Index to the Germantown Newspapers Web Site

Germantown Newspapers

1. Germantown News • Germantown Police Briefs  • Mt. Airy News • Mt. Airy Police Briefs • Letters & Opinions • “New to Mt. Airy” •  Education • Calendar
   

2. Yesterday in German Township • Reasonable Recipes  • Obituaries • Business Services Directory • Classifieds, Advertiser List •  Our Archives • Features
   

3. Update on the Avenue Work •  Links •  Items of Interest in Philadelphia History - Rick Vinson - Updated June 11 •  Black History Month •  Videos ª  Contact Us Back to the Germantown Newspapers Home Page
   

Features & More

March 10, 2010

Editor’s note: the following is a transcript of President Barack Obama’s address on health insurance reform delivered Monday, March 8 at Arcadia University, Glenside. The transcript was provided by the Media Affairs Office at the White House.

Link to Slideshow.

11:23 a.m., EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Pennsylvania!  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  This is a nice crowd.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Well, what a wonderful crowd.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  Love you back.  (Applause.)  I am -- I'm kind of fired up.  (Applause.)  I'm kind of fired up.  (Applause.)  So, listen, we -- this is just an extraordinary crowd and I –

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  (Applause.)  I want -- there's some people I want to point out who are here who've just been doing great work.  First of all, give Leslie a great round of applause for her wonderful introduction.  (Applause.)

Somebody who's been working tirelessly on your behalf, doing a great job -- the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius is in the house.  (Applause.)  One of the finest governors in the country, Ed Rendell is in the house.  (Applause.)  Everybody notice how good Ed is looking, by the way? He's been on that training program, eating egg whites and keeping his cholesterol down.  (Laughter.)

Your senior senator who has just been doing outstanding work in the Senate, Arlen Specter is in the house.  (Applause.)  One of my great friends, somebody who supported me when nobody could pronounce my name, Bob Casey is in the house.  (Applause.)  Your congressman, the person who gave me confidence that I could win even though nobody could pronounce my name -- Chaka Fattah is in the house.  (Applause.)  I figured if they could elect a "Chaka" -- (laughter) -- then they could elect a "Barack."  (Laughter.)

A couple other outstanding members of Congress -- first of all, from Pennsylvania, Allyson Schwartz is in the house.  (Applause.)  Somebody who rendered outstanding service to our nation before he was in Congress, Joe Sestak is in the house.  (Applause.)  One of the sharpest members of Congress -- technically not his state but he's just from right next door, New Jersey, so he's practically -- (applause.)  See, we've got some Jersey folks here.  (Applause.)  Rob Andrews is in the house.  (Applause.)  And the great mayor of Philadelphia, Mike Nutter.  (Applause.)

It's a little hot, I think.  (Applause.)  And to Arcadia University -- (applause) -- thank you, thank you guys for hosting us.  (Applause.)

I was asking about that castle on the way in, by the way.  (Applause.)  That's a -- I thought the White House was pretty nice, but that castle, that's -- (laughter.)

Well, it is great to be back here in the Keystone State.  It's even better to be out of Washington, D.C.  (Laughter.)  First of all, the people of D.C. are wonderful.  They're nice people, they're good people; love the city, the monuments, everything.  But when you’re in Washington, folks respond to every issue, every decision, every debate, no matter how important it is, with the same question:  What does this mean for the next election?  (Laughter.)  What does it mean for your poll numbers?  Is this good for the Democrats or good for the Republicans?  Who won the news cycle?    

 That’s just how Washington is.  They can’t help it.  They’re obsessed with the sport of politics.  And so that’s the environment in which elected officials are operating.  And you’ve seen all the pundits pontificating and talking over each other on the cable shows, and they’re yelling and shouting.  They can’t help themselves.  That’s what they do. 

 But out here, and all across America, folks are worried about bigger things.  They’re worried about how to make payroll. They’re worried about how to make ends meet.  They’re worried about what the future will hold for their families and for our country.  They’re not worrying about the next election.  We just had an election.  (Applause.)  They’re worried about the next paycheck, or the next tuition payment that’s due.  (Applause.) They’re thinking about retirement.

You want people in Washington to spend a little less time worrying about our jobs, a little more time worrying about your jobs.  (Applause.)  

