Editorials February 25, 2010 Speak Up at the SEPTA Forum In response to pressure from local individuals and this newspaper’s editorials and letters, SEPTA has determined it owes Germantown and some other parts of the Northwest an explanation of what it plans to do in the immediate and long-term future to improve its two commuter rail lines in the Northwest: the R7 and the R8. It bears repeating that with the exception of the Queen Lane station on the R8, the other stations in Germantown have been downgraded and neglected to the point of decay for so many years that few would be attracted to the system and many would be afraid to use them at any time of day.  Without question the three worst maintained stations on the entire system are Wayne Junction, Wister, and Germantown itself - all on the R7 Chestnut Hill East line. Close behind is Tulpehocken on the R8 Chestnut Hill West line. The question has been raised as to how SEPTA found the public dollars (federal and state) to spend as much as $22 million on two favored stations on the R8 with no proportional plans even on the drawing board 6 months ago for the others. The explanation given to me personally from SEPTA was that the community and the politicians were behind that effort and allocated the money. SEPTA promised a few months back to begin restoration of the virtual skeletons of a train station at Wister and Germantown. The Wayne Junction project has been on the drawing board and discussed in the community for going on three years now.  We learned a few weeks ago that the Wayne Junction project slated to have been started this year has been indefinitely postponed due to the fact that funding from the state budget based on approving tolls on Pa I-80 were not forthcoming. So, once again, Germantown and its residents are the first ones to feel the knife while Queen Lane and Allen Lane lose no dollars and build two Taj Mahal stations because their residents knew how to “get it done.” Now, it’s your turn.  The meeting scheduled for February 25 at the First Presbyterian Church at 7 p.m. (see page 12) is hosted by SEPTA to discuss the Wister, Germantown and other Northwest small rail projects that are in the pipeline and will be funding by the federal stimulus dollars. 80 percent of what is being spent on the Allen and Queen Lane stations are federal dollars (20 percent state), so let’s make sure that SEPTA and those who control how those federal dollars are spent know that it’s time to stop dialing out Germantown only because they think they can get away with it. Jim Foster Publisher Ed Note: SEPTA/GCC R7 Feb. 25 Meeting Postponed to March 11 at 7 PM Due to a forecast of inclement weather, SEPTA has rescheduled the presentation on the R7 rail line originally scheduled for Thursday, February 25, 7 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, 35 West Chelten Avenue. The meeting was to be hosted by the Germantown Community Connection (GCC). The presentation has been rescheduled for the next GCC meeting on March 11, 7 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church. Opinion February 25, 2010 Saving Lives for Black Heritage By VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH Black History Month focuses our attention on the achievements of African Americans. But what will tomorrow’s Black History be? According to national health statistics, the current generation of African-American children is likely to be the first since before emancipation that will not outlive their parents. What could keep African American children from leading long lives and reaching their full potential in an era when an African American is President of the U.S. and the nation’s wealthiest woman, Oprah Winfrey, is also African American? The answer is as simple as it is deadly: obesity and its attendant ills. First Lady Michelle Obama launched a campaign last week against childhood obesity. Her aim was to get America’s children out from behind their computers and TV sets and out exercising, eating healthily and maintaining a normal weight. But while the First Lady was focusing on children of all races, the reality is that African-American children are at greatest risk from what health advocates have called an obesity epidemic in the black community. The statistics are alarming. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African American children between the ages of six and 17 were 13 times more likely to be overweight than their Caucasian peers. African-American girls were most likely to grow up to be obese adults. African American women over the age of 20 have the highest rate of obesity of any group: four out of five African American women is either overweight or obese. Anyone–child or adult–who weighs 20 percent more than the norm for their height, age and gender is obese. More than 30 percent over the norm is considered morbid obesity. Obesity kills. Doctors estimate that children who are overweight in their pre-school years are at increased risk of being morbidly obese by ninth grade. In 1970, fewer than five percent of American children were overweight. 40 years later more than half of all American children are overweight. What does being a fat child mean? Some adults refer to overweight in children as “baby fat,” but there is no such thing. Fat is not something children outgrow. Instead children get fatter as they get older unless serious steps are taken to reverse their weight gain. There’s a lot more to childhood obesity than the social stigma that overweight children and teens suffer from: the toll on their bodies is extreme.   Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her stellar performance as the title character in “Precious,” is an example of the morbid obesity trend among young African Americans. Sidibe refers to herself as a “woman of size” and says she is proud of her looks. While Sidibe has extraordinary self-confidence as evidenced not just by her performance but also by interviews she has given on TV, African American girls and women should not let her self-confidence about her obesity lull them into emulating her. Emulate her hard work as an actor and singer, but her weight is dangerous. Sidibe’s mother, singer Alice Tan Ridley, says her now 26-year-old daughter was unhappy about being an overweight child and felt stigmatized by her peers. But the stigma of obesity is only the surface issue. Sidibe’s weight has cut her life expectancy by at least 20 percent. How many years could that take off her impressive acting career? When she becomes a Black History icon, will there be a tragic footnote to that history–an early death due to obesity-related illness? The diminished life expectancy for overweight and obese African Americans should not and must not be ignored, whether it is among community icons or children. As the First Lady has made clear, lives are in peril. The longer a person is overweight, the more strain on every part of the human body. It’s not merely a question of stretching out the skin–in children and teens skin is still very elastic and can re-shape itself after weight loss. Harder to fix is the internal damage done by obesity to the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas and eyes. Overweight and obese African-American children are at serious risk for Type 2 diabetes, which leads to kidney failure and blindness and high blood pressure, which leads to heart disease and early stroke. Yet it is all preventable. Type 2 diabetes is the fastest growing disease in the U.S. and the most common disease among African Americans of all ages. The disease which used to be called “adult-onset diabetes” now afflicts nearly 20 percent of African-American children. Researchers at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have predicted that as many as one in three children born today in the U.S. will develop Type 2 diabetes in his or her lifetime. But for African-American children that number is far higher–a 50-50 chance.   