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Features & More
Pennsylvania state agency point persons on federal stimulus funds include:
Office of Administration
Rosa Lara at 717-214-7949 Ra-oastimulus@state.pa.us
Aging
Ray Prushnok at 717-783-1550 rprushnok@state.pa.us
Agriculture
Dennis Hall at 877-475-2686 denhall@state.pa.us
Arts Council
Phillip Horn at 717-787-1530 phorn@state.pa.us
Or
Brian Rogers at 717-783-2539 brogers@state.pa.us
Banking
Paul Wentzel at 717-787-2112 pwentzel@state.pa.us
Community & Economic Development
John P. Blake at 717-720-1346 johnpblake@state.pa.us
Or
Bryce Maretzki at 717-720-1379 bmaretzki@state.pa.us
Conservation and Natural Resources
Susan Felker at 717-772-9087 sfelker@state.pa.us
Corrections
Timothy S. Ringler at 717-975-4897 tringler@state.pa.us
Commission on Crime & Delinquency
Michael Kane at 717-705-0888 mikane@state.pa.us
Education
Mike Walsh at 717-214-5972 ra-stimulus-pse@state.pa.us
Emergency Management Agency
Robert Anspach at 717-651-2379 roanspach@state.pa.us
Environmental Protection
Kelly Heffner at 717-783-8727 kheffner@state.pa.us
Fish & Boat Commission
Brian Barner at 717-705-7902 bbarner@state.pa.us
General Services
James Creedon or Beverly Hudson 717-787-5996 gs-secretary@state.pa.us
Health
Michael Huff at 717-783-8804 Healthstimulus@state.pa.us
Office of Health Care Reform
Amy Kelchner at 717-346-8379 akelchner@state.pa.us
Historical & Museum Commission
Jason Gerard at 717-346-3351 jgerard@state.pa.us
Insurance
Randy Rohrbaugh at 717-783-5079 rrohrbaugh@state.pa.us
Labor & Industry
Neil Cashman at 717-705-5866 RA-LI-PolicyPlanning@state.pa.us
Miliatary & Veterans Affairs
Shannan D. Zerance at 717-861-8479 szerance@state.pa.us
PennVest
Paul Marchetti at 717-783-4496 pmarchetti@state.pa.us
State Employment Retirement System
Brain Carl at 717-720-4690 bcarl@state.pa.us
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
Holly Glauser-Abel at 717-780-3994 hglauser@phfa.org
Public Utilities Commission
Karen Moury at 717-772-8883 kmoury@state.pa.us
Public Welfare
ML Wernecke Or Bethann Smetak 717-787-2600 ra-stimulus-dpw@state.pa.us
Revenue
Dan Hassell at 717-783-3683 Chassell@state.pa.us
State, Department of
Thomas J. Weaver at 717-787-3796 thomweaver@state.pa.us
State Police
Jon D. Kurtz at 717-783-5567 jonkurtz@state.pa.us
Transportation
January 7, 2010
Girard College Hosts MLK Day of Service Signature Event
This year Girard College, in Fairmount, will host Philadelphia’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service signature event on January 18, for a reason that is linked to the school’s history and is close to the hearts of many area residents.
The private boarding school serves low-income students, the majority of which are African American and female. But that wasn’t always the case. Forty-five years ago Dr. King came to Girard to join what would become one of this city’s defining Civil Rights struggles – the fight to integrate the school that until then served only white male youth.
“We stayed there seven months and 17 days,” recalled Nicetown resident and activist Kenneth Salaam. “At the time it was the longest protest in the United States.”
Salaam, or “Freedom Smitty” as he was then called, was one of thousands who camped outside the school in 1965 and marched around its great walls everyday. But the protestors weren’t alone. Lots of police were there too.
Ed Burnley was a rookie when his entire academy class drew duty as around-the-clock guards outside the wall.
“They took me out of the Academy directly there,” he said. “I guess you could say we didn’t even complete the Academy before they sent us there.”
Burnley came to police work from the military. Salaam dropped out of high school at the age of 14 to become a freedom fighter. Both men struggled against racism. Yet for months they occupied opposite sides of a fight that took decades to unfold.
The push to integrate Girard College began as early as 1950 when Raymond Pace Alexander, a prominant African American lawyer and Philadelphia City Councilman, sought a court order to open the school to non-whites.
That legal battle continued for many years, but a decade after the landmark Supreme Court Brown Vs. Board of Education decision in 1954, which determined “separate but equal” schooling was unconstitutional, Girard was still for whites only.