 Despite all the challenges we face -- two wars, the aftermath of a terrible recession -- I want to tell everybody here today I am absolutely confident that America will prevail; that we will shape our destiny as past generations have done.  (Applause.)  That’s who we are.  We don’t give up.  We don’t quit.  Sometimes we take our lumps, but we just keep on going.  That’s who we are.  But that only happens when we’re meeting our challenges squarely and honestly.  And I have to tell you, that’s why we are fighting so hard to deal with the health care crisis in this country; health care costs that are growing every single day.

I want to spend some time talking about this.  The price of health care is one of the most punishing costs for families and for businesses and for our government.  (Applause.)  It’s forcing people to cut back or go without health insurance.  It forces small businesses to choose between hiring or health care.  It’s plunging the federal government deeper and deeper and deeper into debt.

The young people who are here, you’ve heard stories -- some of you guys still have health care while you’re in school, some of you may still be on your parents’ plans, but some of the highest uninsurance rates are among young people.  And it’s getting harder and harder to find a job that’s going to provide you with health care.  And a lot of you right now feel like you’re invincible so you don’t worry about it.  (Laughter.)  But let me tell you, when you hit 48 -- (laughter) -- you start realizing, things start breaking down a little bit.  (Laughter.)

And the insurance companies continue to ration health care based on who’s sick and who’s healthy; on who can pay and who can’t pay.  That’s the status quo in America, and it is a status quo that is unsustainable for this country.  We can’t have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people.  (Applause.)  We need to give families and businesses more control over their own health insurance. And that’s why we need to pass health care reform -- not next year, not five years from now, not 10 years from now, but now.  (Applause.)

Now, since we took this issue on a year ago, there have been plenty of folks in Washington who’ve said that the politics is just too hard.  They’ve warned us we may not win.  They’ve argued now is not the time for reform.  It’s going to hurt your poll numbers.  How is it going to affect Democrats in November?  Don’t do it now.

My question to them is:  When is the right time?  (Applause.)  If not now, when?  If not us, who?

Think about it.  We've been talking about health care for nearly a century.  I’m reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt right now.  He was talking about it.  Teddy Roosevelt.  We have failed to meet this challenge during periods of prosperity and also during periods of decline.  Some people say, well, don't do it right now because the economy is weak.  When the economy was strong, we didn’t do it.  We’ve talked about it during Democratic administrations and Republican administrations.  I got all my Republican colleagues out there saying, well, no, no, no, we want to focus on things like cost.  You had 10 years.  What happened? What were you doing?  (Applause.)

Every year, the problem gets worse.  Every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they’ve got preexisting conditions.  Every year, they drop more people’s coverage when they get sick right when they need it most.  Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher and higher.

Just last month, Anthem Blue Cross in California tried to jack up rates by nearly 40 percent -- 40 percent.  Anybody’s paycheck gone up 40 percent?

AUDIENCE:  Nooo –

THE PRESIDENT:  I mean, why is it that we think this is normal?  In my home state of Illinois, rates are going up by as much as 60 percent.  You just heard Leslie, who was hit with more than a hundred percent increase -- 100 percent.  One letter from her insurance company and her premiums doubled.  Just like that. And because so many of these markets are so concentrated, it’s not like you can go shopping.  You’re stuck.  So you’ve got a choice:  Either no health insurance, in which case you’re taking a chance if somebody in your family gets sick that you will go bankrupt and lose your home and lose everything you’ve had -- or you keep on ponying up money that you can’t afford.

See, these insurance companies have made a calculation.  Listen to this.  The other day, there was a conference call that was organized by Goldman Sachs.  You know Goldman Sachs.  You’ve been hearing about them, right?  (Laughter.)  So they organized a conference call in which an insurance broker was telling Wall Street investors how he expected things to be playing out over the next several years, and this broker said that insurance companies know they will lose customers if they keep on raising premiums, but because there’s so little competition in the insurance industry, they’re okay with people being priced out of the insurance market because, first of all, a lot of folks are going to be stuck, and even if some people drop out, they’ll still make more money by raising premiums on customers that they keep.

And they will keep on doing this for as long as they can get away with it.  This is no secret.  They’re telling their investors this:  We are in the money; we are going to keep on making big profits even though a lot of folks are going to be put under hardship.