Type 2 diabetes is a direct result of overweight and obesity and is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in African-Americans. According to HHS, over 80 percent of all children with Type 2 diabetes that is not reversed in childhood will grow up to lose a limb due to circulatory problems, end up on dialysis or go blind from the disease. That’s a terrifying statistic. But we can, as Michelle Obama notes, change this trend.  We have to get our children up and moving. As children and adults we gain weight by taking in more calories than we expend. Children and adults should walk at least 10,000 steps per day, yet the average overweight adult only walks 2,000 and the average overweight child only 4,000. Eating habits must change. One soda has 20 teaspoons of sugar. One soda a day per year translates into a 15-pound weight gain. Snack foods and fast food are filled with sugar and fat–all empty calories. Many breakfast cereals and breakfast treats are filled with extra sugar, even if they also contain fiber and whole grains. And few children, particularly in the African American community, are eating the required daily servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. African American communities like Germantown have numerous fast food outlets and donut chains, but few outlets where affordable fruits and vegetables can be purchased. According to many experts and health advocates, African American adults have to re-think the cultural food norms that have led to the current obesity epidemic. According to Dr. Ian Smith, a diabetes expert and author of several books on changing eating habits to save your life including “The 50 Million Pound Challenge” and founder of the Urban Health Initiative for African Americans, a significant number of African Americans have diabetes without even knowing it, including many children. Dr. Smith stresses the importance of re-thinking the fried foods, starchy vegetables and heavy desserts that are staples of the African-American diet in favor of modified versions of the same foods, such as baked chicken instead of fried.  Dr. Smith notes that the threat posed by obesity is serious and that diabetes isn’t really ever a manageable disease, but rather a catastrophic health crisis that can be prevented and reversed with diet and exercise. The bottom line for this Black History Month is simple: While celebrating the manifold African-American achievements of the past and present, we have to look to the future and the health of today’s generation. Dr. Smith asserts that 100 African Americans are dying each day in America from complications of Type 2 diabetes–deaths that are preventable. We can and must work with the First Lady, Dr. Smith and each other to save the African-American children of today so that they can be the achievers of tomorrow.  Letters February 25, 2010 Why No Enforcement on Emergency Routes? To the editor: Well, well, well… I have a Philadelphia citizen reminder to the police regarding matters of snow. Or, rather, “snow emergency” routes. According to the Snow Emergency sign in front of my house on Washington Lane, if a car is parked on a snow emergency route, it can expect to be ticketed and/or towed. Not so. While the Philadelphia Police were busy issuing press releases about not saving dug-out parking spaces lest you be ticketed and/or have your folding chair confiscated, the police were apparently not worried about the massive safety issues when they chose not to enforce the snow emergency route restrictions on Washington Lane. Now the first snow storm in December should’ve made it apparent, what with all the 911 calls I had to make to get the police to do their job before someone got hurt. Unfortunately, since no tickets were issued or cars towed, everyone’s non-snow emergency route behavior was reinforced for the last two snowstorms. Police passed by parked cars on the snow emergency route and issued no tickets. Later, police drove by these same cars and did not issue tickets to the cars’ owners - who were busy digging out and throwing all their snow onto Washington Lane. Police continued to do nothing as they sat behind SEPTA buses that attempted to pass each other, while the cars remained parked and unticketed on the unit block of West Washington Lane.   If I received a ticket in December for parking on a snow emergency route, I would’ve paid it, probably whined a bit, and then would have made sure that my car was not parked on a snow emergency route the next go-around. Given all the notice of the storms, if I still insisted on selfishly parking on a snow-emergency route, then I should’ve received a second, more expensive ticket for knowing better. Time to bring back those public safety officers of the past that were let go due to budget cuts. Maybe we can pay for them by writing tickets for parking on snow emergency routes during snowstorms. Leigh Deveres Germantown Snowfall Leveled Life for All To the editor: In the second week of February, 2010, the snow came and took all our adulthood away, buried it, over-ruled it.  First snow came, and we didn’t heed it, and more snow came and yet we persisted in our willful conduct, and then all the snow came until as by some huge Nature/God/Parent we were stopped, grounded, made to sit in the corner. The schools all wanted to play school, the government wanted to play government, the businesses all had business games they wanted to play, but the sky said: no. The sky said: this week everyone will play the same game, that game is called: snow. And the city became the moon. And the neighborhood became a neighborhood, with a vast, egalitarian leveling: everyone playing the same game, everyone enduring the same pain, suddenly the secret life of everyone was on his sleeve, as though everyone, everyone had just won the same lottery, the same championship, experienced the death of the same child, and everyone shared that knowledge. The secret neighbors appeared, the ones who are never seen, the ones who hide in walled compounds like Arab women. Is that my neighbor? She is very much your neighbor, now. She is your friend, your compatriot, your coreligionist, your sister, now. You are both children once again, playing in the snow together. Hal Sawyer Germantown Deer Kill Guidelines Ignored To the editor: The Wissahickon Valley of Death Park has once again erupted in violence.  