In the spring of 1965 Cecil B. Moore, leader of the Philadelphia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, decided to take direct action. Salaam was a part of that effort. The plan was to meet at the school at dawn on the first of May and go over the wall.
“No African American was allowed in Girard College unless they were doing menial work,” Salaam recalled. [Going over the wall would directly confront that policy.] “But little did I know there were people called informants.”
When he and the rest of the dawn protest team got there, there were a thousand police surrounding the school. The entire wall was barricaded.
So the plan changed. And the action became a seven month standoff designed to raise awareness and put public pressure on the Board of City Trusts, which managed the school. The message was straightforward: it is not okay to have a segregated school in the middle of an African American neighborhood.
“It became a national issue,” Salaam recalled. “The idea was to keep walking around the wall. Keep walking around the wall just to let them know.”
Ed Burnley came to his post at Girard College after serving on military bases in the south and west where he experienced discrimination just doing his job. He was refused service in restaurants in the south, he had to watch a burning KKK cross from his radar base in Nebraska, and although his cohort at the Philadelphia Police Academy was largely African American, dealing with the racism of some white officers was part of the job, he said.
For Burnley there wasn’t much action at the Girard assignment because the protestors were so well organized and peaceful. On the surface it was your typical rookie experience – lots of joking and laughing. But as a neighborhood resident whose foster mother and other family members were part of the protests, the hardest part about the Girard assignment was how much it truly meant to him.
“My biggest problem was crossing that marching line and knowing that it was wrong,” he said. “Because I grew up looking at that college.”
And he might have gone there but for the school’s admissions policy.
When Dr. King came to Girard College in August of 1965 he spoke about how sad it was that the school used walls to keep non-whites out. And he said they would crumble like the walls of Jericho.
It wasn’t until 1968 that the courts finally ordered Girard to open its doors to non-whites, and in 1974 Charles Hicks (son of the late Marie Hicks of Germantown) became the first African American to graduate from the school. Ten years later another legal battle finally opened the school to girls in 1984.
These days Girard is still experiencing firsts. In October the school hired Autumn Joy Adkins as its president. She is both the first African American and the first woman to hold that post.
In 2006 Salaam, who was arrested close to 20 times during the Girard College protest, returned to the school. He was invited back to speak to the students.
“I was sad. I had tears in my eyes,” he said. “I told them that the sacrifices that we made for them left them no room to fail. Failure to them is not an objective at all.”
Chestnut Hill resident Todd Bernstein, the president of Global Citizen, which runs the Philadelphia Day of Service programs, thought Salaam and Burnley’s story and the school’s history made Girard College the perfect place to headquarter the Day of Service events this year. Every year since the first Day of Service in 1996, the Philadelphia programs commemorating Dr. King’s life and work have been the most extensive in the country. Last year there were more than 65,000 participants across the city.
Salaam and Burnley and several others who were involved with the 1965 protests will participate in the Girard College events on and around January 18. The activities on January 18 will include hundreds of community service projects, a health fair and a civic engagement exposition aimed at spurring volunteer action all year round. This is part of a new program from Global Citizen called MLK 365.
Salaam, who marched with King across the state of Mississippi in 1966, was especially encouraged by the year-round focus.
“They have taken Dr. King’s dream and made it a reality,” he said. “I love the 365 because Dr. King didn’t fight for just a day, it was his life.”
To sign up for the Day of Service call 215-242-9070 or visit www.mlkdayofservice.org.
Dec. 11, 2009
State Rep. Parker to Hold Expert Testimony in Sexual Assault Cases Hearing on Dec. 17
State Rep. Cherelle Parker, (D., 200th District), will discuss the use of expert testimony in sexual assault cases at a public hearing starting 3 p.m., Thursday, December 17 at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Brossman Center’s Benbow Hall, 7301 Germantown Avenue.
Parker plans to re-introduce legislation in the state House that would allow an expert to provide testimony in sexual assault cases regarding any recognized form of post-traumatic distress order and counterintuitive behavior on the part of a victim.
"Pennsylvania is the only state that bans expert testimony about behaviors of sexual assault victims," Parker said. "Our state supreme court has maintained that a sex crimes expert's testimony improperly bolsters the credibility of the victim and is therefore inadmissible. I find that ridiculous, since it allows for jurors who may not have the background to determine what is behind certain behaviors and actions displayed by victims. Because many jurors may not be trained to make those determinations, I truly believe this process violates the victims twice. It is incumbent upon lawmakers to ensure that doesn't happen, ever."
Parker said the court has ruled that jurors can determine if a witness is telling the truth and has determined that there is no need for expert testimony addressing issues about post-traumatic stress or other common disorders in reaction to trauma.
