A Quick Word on NIMBYs

Maybe the local NIMBYs should be having bake sales to raise the very few thousands of dollars it would cost to update their playground equipment. Dilworth is being updated with grant money and private funds. Local neighborhoods are more than welcome to contribute privately to their own community. Anytime some money gets dumped into, I don't know, an architectural landmark and governmental hub of one of the largest cities in America, every three block "neighborhood" in the surrounding 20 miles starts screaming "I deserve a piece of that." Start baking some brownies.

Dilworth Plaza a Go

I'm glad to see this is actually moving forward, and while I don't think it's the best design or the best use of $50M, I don't think it's all bad. I doubt anyone will be regretting this decision 5 or 10 years from now. However architecture and cleanliness won't be the biggest hurdle, tacking the homeless will. I think Love Park and Dilworth Plaza became the dilapidated Hooverville's that they are because they were surrounded by nothing for years, not because they are simply public spaces.

It may be silly to think that buzz words like "cafe" actually mean anything, but an element of street level commerce will excite people. It won't draw the residents from their fortresses at the Ritz or the Phoenix anymore than Barnes and Noble pulls them out of 10 Rittenhouse Square, but it will grab the commuters who'd rather grab a coffee and a muffin street-side instead of in the SEPTA catacombs.

It's true City Hall itself wasn't designed to be a public space but it doesn't mean the surrounding area can never succeed as one. If that were the case we might as well put the Arcade Building and Broad Street Station back on top of Dilworth Plaza because any other project would be doomed from the start.

Many Negadelphians would assume that any public project is inevitably doomed. But the truth of the matter is that this space is surrounded by new development and renovated public spaces. The Convention Center is going to be pulling people north of Market Street, new museums are pulling tourists across Broad Street, and all of them will be passing through the most important piece of Philadelphia's architectural portfolio.

It's stubborn to propose that this space isn't due some attention, and it's naive to assume that no one will enjoy it. We don't all get in our cars and hop on 676 at 5pm to run from urbanity as fast as we can. Some of the less cranky commuters might stick around if our most important public spaces didn't smell so bad.

Dilworth Plaza Makeover to Start - Philly.com

Contact Your City Council Member

Sometimes they're hard to find. Give them a buzz and let them know what's bugging you...

Mayor
Michael Nutter
mayor.nutter@phila.gov
(215) 686-3000
(215) 686-2250

1st District
Frank DiCicco
frank.dicicco@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 332
(215) 686-3458
(215) 686-3459

2nd District
City Council President
Anna C. Verna
anna.verna@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 405
(215) 686-3412
(215) 686-3413

3rd District
Jannie L. Blackwell
jannie.l.blackwell@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 408
(215) 686-3418
(215) 686-3419

4th District
Curtis Jones, Jr.
curtis.jones.jr@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 404
(215) 686-3416
(215) 686-3417

5th District
Darrell L. Clarke
darrell.clarke@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 484
(215) 686-3442
(215) 686-3443

6th District
Joan L. Krajewski
joan.krajewski@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 591
(215) 686-3444
(215) 686-3445

7th District
Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez
Maria.Q.Sanchez@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 592
(215) 686-3448
(215) 686-3449

8th District
Donna Reed Miller
donna.miller@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 312
(215) 686-3424
(215) 686-3425

9th District
Marian B. Tasco
marian.tasco@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 577
(215) 686-3454
(215) 686-3455


10th District
Brian J. O'Neill
brian.o'neill@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 562
(215) 686-3422
(215) 686-3423

At-Large Members
W. Wilson Goode, Jr.
wilson.goode@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 316
(215) 686-3414
(215) 686-3415

William K. Greenlee
Bill.Greenlee@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 580
(215) 686-3446
(215) 686-3447

Jack Kelly
jack.kelly@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 594
(215) 686-3452
(215) 686-3453

James F. Kenney
james.kenney@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 330
(215) 686-3450
(215) 686-3451

Blondell Reynolds Brown
blondell.reynolds.brown@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 581
(215) 686-3438
(215) 686-3439

Frank Rizzo
frank.rizzo@phila.gov
City Hall, Room 582
(215) 686-3440

Philadelphia Housing Authority

"Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence."

-Napoleon Bonaparte

I'm no buff when it comes to 19th Century French Dictators, but I doubt Napoleon ever envisioned a civic system as incompetent as the one appointed by the elected government of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia. After seeing and reading countless interviews with Carl Greene and the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, it becomes painfully apparent that state and city politicians, appointed officials, and city employees aren't even intelligent enough to be corrupt.

I'm not even going to begin to dissect the problems with the PHA, a welfare organization meant to help struggling people back on their feet so that they can become tax paying members of society, that instead serve as long term crutches for the city's lower class.

Solutions to the problems with supplemental programs begin with organizations employing and appointing competent people. Not people like Greene, who is overpaid at more than $300,000 a year plus bonuses exceeding $50,000 (that's more than the Mayor and the Governor, and almost as much as the President of the United States), who cannot manage his mortgage and taxes and thus facing foreclosure on a $600,000 Naval Square townhouse.