Our not-so-wild whitetailed neighbors are being lured to baited sites where death by firepower awaits them.  I’ve actually heard the term “remote euthanasia” used to describe this heinous deed. Imagine! Others include “park maintenance” and “wildlife hazard reduction activities.”  The marauders prowling the park for deer are the disingenuously named Wildlife Services, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture.  Wildlife Services is the largest contract killing agency in this country. In fiscal year 2008 they killed nearly five million animals under the guise of protecting public safety, agriculture and so on.  The total cost was over $120 million, including $58 million of federal tax money.  A significant portion of the federal wildlife management budget is actually devoted to exterminating so-called nuisance animals, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. One practice Wildlife Services would like to keep off the public’s radar screen is the fact that their high-power sound-suppressed rifles are being discharged from public roads in residential neighborhoods, e.g., Grakyn Lane, Cathedral Road and Henry Avenue in Roxborough.     Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown expressed concern for the public’s safety saying in a letter that this is a practice that should end.  It hasn’t.  Why? Before a shot was ever fired, the city of Philadelphia testified under oath that the operation would maintain a safety zone of 150 yards from private property.  Further, the shooters would exceed that by at least 100 yards in all cases and in most cases exceed that by four, five or six hundred yards. The shooters have been given carte blanche, official guidelines not worth a damn.   Bridget Irons Chestnut Hill  Editorials February 18, 2010 How’d They Do? The provision of basic services to its residents is at the core of the responsibility of city government. That’s what we pay our taxes for – for the city to do in an organized fashion what we as individuals can’t provide for ourselves and our neighbors. That most certainly includes snow removal. The two storms that dumped record levels of snow on Philadelphia in February would have taxed the ability of Buffalo, NY to deal with snow accumulation, much less Philadelphia’s. By most reports city workers here did their best under trying conditions, and their best seemed to be pretty good. Major roads were at least passable - through still treacherous – by last weekend and many of what the city terms “secondary” streets were the same. But that still left a lot of streets where it was up to the residents themselves to clear not just their parking spaces but the actual streets. So the question we’re asking is: How did the city do on your block? Good job, bad job, or no job at all? Send your comments to our new feature Squeaky Wheel by e-mail to editor@germantownnewspapers.com, by fax to 215-754-4245, or by mail to Squeaky Wheel, Germantown Newspapers Inc., 5275 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19144. Please include a daytime phone number and address so that authorship and permission to publish can be verified. Names and phone numbers will not be published. Squeaky Wheel is designed to let you voice your views on quality of life issues that affect you – and this snowstorm affected everybody in town. So sound off! Karl Biemuller Editor Opinions WMAN Seeks 50 Good Neighbors By LIZABETH B. MACORETTA Executive Director, West Mt. Airy Neighbors The storms over the past two weeks have presented huge challenges to our city. I hope that all Philadelphians have the luxury of good neighbors, like we have here in Mt. Airy. Think about who helped you during the storm. Did a neighbor help you shovel, lend a gallon of milk, make a run to the supermarket, feed your children lunch after sledding? These are small and immediate examples of how our neighbors help us both every day and in times of need. Since 1959, West Mt. Airy Neighbors is a living example of neighbors helping neighbors. West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) serves as a community-based volunteer organization committed to preserving and enhancing the quality of life in our richly diverse urban neighborhood. WMAN sponsors community input into development and zoning matters; promotes crime prevention and public safety; works with individual residents by helping them resolve disputes between neighbors; and engages in beautification activities. In honor of West Mt. Airy Neighbors’ 50th Anniversary, we are accepting nominations for “50 Good Neighbors.” 50 Good Neighbors recognizes the ongoing efforts of West Mt. Airy residents who are committed to preserving, maintaining and improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods and community. This is a great opportunity to nominate that neighbor who goes above and beyond. We will pay tribute to the 50 Good Neighbors at our annual meeting on Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Each nominee must meet the following requirements: • Be a resident of West Mt. Airy • Contributes to the neighborhood beyond his/her own citizen responsibilities • Shows concern for his/her neighborhood’s well-being and the overall quality of life in the community • Overcomes obstacles or takes risks in the pursuit of creating, developing, and furthering strong neighborhoods • Encourages neighbors to participate in activities for the benefit of all • Demonstrates results • Models the true spirit of citizenship A Good Neighbor can be a group or individual, child or adult, employee or volunteer, a friend or relative. Self-nominations are accepted. Please contact us at 215-438-6022 or visit our website at WWW.WMAN.NET for a nomination form and submit it today! What a great way to recognize those who make West Mt. Airy such a wonderful place to live. Opinion: Don’t Make Avenue a Garbage Dump By JOANNE DAVIS On Friday, February 5, 2010, residents of the 7500 block of Boyer Street, the 7500 block of Germantown Avenue, the unit blocks of Roumfort Road and McPherson Street, and the 100 block of Roumfort Road, streets that make up the northwestern-most residential area of Mt. Airy, were notified by the Streets Department that trash would no longer be picked up from the alleyways behind the houses and that residents would have to place all rubbish and recyclables in the front of their row homes. The reason given was, “We are unable to access the driveway