"I believe this legislation is needed to provide jurors with the proper context in which to evaluate a victim's behavior and overcome myths and misunderstandings about the behavior of victims in sexual crimes," Parker said. "It is time to move past this outdated ban and provide victims with the help they need to bring their perpetrators to justice and move on with their lives."
Public participation is encouraged at this event.
For more information call Rep. Parker’s Constituent Office, 1536 Wadsworth Avenue, at 215-242-7300 or her Harrisburg office at 717-783-2178.
Nov. 19
Editor’s note: “Mostly Nothing Happens” was sent to publisher Jim Foster in response to his editorial “Quite a Few Good Men” which appeared in the November 5, 2009 issues of the Germantown Chronicle and Mt. Airy Independent. It originally appeared in Beautiful Wreckage: New & Selected Poems, published in 1999 by Adastra Press. Dr. William D. Ehrhart, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and a longtime Mt. Airy resident, teaches history and English at the Haverford School.
Mostly Nothing Happens
By W. D. EHRHART
East Mt. Airy,
Philadelphia
Walking home on Upsal Street,
I saw a group of young black men
gathered on the sidewalk up ahead.
What now, I thought, heartbeat
rising in a hearbeat, eyes
instantly attempting to assess
intentions, weapons, routes of egress,
do I just keep walking, do I
take a detour to avoid them, if I—
Shame arrived before an answer:
what would Harris think, I thought,
what would Harris think of me
for fearing who when we were young
was him?
Harris’s girlfriend was pregnant
when we were young, and every night
the two of us would read her letters,
flashlights pressed against the floor.
God help us if our drill instructors
caught us, but gentleness was rare
and we were very much in need
of gentleness on Parris Island,
so together we would read
those gentle letters.
She’d write about the baby’s kicking,
how she’d guess what sex it was,
and if it was a boy they’d name him John.
“That’s my name,” he’d say each time.
“I know,” I’d say, too embarrassed
to admit I didn’t know a thing.
I’d touched a girl’s secrets only twice,
and only with my hand,
and here’s a guy who’s really done it—
done it and she’s pregnant, and he’s
neither married nor abandoned her!
All of this a wonder to a small town kid
who’d never heard sex talked about
in proper conversation, get a girl pregnant
and you marry her, no questions, no debate.
Furthermore, a town where Negroes didn’t live,
and terms like jungle bunny, nigger, coon,
if seldom heard in proper conversation,
were seldom far from lips.
But I was scared to death
of drill instructors huge as houses,
mean as pit bulls, psychopathic maniacs
out to keep the Viet Cong from killing me
by killing me themselves, or so I thought.
Who at seventeen could understand
how terrifying war would be,
how much more obscene? This place
was worse than any place I’d ever been.
I thought I’d never leave alive.
To my surprise, so did Harris.
Urban, street-smart, soon-to-be-a-father
Harris, just as scared as I was.
And his voice so soft, his hand
upon my wrist when we were reading
softer still, a heart so big
I thought that mine would burst.
Through all those lonely southern nights,
through all that frightened Carolina summer,
those two boys from Perkasie and Baltimore
stuck together and survived.
Harris is the reason why I’m here:
I chose an integrated neighborhood
because I didn’t want a child of mine
to reach the age of seventeen
with no one in her life
who isn’t white.
But something isn’t working right:
the neighborhood’s got crack cocaine
and dirty needles lying in the gutter,
muggings, robberies, burglaries,
guns more prevalent than basketballs
and people willing to use them.
Two teenaged kids, a couple on a date,
were shot two blocks from here
for two dollars, and just last week
a man was taken from his car
at gunpoint, shot, and left for dead
a football field’s length from my front door.
How much longer will it be before
the victim’s me, my wife or daughter?
And if and when it happens,
odds are high the perpetrator’s
going to be a young black man.
I hate to say those words out loud.
I hate the world that’s made them true.
I hate distrusting men
before I even know their names, and so
I chose to trust those men on Upsal Street,
and this time got away with it.
But every time I trust a stranger
just might be the time I’m wrong.
What then?
What would Harris do, I thought,
what would Harris tell me I should do?
Why not find him? Why not ask?
You’d think it would be hard to find a friend
you haven’t seen in twenty-seven years,
but I found him faster than I ever dreamed
or ever cared to: Panel 26E, Line 105.
John Lee Harris, Jr., born September 12th, 1947,
killed in Vietnam September 21st, 1967.
Damn.
You’d think that on the day he died,
an angel might have come to me.
A heron, or a raven.
But no. Only the day came
and went away again like other days
in Vietnam, and then my tiny piece of that
obscenity was over, so I thought,
and I too went away, wanting to forget.
