 39-day hospital stay last year this time, all I needed to hear from GOP standard bearers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, to get me to start looking for places in Canada from which I could ply my craft, was that their first official act would be to cut the Affordable Care Act. For others, the sheer volume of meanness that seemed to come from folks on the right during the campaign was all they needed to consider becoming expatriates. I have one friend that is giving America another two years max to clean up its act or she’s gone.

But after hearing a piece of news coming through the transom this week, I predict I’ll have to visit my friend in London sooner rather than later.

You see, there’s a group of states that are so intrigued by the movie Lincoln that they think we should re-fight the Civil War. People from this group of states, which includes such red-state favorites as Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia, have filed petitions asking they be allowed to “peacefully secede from the union”.

No, you’re not reading this wrong. Much of the American South is asking to leave and start its own sovereign nation.

Now, it would be easy to dismiss this effort as the misplaced racism of a section of the country that’s so disturbed (Cont. Page 30)

Yo! Here we go again, and please tell me that this won’t happen to us.

Three sisters, ages 92, 94 and 96, live in a house together. One night the 96-year-old draws a bath. She puts her foot in and pauses. She yells to the other sisters, “Was I getting in or out of the bath?” The 94-year-old yells back, “I don’t know. I’ll come up and see.”

She starts up the stairs and pauses: “Was I going up the stairs or down?” The 92-year-old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea, listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, “I sure hope I never get that forgetful, knock on wood.” She then yells, “I’ll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who’s at the door.”

Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine March day. One remarked to the other, “Windy, isn’t it?” “No,” the second man replied, “it’s Thursday.”

And the third man chimed in, “So am I. Let’s have a beer.”

Joan was running up and down the halls of the nursing home. As she walked, she would flip up the hem of her nightgown and say, “Supersex.” She walked up to Rich in a wheelchair. Flipping her gown at him, she said, “Supersex.” He sat silently for a moment or two and finally answered, “I’ll take the soup.”

Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards. One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, “Now don’t get mad at me ... I know we’ve been friends for a long time, but I just can’t think of your name! I’ve thought and thought, but I can’t remember it. Please tell me what your name is.” Her friend glared at her for at least three minutes; she just stared and glared at her. Finally she said, “How soon do you need to know?”

As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife’s voice urgently warning him, “Herman, I just heard on the news there’s a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77. Please be careful!” “Heck,” said Herman, “It’s not just one car. It’s hundreds of them!”

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car – both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself, “I (Cont. Page 12)

COUNCILWOMAN Marian TASCO fought hard, in the runup to the presidential election, to get voter-ID ads removed – meeting stiff resistance. In the end, subliminal and overt suggestions that you would need voter ID, lost....

BLACK CAUCUS, Black Clergy, NAACP and others want the huge amount of provisional ballots counted. Voters too want to make their ballot have meaning. Commissioner ANTHONY CLARK says they WOULD be counted. Good, and thanks!

This very same groups want to see the Pennsylvania Dept. of State chief Carol Aichele sacked. State Rep. John Myers has a bill to repeal voter ID, and they want the State Attorney General-Elect KATHLEEN KANE to investigate the state electoral process. State Sen. Shirley KITCHEN noted divisions did not have enough PROVISIONAL ballots.

Kitchen called for our state to modernize elections, including early voting! The Obama campaign asked for 100 more ballots in some divisions, but it was denied this by Judge Pam DEMBE.... The FAMOUS DELI now has election-day competition: TIFFANY Diner for Northeast Ward Leaders and RELISH for Northwest pols.

STREET MONEY was mostly $200 per division. I heard $175 in the 36th. One division in the 2nd reported $150....

The right language is CHANGE OF COMMAND in the City Commissioners’ office. I am told it occurred on a motion from reform member Al Schmidt. The dirty-tricks argument, the notion that the motion came from On High, and that Schmidt was expected and supposed to act in a different manner is BLARNEY. And the idea that the change brought (Cont. Page 29)

Many stars were on hand for LGBT senior-citizens housing groundbreaking in Center City. The biggest star was MARK SEGAL, the unquestioned leader of gay community in Southeastern Pennsylvania He was able to secure federal, state, and local money for a project many thought would never get done.

There is a saying victory has 1,000 mothers and defeat is an orphan. This project appears to have at least 1,000 mothers. Former GOV. ED RENDELL praised Segal in his unique style, calling him “amazingly obnoxious.” Others, including MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, called him a relentless advocate for equality. Nutter was in outstanding form and had the audience of several hundred laughing and applauding alternately. He appeared to be working harder than ever as Mayor. The recent news he will not go to Washington to join the Obama administration may be a reason.

CONGRESSMAN BOB BRADY talked about the LGBT community being another of Philadelphia’s ethnic groups fighting for, and now achieving, equal rights. Segal called on a delegation of state legislators who had secured $1.4 million in funding for the project.

STATE SENS. LARRY FARNESE, ANTHONY HARDY WILLIAMS and MIKE STACK, along with STATE REP. MIKE O’BRIEN, presented a check in the amount of $1.4 million.

CITY COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA, who represents the area, also praised the work of Segal and the different politicians who were able to secure funding. MAYOR JOHN STREET made a rare appearance. And more than one speaker referred to the late COUNCILMAN JOHN ANDERSON as a groundbreaking voice for LGBT equality.

Supreme Court JUSTICE SEAMUS McCAFFERY was joined by his brother DAN McCAFFERY at the groundbreaking. COUNCILMAN AT LARGE JIM KENNEY also attended the event.

The Pennsylvania State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee shocked the world by capturing three seats in the recent election. The new Democratic members are MATT SMITH from Allegheny Co., SEAN WILEY from Erie Co. and ROB TEPLITZ from Dauphin Co. The Republicans now control the Senate by only three seats. This promises to make the State Senate a more-moderate chamber. Look for Democrats to try and capture even more seats in Southeastern Pennsylvania in the years to come.

by Michael A. Cibik, Esquire American Bankruptcy Board Certified Question: Does it make a difference if I file bankruptcy before the end of the month?

