Recently on Young Philly Politics

If you want to get a stomach ache, I would encourage you to read the Inquirer's article on the money heavy, astroturf campaign on behalf of that most aggrieved product: Soda.

The food and beverage industry is mobilizing against Mayor Nutter's proposed tax on sweet drinks, with a rush of activity that has City Hall bracing for a "madhouse."

Lobbyists are buttonholing City Council members. Trade groups and the unions have locked arms. Industry ads are sprouting on the air and in print extolling the good corporate citizenship of soft-drink companies. The public has weighed in with hundreds of calls and e-mails.

The Inquirer neatly sums up the arguments lobbyists are making against the tax:

The tax will cost jobs. Working families can't afford it. It's a "money grab" by Nutter. Soft drinks alone don't cause obesity.

Let's take this one by one:

1. The tax will cost jobs.

What jobs will this hurt? The bottling plants? Sorry, I doubt it. Coca Cola bottles in Philadelphia, and sells to the region. People in Philly pay the tax, people outside don't. It is not as if Coke would have an incentive to move out of the city- the same consumption tax would still exist.

Futher, Philadelphia itself is only a small part of the region's market. You would also have to assume that people will not substitute their sugary drinks for other non-sugary, coke-bottled ones. If there is one thing I trust, it is that if they need to, American corporations will figure out how to make sure people buy other drinks.

2. Working families can't afford it.

If this tax is done right, this is the worst argument of them all. All sin taxes, like all sales taxes, are regressive. Does that mean we should eliminate cigarette taxes? Of course not.

3. It's a "money grab" by Nutter.

Money grab? Ha ha ha ha. I really hope the lobbyists make this their center piece. We do all understand there is a deficit, right? And we either raise money or we can shut libraries, lay-off people, close after school programs and pools, and a lot of other stuff. We can argue about whether this is a good tax or well designed or whatever, but, the money has to come from somewhere.

4. Soft drinks alone don't cause obesity.

And Eddie Jordan didn't alone ruin the Sixers. Who cares?

Now, there is a legitimate argument that the way the tax is designed, as a BPT add-on, is not smart. I get that. But does that mean it will not work at all? I don't think so. I would expect that almost instantly, the price in vending machines would go up, the price in gas stations would go up, etc. But, I do get the argument, and I wonder if there is a better way to do this?

The article, however, is most focused on what is about to happen in the city. Lobbyists will write checks to Councilpeople, the teamsters will pack a hearing, letters will come in (and they have, many supposedly not from city addresses), and we will see commercials about poor, poor, poor soda:

Poor soda. I just want to go give you a hug and protect you, you aggrieved individual!

And hey, the ad has a point. As it says, "taxes never made anyone healthy." Right?

Several studies have examined the effects of state cigarette tax increases on youth substance use over the 1990s, with most -- but not all -- finding that higher taxes reduce youth consumption of tobacco... Our most consistent finding is that -- contrary to some recent research -- the large state tobacco tax increases of the past 15 years were associated with significant reductions in smoking participation and frequent smoking by youths.

Oh, right.

We don't often see such clear floods of money into the city, at least on such a short-term, blast basis. But rather than every lobbyist with their hand out, and rather than an ex-Mayor waiving around an empty soda bottle, let's deal with reality:

1) Soda is really bad for you, and
2) We need money, so...
3) We are taxing soda.

The flood of money that is about to rain down on our city is not proof that this is a bad idea, but simply a clear display of the festering toothache of our political system.

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While most eyes are focused on the HCR debate right now, there is another high-stakes legislative issue waiting in the wings. For those whose families and communities are impacted by the problematic immigration system, immigration reform is as crucial as anything else on the Democratic agenda.

But right now, immigrants and advocates are wondering whether immigration reform is even on the agenda of Democrats in Congress and the White House, notwithstanding Candidate Obama’s promise to make immigration reform a top priority during his first year in office.

That’s why I was happy to see the Inquirer’s editorial about the DREAM Act over the weekend.