I didn’t think of Harris for a long time,
but I never forgot what he taught me,
and now I want to pound my fists
against that stupid granite wall:
“Come out of there, John Harris!
I need to know if what I am is cautious
or hysterical, a realist or just a racist,
how the world is, how am I to live in it.
I need answers,” but instead
I get that war again,
still taking friends and giving only
wounds that never heal.
And now I’ve got this other war as well.
Last summer someone tried to force
my daughter’s bedroom window open.
This was on a Tuesday afternoon.
Did Harris and his girlfriend ever marry?
Did they have a son and name him John?
Or did they have, like me, a baby girl?
And did he get to hold his child
and wonder at the tiny life he’d made
before he went away and died, fighting
yellow people in a white man’s war?
Would he understand I’m not afraid for me?
That son of his would be a man
about the age of the men I passed
on Upsal Street last week,
the pounding in my chest so loud,
surely they could hear it.
I don’t want to leave this neighborhood.
I want to think we’ll be okay
if only we can touch the best
in others and ourselves.
I still don’t keep a gun around
because I’m through with guns,
but every day is like a day at war:
mostly nothing happens,
but you never know what’s waiting
when or where or how.
The first black friend I ever had
died one day when something happened.
Every day I’m always on patrol.
Nov. 12
Leaf Collection
2009 Bagged Leaf Collection by the City of Philadelphia will begin Monday, Nov. 9 and will be completed Friday, Dec. 18. There are a number of changes in the collection process for the 2009 leaf season. They include: There will be curbside collection only. Do not pile unbagged leaves at the curb. No plastic bags will be collected. Leaves will only be collected in biodegradable paper bags. Bags should be placed curbside on your trash collection day. Areas that formerly received mechanical collection will have curbside bagged collections only. Bagged leaves will be accepted at all three Citizen Drop-off Centers. The Northwest center is located at Domino Lane and Umbria Street, Roxborough.
Oct. 22
Avencia and the Committee of Seventy Unveil Redistricting Website
Avencia and the Committee of Seventy launched a new website today --- www.redistrictingthenation.com/philadelphia -- that will allow voters in the Greater Philadelphia area to learn more about the upcoming local redistricting process.
“The goal of our project, which is called “Redistricting the Philadelphia Region,” is to help encourage fair representation and more competitive elections,” Ellen Mattleman Kaplan, Committee of 70 Vice President and Policy Director, said. “You may remember that Avencia’s 2006 “Gerrymandering Index” study rated Philadelphia’s Seventh and Fifth Councilmanic districts as the first and third most unfairly drawn local districts in the country.”
Kaplan added, “According to Avencia’s most recent data, the Seventh and Fifth Councilmanic districts remain in the top ten of the country’s least compact local districts. Pennsylvania's Senate District 3 (Philadelphia) and House Districts 170 (Philadelphia/Montgomery) and 202 (Philadelphia) also rank at the top of the national list of least compact state-level districts, while Pennsylvania's 1st Congressional District (Philadelphia/Delaware) is the 11th least compact congressional district in the country.”
Committee of 70 Makes Ballot Reminder
The Committee of Seventy is reminding voters in the Greater Philadelphia region about the October 27 deadline to apply for absentee and alternative ballots. This year’s municipal general election is on Tuesday, November 3.
Only voters who will be absent from their municipality, or are unable to go to the polls for medical reasons or because of a physical disability, are eligible to vote by absentee or alternative ballot.
“Unlike our neighbors in New Jersey who can now vote by mail, voters in Pennsylvania must meet rigid eligibility requirements for this option,” said Jonathan David, Seventy’s Director of Voter Services. “As a result, it is critical that eligible voters who are unable to get to their polling places in person apply to vote by absentee or alternative ballot in on time.”
Voters throughout Pennsylvania will be casting their ballots for state and local judicial races. In Philadelphia, voters will also be selecting the city’s next District Attorney – the first open seat since incumbent Lynne Abraham was elected to her first four-year term in 1993 – and City Controller.
David urged all voters to pay careful attention to the following deadlines for absentee and alternative ballots to ensure their ability to participate in the November 3 election:
Tuesday, October 27 by 5 p.m. - Absentee and alternative ballot applications must be submitted to the voter’s County Board of Elections. In Philadelphia the County Board of Elections is located in Room 142, City Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19107, phone 215-686-3469 or 215-686-3943.
Friday, October 30 by 5 p.m. – Voted civilian absentee ballots and alternative ballots must be received by the voter’s County Board of Elections.