So how much higher do premiums have to rise until we do something about it?  How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance?  How many more businesses have to drop coverage?  All those young people out here, after you graduate you’re going to be looking for a job.  Think about the environment that’s going to be out there when a whole bunch of potential employers just tell you, you know what, we just can’t afford it.  Or, you know what, we’re going to have to take thousands of dollars out of your paycheck because the insurance company just jacked up our rates.

How many years -- how many more years can the federal budget handle the crushing costs of Medicare and Medicaid?  That’s the debt you’re going to have to pay, young people.  When is the right time for health insurance reform?

AUDIENCE:  Now!

THE PRESIDENT:  Is it a year from now or two years from now or five years from now or 10 years from now?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  I think it’s right now.  And that’s why you’re here today.  (Applause.)

Leslie is a single mom -- just like my mom was a single mom -- trying to put her daughter through college.  She knows that the time for reform is now.

Natoma Canfield -- self-employed cancer survivor from Ohio  -- she wrote us a letter.  Last year her insurance company charged her over $6,000 in premiums; paid about $900 worth of care.  Now they’ve decided to jack up her rates 40 percent next year.  So she’s had to drop her insurance, even though it may cost her the house that her parents built.  Natoma knows it’s time for reform.

Laura Klitzka -- this is a friend of mine, somebody I met when I was campaigning in Wisconsin -- Green Bay, Wisconsin.  She’s a young mother; she’s got two kids.  She thought she had beaten her breast cancer but later discovered it had spread to her bones.  She and her husband had insurance, but their medical bills still landed them with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt.  And now she spends her time worrying about that debt when all she wants to do is spend time with her children.  I just talked to Laura this past weekend, and let me tell you, she knows that the time for reform is right now.

So what should I tell these Americans?  That Washington is not sure how it will play in November?  That we should walk away from this fight, or do something -- do something like some on the other side of the aisle have suggested, well, we’ll do it incrementally; we’ll take baby steps; we’ll do –

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  So they want me to pretend to do something that doesn’t really help these folks.

We have debated health care in Washington for more than a year.  Every proposal has been put on the table.  Every argument has been made.  I know a lot of people view this as a partisan issue, but both parties have found areas where we agree.  What we’ve ended up with is a proposal that’s somewhere in the middle -- one that incorporates the best from Democrats and Republicans, best ideas.

Think about it along the spectrum of how we could approach health care.  On one side of the spectrum there were those at the beginning of this process who wanted to scrap our system of private insurance and replace it with a government-run health care system, like they have in some other countries.  (Applause.) Look, it works in places like Canada, but I didn’t think it was going to be practical or realistic to do it here.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who believe that the answer is just to loosen regulations on insurance companies.  This is what we heard at the health care summit.  They said, well, you know what, if we had fewer regulations on the insurance companies –

AUDIENCE:  Boo!

THE PRESIDENT:  -- whether it’s consumer protections or basic standards on what kind of insurance they sell, somehow market forces will make things better.  Well, we’ve tried that.  I’m concerned that would only give insurance companies more leeway to raise premiums and deny care.  (Applause.)

So the bottom line is I don’t believe we should give government or insurance companies more control over health care in America.  I believe it’s time to give you, the American people, more control over your own health insurance.  (Applause.)

And that’s why my proposal builds on the current system where most Americans get their health insurance from their employer.  If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.  If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.  But I can tell you, as the father of two young girls, I don’t want a plan that interferes with the relationship between a family and their doctor.  So we’re going to preserve that.

Essentially, my proposal would change three things about the current health care system.  Listen up.  First, it would end the worst practices of insurance companies.  Within the first year of signing health care reform, thousands of uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions would suddenly be able to purchase health insurance for the very first time in their lives, or the first time in a long time.  (Applause.)

This year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions.  (Applause.)  This year, they will be banned from dropping your coverage when you get sick.  (Applause.)  And they will no longer be able to arbitrarily and massively hike your premiums -- just like they did to Leslie or Natoma or millions of others Americans.  Those practices will end.  (Applause.)

If this reform becomes law, all new insurance plans will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers starting this year -- free check-ups so that we can catch preventable illnesses on the front end.  (Applause.)  Starting this year, there will be no more lifetime or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care that you can receive from your insurance companies.  There’s a lot of fine print in there that can end up costing people hundreds of thousands of dollars because they hit a limit.