behind your home. We are requesting that all rubbish and recycling collections be placed at curbside. This change will help eliminate the possibility of damage to your property and city equipment.” Each block received a different letter suggesting that the change in trash pickup policy would occur only on that block. We felt that the Streets Department was trying to deceive us into believing that the policy changes would affect only a small number of residences. When I called the reference number given at the bottom of the notice, I was told that the city couldn’t pay for any more private property damage. While there has been some damage caused by the trash and recyclables collection vehicles, we believe that better training for the operators is a better solution to this problem. Another excuse used was that the trucks are too large. Why did the City order these behemoths, knowing that there were many citizens of Philadelphia living in row homes backed by narrow alleys, from which trash has been collected for many, many years? If the vehicles are too large, then why not use the older, narrower vehicles - like the small pickup trucks they used to use when they used to plow the streets around here? At many of the residences affected by this policy change there is no direct access to street level in the front. All have several steps to get to porch level. The front yards are steep. This new policy is a hardship for us; we have very limited room in the front of our houses and no driveways or alleyways next to them to store garbage cans in or to walk through to the rear. It is especially difficult for the disabled people in this area, and for people living in the middle of the blocks, who will have to drag their trash receptacles the equivalent of a block or more to get them out to the curb. The alternative is to transport the trash through our homes, which would involve carrying the trash up the back steps to get it into the house, walking it through the house, out the front door, and down several steps to the curb in front. The sidewalks on these streets are very narrow. Trash cans put out for trash pickup will block pedestrian access on the sidewalk. Parking is at a premium, and there is very little space between the parked cars. How will the sanitation crews access the cans and empty the trash without damaging cars and/or property? Recently, a lot of money was spent beautifying the Germantown Avenue corridor. Will there now be trash cans rolling around on Germantown Avenue and adjacent streets? Will our streets become a littered mess, dripping with foul waste? When they do damage our cars, which is inevitable, isn’t this also an issue of (their) damage to (our) private property? If parking restrictions are implemented we might have to park our cars at least two blocks away. This is unsafe at night around here. There was a note on the bottom of the notice that said, “Adherence to the Sanitation Code provides cleaner sidewalks, less litter and a more beautiful city for everyone. Violators of the Sanitation Code are subject to fines.” Considering the points above, the high probability of trash on the streets, cans thrown about on the properties, sidewalks, and in the streets, and trucks dripping with foul waste, how is that going to make our city a more beautiful place? I am sad to think of what this area is going to be like if we have to keep our trash and garbage on our front porches, in the hot sun, especially as it gets warmer. This pleasant, well-kept area of Mt. Airy will become another smelly, garbage dump in Philadelphia. And why? We were never given any indication of a policy change until this two-week notice. There were never any meetings. Nothing! This is a “quality-of-life” issue. City officials says one thing, then do what will surely deteriorate the quality of life and lower our property values. We would appreciate the opportunity to have a dialogue with the decision-makers to determine the necessity for such drastic measures, and the possibility for some alternate solution that would be acceptable to both the Streets Department and the residents of our neighborhood. Opinion: Saving Lives for Black Heritage By VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH Black History Month focuses our attention on the achievements of African Americans. But what will tomorrow’s Black History be? According to national health statistics, the current generation of African-American children is likely to be the first since before emancipation that will not outlive their parents. What could keep African American children from leading long lives and reaching their full potential in an era when an African American is President of the U.S. and the nation’s wealthiest woman, Oprah Winfrey, is also African American? The answer is as simple as it is deadly: obesity and its attendant ills. First Lady Michelle Obama launched a campaign last week against childhood obesity. Her aim was to get America’s children out from behind their computers and TV sets and out exercising, eating healthily and maintaining a normal weight. But while the First Lady was focusing on children of all races, the reality is that African-American children are at greatest risk from what health advocates have called an obesity epidemic in the black community. The statistics are alarming. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African American children between the ages of six and 17 were 13 times more likely to be overweight than their Caucasian peers. African-American girls were most likely to grow up to be obese adults. African American women over the age of 20 have the highest rate of obesity of any group: four out of five African American women is either overweight or obese. Anyone–child or adult–who weighs 20 percent more than the norm for their height, age and gender is obese. More than 30 percent over the norm is considered morbid obesity. Obesity kills. Doctors estimate that children who are overweight in their pre-school years are at increased risk of being morbidly obese by ninth grade. In 1970, fewer than five percent of American children were overweight. 40 years later more than half of all American children are overweight. What does being a fat child mean? Some adults refer to overweight in children as “baby fat,” but there is no such thing. Fat is not something children outgrow. Instead children get fatter as they get older unless serious steps are taken to reverse their weight gain. There’s a lot more to childhood obesity than the social stigma that overweight children and teens suffer from: the toll on their bodies is extreme.   Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her stellar performance as the title character in “Precious,” is an example of the morbid obesity trend among young African Americans. Sidibe refers to herself as a “woman of size” and says she is proud of her looks. While Sidibe has extraordinary self-confidence as evidenced not just by her performance but also by interviews she has given on TV, African American girls and women should not let her self-confidence about her obesity lull them into emulating her. Emulate her hard work as an actor and singer, but her weight is dangerous. Sidibe’s mother, singer Alice Tan Ridley, says her now 26-year-old daughter was unhappy about being an overweight child and felt stigmatized by her peers. But the stigma of obesity is only the surface issue. Sidibe’s weight has cut her life expectancy by at least 20 percent. How many years could that take off her impressive acting career? When she becomes a Black History icon, will there be a tragic footnote to that history–an early death due to obesity-related illness? The diminished life expectancy for overweight and obese African Americans should not and must not be ignored, whether it is among community icons or children. As the First Lady has made clear, lives are in peril. The longer a person is overweight, the more strain on every part of the human body. It’s not merely a question of stretching out the skin–in children and teens skin is still very elastic and can re-shape itself after weight loss. Harder to fix is the internal damage done by obesity to the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas and eyes. Overweight and obese African-American children are at serious risk for Type 2 diabetes, which leads to kidney failure and blindness and high blood pressure, which leads to heart disease and early stroke. Yet it is all preventable. Type 2 diabetes is the fastest growing disease in the U.S. and the most common disease among African Americans of all ages. The disease which used to be called “adult-onset diabetes” now afflicts nearly 20 percent of African-American children. Researchers at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have predicted that as many as one in three children born today in the U.S. will develop Type 2 diabetes in his or her lifetime. But for African-American children that number is far higher–a 50-50 chance.   Type 2 diabetes is a direct result of overweight and obesity and is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in African-Americans. According to HHS, over 80 percent of all children with Type 2 diabetes that is not reversed in childhood will grow up to lose a limb due to circulatory problems, end up on dialysis or go blind from the disease. That’s a terrifying statistic. But we can, as Michelle Obama notes, change this trend.  We have to get our children up and moving. As children and adults we gain weight by taking in more calories than we expend. Children and adults should walk at least 10,000 steps per day, yet the average overweight adult only walks 2,000 and the average overweight child only 4,000. Eating habits must change. One soda has 20 teaspoons of sugar. One soda a day per year translates into a 15-pound weight gain. Snack foods and fast food are filled with sugar and fat–all empty calories. Many breakfast cereals and breakfast treats are filled with extra sugar, even if they also contain fiber and whole grains. And few children, particularly in the African American community, are eating the required daily servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. African American communities like Germantown have numerous fast food outlets and donut chains, but few outlets where affordable fruits and vegetables can be purchased. According to many experts and health advocates, African American adults have to re-think the cultural food norms that have led to the current obesity epidemic. According to Dr. Ian Smith, a diabetes expert and author of several books on changing eating habits to save your life including “The 50 Million Pound Challenge” and founder of the Urban Health Initiative for African Americans, a significant number of African Americans have diabetes without even knowing it, including many children. Dr. Smith stresses the importance of re-thinking the fried foods, starchy vegetables and heavy desserts that are staples of the African-American diet in favor of modified versions of the same foods, such as baked chicken instead of fried.  Dr. Smith notes that the threat posed by obesity is serious and that diabetes isn’t really ever a manageable disease, but rather a catastrophic health crisis that can be prevented and reversed with diet and exercise. The bottom line for this Black History Month is simple: While celebrating the manifold African-American achievements of the past and present, we have to look to the future and the health of today’s generation. Dr. Smith asserts that 100 African Americans are dying each day in America from complications of Type 2 diabetes–deaths that are preventable. We can and must work with the First Lady, Dr. Smith and each other to save the African-American children of today so that they can be the achievers of tomorrow.  Letters ‘Walk-a-Palooza’ a Great Success To the editor: Dear friends, Walk-a-Palooza was an enormous success with over four hours of great music, good friends, and generous donations which totaled nearly $1,500! We’ve since placed that in a special account to fund our Summer Free Concert Series. Wowser! There must have been more than 200 people who generously donated to the ongoing support of this wonderful concert series. So we are glad to announce that the concert series and the shop are both alive and well. We have already started to sign up bands for this summer and set up yard sale dates.  Our special thanks to Dr. Philip Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Philadelphia for generously allowing us the use of Bowman Hall for free so that all of those donations go to the series. They’ve invited us back for next year and we hope to make Walk-a-Palooza an annual event. A big thank you to the 10 bands that played till the rafters shook, and toasted Walk a Crooked Mile Books with parodies and tributes that moved us deeply. Special thanks to David Heitler-Klevans of Two of a Kind and Jim Harris of Saint Mad who made this extravaganza happen and to Art Miron who masterfully served as emcee. Thank you to all of those who attended the concert and gave generously. You are our neighbors, our friends, and our customers and Cynthia and I are also so grateful for the gracious way you responded to our call for help in November when we realized that the store was in danger of closing unless something drastic happened. And many amazing things did happen: Our Devon Street Neighbors decorated the Mt. Airy Train Station so that it glowed so brightly that we attracted more new customers.  