Answer: If your income is above the median income for your household size in your state, you must complete a “means test” when you file your bankruptcy petition.

To determine whether you are above or below the median income, your gross income for the six-month period prior to the month you file bankruptcy is considered. So if you file on Oct. 31, the six-month period under examination is April through September. If you file

on Nov. 1, the six-month period excludes April but adds October.

If you get the exact same paycheck each payday, this won’t make a difference. But what if you got a lump-sum bonus or a retroactive pay raise in one of your October paychecks? In that case, you could be under the median today, but well over it tomorrow.

In addition, twice a year the median income changes, on May 1 and Nov. 1. Also, some income may not need to be included in determining median income. Social Security income, for example, is excluded.

Just because you are over the median income and have to complete the means test, it

gional or national economies.

Age is a factor to consider in deciding whether to represent a claimant. This is due to SSA giving some slack to older claimants in the form of the Medical-Vocational Guidelines (the “Grids”).

Grid rules provide that a person who is between 50 and 54 and limited to sedentary work will be found disabled if he is unable to return to past work and has no skills transferable to sedentary jobs. This means that a 52-year-old who cannot return to past work and is limited to a sedentary job (one that mainly involves sitting most of the day and lifting no more than 10

pounds occasionally) and has no skills transferable to sedentary work will be found disabled, whereas a claimant who is 42 years old and able to perform sedentary work will not be found disabled.

A person under 50 will have to meet or equal a Listing or show he cannot perform any kind of job in order to be found disabled – a harder case to prove.

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new evidence shows both apple-cider and red-wine vinegars, which are made from whole apples and red grapes, may help you to fight fat, enhance your immune system, lower blood pressure and risk of heart disease, prevent cancer and slow the aging process.

And he adds apple-cider vinegar may be just the remedy to help you stave off type 2 diabetes, which usually develops after age 40.

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Vinegar cleans glass, makes French fries tastier, and is a must in many salad recipes.

It has another side: that of a healer.

Making it as part of home remedies, families of old used it for ailments from head to toe: eliminating dandruff, athlete’s foot, yeast infections, headaches and upset stomachs. It has also found its way into beautifying skin.

A writer, Cal Orey, claims

Vinegar’s Surprises

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by Michael P. Boyle, Esq. When considering whether to represent a claimant who has applied for Social Security disability or SSI benefits, lawyers must consider many factors.

Not everyone who applies for benefits will be found disabled.

I will analyze what makes a claim worth pursuing, and reasons to decline representation.

The first thing I want to know is whether the person is currently working. Someone who is earning $1,010.00 or more per month for 2012 is considered to be engaged in “substantial gainful activity” and will not be found disabled, regardless of the severity of her impairments. Even working a part-time job may be a problem, as some judges think this shows the ability to work full time.

The next issue I look at is whether the claimant has a severe impairment, or a combination of severe impairments.

A severe impairment is one that has more than a slight impact on the ability to perform work activities. The impairments must convince me the claimant cannot perform past work or other jobs that exist in significant numbers in the re-

to buying.

However, there are downsides to leasing. Mainly, when leasing, you have no equity in the vehicle at the end of your leasing period. Also, leasing comes with mileage limitations. If you go over the specified mileage per year, you can be assessed a penalty.

The best advice I can give you is just to do your research and decide what specifically you are looking for before buying or leasing a vehicle.

Tom has been serving automotive customers in the Philadelphia area for over 20 years as a salesman and then General Manager of Pacifico Auto Group. Rocco is a top automotive consultant.

when the best time to file your bankruptcy case would be.

Next Week’s Question: Can you cancel or annul your bankruptcy filing?

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

by Tom Flynn and Rocco DeGregorio Question: Should I buy or lease a car?

Answer: Many factors play in to whether you should buy or lease a car. It really depends on your specific preferences and needs.

The best reason to lease a car, for example, is if you are using it for business purposes.

Another reason may be that you like to change things up and are interested in only having a certain vehicle for a specific amount of time and then getting a different model.

In addition, look out for leasing specials. Depending on the vehicle, it could be beneficial to lease as opposed

doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t file a Chapter 7. Be sure to work with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer to see what your best options are, and

Page 11

Learn What To Do From The Professionals

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Waffleman (Cont. From Page 10) must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light.” After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure the light had been red but was re-

ally concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous.

At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, “Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!” Mildred turned to her and said, “Oh geez, am I driving?”

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Murals Touch Iraq Vets’ Lives COUNCILWOMAN Jannie Blackwell saluted bold new Mural Ar ts Program work near VA Hospital. Created by War rior Writers and by ar tists Philip Mathis and Willis Humphrey, “Communion Between a Rock and a Hard Place” captures haunting experiences that linger with many veterans after they come home. On one side of parking lot is mural of idyllic Clark Park in W. Phila.; across from it a dusty plain in Iraq. Both walls features writings by vets. Blackwell was joined by Mural Ar ts Dir. Jane Golden, University of Sciences President Dr. Helen Giles-Gee -and a crowd of veterans from all over.

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by: Floyd Wedderburn

Back-Room Conspiracy I believe the trickery that goes on in professional sports today has intensified into football CIA.

Ringside With The Shadowboxer

Boxing Birthday Wishes

through these stages there is still a question mark about whether or not the player will be good enough to last a day, a season or the entirety of their contract. In Danny Watkins case, let’s just say I don’t think he will make it to the end of his contract.

When any player gets drafted in the first round, there’s a certain expectation a player must live up to.

They pay well, you play well -- plain and simple.

Sometimes it’s hard for a coach or a general manager to accept the fact they were wrong about a draft pick.

When you’re a coach or general manager making the big decision, it's tough to predict whether or not the player is going to be a good one. This can be a difficult decision despite going through an intense background check.

Remember, saying you were wrong about giving away $100 million doesn’t always come easy with the big chief sitting on the throne. Drafting a first round player and admitting you were wrong is something that doesn’t fly easy with the fans.

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

When Michael Vick went down, he didn't know if he should grab his hands or hold his head.

down with an out-of nowhere chronic ankle injury, and the fans given a juiced-up story about him having this injury before he got drafted.