Friday, October 30 by 5 p.m. – Emergency absentee ballot applications and voted ballots must be submitted to the voter’s County Board of Elections. Emergency absentee ballots are available for voters who become ill or are called away from their municipality and who could not have known this prior to the October 27 deadline.
Tuesday, November 3 by 8 p.m. – Emergency absentee ballot applications and voted ballots are due from voters who experienced an emergency after 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30.
Voters seeking emergency absentee ballots must file an application with their county’s Court of Common Pleas and return the voted ballot to their County Board of Elections.
Tuesday, November 10 by 5 p.m. - Military and overseas absentee ballots must be received by the voter’s County Board of Elections. Ballots must be postmarked no later than November 2.
Additional information about applications for absentee and alternative ballots can be
obtained from www.votespa.com, the Pennsylvania Department of State’s online voting resource center.
The Committee of Seventy is a non-partisan organization conducting a permanent campaign for clean and efficient government, fair elections and informed citizens in Philadelphia and the region. See www.seventy.org for more information.
Oct. 1
Voting Information for the Nov. 3 Election from the Committee of 70
The Committee of Seventy, which conducts the largest and most sophisticated non-partisan local voter protection program in the nation, is disseminating the following information about registering to vote for Pennsylvania’s November 3, 2009 Municipal Election: The deadline to register for the November 3 Municipal Election in Pennsylvania is Monday, October 5. Completed registration forms must be submitted to a prospective voter’s County Board of Elections, or postmarked, on or before October 5, 2009.
An individual who has been a citizen of the United States for at least one month before November 3, has been a resident of Pennsylvania and his or her election district for at least 30 days before November 3, and is at least 18 years old on November 3rd can register to vote.
Voters who have moved or changed their name since the last time they voted should also re-register.
Voter registration applications are available at all County Boards of Elections, post offices, state liquor stores and free library branches.
Downloadable forms are available at www.seventy.org and www.votespa.com.
Completed voter registration applications can by sent by mail, or submitted in person, to the County Board of Elections. Voters can also register in person at the
following locations:
-
•PennDOT photo license centers
-
•State offices that provide public assistance and services to persons with disabilities
-
•Armed Forces Recruitment Centers
-
•County Clerk of Orphans' Court offices, including Marriage License Bureaus
-
•Area Agencies on the Aging
-
•Centers for Independent Living
-
•County Mental Health and Mental Retardation offices
-
•Student disability services offices of the State System of Higher Education
-
•State Offices of Special Education
-
•ADA Complementary Paratransit offices
Voters whose voter registration applications are rejected may file an appeal petition with their County Board of Elections no later than 5:00 pm on October 19, 2009. Voters who have doubts about whether or not they are properly registered should call their County Board of Elections.
In Philadelphia, the County Board of Elections is located at 520 North Delaware Avenue, 5th floor, Philadelphia PA 19123-4295, telephone number 215-686-1505.
September 18
Shooting in East Germantown Friday morning, Sept. 18
Philadelphia police at the scene of the shooting.
Reported by Patrick Cobbs
SEPT. 18 – A shooting on the 800 block of E. Stafford St. in East Germantown on Friday morning sent one identified victim – Carl Gamble - to Einstein Hospital.
According to Gamble’s father, Jerry Marshall, there was one shooter.
Gamble was shot once in the stomach, Germantown Newspapers was told. Gamble was taken to Einstein Hospital, according to his father. Marshall said “he (the gunman) shot him in the stomach but he’s fine. The bullet didn’t hit nothing. No bones, no organs. He shot at him four times; only one of them hit him. God is so great.”
“I just hope there don’t be no repercussions because they all like to retaliate. I just hope this dies down.”
Police are looking at a local resident as a person of interest but no one has been charged, Philadelphia Police Department Lt. Brian Murphy said.
The alleged shooter is suspected to have gone into a nearby home. Police cleared all residences on the 800 block of E. Stafford while they conducted a search.
Property Woes Raise Questions of Settlement’s Financial Stability
On July 29, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (RDA) moved to foreclose on the former Women’s Y building at 5820-5824 Germantown Avenue, over its owner Germantown Settlement. It is the most recent in a string of actions against the non-profit organization, which is currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Meanwhile, though the combined amount of loan defaults verified through court filings for Settlement properties is over $8.8 million, its president, Emanuel Freeman, insists that things are under control. As for the Women’s Y building, a recent agreement with the RDA and a new private developer, who Freeman declined to name, would keep the property in Settlement’s hands, Freeman said in a phone interview this week.
“The YWCA has been resolved,” he said.