They threw a huge First Night Party with a bonfire and marshmallow roast and invited lots of friends and neighbors who bought mountains of books and gift certificates. The Boyer Street neighbors sponsored a Saturday morning “Second Saturday” event with all of the kids from their neighborhood and again bought oodles of books as we all stayed warm with hot chocolate. The Mt. Airy Independent, thanks to Karl Biemiller, the Chestnut Hill Local, thanks to Len Lear and Hugh Gilmore, and WTXF, Fox 29, thanks to Berlinda Garnett, all gave us great press that told the story of our distress and your wonderful response and brought in new customers. Our faithful customers sent emails to their friends telling them about Walk a Crooked Mile Books. Throughout the holiday season we had new customers showing up saying their friends insisted they come and visit us. And they bought armfuls of books. All this was chronicled on our web site, www.walkacrookedmilebooks.com, generously built by our  friend, Rachel Polisher from livealbum.org who built us a wonderful website which will continue to highlight our presence. Please support her. So, by the end of the holiday season our sales had doubled over our best year in the past and we paid off our bills, had holes in our usually bursting shelves so there was room for new books, we had hundreds of tremendously loyal old customers, dozens of excited new customers, and a little money in the bank. So we feel renewed and recharged and confident that we can remain open and continue to be Mt. Airy’s bookstore, concert series, yard sale site, book recycling center, neighborhood hang-out place, friend of dogs and little kids, etc. Greg Williams and Cynthia Potter Editorials February 11, 2010 They Get The Grease Things like littering, loitering, panhandling, and excessive noise usually qualify as minor nuisances in urban life – but a steady diet of “quality of life” issues like these and others is one of the major reasons that people eventually give up on the city and head for supposedly greener pastures. They may not be major headaches, but they hurt just the same. Working on the old adage that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” we’re starting a new feature – “Squeaky Wheel” – to let our readers sound off on the things that bug them about life in their neighborhoods, and in the process maybe get a little attention to those issues from the powers that be. Readers are invited to send brief comments – up to 75 words – about quality of life issues to us for publication in the print edition and online. Writers must include their name, address, and a daytime phone number that they may be reached at so that their authorship and permission to publish may be verified. We will not publish or reveal in any way names and phone numbers, but we’ve got to have them. One other caution – no personal attacks. If you’ve got issues with an inconsiderate neighbor, write about the behavior, not the person. E-mail your “Squeaky Wheel” thoughts to editor@germantownnewspapers.com, fax them to 215-754-4245 or mail them to Germantown Newspapers, Inc. 5275 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19144. Opinion NIM Takes City-Wide Role in Child Care By RABBI GEORGE M. STERN Executive Director Neighborhood Interfaith Movement Imagine a city in which all children who enter kindergarten are ready to learn and poised to move forward at or above grade level throughout high school, then onto college or professional school, whichever suits them and their interests and talents best. As President Obama presents a plan to build on the successes of No Child Left Behind so that its actual results and stated goals are in sync, it’s important to realize the crucial role the pre-kindergarten years play in assuring that kids reach their academic and social potential. Today, our school systems have much higher expectations of children beginning kindergarten than in the past, so children are not likely to meet goals unless we put serious and sustained effort into building high quality early education and child care programs. For over two decades, Neighborhood Interfaith Movement (NIM), at 7047 Germantown Avenue, has served the needs of child care providers in Northwest Philadelphia and its environs, partnering with the Preschool Project in Kensington, the West Philadelphia Child Care Network, and the Philadelphia Early Childcare Collaborative. That work influenced the development of Keystone Stars, a statewide quality-building system that has led to significantly improved child care throughout Pennsylvania. Since January 1, 2010, thanks to a consolidation of several agencies’ resources designed to increase effectiveness and efficiency, NIM has been offering easily-accessible high-quality professional development and on-site technical assistance to center- and home-based child care providers city-wide, in the neighborhoods where they work. Next we will establish local Child Care Advisory Councils in various neighborhoods, starting in West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia, where our partners formerly worked. NIM offers a wide range of programs that impact the lives of young children and their families living in low and moderate income neighborhoods. We provide child care practitioners with training, early learning resources, phone support, and on-site technical assistance. We offer a 120-hour training program leading to a Child Development Associate degree, provide parenting classes to women in community correctional and rehabilitation facilities as well as to local residents, and operate Early Childhood Resource Centers that lend developmentally appropriate, multicultural toys and learning kits to child care operators and families.   The NIM Children and Families Director is Annette Freeman, who started her career as a child care provider and who now, with a Masters degree received while at NIM, is an expert in all aspects of early childhood education. Nearly a dozen other staffers have expertise in such areas as curriculum development and implementation, classroom and home-based childcare program management, children’s behavioral health, teaching social skills, special education, obesity prevention, and more. One staff member is the city’s expert on the licensing requirements for setting up child care programs. The needs of young children in the City of Philadelphia are great. Of 114,000 Philadelphia children under the age of 6, 37 percent live in poverty. In most two-parent families, both are working. While the need for quality child care has grown, the costs remain prohibitive for many, forcing many children into substandard care. Subsidies, while sometimes available, are insufficient. Quality suffers most in poorer areas of the city where the children most at risk of future failure live. Only about a quarter of youngsters are in Keystone Stars rated programs, and many of those are only at the beginning stages of improving quality. Given the increased importance we place on kindergarten readiness, children whose caretakers – childcare providers or parents – lack adequate knowledge of childhood development are “left behind” before they start. Vast numbers of childcare and preschool providers are fiercely