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On Sunday, Monica Yant Kinney wrote a shocking story about the locals who make Bucks County's Parx Casino so "profitable." According to Parx, most of their clients live within a 20 mile radius of Street Road and come 3-4 times a week, losing $25-$30 a trip.

Today we get to meet one of Parx's regulars: a former construction worker who was sidelined due to injury but now has found his new profession as a casino player.

Anderson lives five minutes from the Bensalem slots box, which raked in $400 million in profit last year in a recession. Proximity, plus free valet parking, has turned the unemployed cement mason into a casino operator's dream.

Anderson, 31, pops in for 90 minutes here, three hours there. He plays to relax and to kill time when his kids are in school. He plays late at night when he can't sleep or at dawn while his wife dozes.

Anderson views playing the slots as a profession, a flextime job he can do in sweats while smoking.

"I treat it like a business," he tells me after we meet at the casino. "If this is what I have to do to make money, this is what I have to do."

Problem is that Anderson doesn't realize Steve Wynn's favorite quote: The only way to beat the house is to be the house.

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To paraphrase the Daily News' Catherine Lucey, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority says we'd save $13-$15 million annually if we eliminated four independent row offices and moved their functions to other city agencies or the court system.

The queenpin of one such office, the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, announced her resignation yesterday.

Mayor Nutter, you're on: the time to do the right thing is now.

Eliminate this and other unnecessary positions/offices and spend the savings on things Philadelphians actually need like safe schools and clean streets.

By the way, check out Committee of 70's recommendation to eliminate six unnecessary elected offices.

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1. Today’s front page Inquirer story on the chaos at South Philly High School on Dec. 3: The chaos and trauma that gripped South Philly High is front and center - as is the leadership of SPHS principal LaGreta Brown. From before 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the school day, Brown knew of multiple attacks on Asian immigrant students and a school in crisis and largely failed to act.

   What the story missed: The day after the violence on Dec. 3rd, the Principal sent home a letter to parents that began: "As you may have heard in the news, an incident occurred at dismissal, outside of South Philadelphia High School on Thursday, December 3, 2009." The letter not only brings into question the principal's judgement that day but in the days following when Brown engaged in questionable conduct as public scrutiny increased. LaGreta Brown may have entered a challenging situation at SPHS when she arrived, but her lack of leadership, action and subsequent acceptance of responsibility has resulted in a challenging school becoming a dangerous and fractious place for all students there - Asian immigrant students in particular - and a national embarassment for the School District.

2. Where’s the apology?: The claim that Asian students attacked a disabled African American child was an explosive allegation first uttered by Supt. Arlene Ackerman in her first remarks on the S. Philly incident almost a week after the attacks:
   

   "What began as an unwarranted off-campus attack on a disabled African American student, quickly escalated into a retaliatory multi-racial attack on primarily Chinese students at the school the following day." (School Reform Commission hearing, Dec. 9, 2009)

   This allegation generated confusion, heightened racial tension, and fueled suspicion citywide. And it was completely unsubstantiated, according to a recent District investigation. In fact, the report raised the likelihood that there’s a totally different version of events than the one Dr. Ackerman put out – that it was in fact Asian immigrant kids who were beaten. It would seem imperative to call for a response from the superintendent who uttered the accusation in the first place. Thus far, Dr.Ackerman has taken a convenient "case closed, move forward" approach. It’s convenient because it doesn’t accept her role in fanning the flames and heightening confusion and suspicion through hearsay and rumor rather than encouraging a thorough inquiry into what led up to the attacks.

   The high road would be to apologize. Instead, there is a deafening silence.

3. Predatory gambling and the call to revoke Foxwoods license: Today Buzz Bissinger joined the call to revoke Foxwoods’ license. The problem is that while fed-up with the mess, the author, like others, simply says rebid the license at another location to foist the miserable process and even more miserable outcome on other neighborhoods – missing the point that it’s the larger city that suffers.

