Month: October 2006

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RIP Red Auerbach

  By People, Sports

Red Auerbach, the greatest sports executive in history and a great basketball coach as well, died yesterday. He has long been one of my heroes—because of his ability to thoughtfully break through the conventional wisdom and develop innovative ways of building and coaching a basketball team; because of his wisdom about human beings and the variety of things that motivate them; because he was a good man who helped break down racial barriers in sports; because he was incredibly funny and did not take himself too seriously; and because one of my other great heroes, Bill Russell, loved him. I didn’t know Red but did meet him twice. The first was at basketball camp when I was twelve. He gave an incredible talk and I followed him around the rest of the day soaking in every word he said. He said something that day that has always stuck with me:… Continue reading

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Can anyone make sense of Wilson Goode, Jr?

  By Health Care

Over the last week, Councilman Goode has 1. Defended his original campaign finance bill that guts our campaign finance laws by defining a candidate in a way that creates, as I have explained below, massive loopholes in the contribution limits. 2. Said both publicly and privately, that he would put forward an amendment that would define a candidate as anyone who is raising money for a political campaign. This was a major improvement although not quite as good as it might have been. 3. Failed to introduce the amendment at Council Continue reading

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Politics as usual 14, reform 0

  By Campaign Finance Reform, Philadelphia

By a vote of 14-0, City Council today gutted the campaign finance laws that were enacted a few years ago. Contribution limits of $2500 for an individual and $10,000 for a PAC will now kick in when a candidate declares his or her candidacy or files nominating petitions, that is, as late as March of an election year. There will be no limitations prior to that time. And as I have pointed out, there is a massive loophole that will allow money above the limits to be spent even after they go into effect. Wilson Goode did not introduce an amendment to have the contribution limits begin when a candidate begins raising money for his or her campaign. I was not there because I teach Thursday mornings at Temple. But I understand that there was no debate at all. Continue reading

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Help save campaign finance reform

  By Campaign Finance Reform, Elections and Voting, Philadelphia

This week City Council will consider Bill No. 060629, which in its unamended form would gut the city’s limits on campaign contributions and be a major step backwards in the effort to reform politics in Philadelphia. You can help stop 60629—or even better, have it improved by amendment—by signing a petition which will be delivered to your Council members Thursday morning. Bill 60629, which is sponsored by Councilman Goode, would, in its original form, define a candidate as someone who has filed nominating petitions or declared his or her candidacy for office. The result would be that there would be no limits on how much money a candidate could raise before early March of an election year. (See below for information about an amendment Goode proposed today that may fix this problem) Goode claimed that his ordinance would prohibit candidates from using money that exceeds the finance limits ($2500 for… Continue reading

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What Does Social Justice Mean for Philadelphia?

  By Philadelphia, Social Justice

What Does Social Justice Mean in City Politics? When I say that the social justice should be a primary goal of public policy in Philadelphia, I make some people happy. These are the people who recognize that a quarter of our population is poor and that unemployment rates in some sections of the city reach depression-like levels; that poverty and unemployment create the hopelessness that leads about half our school children to drop out before they graduate from high school; and that hopelessness is among the main causes of the drug epidemic and high crime rates. To talk about social justice, for me, is one way to point to the need for the city to address the difficult conditions faced by so many of our citizens. But talking about social justice makes other people nervous even though they may be sympathetic to plight of so many of their fellow Philadelphians.… Continue reading

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A Major Victory In The Fight Against Casinos?

  By Casinos, Philadelphia

I’m not quite ready to declare victory tonight. But if we can believe the press release that is now appearing on Senator Fumo’s website—and if the Senate and House follow the Senator’s recommendations—then progressives and casino activists in the city are about to win a major victory, local control over zoning at the casino sites. Continue reading

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Some wins and losses: update on SB862

  By Casinos, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

A little while ago the House adopted an amended version of SB 862 by a vote of 161-30. Some of the most objectionable features of SB 862 have been removed. Under the bill, the Gambling Control Commission will not be able to give away riparian rights to casinos and Philadelphia codes governing building, fire, water and sewer (but not smoking) will remain in force. The new zoning rules proposed in the Senate version of SB 862 have been eliminated. Instead, the Philadelphia zoning code as of the passage of Act 71 in July 2004 will remain in effect. The bad news is that the bill still preempts the city’s authority to revise and enforce zoning regulations. Continue reading

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RIP CBGB

  By Music

I couldn’t resist posting on the closing of CBGB, once I thought of the title of this post And, no, I’m not talking about CDBG–community development block grants. The first time I heard my friend Derek Greene talk, in his fast paced voice, about CDBG I couldn’t quite figure out what a club on the Bowery in New York had to do with housing programs in Philly. I actually didn’t go to CBGB that often. And I saw some so-so bands there: Dead Boys and Steel Tips, for example. But twenty years ago it was a fun place to hang out. And I saw one absolutely transcendant show there, Television in its prime. Verlaine and Lloyd already didn’t seem to care for one another. But they clearly enjoyed playing together, as they redefined what two lead guitars can do in a rock and roll band. Continue reading