Nonsense! I’m surprised more teams don’t get ousted for preplanned and prestaged conspiracies.

I’m not saying that coaches aren’t wrong for selecting a player likes Danny Watson, because before this all happens there is an intense preliminary stage that a player has to go through in order to get into the NFL. But the fact remains, even

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Inside The NFL

Many coaches talk to their players about playing for the guys in the locker room and blocking everything else out.

Well, in today’s world I believe the smoke-filled backroom politics has made its way into the locker room.

Owners and coaches keep fans on edge as they procrastinate and spin their story into a make-believe fairytale.

Take the New Orleans Saints coaches and players with pay-for-performance bounty.

The same truth goes into the Eagles’ smoke-filled room conspiracy: For example, Danny Watkins going

PHILLY BOXING community came out to join Councilman Kenyatta Johnson at his recent birthday bash at African American Museum in Center City, including Veteran Boxers Association Dir. Fred Druding, Jr.

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USA BOXING Official Wendell Douglas joined pro boxer and CEO of Punchline Clothing Simon “One Punch” Carr in wishing Councilman Johnson a Happy Birthday. Carr presented the Councilman with a Punchline Jacket as his birthday gift.

Page 22 The Public Record • November 15, 2012 www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000

Sandy Was Kind To Philly Port Though Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc along the eastern seaboard, it did one thing positive for the Port of Philadelphia, blowing in shipping business normally destined for the Ports of New York and Northern New Jersey.

Rather than risk cargoes, shippers rerouted traffic destined for those ports to the Port of Philadelphia because its inland location made it a safer destination.

The port itself, as reported by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, barely lost any time after Sandy roared by the city and easily accommodated the call for additional berthing and unloading of cargo.

This fact was pointed out in detail by Capt. James Roche, president of the Pilots Association for the Bay & River Delaware, who is also a PRPA board member.

“Something we should point out to prospective business,” said Captain Roche, “is that even though the eye of Hurricane Sandy passed over the Delaware Bay, we were up and running for business riverwide before 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, while the ports of New York and Baltimore were still closed. That’s less than 24 hours after landfall.”

Concluded Capt. Roche, “Having a port that’s 90 miles from the sea is not such a bad thing. It’s not all that far for vessels to easily reach us, but far enough to protect us from events like this.”

In further good news, preliminary inspections by PRPA’s engineering staff and terminal operators indicate little or no damage was sustained at PRPA’s facilities.

Port business is expected to take an upswing, as dredging has progressed.

According to Roy E.

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GREATER Phila. Senior Executives group mulled over election results impact on area’s business and economy at their semi-annual Regional Business Outlook forum. From left, GPSEG CEO Rip Tilden of Malvern; panel moderator Renee Amoore of King of Prussia, deputy chairman of Republican Party of Penna.; panelist Paul Tyer of Jenkintown, USI Affinity president; panelist Ed Turzanski of N. E. Phila., La Salle University political science-professor; panelist Rob Wonderling of Gilbertsville, Greater Phila. Chamber of Commerce president; and RBO Chairman Stan Schuck of Blue Bell.

CONGRATULATING Lillie Claitt, right, director of SEPTA’s Disadvantaged Business 2012 Women’s Transportation Seminar Phila. Leadership Diversity Award. Claitt, honored for her commitment to promoting diversity, inclusion and multicultural awareness within SEPTA and the transportation industry, works to help small and disadvantaged businesses in contracting process at SEPTA.

Denmark, Jr., vice president and director of the Ports Division of Urban Engineers, reports, “The third dredging contract has begun on the 11 miles stretch of the river channel. This $14.5 million contract will deepen the channel to 45 feet between the Walt Whitman Bridge and Tinicum Township, south of

the Philadelphia Airport.”

Denmark also noted more jobs are created along with the additional shipping to the Sunoco Marcus Refinery which will store, process and distribute propane and ethane from the Marcellus Shale through its Mariner East Pipeline project.

PRPA is an independent

agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district.

PRPA works with its ter-

Photo by Andrew Busch/SEPTA

minal operators to modernize, expand, and improve its facilities, and to market those facilities to prospective port users. Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

Black men from all walks of life gathered this Tuesday morning in Baltimore, Detroit and Philadelphia as part of BMe — a growing community that encourages Black men to “lift up their voices” and tell others about the positive contributions they make in their communities.

In Philadelphia, 20 BMe participants were at the Jackson Elementary School Tuesday morning helping students make water filters as part of BMe’s first “Random Act of Service and Brotherhood”; the project will introduce 3rd th and 4th graders to science and math careers in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). The Jackson School service project was part of the kickoff for a call for African American men to tell the stories about their work in the community and the contributions they make to help others.

BMe also hosted a dinner on Tuesday evening to spot-

REACHING OUT TO youngsters at Jackson Elementary School, as part of three city effort by black men were Alex Peay, Gibran Gadsen, Christo- JACKSON SCHOOL principal Lisa Ciaraca Kaplan checks out learning pher Holland, Bruce Marble, and Emmanuel Ghebremariam. how to make dirty water safe to drink which BMe group showed her students. light those stories and to gather partners for the second year of the project. Last year, BMe collected more than 1,000 videos from men in Philadelphia.

Teams of videographers are also fanning out across city neighborhoods over the next eight weeks to record their efforts as more than 1,700 men are expected to strengthen their neighborhoods and help others.

“BMe is based on a simple truth, that there are thousands of Black men who are assets to their communities — and we must acknowledge and

build upon our assets. No buts, no maybes, no if ands,” said Trabian Shorters, VP of communities for the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, which founded BMe along with the Open Society Foundations. “They start businesses, mentor people, run projects and help others just because they can and because they care.”

Story-sharing is just one aspect of BMe — pronounced “be me” — a growing network of black men committed to making their communities stronger. Through BMe, Black men can also connect with

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each other, exchange ideas and receive resources to advance the positive work they do in their communities. In addition to Knight and Open Society, the initiative is backed by the Heinz Foundation.