dedicated to the children in their care, and hundreds each year undertake many hours of in-service training, precisely because they care about the children. But salaries remain distressingly low; staff turnover is high, particularly in those neighborhoods where the need for quality is greatest. NIM’s goal has for many years been to work with providers, using both public and private funds, to improve quality and assure that as many children as possible are prepared for kindergarten. We work with child care centers as well as the home-based providers where many of the city’s children, especially those from families with limited income, are enrolled. As we move to bring quality training to more parts of the city, NIM will give special attention to Immigrant communities, historically the backbone of the next wave of American creativity. We look forward to engaging providers and the citizenry at large in advocacy efforts on behalf of quality education for all preschoolers. Major funders for NIM’s work include The William Penn Foundation, the Southeast Pennsylvania Regional Key, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, The Pew Trusts, and the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services. Additional support comes from the Allen Hilles Fund, the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, the Green Tree Community Health Foundation, the Seybert Institution, the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation, NIM’s member congregations, and individual donors. If the needs of youngsters are great, so too is their promise. That’s why we must continue to provide the means through which they can meet their potential. For more information, call NIM at 215-843-5600. Letters GCC a Great Idea But Needs Some Improvement To the editor: The editorial (February 4) about the new movement in Germantown by the Germantown Community Connection (GCC) so excited me that I immediately went to their web site (www/germantowncc.org) to get more information and try to join the effort. It’s truly wonderful that First Presbyterian Church in Germantown is undertaking an effort to “connect the dots” of the fragmented grassroots leadership in this poorly led community.  As property owners in Germantown for the past 25 years, we applaud any effort to replace Germantown Settlement as the failed community development corporation for Germantown with an invigorated focus and determination to build this community.  We also applaud the insight about the need for a united voice and more cohesive leadership. But it was a disappointment to find so little information on the GCC web site about the plans and activities!  Key information is outdated, e.g., the web site announces its next meeting as “November 19, 7:30 PM”, which I assume means November 2009.  There are no minutes from prior meetings.  Most disturbing are the listed requirements for membership – for-profit entities may participate in meetings but are denied a vote!  Given the business district’s failing, it is at the heart of the problems in this community. Clearly, Germantown’s inability to restore its commerce and marketability is paramount.  It must become a “destination” for markets beyond its boundaries, much like the draw of Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and Manayunk (by the way, Manayunk is also a part of the Northwest).  The plans to restore its transportation hub at Wayne Junction could be a significant impetus to improving the business corridors on Wayne and Chelten Avenues. Building a new organization that expressly excludes full participation of the business community - when the business association has also been inept - is not only shortsighted on the issues confronting this community, it’s also discouraging to potential resources from business leaders.  Why would a business owner want to contribute without a meaningful voice?  Too often we elevate non-profit over for-profit entities as if one is more deserving than the other, a misguided premise in community development. That said, bravo to GCC’s leadership!  The momentum for this effort is advanced by your editorial.  Yet, most readers who want to participate also want to know more about the agenda, the participants, and the progress to date.  GCC would be well served to update the website with these items, as well as relax the restrictions on involvement. Yvonne B. Haskins Mt. Airy Women Must Be Aware of Heart Risks To the editor: On February 4 in Council chambers, I along with my colleagues, Council President Verna and Councilwoman Marion Tasco, introduced a resolution that proclaimed February 2010 as American Heart Month, and February 5, 2010 as “Wear Red Day” in the City of Philadelphia. This resolution was introduced to raise awareness in women that cardiovascular disease remains the nation’s leading cause of death and stroke, and is the third leading cause of death and is the leading cause of death among women over age 25. This disease claims the lives of over 480,000 women each year, more than the next six most common causes of death combined. The sad fact is that only 13 percent of women are aware that heart disease is their No. 1 health threat. In 2006, the direct and indirect cost of cardiovascular disease and stroke in the United States is estimated at $403.1 billion. One in four females and one in four males in the United States suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease.  While these statistics are staggering, the real shocker for me was to learn that sixty-four percent of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms of this disease at all. Additionally, a stroke is the No. 3 cause of death for American women and is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. African-American and Mexican-American women have higher heart disease and stroke risk factors than white women of comparable socioeconomic status. As an elected official, but more so as a woman and the mother of a young woman, I support the American Heart Association’s national call to increase awareness of heart disease, and to inspire women to take charge of their health. I personally urge you to love and save your hearts through education as well as lifestyle choices and actions designed to lower personal risk factors for cardiovascular disease; I also call upon all women to recognize the importance of the ongoing fight against heart disease and urge all you to be educated, speak with their health care provider, and be aware of the risk factors for this devastating disease and take steps to reduce their personal risk factors. Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller Philadelphia Correction to Haiti Article To the editor: Thank you for Patrick Cobbs’s cover story on Haiti (“Northwest Reaches Out to Help Haiti”), and especially for including the history that led to Haiti’s poverty and the role of the US government in its current plight, something the mainstream media usually overlooks We were glad you mentioned the Global Women’s Strike’s vigil at the Federal Building, and our ongoing relationship with grassroots groups in Haiti.  