   Just read Monica Yant Kinney’s column today on the gambling at Parx casino:

   Inside the smoke-filled slots box, much of what casino bosses took for granted has changed. Gone are the days of wooing "whales" and dissing grannies in fanny packs. Parx president Dave Jonas says his revenue comes almost exclusively from local low rollers.

   "We underestimated significantly how many trips our customers were going to make," Jonas said at last month's Pennsylvania Gaming Congress in Valley Forge.

   "When I was in Atlantic City, to have 12 to 15 trips out of customers, they were VIPs," Jonas said. At Parx, "it's not uncommon for us to have 150 to 200 trips."

   Moderator Michael Pollock, a well-regarded casino analyst, paused to digest the statistic.

   "You said 150 to 200 times a year," he repeated. "That's three to four times a week, essentially."

   "Yes," Jonas confirmed, most of his players fit that profile. In fact, because Parx players tend to live within 20 miles of Street Road, many go even more frequently.

   "We have customers," Jonas boasted, "who give us $25, $30 five times a week."

   Is there any question that localized gambling is anything less than predatory? The message around Foxwoods is not to revoke the license so we can surround Philadelphia with yet another of these bottom feeding industries. The message is to revoke the license period and rethink gambling in this city and the Commonwealth. Anything less is just playing power politics rather than protecting the real needs of communities and people throughout our region.

4. Steve Wynn: There’s no doubt that the Foxwoods fiasco continues on its downhill slide with Steve Wynn angling to gain his way in. As anti-Philadelphia as he is, Wynn is correct on this end – with predatory gambling we have struck a pact with the "dark side" so to speak – a dark side that’s on full display below (thanks to Roxbury News). And as long as city leaders keep that pact, they’ll reap what they sow.
   

   Steve Wynn Reveals Shocking Ignorance from Ron Stanford on Vimeo.

And not to be a complete sourpuss, I have to say it’s pretty darn cool that Vincent Chin – whose murder politicized a generation of Asian American activists around anti-Asian violence – made the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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“We have completed our underwriting review and are sorry to advise that we must decline your request for insurance coverage…We regret that we are unable to consider based on medical history as noted in your medical records”

I received this letter in the mail from Independence Blue Cross nearly 9 weeks after applying for coverage. As I roll over in bed, nearly two feet of snow lie on the ground and lying on my side trying to fall back asleep, my hand brushes over my chest and I feel it flutter and stop. Thud, thud, th-thud, stop…thud. My heart erratically beats on as my mind scrambles with anxiety. “Jesus, why is this happening to me” I lament, as I wonder if this will be the day that it does not restart.

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Mayor Nutter's "Keep Philly Clean" program is a noble attempt to plug Philadelphia's gaping budget deficit, but it doesn't fit the bill of a City striving to become the "Greenest City in America" - a title Philadelphia's Sustainability Office is eager to earn. As Nutter outlined in a public address yesterday, Philadelphia seeks to fix the deficit problem by charging residents a weekly $5.77 trash fee and offering discounts at area stores to residents who recycle.

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Yesterday I joined Coalition of Essential Services in attending the Mayor’s budget address. Quick thoughts (and not in any way speaking for CES who I hope posts here):

On the upside, Mayor Nutter acknowledged the work of many Philadelphians, including Coalition of Essential Services, saying that for those fighting to preserve core services for the most vulnerable of Philadelphians, “we heard you then and we hear you now.”

“We can’t cut our way out of this deficit . . . it is a path we must avoid.”

He said that the budget largely preserved core services, restored pools and re-emphasized that not a single library, rec center or health clinic would close. He talked about hunger and the “pain” of everyday Philadelphians struggling. He highlighted the work of his administration, and I was particularly impressed with L&I’s work on reducing response time. And I was impressed that he apologized for past mistakes:

“I ask for your forgiveness for my mistakes. I am trying hard each and everyday . . . “

On the downside:

• The Mayor promised not only that he wouldn’t cut services, but that he wouldn’t raise taxes so . . . I guess that gets us what we largely got in this budget, keeping things mostly the same for the wealthiest and the poorest and squeaking in on a few taxes.