After a successful pilot in Detroit and Philadelphia, the

program is expanding this year to Baltimore. Events are being held on Tuesday, Nov. 13, in those three cities to issue a “call for stories” that will be featured on the BMe website. Early next year, participants will be able to apply for grants to support their

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Page 24 The Public Record • November 15, 2012

City Council Opens New Happy 100th Birthday Marine Corps Birthday Veterans Service Office

Members of City Council will join local officials and veterans to celebrate the grand opening of the Veterans Advisory Commission’s new office in Room 127 of City Hall tomorrow at 11 a.m. Organizations serving Philadelphia’s active-duty military and veterans community will be on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Leading the dictation will be Council President Darrell L. Clarke; Robert McKenrick, director, US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Philadelphia Regional Office; Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery;

State Rep. Mike O’Brien; Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell (3rd Council District); and Councilman At Large David Oh. Participants in Friday’s ceremony will also include: US Army Chaplain Fred Smalls, a former Philadelphia Eagle; VFW Post 266 Honor Guard; Philadelphia Military Academy at Leeds Drill Team; and the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders.

The ceremony will begin in the Courtyard and end in a ribbon-cutting at Room MARKING her 100 birthday at Maggianos in King of Prus127. In the event of rain, the sia is Josephine Meadows, whose son Elder Henry L. Meadceremony will be held in the ows is helping her celebrate. hallway outside Room 127.

Photo by Marine Corps Veteran Leona Dixon

CELEBRATING Marine Corps birthday with annual commemoration at Daddy Wags bar at 10th & Oregon were Anwar Neal, Jerome Sherman, Herb Benson in uniform, and Shafi McCants.

Photo by Marine Corps Veteran Leona Dixon

Mansfield Undaunted By Loss To Fattah

by Joe Shaheeli Robert Mansfield, 41, is becoming a tried-and-true veteran of uphill and unsuccessful political campaigns.

One reason is he is an underdog candidate as a Republican in a city where Democrats out-register Republicans eight to one.

The other reason is his latest opponent, incumbent 2nd Dist. Democrat Congressman Chaka Fattah, is deeply entrenched and is considered a Washington funnel to Philadelphia for grants and

scholarships.

This campaign’s odds were almost as long against him as when he ran as an independent in the Corbett-Onorato gubernatorial clash.

But he was undaunted. He wanted to continue in the field of public service.

“I had received an early honorable discharge from the Army based on medical reasons, felt I was still productive and could carry my own weight, and I wanted to test my ability against a Trojan,” he says.

He’s been battling cancer and seems to have won that war.

Mansfield is a veteran of 13 years of service in the military, earning the rank of Sergeant, seeing service in Iraq.

Born and bred in North Philadelphia, he still calls Strawberry Mansion his home.

He’s been a Republican since he first registered, except for his run as an independent.

Mansfield would have gone for a legislative seat, but pragmatically states, “That

was literally an obstacle in itself. I couldn’t get enough Republican signatures to get on the ballot in that race. With Montgomery Co. involved, I knew I could get into contention on the ballot.”

Fattah got 89% of the vote.

Mansfield received a bit over 9% with Jim Foster, an independent, scoring over 1.3%.

The primary lesson he learned from this campaign “was to make my friends early before you need them,” realizing a network of friends and connections would have

www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000

Three Honored As Top Lawyers Jacoby Donner Law Firm Chairman, Henry J. Donner, has been selected by his peers as Lawyer of the Year 2013, for The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.), in the field of Philadelphia construction law. Donner is one of only three lawyers selected statewide, and the only lawyer in the Philadelphia area.

In addition, Donner and shareholders, B. Christopher Lee and William A. Denmark, were selected by their

B. Christopher William A. Denmark Henry J. Donner peers for inclusion in The He was previously selected for inclusion in The Best Best Lawyers in America.

Lee was dually selected Lawyers in America® 2012 in the fields of Construction in the field of Construction Law and Construction Liti- Law, and he returns with gation. Donner and Den- that selection for 2013. mark were selected in the Litigation Chair B. Christopher Lee has been sefield of construction law.

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Shareholder William A. Denmark marks his first selection by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC). He is selected in the field of construction law.

Henry, Chris and Bill are three of only 11 Philadelphia lawyers selected for The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 in the field of construction law.

helped him raise the kind of money needed to show voters there was an alternative.

“Our Constitution allows me to run for office, but doesn’t guarantee a win. But for that opportunity, I am grateful,” he says.

He’s not sure where his next steps will take him, but he intends to stay involved, either as a candidate or as a party official. Though he ran an intensive campaign, neither of the two ward leaders representing his 32nd Ward, who belong to different City Republican factions, reached out to him.

He understands the difficulty facing Republicans in building up a representation among the voters in this city, which “is why I have to keep looking at the bigger picture.”

He continues, “We need to break the cycle of low expectations in this city. Democrat leadership takes its constituency for granted. We need to begin a real conversation with Democratic voters as to giving them a choice, they do not now have.”

Before that begins, he admits there is a need for the Republican Party “to get its act together. We face a District Attorney and Controller race and then a Mayor’s race.

Sgt. Mansfield ....won’t go away Do we have to go outside the party to get a Democrat to run for us?

“We need to identify our candidates early, to give them a chance to raise money, to set up a campaign. We can’t call on a handful to become sacrificial lambs.”

Mansfield intends to begin a recruitment drive to find African Americans who understand they have a choice and “can actually benefit their families and friends by developing another choice in who runs their lives politically in this town.”

Though he won’t admit to it, if he gathers a large flock, he could well become the first African American endorsed Republican candidate in the next Mayor’s race.

schools. Our cries fell on the deaf ears of the SRC, which used this index as the basis for quickly closing or converting 17 traditional public schools to charter schools, several of which were already on an upward trajectory, according to the state’s PVASS.” Jordan added, “We welcome the review of SPI, and applaud the school district for working to expedite the process.

We hope the review leads to a system that is much clearer and implemented more transparently than SPI ever was.”

The SPI is an index of a number of different performance data-sets used as one of several tools to evaluate school quality. It was created to provide an easy to visualize ranking of school performance that is more comprehensive and looks at more than just the Adequate Yearly Progress measure created by the No Child Left Behind Act. As part of the District’s official procurement

process, the District released a Request for Proposal requesting proposals from professional data-analytics firms interested in conducting the recalculation of the SPI. The School District wants the outside auditors to include recalculation of the SPI scores for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, and the calculation of 2011-2012 SPI scores, which has not yet been done.