If you’re a young adult, which many of you are, you’ll be able to stay on your parents’ insurance policy until you’re 26 years old.  (Applause.)  And there will be a new, independent appeals process for anybody who feels they were unfairly denied a claim by their insurance company.  So you'll have recourse if you're being taken advantage of.  (Applause.)  So that’s the first thing that would change and it would change fast –- insurance companies would finally be held accountable to the American people.  That's number one.

Number two, second thing that would change about the current system is this:  For the first time in their lives -- or oftentimes, in a very long time -- uninsured individuals and small business owners will have the same kind of choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves.  (Applause.)  If it’s good enough for Congress, it should be good enough for the people paying Congress its salary  -- that's you.  (Applause.)

Now, the idea is very simple here, and it's one -- (audience interruption) -- I'm sorry, go ahead.  (Applause.)  Let me explain how this would work, because it's an idea that a lot of Republicans have embraced in the past.  What my proposal says is that if you aren’t part of a big group, if you don't work for a big company, you can be part of a pool which gives you bargaining power over insurance companies.  It's very straightforward.  Suddenly, just like the federal employees -- there are millions of them so they can drive a harder bargain with insurance companies -- you, as an individual or a small business owner, could be part of this pool, which would give you more negotiating power with the insurance companies for lower rates and a better deal.  (Applause.)  Right?

Now, if you still can’t afford the insurance that's offered -- even though it's a better deal than you can get on your own, but you still just can't get it, then what we're going to do is give you a tax credit to do so.  And these tax credits add up to the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history.  (Applause.)  Because the wealthiest among us, they can already afford to buy the best insurance there is; the least well off are already covered through Medicaid.  It’s the middle class that gets squeezed.  That's who we need to help with these tax credits.  (Applause.)  That’s what we intend to do.  (Applause.)

Now, I want to be honest.  Let’s be clear.  This will cost some money.  It’s going to cost about $100 billion per year.  Most of this comes from the nearly $2.5 trillion a year that America already spends on health care.  It’s just that right now a lot of that money is being wasted or it’s being spent badly.  So with this plan, we’re going to make sure that the dollars we spend go to making insurance more affordable and more secure.

So I'll give you an example.  We’re going to eliminate wasteful taxpayer subsidies that currently go to insurance and pharmaceutical companies.  (Applause.)  They are getting billions of dollars a year from the government, from taxpayers, when they’re making a big profit.  I'd rather see that money going to people who need it.  (Applause.)

We’ll set a new fee on insurance companies that stand to gain as millions of Americans are able to buy insurance.  They’re going to have 30 million new customers; there’s nothing wrong with them paying a little bit of the freight.  And we’ll make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of Medicare, just like everybody else does.  (Applause.)

So the bottom line is this:  Our proposal is paid for.  All the new money generated in this plan goes back to small business owners and individuals in the middle class who right now are having trouble getting insurance.  It would lower prescription drug prices for seniors.  (Applause.)  It would help train new doctors and nurses to provide care for American families and physicians assistants and therapists.  I know there are -- got great programs here at Arcadia.  (Applause.)  I was hearing about the terrific programs you have at Arcadia in the health care field.  Well, you know what, we’re going to need more health care professionals of the sorts that are being trained here, and we want to help you get that training.  And that’s in this bill.  (Applause.)

So I’ve mentioned two things now:  insurance reform and making sure the people who don't have health insurance are able to get it.

Finally, my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for millions -– families, businesses, and the federal government.  (Applause.)  As I said, you keep on hearing from critics and some of the Republicans on these Sunday shows say, well, we want to do more about cost.  We have now incorporated almost every single serious idea from across the political spectrum about how to contain the rising cost of health care –- ideas that go after waste and abuse in our system, including in programs like Medicare.  But we do this while protecting Medicare benefits, and we extend the financial stability of the program by nearly a decade.

Our cost-cutting measures mirror most of the proposals in the current Senate bill, which reduces most people’s premiums and brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next decade because we’re spending our health care dollars more wisely.  (Applause.)  Those aren’t my numbers.  Those aren’t my numbers --they are the savings determined by the Congressional Budget Office, which is the nonpartisan, independent referee of Congress for what things cost.