• The trash tax: regressive and a missed opportunity. Basically it’s $300 or $200 per household depending on your income with some possibility for other unclear arrangements. We’ll get a notice in the mail for a separate bill (rather than have it worked into say a property tax), we have 60 days to pay and then interest will accrue? Rrrright. Second, it’s a missed opportunity because it doesn’t even have a message about curtailing trash consumption. A pay–as-you-go program – which I am familiar with – at least would distinguish between a frat house that holds weekly keg parties from a single senior on a fixed income (read more at Its Our Money)

• No mention of education at all other than a brief reference at the beginning that we have an education system where too many fall through the cracks. He spoke about literacy (but mostly adult literacy) and truancy. Maybe in a state-run system this is where we are, but the Mayor in the past has always made sure that public schools were front and center for everyone. It’s a shame to see education and our public schools fall off the radar even in a budget address (or from my viewpoint, especially in a budget address).

In the end, I was underwhelmed rather than angered or fired up. Partly because I think the Mayor started off with aspirations, with acknowledgement about the role and need of good government for people in the worst of economic times. He had a much more human and compassionate projection than we’ve seen in a long time. And he has said repeatedly that we are in the worst of economic crises.

So, given all of that . . . this is it? Soda and trash taxes and everything else largely the same hanging on by the skin of our teeth? I mean why not a latte tax? Seems all rather arbitrary and tip-toeing to not offend entrenched interests.

What sort of leadership message is here? In Ken Burns’ awesome National Parks documentary, the historian reminds us that in the midst of the Great Depression, the U.S. invested in parks and in the process created one of the most important national treasures and remade and expanded on our notion of democracy. He reminded us that looking back on crisis can be a recognition of opportunity and investment, not in the usual exploitive way as Naomi Klein has documented in the Shock Doctrine, but in the best of ways from "our better angels" as Mayor Nutter said.

I am grateful that the Mayor acknowledges the importance of core services and largely avoided cuts, but without a stronger message on cleaning up city government, tackling tax abatements and the property tax mess, and addressing a share the pain message with our largest businesses, we're just tiding ourselves over while a whole lot of stuff is devolving through passive inaction.

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After the City and Penn Praxis invested so much time, effort, and resources into putting together a publicly-supported plan for the Central Delaware waterfront, prospective waterfront tenant Steve Wynn, who wants to buy the Foxwoods project and its much criticized South Philly site, sent the wrong message yesterday in Harrisburg:

"The waterfront is horribly ugly in that place," said Wynn, who walked the casino lot on Tuesday night. "You couldn't do any more damage to it if you set it on fire."

Mr. Environmental Sensitivity also said the only way he'd agree to build the hotel that was part of the approved Foxwoods deal was if he got access to even more waterfront property, suburban sprawl-style. Seems like he doesn't believe that urban architecture should build up instead of out.

The funny thing is this makes it easier for the Gaming Control Board to do the right thing.

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At the of today's Daily News editorial, The Return of Muddy Waters, the paper calls for its readers to take action. Did you agree? Great. Take action. Here. Obviously, Clean Water Action agrees.

Here's an excerpt from the editorial in case you haven't read it yet:

The Clean Water Act was designed to cover all the nation's water.

This is the only interpretation that makes sense - that is, if you're not a polluter. You can't really protect "navigable waters" if you can dump poisons into their tributaries.

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Hey Seth, did you see this article in the Inky?

Police arrest 18 teens in Center City melee

By Sam Wood and Allison Steele

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Police arrested 18 juveniles for disorderly conduct this afternoon after a large group of teens became unruly in Center City, police said.

Store owners on the 1400 block of Chestnut Street called police about 4:15 p.m. after a large fight broke out near a CVS drug store, said Lt. Frank Vanore, police spokesman.

