Philadelphia Daily Record

Vol. III No. 102 (467)

Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia

June 21, 2012

Philadelphia Daily Record

A BLACK G.O.P.?

BLACK REPUBLICAN Ward Leader Lewis Harris, Jr. engages political mavens in an intense discussion of African Americans and Republican in Phila. He related with passion how “a fat white man I had never seen” (possibly Republican City Committee Counsel Mike Meehan) invaded Harris’ own building and broke up a meeting of Black Republicans Harris had organized without Meehan’s authorization.

Story inside.

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The Philadelphia Public Record

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Jun. 21Entry-level Job Fair at Zion Baptist Ch., 3600 N. Broad St., 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Over 209 confirmed employers.

Breakfast, lunch included. For info Jill Gromen (267) 4089027.

Jun. 221st annual Chick or Fish Fry hosted by Congressman Bob Brady, State Rep. Mark Cohen, Shirley Gregory and 49th Ward at Lou & Choo’s, 2101 W. Hunting Pk. Ave., 5-9 p.m. $10. For info Sonja Thomas (215) 200-6144, Ducky Birts (215) 510-1057, Teresa Tanner (267) 270-8088, Tommy Blackwell (215) 992-4425.

Make checks payable to Shirley Gregory/49th Ward, 5803 N. 12th St., Phila., PA 19141.

Jun. 22Cocktail reception for Joe Rooney, Republican 13th Dist. congressional candidate, hosted by Donna Parisi at A Child’s Place, 524 Sugartown Rd., Devon, Pa. Tickets $150$1,000. For info Maria Diezel (610) 430-0419.

Jun. 23William Dunbar campaign headquarters opening, 2302 E. Allegheny, noon to 5 p.m. Special guest lists includes Congressman Bob Brady, Sen. Christina Tartaglione, DA Seth Williams and Mayor Nutter,

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Jun. 24Celebration Of The Drum at Hatfield House, 33rd & Girard Ave., 12-7 p.m.

No cost. Bring your family, instruments, blankets or chairs.

Jun. 2714th annual Youth Anti Violence Health Awareness Initiative at Myers Rec Ctr., 58th & Kingsessing Ave., 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Free event.

Jun. 28Tom Matkowski’s GOP 65th Ward hosts fundraiser at Flukes Bar & Grill, 7401 State Rd., 6 p.m.

Tickets $40. For info (215) 2982251.

Jul. 7- Councilman Curtis Jones’ Block Captain Boot Camp at Belmont Picnic Grove, Belmont Ave. & Belmont Mansion Dr., 12-6 p.m. Workshops, picnic, games.

Jul. 21Fundraiser for State Rep. John Taylor in N. Wildwood at Coconut Cove, 400 W. Spruce Ave., N. Wildwood, N.J., 2-6 p.m. Cash Bar. For info (215) 545-2244.

Jul. 21Olney HS Class of 1979 Bowling Party at Liberty Lanes, 6505 Market St., Upper Darby, Pa., 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Cost $20. BYOB (beer or wine only).

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Toomey Disheartened

By Sugar-Reform Defeat US Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) expressed their disappointment in the Senate’s failure to pass a bipartisan amendment to the farm bill (S 3240) that would reform the US sugar program and reduce the cost of sugar. The amendment failed 46-53.

The amendment would: • Repeal the Feedstock Flexibility program, which will cost $193 million in the next 10 years. The program was added to the 2008 farm bill and requires the federal government to buy surplus sugar, which is then sold to ethanol companies at a loss.

• Repeal unnecessary trade restrictions, freeing up the Agriculture Secretary to increase sugar imports when domestic supplies do not meet demand.

• Give the USDA more flexibility in administering the import quota system, allowing qualifying countries to trade their quotas among each other, ensuring that American companies receive an adequate supply of sugar.

• Reform domestic supply restrictions, giving the

USDA more flexibility to modify or suspend marketing allotments. The 2008 bill set an artificial guarantee of 85% of consumption. This amendment would give the USDA more flexibility to determine how much sugar producers can sell.