Oh, yeah, and he also put up a friend in a PHA home for $650 a month. Meanwhile his organization manages a waiting list of more than 30,000 residents seeking one of those homes. The salary of the friend renting the city owned home on his behalf: over $100,000 a year.

In case you're unfamiliar with the story:

Almost a million dollars have been paid on behalf of Carl Greene - head of the Philadelphia Housing Authority - to settle various sexual harassment claims. While a settlement isn't necessarily an admission of guilt, it does say something that PHA insurers have repeatedly avoided the court room.

It also needs to be mentioned that the premiums for these insurance claims are ultimately paid for with tax money, from checks that Greene wrote himself directly out of the PHA budget, one for $250,000.

At this point We The People are essentially paying Greene to molest his employees.

The Board doesn't even seem clear on the rules themselves. As they face a HUD audit, they are scrambling to find excuses for why four lawsuits were settled without their knowledge. It's interesting how John Street said that outside investigators wouldn't know where to find anything. He seemed a little scared that HUD's going to be snooping around. You can bet the board spent the bulk of last week deleting emails.

According to Street, "We get sued all the time for stuff." I'm pretty sure he actually said "stuff". So much "stuff" in fact that settlements for less than $100,000 don't have to go before the board. And apparently lawsuits against individuals within the PHA are not technically treated any differently than lawsuits against the PHA itself, making it merely a technical faux pas that Greene signed his own settlement checks. According to Street, "It would have been nice" if Greene had mentioned to the board that he was being sued for sexual harassment...four times since 2004.

These are the train wrecks that appoint people like Carl Greene.

FYI, John Street appointed himself to the board when he was the mayor of Philadelphia.

So here we are. Insurers have paid over $900,000 in settlements on behalf of Greene, over $600,000 have been paid for premiums by the tax payers on Greene's behalf - yet he is still employed, still collecting his salary, and currently on an indefinite, paid vacation at a retreat that deals with stress - paid for by? You got it, us.

What is the point of an insurance company settling a case on behalf of Greene if his employer or the insurance company don't make an example of him? The logic of this makes my head hurt. He has cost us more than $600,000 in premiums? What's there to debate? Philadelphia city politicos' ability to continuously out dumb themselves is mind boggling.

I understand that he needs to be fired "with cause" or he will collect a two year severance, however $600,000 is a pretty big cause.

Firing him doesn't even change the fact that this has flown right over the head of the board and the insurance companies for the last six years.

I want to hear some apologies from these appointed and hired officials who have access to the PHA budget. No more passing the buck. There is no end to the illogical bull shit that these people get away with - including the entire Board at the PHA - yet somehow, none of them seem to ever go away.

Latter Days

The RDA is pushing back against the proposed Mormon temple on Vine Street. Not because of any prejudice against the Latter Day Saints, but because of a bureaucratic loophole that allows the RDA to pass undeveloped surface lots from potential developer to potential developer, collecting a handsome sum with each transaction. Yet another clue into the blighting surface parking lots that littler Center City and Vine Street in particular. Once a lot becomes a lot, it's doomed to stay one as long as the RDA has its say-so.

Theoretically there is a time limit in which owners must develop these lots, but the RDA routinely denies these requests for one reason or another, ultimately cracking down on these time limits when they need to dip into the kitty, or as in the case of the Mormon temple, when a developer steps forward with cash and neighborhood support in hand. In the latter case, the RDA must hurry to find an excuse, any excuse, to make sure they get their hands on that land again, otherwise there are a few less cookie crumbs to pick up. It's deviously hypocritical because the point of this RDA program is to make sure things actually get built on these parking lots.

And then of course you have your chronic protesters who preach tolerance from a soap box plastered with anti-religious bumper stickers. Say what you want about the Mormon church, but it will bring tourists and even potentially a few residents. Although the church itself might not pay taxes, the residents and tourists it attracts do. I personally don't care for the the narrow-minded teachings of the Mormon church, and that's why I'm not one. However I don't find them any less prejudice than what can be taught by Catholicism or Judaism. Much of any religion is based on intolerant xenophobia based on poorly written fairy tales, but in protesting a religion out of town how is one not worse? Particularly in the city that drafted the idea of religious tolerance. And in that uniquely American creation, is it not fitting to have a home for a uniquely American religion?

Besides, I'm certainly don't want to discriminate against someone who wants to replace an eyesore of a parking lot with a beautiful building that attracts business and people. And to those who want to see a "science center" or a "high-rise condo" on this lot, are you kidding me? Really? There's a reason this lot has sat vacant for so long - the RDA - so unless you want to wait another few decades to see if maybe someone wants to build something, our best shot is to go with the Mormons, and hope it slaps the RDA in the face, and City Council and the Mayors Office will crack down on them the next time they try to pull off this shady move.

Royal Insurance Company Building

The Royal Insurance Company Building was built in 1882 and located at 212 S 3rd Street.