Category: Philadelphia

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Will Philadelphia home rule go up in smoke again?

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Smoking

The General Assembly is moving forward with plans to enact a state wide smoking ban. But, in the process, it is likely to weaken the ban already in place in Philadelphia. And, even worse, it is likely that the General Assembly will prohibit Philadelphia and other cities and towns from making laws more stringent than the new state law. So, once again, teh state will override the right of Philadelphians to make laws that concern only ourselves. . The Senate passed smoking ban legislation a week and a half ago. It bans smoking in many public places but it exempts 25 percent of the space in casinos and private clubs. And it also allows smoking in businesses in which less than 20 percent of revenues come from food sales, which will allow smoking in many bars. What’s worse, the bill prohibits municipalities from enacting smoking laws that are tougher than… Continue reading

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The fire next time

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

I sent this to a group of progressive activists who were meeting in Philadelphia in June 2007. I couldn’t attend because my daughter was graduating from middle school at that time. The May 2007 primary was disappointing for many of us. But I thought then, as I still do now, that good things would come out of the effort many of us had made during and before that primary. While I very much want to hear what you all have to say, I don’t think you will lose much from my absence as I’m still too close to the recent election to have had the time and energy to think through what it all means for the progressive movement in this city. Continue reading

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On ward politics and street money

  By My 2007 Campaign, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Ward politics

Originally posted at Young Philly Politics. A number of my responses to comments made at YPP are below There is an article in the Inquirer today that briefly reports on some of my experiences with ward politics during the last election. I was disappointed by the article, in part because I thought I was talking off the record with the reporter and in part because the article is misleading about the role that wards and street money played in my campaign or other grass roots campaigns. (The Inquirer will be running a clarification about part of the article tomorrow.) I plan to write about this subject in detail later, because these are two subjects that most people interested in Philadelphia politics do not understand very well and about which I learned a great deal in the last five months. Here are some preliminary points. Continue reading

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I want the best service: How to save hundreds of lives by fixing emergency service

  By Health Care, My 2007 Campaign, Philadelphia

I wrote this with Daniel Hunter during my campaign for City Council in 2007. If you are shot——or have a heart attack—where would you rather be, New York City or Philadelphia?  If you want to stay alive, the unfortunate answer is New York City. Why? New York City has invested resources in emergency medical services. And they don’t hamstringing their paramedics, fire fighters, and police with unreasonable rules. Here’s one example: New York City has far more ambulances per person than Philadelphia. They have so many ambulances, in fact, that they don’t have enough stations for all of them. That’s why you see many parked on street corners waiting for a call. In Philadelphia the situation is the opposite.  We have too few ambulances.  So when police rush onto the scene after someone is shot, they often arrive long before an ambulance.  As a result, they have to put gunshot… Continue reading

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A funny thing happened at a tax reform forum

  By Philadelphia, Taxation

We all know economic growth and job creation are central to making our city a better place to live. Over the last few years, the debate about economic growth has centered on the tax reform issue. That has been unfortunate for two reasons. The first is that, while tax reform may be critical to economic growth, we have not focused enough on other means of creating new businesses and jobs. Second, progress on reforming taxes has been slow because we have focused too much on business taxes and because of sharp disagreements among political activists about whether and how fast the Business Privilege Tax (BPT) should be reduced. But a funny thing happened in a public forum a few months ago on taxes. Brett Mandel of Philadelphia Forward has been a main advocate of gradually eliminating the Business Privilege Tax (BPT) in order to stimulate economic development and job growth… Continue reading

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The BPT: once more with feeling

  By Philadelphia, Taxation

I would like to broaden the debate about the BPT a bit and explain why, from a progressive point of view, it is not a good tax. But, before I get to that, however, let me make four preliminary points about the BPT and economic development and explain why I would not vote to reduce the BPT except as part of a package of economic development programs and tax reforms. 1. I do think that reducing business taxes is one way to create more businesses and jobs in Philadelphia. But it is not the only way or the best way. To understand why, you have to grasp that we have two economic development problems in the city. The first has to do with reviving commercial corridors. This is critical to creating jobs for our many citizens who have not attended college. Reducing the net profits part of the BPT will… Continue reading

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How to have your neighborhoods and casinos, too.

  By Casinos, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

By Marc Stier and Daniel Hunter It’s time to find a creative solution to the logjam over casinos at the waterfront. The charter change referendum blocking casinos from the Delaware River sites and any other sites within 1500 feet of a residential area is going to pass on May 15. Having led the campaign to restore the city’s zoning control over the casino sites, I am quite certain that the General Assembly will not reverse direction and take that control away from us again. And all those lawyers and public relations people who say that the charter change will be overturned in the courts are just blowing smoke. If there is any justice in Pennsylvania, then the result of the referendum will hold up in court. And, even if justice is lacking, casino opponents have the capacity to use the legal process to block casinos on the water front for… Continue reading

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Yes, Virginia, there is a progressive movement in Philadelphia

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

Reposted from YPP http://youngphillypolitics.com/yes_virginia_there_progressive_movement_philadelphia There have been a couple of interesting threads at YPP recently that discuss what it means to be a progressive in Philadelphia and whether we really have anything worth being called a progressive movement in the city. And there was a great article in the City Paper this week that makes a pretty good case that there is such a movement but also pointed to some of the tensions within it. I’ve been pretty sick with flu-like symptoms all week and today I spent my first day at home since late December. So I have a little time to stop and think and take stock in where we are. I want to, as quickly as possible, discuss four issues: (1) What makes for a progressive movement as far as ideology goes; (2) Whether there are real ideological divisions within the progressive movement today; (3) Is the… Continue reading

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The Great U-turn (on casinos and more)

  By Casinos, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

with Christina Michaels and Daniel Hunter Ever turned onto a highway only to find yourself driving the wrong way?  The road goes on for miles without a turn, taking you further and further away from the right path.  Suddenly, up ahead, there’s a u-turn – your chance to finally head back in the right direction. That’s what the May primaries will be about.  Our City government leadership has been heading the wrong direction.  And up ahead, is the possibility of a u-turn and the chance to get back on course. Already in the fight against slots parlors and campaign “un-finance” reform we are seeing some glimmers of the u-turn to come. Continue reading

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Transit action today / Reflections on the State and the City

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

SEPTA is, again, in crisis. The projected deficit for the next fiscal year is well over $100 million dollars. To close that deficit, SEPTA will have to institute both fare increases and service reductions of about 25%. This would be an economic and social disaster for the city and the region. Little is being done in Harrisburg to address the crisis. The Pennsylvania Transit Coalition, on whose steering committee I have sat since its founding, is conducting a leafleting campaign today at 4:00 pm at both Market East and Suburban Stations. We will be targeting suburbanites getting on their trains and will give them leaflets that ask them to call their state Senators and Representatives. I hope a lot of you can take an hour or so and attend this event. If you plan to do so, contact info@patransit.org and we will tell you exactly where in the stations you… Continue reading