But the RDA looks at it a bit differently. In response to Freman’s comments, Teresa Gillen, RDA executive director, said that the RDA has agreed to give Settlement more time to develop the property, but that comes to about three or four months, she said, to “make the numbers work.” And the agency has reserved the right to proceed with its takeover if those numbers don’t work out, she said.
The Women’s Y property is also subject to $881,000 in federal tax liens for Settlement’s alleged failure to pay the employer’s portion of federal withholdings including Medicare for its workers. In addition, the state departments of Revenue and Labor & Industry have assessed $217,000 in liens on the property due to missing payments for unemployment compensation and other state employee compensation obligations.
In fact, since 2008, Germantown Settlement and its subsidiary, the Greater Germantown Housing Development Corporation (GGHDC) have been assessed a total of $1.6 million for missed tax payments. In addition, the organization’s non-profit status is currently “pending,” according the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations, because of missed fees and failure to file required federal 990 tax forms.
To most of these points Freeman’s response was one of calm – the Settlement empire is not beginning to crumble. It is only a patch of rough water resulting from the same thing most are suffering from in these slow economic times.
“We, like others, are experiencing a period of difficulty financially,” he said.
Yet his responses to some issues contradicted statements by other agencies. He insisted the 990s were up-to-date and that Settlement’s non-profit status was fine. At the same time, he acknowledged the state and federal tax liens, saying many of them have already been paid off and that the rest would be settled once Settlement got a new loan to refinance the Women’s Y, building, a strategy Gillen said the RDA had not approved yet.
And on the $8.8 million in defaulted loans, Freeman claimed that for the majority of them, at least, Settlement was in fine shape. Even though the $7 million loan to refinance Freedom Square at Germantown Avenue and Wister Street, and the Melvin R. Burgess Building at Chelten and Wayne Avenues expired without payment, his organization was not in default, he insisted.
“It’s what they refer to as technical default, not default due to payment,” he said.
More Settlement troubles include last month’s closure of the Germantown Settlement Mature Adult Center (MAC) when the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging pulled its funding due to financial concerns relating back to Settlement. According to Freeman this was a result of mounting financial pressures due to limitations in funding through the city. Because money was short, certain city requirements had to be delayed, he said.
“We were not able to provide audits in a timely fashion,” he said. “We now have a relatively complicated organization so to ask for financial audits is more than just a notion.”
The complexity of Settlement’s finances draws mostly from its real estate activities, Freeman said. Yet he indicated that a large portion of its new strategy in these tougher times will rely on that aspect of the organization in particular. It will be a reprioritizing according to the most viable projects for cash flow.
But complex accounting has gotten Settlement in trouble before. The June closing of Germantown Settlement Charter School following an October, 2008 order by the School Reform Commission, cited in part similar concerns over financial practices that included delayed audits.
But if authorities got wind of potential troubles in 2008, local rumors caught on far sooner, fueled by the visible decline of Settlement’s real estate holdings, the very thing Freeman now wants to prioritize.
The Women’s Y for example has sat vacant since 2006. Scarcely a window is unbroken in the historic structure, and the basement and rear entryways are left open to the wind - and whatever else might want to go in.
In addition, a July 27 judgment against Settlement subsidiary GGHDC highlights how some feel the organization has taken to creating blight, rather than fighting it.
“I like to say, ‘they built abandoned homes,’” said a nearby neighbor of 200-206 East Penn Street.
The four nearly-complete town homes he referred to the corner of Penn and Wakefield Streets have sat boarded up, hidden by overgrown scrub brush, for several years. They were part of a Settlement plan to renovate or build 12 homes in that area of Lower Germantown. But GGHDC stopped making payments on the project loan in August of 2003, right around the time when work ground to a halt. A recent judgment awarded $987,529 to the lender, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the right to sell the nine unfinished properties at Sheriff’s Sale.
“The job kind of ran out of money and it was stopped,” said Don Matzkin, owner of Friday Architects, which designed the homes. “It’s really a shame… it was going to be a really terrific project. They were good modular units, good solid units.”
Matzkin made a trip to the area recently and was sad to see how the homes have sat unused. He said problems on the project started when GGHDC and the builder, Berrian Associates, could not work together.
To be fair, the first projects went well, said Matzkin. They completed three renovations on East Seymour Street and sold them to private owners in 2002. But a legal battle set in over finances, according to Matzkin. And in addition to the new abandoned homes on Penn Street, the fallout now includes two open foundations filled with heaps of trash at 5016 and 5018 Wakefield Street; an open, weed-filled cellar hole at 5212 Wakefield; two vacant lots next to that; and another vacant lot at 25 East Clapier Street.