So that’s our proposal:  insurance reform; making sure that you can have choices in the marketplace for health insurance, and making it affordable for people; and reducing costs.  (Applause.)

Now, think about it.  I think -- how many people would like a proposal that holds insurance companies more accountable?  (Applause.)  How many people would like to give Americans the same insurance choices that members of Congress get?  (Applause.) And how many would like a proposal that brings down costs for everyone?  (Applause.)  That’s our proposal.  And it is paid for, and it’s a proposal whose time has come.  (Applause.)

The United States Congress owes the American people a final, up or down vote on health care.  (Applause.)  It’s time to make a decision.  The time for talk is over.  We need to see where people stand.  And we need all of you to help us win that vote.  So I need you to knock on doors.  Talk to your neighbors.  Pick up the phone.  When you hear an argument by the water cooler and somebody is saying this or that about it, say, no, no, no, no, hold on a second.  And we need you to make your voices heard all the way in Washington, D.C.  (Applause.)

They need to hear your voices because right now the Washington echo chamber is in full throttle.  It is as deafening as it’s ever been.  And as we come to that final vote, that echo chamber is telling members of Congress, wait, think about the politics -- instead of thinking about doing the right thing.

That’s what Mitch McConnell said this weekend.  His main argument was, well, this is going to be really bad for Democrats politically.  Now, first of all, I generally wouldn’t take advice about what’s good for Democrats.  (Laughter.)  But setting aside that, that’s not the issue here.  The issue here is not the politics of it.

But that’s what people -- that’s what members of Congress are hearing right now on the cable shows and in the -- sort of the gossip columns in Washington.  It’s telling Congress comprehensive reform has failed before -- remember what happened to Clinton -- it may just be too politically hard.

Yes, it’s hard.  It is hard.  That’s because health care is complicated.  Health care is a hard issue.  It’s easily misrepresented.  It’s easily misunderstood.  So it’s hard for some members of Congress to make this vote.  There’s no doubt about that.  But you know what else is hard?  What Leslie and her family are going through -- that’s hard.  (Applause.)  The possibility that Natoma Canfield might lose her house because she’s about to lose her health insurance -- that’s hard.  (Applause.)  Laura Klitzka in Green Bay having to worry about her cancer and her debt at the same time, trying to explain that to her kids -- that’s hard.  (Applause.)  What’s hard is what millions of families and small businesses are going through because we allow the insurance industry to run wild in this country.  (Applause.)

So let me remind everybody:  Those of us in public office were not sent to Washington to do what’s easy.  We weren’t sent there because of the big fancy title.  We weren’t sent there to  -- because of a big fancy office.  We weren’t sent there just so everybody can say how wonderful we are.  We were sent there to do what was hard.  (Applause.)  We were sent there to take on the tough issues.  We were sent there to solve the big challenges.  And that’s why we’re there.  (Applause.)

And at this moment -- at this moment, we are being called upon to fulfill our duty to the citizens of this nation and to future generations.  (Applause.)

So I’ll be honest with you.  I don’t know how passing health care will play politically, but I do know that it’s the right thing to do.  (Applause.)  It’s right for our families.  It’s right for our businesses.  It’s right for the United States of America.  And if you share that belief, I want you to stand with me and fight with me.  (Applause.)  And I ask you to help us get us over the finish line these next few weeks.  (Applause.)  The need is great.  The opportunity is here.  Let’s seize reform.  It’s within our grasp.  (Applause.)

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless.  (Applause.)

 

February, 2010

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

jritzman@state.pa.us

January 7, 2010

Girard College Hosts MLK Day of Service Signature Event

By PATRICK COBBS

Staff Writer

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:

1. •PennDOT photo license centers
   

2. •State offices that provide public assistance and services to persons with disabilities 
   

3. •Armed Forces Recruitment Centers 
   

4. •County Clerk of Orphans' Court offices, including Marriage License Bureaus 
   

5. •Area Agencies on the Aging 
   

6. •Centers for Independent Living 
   

7. •County Mental Health and Mental Retardation offices 
   

8. •Student disability services offices of the State System of Higher Education 
   

9. •State Offices of Special Education 
   

10. •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

By PATRICK COBBS

Staff Writer

 

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

By Nathan Lerner

Correspondent

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.