Vanore said the teens also could be charged with riot.

"We're trying to charge them with the highest charges we can bring," he said.

[There's some back-story that relates to this post. Click here for that.]

Um, that's a really bad idea. Did they really need to arrest these kids? It surely can't help the situation.

If these kids have been arrested, doesn't that mean they're coming your way next? To your reformed charging unit?

I sure hope someone smart, like you, calls an end to the hysteria. According to KYW News Radio, there are plans to bring down federal charges for rioting.

Also according to the article, the police are reassigning cops to patrol Center City permanently. Instead of doing that, could we reassign the money that would have been spent on cops to creating some constructive programming for kids instead?

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Mary Hoeffel, Joe's daughter, wrote a great letter that we emailed to supporters this morning, and I wanted to share it with you.

Not much I can add to what she said, but I hope you will read Mary's letter, sign up for emails at eepurl.com/isIt, and donate on Act Blue.

Disclaimer: I work on Joe Hoeffel's campaign.

Claimer: I'd passionately support him in any case, as he's a true progressive with 30+ years of fighting for the causes I believe in.

Problem: Teen kids make trouble in Center City after school. Here’s the Inky’s report on what happened:

About 150 students, many still in their school uniforms, met at the Gallery, at 9th and Market streets, about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, but were soon kicked out by security guards, Bethel said.

From there, he said, the students rushed west on Market, through the crowds, knocking people down and causing panic.

The band of teens headed to Macy's at 13th and Market, where they vandalized fixtures, causing an estimated $700 in damage, Bethel said.
The teens then headed to 15th Street and JFK Boulevard and started throwing snowballs at one another, bystanders and cars. Most of those who were arrested were picked up there.

Solution? Here's what's so far been suggested by the School District, the police, members of Council and other electeds:

• Sue Facebook
• Change student Transpass rules to force all District students to be home by 4:30
• Hunt them down and lock ‘em up
• More police in Center City and at the Gallery
• Expel offending kids from school

Yeah.

These responses are hysterical and indicate not just shameless grand-standing but also a fundamental lack of responsibility.

The real solution to teenagers acting out is simple: Give them something constructive to do.

Like a job. Like arts programming at schools. Like sports. Like a rec center with decent programming. Like libraries that are open till 7 PM every day.

And the other thing that would help in this matter: increase parent support programming. Better skilled parents equal better behaved kids.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't think anyone in power has talked publicly about these kinds of solutions.

The responses that have been offered thus far are punitive measures that are unfair (in the case of transpasses), illogical (in the case of blaming “social networking sites”), and counter-productive (in the case of our criminal justice system, especially for youth on the verge of adulthood or expulsion).

Even more discouraging, the vitriolic response to a simple problem indicates a lack of priorities or a sense of what responsible spending is.

We can mobilize millions of dollars in police overtime when we need to flood the Gallery with cops. But why, year after year, can we not find the money to adequately fund the kind of programming that would serve our city’s teenagers?

Why can’t we find the money for the kinds of family support programs—like those offered at Settlement Houses—to help parents and kids improve their relationships? Why can’t we fix DHS? Why don't we have a higher high-school graduation rate?

If we looked at the real solutions to the problems teens can cause en mass, we could reduce violence and crime. And we could increase the chances that today’s students can be tomorrow’s successful contributors to the local economy.

Something to think about as we wait for the Mayor's budget address on Thursday.

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No other city is so loved and hated as is Philadelphia. We are praised as the birthplace of freedom and as the City of Brotherly Love. Yet, we are also seen as backwards and inferior to our bigger companions (Think NYC…). Yet, I proudly proclaim that Philadelphia is the greatest city in the world. It’s time for Philadelphia to be seen as it ought to be. A city of Champions. A city with a culture all its own. A world-class city with the best sports fans in the entire world.