Freeman said the project’s failure was the exception for Settlement, not the rule. And it came about because Berrian Associates went bankrupt and took all the project funding with it. Matzkin’s view was slightly different.
“Financial mismanagement is what it was… on both sides,” he said. “The contractor was not reined in and that’s GGHDC’s fault.”
Representatives from Berrian Associates could not be reached for comment.
In all, Freeman thought Settlement and its subsidiaries have done a good job of serving Germantown. And if there are any difficulties now, he said that each of them was being addressed through re-structuring the organization and selling off “non strategic” holdings.
But even the best of Settlement’s properties may have problems that hold the area back, some believe. A peek into the way GGHDC manages these properties might hint at why.
Burgess Building Problem
“I’ve had Germantown Settlement in court since I’ve been here,” said Gerald Young, owner of Temptations Gourmet Restaurant at the Burgess Building.
According to Young, he was supposed to move into the newly renovated Burgess Building at Wayne and Chelten in 2006 but the space was not ready on time. It sat empty for so long he finally agreed to do the work himself at a final cost of $175,000, he claimed. And he never got repaid for any of it, he said.
So now he refuses to pay any rent, except into an escrow account. And he hasn’t paid rent for the entire two-year period he has been in the space.
“This is the worst experience I have ever had,” he said.
At best, what the trouble all comes down to from Young’s perspective is gross mismanagement.
Local developer Ken Weinstein might agree with him on that.
“I think Germantown Settlement and GGHDC are acting against the interests of the Germantown community at this point,” Weinstein said.
At about the time when Young was waiting to move into his new space at the Burgess Building, Weinstein was renovating six formerly-vacant properties close by on Chelten Avenue. And because the large storefronts at Burgess stayed empty for so long Weinstein had a terrible time convincing tenants to invest in the area, he said.
“What spurs economic development is seeing properties renovated and occupied,” he said. “And when a non-profit group doesn’t do that, then it deters private investment from coming in.”
Complicated Relationships
Because of his business, Weinstein says, he tries to stay attuned to many vacant and blighted properties Settlement holds. He has attempted to buy some of them without success, and his partners have too. And harkening back to SRC comments about confusing business relationships, Weinstein said a simple but effective way Settlement has slowed Germantown development comes from the difficulty of determining the true path of ownership for its properties.
One example of this is 5007 Germantown Avenue, a three story building at the corner of East Seymour Street that is owned by the Lower Germantown II Limited Partnership.
Emanuel Freeman is connected to this for-profit company and three others of similar names, Lower Germantown II Development Inc, the Lower Germantown Limited Partnership, and Lower Germantown Development Inc. They are subsidiary holding companies for tax credit funded developments, he said, but they haven’t been that active in about 15 years.
The registered address for each company is a long-vacant building at 48 East Penn Street. But Freeman said that, under the new Settlement strategy, that property would start to be transformed into a day care within 90 days.
Friends of Queen Lane to Hold Emergency Meeting on August 12 Regarding Flooding Issues
The neighbors of Queen Lane and Schuyler Street in association with the Friends of Queen Lane will conduct a community meeting on Wednesday, August 12, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Queen Lane Train Station.
The major issue is the frustration of having each neighbor’s basement continue to fill with water every time there is a downpour of rain.
One of the causes is clogged sewers that are filled with rubbish that does not get removed on a regular basis. Another cause is when the street is repaved, the entrance of the inlets and sewers are too narrow to allow water to enter underground.
Several neighbors have invested in water removal systems that require long hours of labor to remove water. There are other neighbors who do not have this system that have to rely on the manual labor of bailing water. The majority of neighbors are elderly, and are physical unable to endure this hardship.
The neighbors are outraged that SEPTA has funds of $7.9 million to renovate the Queen Lane Train Station, but the sidewalks that were ruined during the flooding were not considered under this budget nor was the improvement of the sewer system.
On Thursday, July 16, passengers could not get off at the Queen Lane stop due to the flooding in the station parking lot and the street. They were told to get off at Chelten Avenue which was a major inconvenience. On Sunday, August 2, a tremendous thunderstorm caused a four-foot flood where water seeped into cars parked on Queen Lane. Flowerbeds and front yards of the Queen Lane homeowners were ruined, and it took 40 minutes for the water to go down into the sewers. The neighbors have experienced flooding for over forty years, and hope to hear of resolution from the Philadelphia Water Department and Streets Department.
Representatives from Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, the Water Department and the Streets Department will be attendance to address the concerns of the Queen Lane community.