• Eliminate higher price-support levels, reducing taxpayers’ liability. The 2008 bill increased loan rates, driving up prices for sugar-consuming industries.

“Today’s vote was a defeat for American consumers and American jobs and a victory for the deep-pocketed special interests,” Toomey said.

“The US sugar program is essentially a transfer of wealth from consumers, including the poorest Americans, to a handful of wealthy sugar producers. In this era of sky-rocketing deficits and stagnant economic growth, I am disappointed that my colleagues rejected a common-sense amendment that would save the US government $72 million and protect American manufacturing jobs. The American people deserve better.”

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Daily Waffles From Joe Sbaraglia (The Waffleman) FRANK’S SODA BOTTLING PLANT - was located at 6th & Moore Streets. It was a visual treat. You had to stop and look thru the windows whenever you went by the plant. It was hypnotic watching soda being bot-

tled. You were really watching a mechanical wonder at work. Did you ever wonder what Black Cherry Wishniak soda contained? Who cares? It was and still is, great.

3 BIG SALES WEEKLY

FROZEN BANANAS First the banana was peeled. A round stick was inserted into one end of the banana and the banana was then frozen. The frozen banana was dipped into melted chocolate, encasing it in a thick chocolate shell. The stick was used to hold the banana, of course. Once coated, the bananas were put in a little wax-paper bag and kept in the freezer until needed. Frozen bananas tasted great on a warm summer day. In fact they were great any time. They sold for ten cents at Nick’s candy store.

FUR REEL? - No kidding? For example: You got a new bike -fur-reel?

GAHB-A-GHOUL - Capicola. Italian ham used for sangwiches. Made in two varieties, sweet – with black pepper, or hot – with a really hot, powdered, red pepper.

To buy a copy of this book E-Mail Dwaffleman@aol.com

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Schwartz Plugs Obamacare After shunning the term “Obamacare”, which started out as an epithet hurled by Republicans against the Affordable Care Act, a decision has been reached by leading Democratic campaigners – in Pennsylvania at least – to wear it as a badge of honor.

On Tuesday, the Dept. of Health & Human Services published new data that show 91,000 young adults in Pennsylvania who would otherwise be uninsured remained covered on their family’s plan, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Nationwide, approximately 3.1 million young people have benefitted from the law, passed in March, 2010, which allows young adults under 26 to stay on their parents’ health-insurance plan. Democrats across Pennsylvania are touting the necessity of President Obama’s health-care reform.

breathe a sense of relief with the ability of young people to stay covered under age 26 on their parents’ health insurance plan,” said Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-Phila.). “Health reform, through this vital provision, has made a difference in the lives of middle-class families all across Pennsylvania.”

Before Obamacare, adult children would usually be kicked off the family plan when they turned 18 or graduated from school, but young adults often have entry level jobs that don’t provide health insurance. As a result, young people were the age group most likely to be uninsured. Under the health-care law, that’s changing. Obamacare requires insurance companies to allow young people to stay on their family health insurance until they turn 26, which has provided a critical bridge for millions of young people across the country.

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Fattah Hails Staley, Green For Title IX Anniversary Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-Phila.) issues this statement for the 40th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX on Jun. 23, 1972:

history. And between two winning seasons of 2110 and 28-4, Dawn carried the United States flag at opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics.

“This Saturday, Jun. 23, is the 40th anniversary of a revolution. And I want to mark the occasion by saluting two talented women athletes – Dawn Staley and Traci Green – from my home town of Philadelphia whose lives were profoundly impacted by that revolution.

“Traci Green, also a Philadelphia native, has been outstanding as a player, coach and teacher of competitive tennis. Since taking over as the Harvard University women’s-tennis coach in 2007, she has completely flipped a losing program into an Ivy League powerhouse. In 2009 she became the first African American coach in Harvard’s history to win a title. Traci, like Dawn, has a Temple connection, serving as the Owls’ assistant and head tennis coach and as an adjunct faculty member in Temple’s College of Education.

“Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 doesn’t actually mention women’s athletics. The law simply and totally barred discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity.