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"Justice is what love looks like in public." - Cornell West

Thursday night as the northwest wind blew across the Delaware Valley with a sad fierce voice, Jonathan Schmidt passed away in Drexel Hill, PA surrounded by his family. Jonathan was 36 years old and for the past 17 months had been courageously battling cancer.

Jonathan was the founder of the First Suburbs Project, an organization I have been honored to work for since September. The First Suburbs Project is a regional coalition of churches, non-profits, and municipalities from the inner ring suburbs outside of Philadelphia. We work together to affect policies that will lead to the revitalization of towns such as Upper Darby, Norristown, Chester and Bristol, which face similar problems of diminishing economic investment, racial and economic segregation, declining infrastructure, concentrated levels of poverty, and struggling school districts.

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Let me draw you a picture of the subject of a news story:

• You grew up in old school, machine driven Philadelphia politics. Your dad worked in the machine, and you were largely handed a major election victory by those ties.
• You are powerful. At this point, you have the ability to yield more political clout than all but a few others in the city. Some are aiming for your hold on the throne.
• You have held onto your seat as a woman, in a city of male dominated politics, which is no small feat. Especially considering that you did it at a time when the power dynamic of the sexes was even more out of whack than today.
• You have served for a long, long time. At 78 years old, you have been a politician here as Philadelphia has gone through a significant decline in population, growth in the numbers of those in poverty, and the mixed re-birth of the last 15 years.
• The district you have represented that whole time, however, has had significant trouble. Some of the neighborhoods in your district- including the one where you are also the ward leader- have had more murders per capita than almost anywhere else, in this already too violent city. Those same neighborhoods are rife with the depravation that is the hallmark of America’s worst hit neighborhoods.

You are Anna Verna, City Council President.

I go through that all because the Inquirer ran a piece on the storied career of Councilwoman Verna yesterday, and, while a good read, it left something to be desired by focusing mostly on how Councilwoman Verna runs City Council, while ignoring the other huge story: what has gone on in the last 40 years in the neighborhoods that she represents.

Meet city employee No. 1.

She first made the news in 1954, when a Philadelphia Evening Bulletin column noticed "a pretty working girl" with a passion for TV crime dramas and an aversion to pasta. Back then she was secretary to District Attorney Richardson Dilworth, an icon of reform in Philadelphia.

With 59 years on the payroll, City Council President Anna Cibotti Verna today is not merely the longest-serving worker out of 27,000. She has occupied the second-most-powerful position in city government for more than a decade, a regal fixture in the president's ornate chair.

The nine-term incumbent is almost universally praised as fair-minded, hardworking, and "classy." She has never known a close election, from her first Council race in 1975.

The article gives you the perspective of whether or not Councilwoman Verna is a 'good' or 'bad' Councilperson, and/or President of City Council. There are judgments about how she actually runs Council (which the article has a lot of), and what veryimportantpeople think about her. There is one on the record, negative quote, and it is from (of course) John Dougherty. (Which can continue the Hatfield-McCoy, Doc v. Fumo South Philly battle royale that continues to produce good copy, despite Fumo taking a state sanctioned break from politics, and Dougherty trying to regroup and rebuild his political cache after a big political loss.)

While it is totally legitimate and important to identify how good or bad or effective of a Council President Anna Verna is, I think that the story is too much grounded in the palace intrigue of City Hall. In fact, the only real quote we hear from someone in the neighborhoods that she represents is this:

She's regarded as a savior in this community - she's the catalyst and the glue keeping us together.

I don’t know how that quote, from one of her ward leaders, even gets into a newspaper story without some sort of counterbalance. But, I assure you that on the streets of Point Breeze, or in pockets of SW Philly destroyed by poverty, drugs and guns, neither she nor any other local politician is regarded as the savior of the community. I would wager that despite her position as Councilperson and Ward Leader, many people don’t even know who she is. That isn't a knock against her so much as a simple reality of where we are as a city and a nation. Given the depth of issues that face people in their everyday lives, a city politician is simply not viewed by people as a "savior."