Jordan is also lauding the efforts of City Councilman Jim Kenney in unveiling the tremendous financial losses suffered by the School District as a result of its using questionable financial transactions known as “swaps”.

Jordan said the City Council hearing dramatically revealed the City and School District “have already lost $331 million in net interest payments and cancellation fees relating to swaps. The City has exposure that could rise to $240 million more, according to the Pennsyl-

Firefighters Protest Transfer Policies ident Bill Gault charges, “The transfers will disrupt the continuity of service, adversely affect fire response times, and – when coupled with a recent, mandatory 12-hour-shift edict for all firefighters – will further jeopardize the safety of civilians and firefighters alike.”

Gault added, “As many as 300 firefighters with a minimum of 10 years of experience in their current assignment – many with 20 or more years in the same location – will be transferred to new, unfamiliar assignments beginning Jan. 1, 2013. These veterans of the PFD will be replaced with young, much less-experienced firefighters.

This mass-transfer policy is illogical and dangerous.”

He explained, “The firefighters they intend to transfer are the ones who teach the young guys, the ones who know the unique features of the surrounding neighborhoods and the best routes to take to reach a fire site most quickly and safely.

Also, the construction of homes can differ from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Veteran firefighters assess these differences every time they are on the street or on a medical run. Under this pointless and reckless new transfer system, you’ll lose all that knowledge and have much less-experienced guys driving unfamiliar trucks in unfamiliar neighborhoods.

It’s a recipe for potential disaster.”

its leadership elections Tuesday and State Rep. Ronald G. Waters (D-W. Phila. was elected caucus secretary for the 2013-14 legislative session.

As secretary, Waters will be responsible for certain administrative duties, including tracking votes on the House floor and working with leadership to develop legislation and policy.

“I am deeply honored to be stepping into this new position,” Waters said. “It is clear that my colleagues have faith in me and appreciate my dedication to my constituents and to the state of Pennsylvania.

“I will work hard every day to perform the duties of the secretary with excellence and integrity,” he continued.”

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The City’s firefighters union has blasted Philadelphia Fire Dept. Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and the Nutter Administration for its planned implementation of a new mass-transfer policy that will rotate up to 25% of the department’s frontline firefighters to new, unfamiliar locations across the city.

The Firefighters Union held a protest this morning in City Hall, prior to City Council’s weekly session to vcall attend to Nutter’s impending mass transfer of veteran fighetrs. This followed a candlelight vigil last night demanding contracts staged by the City’s major unions, DC 33 and 47 outside the home of Mayor Nutter.

Firefighters Local 22 Pres-

vania Budget & Policy Center. The School District also has remaining swaps, and while it claims those swaps are serving the district well, I want to express our concerns.”

Swaps are a way of protecting against the impact of interest-rate spikes on variable-rate bonds issued by local governments. In particular, however, when interest rates remain low, swaps can became financial sinkholes whose repayment takes priority over funding needed services. Too often, the swap agreements have stiff fines for cancellation.

Jordan admitted, “Teachers are not experts in these matters, but we know two things: First, many of the banks seeking to profit from swaps have already been bailed out by the taxpayers. Rather than work to return the favor, these banks are too often seeking to add insult to injury. Second, we know there are legitimate charges that certain banks used to manipulate the interest rate in order to keep it low, thereby adding to the harm swaps have caused our community.”

Sen. Hughes Reelected Appropriations Chair State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-W. Phila.) has been reelected to serve as Democratic Chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee.

This is the second time Hughes was elected to the position by Senate Democrats.

“I am honored that my colleagues have once again chosen me to serve as Democratic Chairman of the Appropriations Committee,” Hughes said. “My Democratic colleagues have trusted me to lead them on appropriations and budget issues and that is very humbling.”

Waters Democratic Caucus secretary The House of Representatives Democratic Caucus held

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

The School District has found School Performance Index scores for traditional public and charter schools may be inaccurate due to errors in the way performance data was analyzed and calculated to produce the SPI scores.

Its move to seek the assistance of an outside firm to conduct a recalculation of the District’s School Performance Index, has met with the approval of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

PFT President Jerry Jordan welcomed the initiative, adding, however, it “comes too late to help many of our public schools.”

Jordan explained, “The PFT has been extremely vocal in protesting the SPI’s use of faulty data and methodology. The calculations used by the SPI were so convoluted we — and even some charter-school providers — wanted the SRC to reconsider using the SPI as basis for making decisions on the future of public

Heard on the Hill And City Hall

Page 25

PFT Lauds School District Move Reevaluating Performance Scores

Page 26 The Public Record • November 15, 2012 www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000

Under Fire, S.W. Agency Runs For Cover

by Tony West A troubled neighborhood’s resource for scarce public funding is imperiled by longstanding mismanagement in a rogue agency. Yet the Nutter Administration appears to be doubling down on it instead.

What’s in it for the City, that it’s putting so much attention into controlling the action in – of all places – Southwest Philadelphia?

Southwest Community Development Corp. is that agency. It is a private, nonprofit venture, like many other groups that represent grassroots Philadelphia.

Its Managing Dir. Donna Henry, who has been with the agency since its early days more than 20 years ago, has been mired in controversy for two years, as evidence emerged of chronic accountfiddling and also of duty-dropping. This CDC couldn’t keep its business straight, it seemed.

It was in need of reform.

Late reports, though, suggest the Philadelphia Office of Housing & Community Development is putting its chips on the establishment and pressing to get rid of the whistle-blowers.

That’s the real news: not that some shlub service agency fell into bad management practices, but that city government prefers to keep it that way.

OHCD provides crucial funding and advice to Southwest CDC, along with all its 60-odd peers in town. Officially, it is not supposed to tell CDCs what to do. Unofficially, a CDC is as likely to defy OHCD as a City Council Member is to tell his biggest donor to go jump in the Delaware.