The impact of Title IX has been so profound and widespread that we can hardly remember the menfirst and men’s-only America that preceded it. But most visibly, Title IX turned women’s athletics from a poorly-resourced afterthought to virtual parity with men’s collegiate and scholastic athletics.

“Dawn Staley was two years old in 1972. Her entire career as a premier female basketball player, Olympian, coach, teacher and role model has occurred in the Title IX world. Dawn grew up in a poor neighborhood of Philadelphia and attended Dobbins Tech where she was named national high school player of the year. After starring at the University of Virginia and in professional leagues, Dawn returned to Philadelphia to become the most successful women’s coach in Temple University 6|

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“Dawn Staley and Traci Green are achievers of the highest order. But perhaps it is even more significant that while they are exceptional, they are not the exception. Title IX has smashed barriers, reordered our thinking about women’s roles in our society, and made such achievement possible for millions of women at every level of education and athletics.

“Challenges remain. Students who are mothers are often excluded from the protections of Title IX. Parity in resources and employment has not been fully achieved. And there are those still not reconciled to women’s equality in education who resort to the courts and legislatures to try and turn back the clock. But they are on the wrong side of history. Forty years forward. We’re not going back.”

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Pro-Lifers Welcome New Abortion-Clinic Regs This week, a new law, Act 122, takes effect to more properly and effectively regulate surgical abortion facilities.

That law, passed in December, requires that surgi‐ cal‐abortion facilities finally must meet guidelines and regulations under Pennsylvania’s Health Care Facilities Act; regulations that all other outpatient surgical facilities have been required to follow for many years. Additionally, the abortion centers face inspections – something that did not happen for more than 15 years – since the earliest days of the Ridge Administration.

This lack of oversight led to the decades of horrific practices at the Women’s Medical Society abor‐ tion center in West Philadelphia; where under gruesome conditions late‐term abortions were performed by Dr. Kermit Gosnell; teenagers ad‐

ministered anesthesia; and many women suffered bodily harm, disease and even death as a at the hands of Dr. Gosnell and his staff. Murder charges against the abortionist and other staffers ensued following a grand‐jury investigation.

“Now, at least the women that enter abortion clinics in Pennsylvania will have a greater degree of health and safety protections, even if the baby they’re carrying does not,” said Michael Geer of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

“The political cover provided to the abortion in‐ dustry from the highest levels of government had a high cost in human life, and in diminished re‐ spect for governmental officials whose first charge is to protect the safety of its citizens,” added Geer.

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City Nets 4 History Grants The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission has awarded four Keystone Historic Preservation grants to help historical and heritage organizations in Philadelphia.

Awarded were Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. ($25,000), Friends of Old Pine Street ($24,625), Friends of the Japanese House and Garden ($25,000) and Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church ($25,000) Keystone Historic Preservation Grants provide funding to support projects that identify, preserve, promote and protect historic and archaeological resources in Pennsylvania for both the benefit of the public and the revitalization of communities.

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Funding also supports municipal-planning initiatives that focus on historic resources or used to meet building or community specific planning goals. The program also supports construction activities at resources listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

These grants receive funding from the Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund, which is supported annually from a portion of the state realty-tax revenue.

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission is the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

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Butkovitz Alarmed By Police Camera Program City Controller Alan Butkovitz released an audit of Philadelphia’s Video Surveillance program that found the City spent $13.9 million for surveillance cameras but only 102 of the 216 installed cameras were functioning properly. This has resulted in a cost to the City of $136,000 per operating camera.

“The cost is exceedingly alarming, and outright excessive – especially when $13.9 million is equivalent to the cost of putting 200 new police recruits on our streets,” said Butkovitz.

“It’s extremely troubling to find only 102 of the 216 installed cameras were working properly,” said Butkovitz. “At any given time when crime is occurring around our City, only 47% of the cameras are able to capture criminal activity at camera locations.”

According to Butkovitz, the project has been plagued with problems from the beginning, starting with the assessment and risk phase. The audit also found an unsatisfactory performance from the selected vendor, which resulted in the City’s terminating the contract and placing the burden on the City’s limited resources to manage the surveillance cameras.