All of this isn’t to say that Councilwoman Verna isn’t a good President of City Council or Councilperson. The few "insider-ish" progressives I have heard rumblings from seem to think that, at minimum, she gives them a fair shake. Frankly, I don’t know enough about what goes on in that building to know. But, she is the Councilperson of neighborhoods (and Ward Leader of the neighborhood) that probably have had more young men killed by guns than just about anywhere else in the city. And, of course, as these neighborhoods have fallen into despair, she has been their representative. It would be really interesting to hear how an older, well-off, white politician struggles through the profound issue of how she best represents neighborhoods where the number one cause of death among young African-American men is a bullet.

To say that a single Councilperson in a single American City- even a powerful one- is not responsible for the overwhelming waves of suburbanization, redlining, drugs, and urban disinvestment that so devastated neighborhoods, would be the understatement of the century. But these still are her neighborhoods, and have been for so, so long. So how she- and we- grapple with these issues is the real story to me.

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OK, are people seriously saying this man will save Foxwoods or confirm its smarmimess and ludicrousness? or are those two the same thing these days?

The man who once said: "Las Vegas is sort of like how God would do it if he had money" is trying to ooze his way into Philadelphia charming us natives with lines like:

• "It's not going to be a hotel. It’s going to be the cutest casino that you’ve ever seen."

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It’s hard to look at the findings of the District’s independent investigation into the December 3rd violence at South Philadelphia High School without significant shock and outrage. (Read the full report at the Notebook). After all, this was an incident in which more than two dozen Asian immigrant students were assaulted throughout the day in multiple attacks which sent 13 youth to the hospital at a school with a documented history of violence in general and against Asian immigrant students in particular.

Yet nearly three months after the December 3rd violence, we have a report that – while providing some insight – mostly sets us right back where we were before: with glaring discrepancies between accounts of student victims and witnesses and findings which appear to absolve the District of any responsibility. The investigation was based on interviews with only a fraction of student victims and witnesses and contained vague innuendos that served to distract from the main question: could the school/District have done anything differently to avoid or minimize the assaults?

A Frightening Analysis
The report confirms widespread violence on Dec. 3rd that began first thing in the morning and was well known to school officials.

Before 9 a.m. a student was attacked in a classroom (p. 6: previous testimony indicated that more than a dozen students had rushed into a classroom as part of an attack on an Asian student where, among other things, they threw a desk on top of him). By mid-morning there was a "surge" of 30-40 students whose "probable . . . intent was not benevolent" (p. 11) into a hallway while school staff frantically moved Asian students into classrooms. Security footage documented a "wave of 60-70 students" (p. 12) in the lunchroom hallway "surging forward" toward an attack on a small group of Asian students (p. 13). School police detained three to five students who had dragged an Asian girl down the stairwell by her hair (p. 15). After school, more than a dozen Asian students, most of whom required medical attention, were attacked by 20-40 students with more than 100 onlookers surrounding them (p. 23).

And yet, at no point does the report question the actions of school officials.

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The headline is "Nutter scales back public input on budget." More at this link:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/85022142.html

Here's a preview:

This year, though, the Nutter administration has sharply curtailed citizen involvement in the budgeting process, though the fiscal challenges remain huge.

Nutter's 2009-10 budget address was preceded by five months of town-hall meetings, public workshops, news conferences, and open strategy sessions.

But the first public event on Nutter's schedule to highlight the 2010-11 budget was an address last week to the Chamber of Commerce.

Look for the quote from Stan.

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(cross-posted from Daily Kos) I'm generally cautious by nature. I've often gone with the "most electable" and "more moderate" Dem candidate in primaries because I don't want to risk losing a key district or statewide office. But I'm planning to vote for Joe Hoeffel for governor in the primary. I expect to support the Democratic nominee even if it's not Hoeffel, but Joe Hoeffel is my first choice. My reasons go beyond him being the only Democrat running who supports full marriage equality. I think Hoeffel has the best position on several major issues and is showing more leadership on those issues.

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