Ever since an exposé of Southwest CDC’s crisis was published in the Public Record (Oct. XX), the CDC has curled up like an armadillo – understandably enough. Paul Moore, chairman of the CDC’s Board of Directors, won’t answer any questions. So no one, at this date, knows what the Southwest’s position on reform is.

Three weeks ago, Moore said the CDC is actively look-

ing to replace Henry, who has gotten the agency into legal difficulties by, among many other things, pirating an employee’s payroll deductions to cover operating expenses.

But Moore is offline to everybody now, as is the rest of the Southwest CDC board.

He does not respond to inquiries for information from anybody – a hallmark of Southwest CDC operations for decades. “Secrecy” is the password at this notoriously closed operation.

Brice Baker, a dissident board member who was named to represent the community, said that at a special board meeting Nov. 1, a motion was passed that no board member must talk to the press without prior approval by the entire board. He declined to talk further out of respect for this vote.

But other board members say they have received no notice of such a vote. So it may not have happened. Without Chairman Moore’s input, no one can say.

The special meeting was arranged to enable OHCD’s Dir. Of Neighborhood Program Coordination Belinda Mayo and her assistant Larry Lane to counsel Southwest CDC how to deal with its present management difficulties. Mayo’s job is to ensure community input for all the community groups across Philadelphia that OHCD funds.

Oddly, insiders say, Mayo focused her fire on this agency’s community organizer, Edith Dixon, who has become too close for comfort with Eastwick and Kingsessing residents in some important causes, and for its treasurer Craig Melidosian, who has reported possibly illegal business practices at the CDC. Mayo’s advice, according to sources, was that the CDC find ways to sack both these whistleblowers.

Through a spokesman, Mayo denied this. “Like most funders, OHCD does not manage the day-to-day activities of the organizations that it funds. It does not hire or fire

staff, nor does it add or remove board members,” said OHCD’s Paul Chrystie.

However, in a Nov. 5 letter, Mayo called for the Board to investigate “allegations of mismanagement of the organization” by Henry. So apparently she does get involved in CDCs’ internal personnel affairs after all, every now and then.

What’s At Stake?

All this might seem like a tempest in an outer-ward teapot. But significant money has been invested in certain Southwest Philly projects.

Here, the Nutter Administration has taken a stand on two developments that were not popular among neighbors – but that Southwest CDC helped advance.

A proposed halfway house for returning criminal offenders on Woodland Avenue was axed after an upwelling of community fury. Many Southwest Philadelphians feel their neighborhood has become a dumping ground for social problems and the proposed facility became typed as a “prison” (which it was not).

Regardless, a Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing earlier this year killed it. Dixon was instrumental in organizing community opposition to this project.

Dixon also assisted the Eastwick community in sinking a Korman plan for a 700unit development on environmentally sensitive wetland this year. The Nutter Administration had supported this initiative.

And it was Dixon’s pay that had been filched in part by the CDC for four years,

apparently to cover operating expenses.

That’s why some in the Southwest are speculating there is mayoral payback in play here. Is Nutter trying to control his own slice of action next to the airport? Why else would the City go after underlings in an obscure, struggling nonprofit with such vigor?

To answer these questions, the Public Record tried to interview OHCD Director Deborah McColloch, but she would not make herself available.

Because this matters to you...

...we matter to you! unequaled coverage of the city’s public life John David James Tayoun Editor & Publisher

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www.phillyrecord.com Also Follow Our Online e-zine The Philadelphia Daily Record Monday through Friday

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J U D G E PATRICK DUGAN, an Iraqi War veteran, joins Margaret McClain, president of Gold Star Wives to place flowers at Korean War Memorial walkof-fame on behalf of family of John Byrd, who was killed in Iraq.

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

Photo by Rory McGlasson

MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER addresses crowd at Korean War Memorial Veterans Day service at Penn’s Landing.

Page 27

Veterans Honored Around Our City

Photo by Rory McGlasson

PHILA. Public Record contributors Joe Stivala and John J. Kline, lay wreath at Korean War Memorial on Monday to salute Veterans Day. Photo By Rory McGlasson

SANG IK LEE thanks Judge John Braxton, VietSGT. MAJ. Richard Pinter offers lesson in bugle-play- nam veteran, for his fine keynote speech at VietCOUNCILMEN DAVID OH and Mark Squilla, left, join Mayor Nutter and ing to Councilman Mark Squilla prior to commemonam Memorial at Veterans Day ceremonies. Lee other dignitaries at Korean War Memorial service to salute veterans Monday. ration services Veterans Day at Korean Memorial. fought in South Korean Army during Korean War. Photo by Rory McGlasson

Photo by Joe Stivala

Photo by Joe Stivala

Vets Remember Gettysburg

ON SITE of Civil War Satterlee Army Hospital in W. Phila., neighbors organize annual Veterans Day commemoration. Cerebral-palsied students from HMS School made presentation on war; Boy Scouts recite Gettysburg Address; veterans from Vietnam to Afghanistan, like Marine Allen Poindexter here, shared personal stories to University City community, which embraces VA Hospital (Satterlee’s modern descendant) and Veterans Comfort House.

APPLEBEE’S restaurants around city hosted veterans to a free meal on their day.

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TWO MARINES, Big Hank NBC’s Garret Smith shares mo- Vannelli, a hero of Chosin ment with Sgt. George Mead at Reservoir Battle, and Judge Joe BAND OF BROTHERS attended Vietnam Memorial Services.

BOWING HEADS as prayers were said were Judge Veterans Day memorial services. Waters honored observance.

They were Dennis Best USMC, John J Kline USMC and Chuck Photo by Joe Stivala Holloway USAF. Photo by Joe Stivala John Braxton, Councilmen Mark Squilla and David Oh.

Page 28 The Public Record • November 15, 2012

MAYOR Michael Nutter saluting wreath with members of WREATHS at Phila. Korean War Memorial.

Phila. Vietnam War Memorial Society.

Photo by John J. Kline

Photo by John J. Kline

AMERICAN Legion Puerto Rican Post 840 wreath presentation.