Chestnut Hill’s Perrier is this year’s ‘Zoobilee’ Celebrity Chef
Did you know that the oldest zoo in the nation is right here in Philadelphia? Chartered back in 1859, the Philadelphia Zoo has been celebrating its sesquicentennial this year with a series of special events.
Their big annual fundraiser, Zoobilee, takes place this Thursday, June 11. Funds generated by the event are allocated for the care and feeding of the 1,300 animals, which are housed at the zoo. This includes species, which are rare and in some instances officially designated as endangered.
When you think of a zoo, it usually evokes images of ferocious lions, powerful gorillas, and venomous snakes. But this year’s thirty-fifth edition of Zoobilee, “Birds of Paradise,” is inspired by the zoo’s new McNeil Avian Center. The exhibit, the centerpiece of the zoo’s sesquicentennial, just opened on May 30. So for many event attendees Zoobilee will provide their first opportunity to see the stunning display.
The zoo’s original Bird House was erected back in 1916. In homage to its antecedent, the McNeil Avian Center retains the façade of the original facility. Retrofitted at the cost of $17.5 million, the process entailed a complete internal demolition as a prelude. The new facility includes features, which are strictly state of the art - witness a sophisticated geothermal system, designed to radically reduce energy costs.
Seeing over 100 exotic birds in their natural habitats enhances to the allure of the exhibit. Walk through settings include African Savanna, Pacific Islands, Tropical Rainforest and the Central American Shade Coffee Plantation. As the visitor ambles though these various microcosms, they will experience intimate interactions with such birds as rhinoceros hornbills, Victoria crowned pigeons, and hammerkops. Residents of the McNeil Avian Center fly about untethered and serenade their human guests with euphonious tunes. The center’s 4-D theater affords a multi-sensory experience. It enables the viewer to follow “Otis the Oriole” from his hatching in Fairmount Park, its migration down to Central America for the winter, and his return migration for the spring. In addition, visitors to the exhibit are offered detective kits to foster their interest in bird watching and avian ecology.
This year, for the first time, Zoobilee will be bifurcated into two separate seatings. The Zoobilee Party itself starts at 7:30. It will be preceded by a more exclusive entity, the so-called Zoobilee Dinner, which begins at 5:30. Those who attend the Zoobilee Dinner will be able to stroll through the event early, while enjoying cocktails and sampling the offerings of some of the Delaware Valley’s top-tier restaurants. This includes Alma de Cuba, The Capital Grille, D’Angelo’s Ristorante Italiano, Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse, Fork, Prime Rib, Rembrandt’s Restaurant & Bar, Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine, Water Works Restaurant & Lounge, and World Café Live.
In addition, those attending the Zoobilee Dinner will be able to savor the delectations specially prepared by the event’s designated Celebrity Chef, Georges Perrier of the acclaimed Le Bec-Fin. The Chestnut Hill resident will be preparing a special meal, which will be served at the zoo’s Peacock Cabaret.
Perrier expressed humility about being named the Celebrity Chef at this year’s Zoobilee, saying, “I was very excited that they asked this of me, since there are so many wonderful Chefs in the City.”
Featured elements of the mouthwatering repast will be a first course of Zucchini and Goat Cheese Terrine with Lavender Vinaigrette, Tomato Preserve and Smoked Paprika followed by and entrée of Braised Wild Striped Bass, Summer Root Vegetables a la Grecque, Celeriac, and Tomato Consommé. There are additional logistical challenges to preparing haute cuisine in an unfamiliar setting, particularly one that is outside. Perrier clarified, “Working in the restaurant kitchen everything is timed and everyone works in precision, but off-site, you are dealing with no running water, changes in heating elements - even the outside climate will effect what you do. Anytime you work outside of your own kitchen you have many challenges and you can be sure not all will go as planned.” However, the master chef is undaunted, saying “I do like the challenge of the unknown.”
Perrier has long been a devotee of zoos. He recounted nostalgically, “There are so many beautiful zoos in France. I would go often as a child.” Perrier enthused, “I love going to the zoo because it is so pretty with all the wonderful greenery and living things. He cited the polar bears as his, “favorite animal at the zoo because they are so graceful in the water. “ Although Perrier will no doubt have his hands full, supervising the special meal, he plans to take time to see the new McNeil Avian Center, “I’m looking forward to seeing the new exhibit.”
Zoobilee promises to be an exciting evening full of great food, replete with people and animal watching alike.
For more information on the Philadelphia Zoo, visit www.philadelphiazoo.org. To purchase tickets to Zoobilee, visit www.phillyzoobilee.com, or e-mail rsvp@phillyzoo.org. or call 215-243-5225.
Nathan Lerner welcomes feedback at culturevulture1@aol.com.