In addition, there was an absence of warranty in-

formation and maintenance records for cameras and other video surveillance equipment that was supposed to be maintained by the Office of Innovative Technology.

“Without proper documentation, the City could have paid for services that it already contracted for,” said Butkovitz. “We found numerous unopened boxes containing camera equipment at a warehouse and could not determine if the equipment was even compatible with the cameras currently installed.”

In January 2012, the City awarded $3.2 million in contracts for maintenance/service, supplies and installation of the video-surveillance cameras. And by the time those contracts were conformed the cost increased to $3.6 million. This is in addition to the initial $13.9 million already spent, and money that was awarded without evidence that it was really needed.

“To ensure that every city tax dollar is spent effectively and efficiently, the City needs to weigh the benefits against the cost for allocating an additional $3.6 million,” said Butkovitz. “It needs to update maintenance records for all cameras and determine if any of the current equipment can be put to immediate use.”

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Is Philadelphia Good For ‘Tech Bootstrapping’?

PHILA. GAME LAB FOUNDER NATHAN SOLOMON

by Nathan Solomon (EDITOR’S NOTE: Philadelphia Game Lab Founder Nathan Solomon posted the following to the Philly Startup Leaders listserv, generating a wide range of responses to his premise. Flying Kite ezine reprinted it and shared it with the Daily Record.)

This morning I had coffee with a venture-capital friend who lives in Philadelphia and commutes to NYC. He loves Philadelphia and is committed to living here; he would do whatever he can to help folks here. But, he said the same thing that every venture capitalist and knowledgeable startup person has said to me at one time or another about Philadelphia.

offered funding and takes it, that’s a bad thing (it’s definitely a very good thing); however, this city should brand itself as so good for bootstrapping that it has unique value that cannot be found in NYC or San Francisco or even Boston.

What can be done to support such a positioning?

First of all, it’s demonstrably true that Philadelphia is a great city to live in, as a night or weekend out will prove; with an incredibly dynamism at this point that is also borne out by the ubiquity of construction within the city. It’s also true that it’s much, much more viable here to either quit your day job and live cheaply or to have energy and focus to do something in your spare time here.

We are close to NYC, and everyone knowledgeable has contacts with funders and mentors there.

Hence, entities achieving funding are effectively NYC entities.

This city is also in a unique situation where our universities are so much larger a proportion of the economy than are the firms that grow from the city. Hence, we are uniquely weighted toward a population of smart young people, with a dearth of established businesses that are interesting enough to be compelling destinations for these kids. So, our position is that we have a lot of capable young people who would stay here if there were opportunities to do so.

What does that mean for this city, and those who are working to form new initiatives here? I would suggest that it demands an alternative starting point for evaluating health and scale of startup community. As effectively a “satellite campus” of NYC in terms of funded entities, we should emphasize bootstrapped entities, and reject the model of massive scalability (required by the conventional tech VC model), as the primary requirement of a tech startup. I’m not saying that if someone is

I’ve been thinking about this lately, in part part because folks have been asking me to persuade more small game companies to move to the region. I’m not sure how this all needs to shake out, but these are some initial thoughts. A great thing is that it’s not very expensive to support bootstrapping, and that any bootstrapped startup brought or built here has a fantastic effect beyond itself, as the smartest, most ambitious people remain part of the community, helping other initiatives to grow as well.

“There is no deal flow here worth speaking of.”

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Black Republicans: Do They Have A Future?

CARL DASH AND AUDRA BUTTS helped organize “Black Phila. & the Republican Party: A Dialogue”, an ongoing discussion series that has captured unusual attention in City of Brotherly Love this June.

by Tony West An ad hoc group has started a lively debate among Black Philadelphians about the relationship between African Americans and the Republican Party in this city.

The informal group, which calls itself “The Conversation Club”, has been conducting an intense online discussion which has drawn the attention of savvy political observers and activists in an otherwise-sleepy season as summer begins.