Photo by John J. Kline

NINETEENTH District Police Officers were honored forserPOSTING colors by American Legion Penn District 5 Color vice they give to their city with legislative citations from State VIETNAM War Veterans of America Post 266 make wreath Guard at Washington Square Tomb Of Revolutionary War Sen. Shirley Kitchen Veterans Day at Maplewood Manor.

Photo by John J. Kline presentation.

Photo by John J. Kline Unknown Soldier.

Photo by Robert Mendelsohn

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NAACP Honors Veterans At Lunch

Noting Marine Corps Birthday

HONORED BY Phila. Chapter of NAACP at Veterans Day luncheon included these veterans, among them Desha HenRETIRED Major Archie Elam was among veterans honored field, Rev. Samuel Miller, James Revell, Alfiea Vaughnat 2nd annual Phila. Chapter NAACP luncheon in Yeadon. Goodwin, Cheryl Stovall Williams, Rev. Edward Winslow, ED McBRIDE, chief PECO lobbyist, and his wife Cass join Congratulating him are Cheri Gregg, Sid Booker, Wanda Rev. Dr. Wayne Croft, Dr. Joseph Williams, Hon. Leonard fellow Marine Judge Joe Waters to observe 237th birthday of Marine Corps celebrated annually outside Daddy Wags Photo by Veteran Marine Leona Dixon Davis, and Elijah Davis.

Photo by Veteran Marine Leona Dixon Heard and Oscar Mackey.

Bar at 10th & Oregon.

Photo by Joe Stivala

Lawncrest Community Dedicates Day Of Service In Memory Of Veterans

MEMBERS of Lawncrest community look over 74 bags of leaves and trash they gathered at Lawncrest Recreation Center in preparation for their Veterans Day service.

JUDGE Pat Dugan addresses veterans and community members as Bill Dolbow and Kathy Wersinger listen.

OFFICER Gary Harkins, 3rd Police Dist. community-affairs officer, was honored by Marian Wagner for years of service as Daddy Wags Bar marked 35th celebration of MaPhoto by Joe Stivala rine Corps’ Birthday.

Walking

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING sacrosanct.

THE MAYOR has told relevant Obama officials he is not interested in an administration job. But, was he ASKED? If the PRESIDENT calls, it is a patriotic duty NOT to REFUSE.... POLICE and FIRE shakeups, transfers and work hours are here or coming.

Deputy Police Commish Kevin BETHEL is a good choice for more responsibility. Sad news is Dep. Commish Steve JOHNSON will retire! Fire Dept. TRANSFERS mostly seem unnecessary, while new work hours can be justified.

Fire COMMISSIONER Lloyd AYERS reminds all that smoke-alarm batteries should have been changed when you moved clocks back. AYERS saluted the Philly firefighters of Task Force One and Second Alarmers who returned from Hurricane Search & Rescue, and food, blankets and water distribution. They responded to two- and four-alarm fires in Jersey City!

Mary FOGG of the ST. PATRICK’S OBSERVANCE ASSN., stated Bob GESSLER, Association President, announced that decorated former police officer Harry MARNIE will be PARADE MAR-

SHALL of the 2013 Parade!

Harry is Emerald Society Prexy, served with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and was a US Marshall. The selection is always a citizen who has improved the quality of life in our town….

SHEAMUS BONNER ran for State Representative in Delaware Co.’s 163rd Dist. and came very CLOSE to unseating the incumbent. The Iraq War hero has a FUTURE! State Rep. Mike McGEEHAN announced Military Awards License Tags are ready for recipients at PennDOT. Tags feature engraved medals, such as Navy Cross, Bronze Star, etc. ...BIRTHDAY WISHES to JOHN DAVID, advertising ace of the Public RECORD! David, a strong, silent type, uses his body to carry his brain around.

Best wishes!

CITY COUNCIL: Councilman Curtis JONES’ Emerging Leaders Reception at Maggiano’s is building to be a large legation of future city leaders!... Who is the BRAIN that designed the cookie-cutter traffic islands and corners now installed along Passyunk Avenue between 63rd and 18th Streets? The bubble sidewalks cause vehicles to slow too

greatly on a fast-moving road, inviting rear-end accidents, diverting two-way traffic into narrow road widths, and removing parking spaces. Councilman KENYATTA JOHNSON should STOP this!

VETS: State Rep. Cherelle PARKER again honored veterans with a reception! Judge John BRAXTON had to be THE eloquent speaker on Veterans Day!...

LLOYD REMICK, ESQ. was Guest of Honor at a Navy-Marine ROTC Military Ball at the University of Pennsylvania.

He told of experiences as an Army Officer during the CUBAN Missile Crisis and was well received! Thanks for his service!

HEALTH CARE: AARP reported $765 BILLION in wasteful medical spending – this was obscured during the campaign by the GOP. AARP tells a horror story of a healthy dad who donated a kidney to his daughter. Still healthy, he cannot get insurance from many in firms in the multi-trillion dollar industry.... RED-LIGHT CAMERAS could become obsolete, as HONDA is developing a sensor that will tell you the speed needed to make it across a green light!!!

The Public Record • November 15, 2012

bevy of citizens from all of our neighborhoods will run. They need not be lawyers (like district justices), and require a knowledge of the State VEHICLE CODE. I URGE candidates to study this code IN ADVANCE. Do not let critics, headline- or Pulitzer-seekers offend you. Venom-meisters, do not make this an UGLY race!... CANDIDATES could include former Sheriff BARBARA DEELEY, Community Leader AL LITTLEPAGE, civic leader Marnie AUMENT-LOUGHREY and Banker Brenda REAVIS. All good citizens.

LABOR NEWS: LOCAL 19 Sheet Metal Workers has a super website, check it out.

Hurricane SANDY saw Local 98 IBEW trucks fan out to help with regional electrical problems. John DOUGHERTY, “Gorms” GORMLEY and BRIAN STEVENSON led the charge. IBEW and State Sen. Anthony WILLIAMS also used social media to keep in touch with constituents....

Two VOTER QUESTIONS were important to labor: Prop.

32 (California) would seriously curtail union ability to fund candidates and campaigns. Also, in Michigan, a proposal to make the right of

Page 29

(Cont. From Page 10) partisanship in is baloney. The voters ELECTED Commissioners. They DO NOT select the Chair position. Then there was that belch that Anthony CLARK is a ward leader – so what! Ask persons who say this: What good have they done for their community? So much MALARKEY! Gov. Tom CORBETT has said he is not worried over a potential investigation of the SANDUSKY AG’s office investigation. Kathleen KANE, incoming AG, is said to be considering it. No worry?

Then let’s DO IT to bring closure.... BOB BRADY’S idea for a City-owned Casino makes good use of the vacated Food Center. The success of Atlantic City casinos is the ability to leave one casino and WALK to another, or other entertainment. The BRADY proposal has a casino close to the entertainment center, stadiums, racing club, and pubs along Packer & Pattison Avenues.

It was good news to hear STATE REP. Gary WILLIAMS named former State Rep. FRANK OLIVER –

THE LIVING LEGEND – as a recipient of the Pioneer Awards.16th Ward Committeewoman Gwen COLLINS was a worthy recipient.... SHERIFF Jewell WILLIAMS is being praised for an eloquent eulogy he gave at services for his late brother MICHAEL. Moving indeed.

CORRECTIONS: Al Stuhl is actually a 23rd Ward Committeeman (not 2nd). I meant “SYRIA” (Afghanistan was shown) when I cautioned over US Support of rebels, since so many were Taliban. It’s best to find an acceptable man in the Palace to depose the head of state.… Do you get WEARY of editorials that advance an issue by stomping on another not-germane area? How about: Walking Around Money (It is LONG DEAD – but actually helped a lot of civic groups)?

Or: Patronage Jobs (Except when the writer’s kin needs a job?). Also: Back-Room dealmaking (That is OLD, but occurs in all professions)? How about the corrupt property-tax system? Assessments might be incorrect, yet not CORRUPT. Journalists do not always understand the issue is uniformity.

TRAFFIC COURT Judges will be elected next year. A

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The Public Record • November 15, 2012

Page 30

Elephant (Cont. From Page 10) the herd to comment on Kane.

“Kane campaigned in the general election with the slogan of send a ‘Prosecutor not a Politician’ to Harrisburg. I understood why she would have used this adage in the primary against former CON-

2400 E. Somerset Street Philadelphia, PA 19134

GRESSMAN PATRICK MURPHY, who had limited prosecutorial experience.

However, in a contest against a long-time DA who actually has more experience in the courtroom than she, this was puzzling. I had hoped this meant Kane believed her role as AG would be to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. However, a

Phone: 215-423-2223 Fax: 215-423-5937

number of her other assertions indicates that she plans to be an activist AG – in another words, a politician.

“Her campaign boasted she would close the ‘Florida Loophole’, which apparently allows people who would not qualify for Pennsylvania gun-carrying permits to obtain Florida permits that respected here. The AG should uphold the law, not to legislate. Closing loopholes should be a legislative or regulatory action.

“She echoed a similar sentiment on her website when

she noted that the AG’s job is to encourage ‘responsible policy and accountability.’ Yes, the AG should hold offenders accountable. But ‘policy’ should be the purview of the legislative and executive branches of state government.

She declared the AG is the state’s most-powerful ‘consumer ad’. The AG, in my opinion, should be the advocate of all victims and should not care whether they are individuals, corporations or other entities.

“Kane also vowed to bal-

ance the need to protect the environment with the economic advantages natural-gas extraction brings to the state. I understand the sentiment, but the AG’s job is to prosecute offenders, not to promote economic development or to act as the Sierra Club.

“She also noted the AG’s role is to pursue violators to ‘prevent harm, not just prosecute.’ Does that mean she thinks the AG is a police officer? Maybe this is the reason why she was not endorsed by the Pennsylvania State Troop-

ers Association, which she misrepresented as supporting her.

“The AG is a prosecutor. If she identifies laws that are contradictory or inadequate, she should point this out to legislators. Her job is to enforce the law and not to perform the duties of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Banking, the Consumer Advocate or the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. The last thing Pennsylvania needs is a female ELIOT SPITZER.”

Out & About

group of truly convoluted notions, including the unconstitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Obviously, the Supreme Court is no longer all that relevant to them either. If it were, the folks in these states would remember it recently ruled ACA is constitutional.

It’s actually a reasonable argument, though – from my point of view.

And as someone here in Pennsylvania, I’d be more than happy to see these states go their merry way. You see, I’m tired of large chunks of my tax dollars going to the

folks in these backwardthinking zones, which, according to federal tax-distribution statistics is exactly what happens.

Too bad it doesn’t go to the needs of their citizens.

These are also the states that are in the bottom of the national pack when it comes to education, health care, infant mortality, and a whole bunch of other stuff that wouldn’t be so bad if they put the money toward it.

To their credit, the Governors of these states have either been largely silent or have come out in support of

the Union when it comes to these petitions. Most notable of these is Texas Gov. Rick Perry … who at one time wanted Texas to be its own independent state.

(A couple of really good hurricanes where the Federal Emergency Management Agency comes to the rescue can make you rethink a few things.)

Besides, my guess is President Barack Obama is looking at this stuff and laughing so hard he can’t stand up straight. If I were him, and I had won not only the popular vote but also the Electoral College and had taken both by a large margin, I’d probably say “Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids!” myself.

If nothing else, this massive move toward secession shows the power of the Right Wing Entertainment Industrial Complex. Fox News has ginned up these folks to think President Barack Obama and anyone who voted for him is the anti-Christ and needs to be driven into the sea. It stands to reason the President’s reelection represents a reason to be deathly afraid for them.

(Or in the case of a woman from Arizona, it represents a reason for running her husband over in her Jeep for not voting.)

It’s enough to drive logical people from both the left and the right in these states to long for the days when sanity reigned.

Which is why the citizens of Austin, Tex. have filed a petition of its own. Their desire: to secede from the State of Texas itself.

Good luck with that….

(Cont. From Page 10) by the prospect of being governed by a Black guy that it would rather break away.

But these folks are calling for secession based on some

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