Last night, the Conversation Club packed the upstairs at Elena’s Soul Lounge in West Philadelphia’s hip Cedar Park neighborhood. A multiracial, bipartisan crowd responded to a thoughtful, diverse panel as it explored different aspects of

being Black, being Republican and being politically engaged in this city.

A core question was if it was good for Blacks to place all their eggs in one partisan basket, so to speak. While the city’s whites, Asians and Hispanics mostly register Democrat, there is a healthy Republican minority among them and a sense of political options. Black Philadelphians, on the other hand, monolithically register as Democrats.

Are their votes being taken for granted? Do African Americans lose key leverage as a result?

And do Democratic Party policies truly represent the diversity of values within the Black community?

Denise Clay, a columnist for the Philadelphia Public Record, said both as a journalist and as a Black, • PHILADELPHIADAILYRECORD.COM

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she refrains from committing to any party. “There are no permanent alliances, only permanent interests,” she noted coolly. However, she stated, city Republicans will find it hard to enlist local Blacks to their banner given the current tone of Movement Conservatives who currently dominate the party at the national level – a tone that is overtly disparaging of Black people and Black concerns, she said.

Clay was not alone in this view. A young Temple Democrat in the audience, Kadida Kenner, said, “Before I join a political party, I have to see people who look like me in that party.”

But two of the panelists, professional political campaign worker Randy Robinson and financial entrepreneur Sgt. Robert Alan Mansfield, described themselves as “natural conservatives” with a lifelong belief in religious and family values and work ethics they found the Republican Party speaks to. “I never asked the Republican Party what it could do for me; I’m only interested in what I can do for it,” he insisted.

Mansfield and John Featherman are both running for Congress as Republicans this fall. Like Featherman, another panelist, North Philadelphia Ward Leader Audra Butts is allied with the party faction that is loyal to the Republican State Committee and is trying to replace Mike Meehan’s inherited family leadership in the Republican City Committee with a new Chair, Rick Hellberg.

Featherman, who was the only white on the panel, charged the old RCC leadership had long dismissed any meaningful effort to recruit Blacks to the Republican Party. All the Black Republicans who attended the discussion agreed. “If we do not reverse this trend, by 2018 the Republican Party will disappear” in Philadelphia, Mansfield asserted.

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North Philadelphia Realtor Judith Robinson took a pragmatic, grass-roots approach to party affiliation. “I have registered as a Republican and also as a Democrat,” she noted. But she rejected the notion people from another part of the city, in either party, should show up at election season to “lead” her neighbors and her.

The Realtor’s position as a pragmatist with practical, local issues echoed that of many in the audience. Some, like powerful Laborers District Council Business Manager Ryan Boyer, said they have been willing to register as Republicans in the past. But Boyer said the wing of the Republican Party which is pushing a right-to-work agenda makes the party hard for him to swallow.

Other panelists countered by arguing labor unions overall discriminate against African Americans, so a nonunion labor market would benefit Blacks.

One criticized “union educators” – public schools – for delivering poor education to Black children and urged school vouchers, an idea backed by many Republicans.

Yet still others noted public-sector unions have long been a mainstay for the Black middle class and feared the present GOP assault on government jobs will harm their community.

The debate was thoughtful and at times impassioned. The evening ended with vows to continue the discussion on future dates.

Striking about the occasion: This was a bottom-up debate which sprang spontaneously from the street experiences of politically active Black Philadelphians. Republicans, Democrats, Greens or independents – all are ready to reexamine the traditional allegiances of African Americans and ask hard questions about what they are getting in return.

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PANELISTS were, from left, Sgt. Robert Alan Mansfield, a Republican businessman who is challenging Congressman Chaka Fattah in November; Audra Butts, a Republican businesswoman and N. Phila. ward leader; Randy Robinson, a Republican who does bipartisan professional campaign consultancy; Denise Clay, a political columnist for Phila. Public Record; Judith Robinson, a N. Philadelphia Realtor who has registered both as a Republican and a Democrat; and John Featherman, a real-estate investor who lives in Chinatown and is a frequent Republican candidate, now going against Congressman Bob Brady in the general election.

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