I want to correct a small but significant error.  I am quoted as saying “People there were saying ‘we want the USA but we don’t want it to be an occupation’.”  I actually said people “want the US aid, not an occupation.”  An understandable mistake, especially since the interview was done over the phone. The Global Women’s Strike is continuing support for Haiti, pressing government officials to do everything they can to prioritize aid not occupation, supporting the call for President Aristide’s return, and encouraging donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund which will go directly to grassroots people, especially women and children, and not to bureaucracies. Mary Kalyna Global Women’s Strike/Phila. Crossroads Women’s Center Thanks to Those Helping MALT Building Campaign To the editor: I am writing to express my deepest gratitude to all of our wonderful MALT supporters for their help so far in the Make This Our Home campaign.  Recently the MALT board threw a party for MALT teachers at the home of Elise and Max Rivers.  It was a spectacular event on all counts. First I want to thank Max and Elise for hosting us in their beautiful home for this occasion.  Their generous spirit included opening up both the downstairs for the general party, and space upstairs for the teachers to be videotaped by Janet Gala.  These short snippets on each teacher’s class will be posted on our website shortly! The general public will be able to hear and see our teachers promoting their own classes. Next I want to thank my fabulous board for providing quite a spread of food and drink! It was beautifully laid out; we had quite a variety, and no one left the party hungry!  Thank you MALT board for stepping up, showing your appreciation for our teachers and for working so hard this year. You guys rock! Finally, my heart goes out to all of our MALT teachers who have donated money, time, teacher fees, silent auction items, and their professional expertise all to help us Make This Our Home!  Without our teachers, none of this would be possible. If anyone would like to join us all you need to do is call the MALT office at 215-843-6333, as our next house party is “A taste of MALT” featuring signature dishes prepared by our wonderful MALT cooking teachers!  This party will be on March 13, with a $40 entrance fee that includes a raffle ticket for the heli-hiking trip for one! (It’s a $2,495 value and you need not be present at our March 18 drawing to win!) These parties are part of our yearlong capital campaign to raise $230,000 needed to buy our building at 6601 Greene Street.  Keep your eyes open for future community wide fun and fundraising efforts.  Events will include two featured speakers on March 16 and 18, (go to www.mtairylearningtree.org for details) a MALT Ball in April (dance party), house parties, and a silent auction in September. Jonna Naylor Executive Director Mt Airy Learning Tree Editorials February 4, 2010 United We Stand If you have spent any significant amount of time in Germantown you realize that while it is the largest of the three major communities in the orthwest (the other two being Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill), it is the only one of the three where the residents are generally told what will happen in their community only after decisions are made and deals with developers and/or the city are already formulated, signed, or in progress. I attended a community meeting in East Mt. Airy a few years ago when an attempt was being made to move a proposed senior citizen development to a church property. A massive overflow turnout spilled out of the building. West Mt. Airy had already jettisoned this specific project with backlash from its community organization and neighbors, and the developer, with City Council office support, moved the proposal across Germantown Avenue. After listening to the presentation at the meeting a long line formed for residents to take to the microphone and express their views. After two or three neighbors gave their reasons for not wanting this new construction, a woman summed up the feeling of the crowd and to overwhelming applause shouted the following: “Donna Miller - is this another one of your ‘done deals’ - I moved here from Germantown to escape that kind of government where the residents had no say in what would impact them, but we won’t stand for it here!” The project went no further in Mt. Airy, and the closing words of our Councilwoman that evening were, “It looks like the people have spoken. I will find another place to locate this project - further down in Germantown.” Chestnut Hill now has two community organizations but for years there was only one whose clearly-recognized power effected as much control over what was built or developed there as the city Zoning Board of Adjustment itself. When its representatives showed up at a ZBA meeting with a position, their wishes in effect became the outcome almost every time. West and East Mt. Airy have two structured organizations, one for each side of Germantown Avenue, which coordinate on key issues and have a joint annual meeting. A few years ago, when Acme Markets wanted to rebuild its massive store on Sedgwick Street, the plans went through the WMAN strainer and significant revisions in the location of the building, the parking and access took place before the first permit was issued. Efforts by these organizations have closed personal care homes, nuisance bars, and stores whose practices led to ongoing criminal activity. That almost never happens in Germantown. An old chart of the community organizations that existed for Germantown showed more than 20. Some claim that as many as 17 still exist, although some of those may be inactive and with few members. Political leadership likes it that way, and so do the developers, who have been playing the groups over the years with promises and “small potatoes” funding grants that pit one against another. No unified effort ever developed to advocate for what was once the second-largest commercial corridor in this city, and the most significant surviving colonial neighborhood in the nation. There is an opportunity to change all that and it has been building over the last year through efforts of a few long-term dedicated residents and a local institution that has donated its facility and its time. The Germantown Community Connection has been meeting regularly at the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, with its defined purpose to unify those already-existing community groups and fill in those sectors without one. Its continued success will create a citizen power base that will have standing with the Zoning Board of Adjustment and can participate in development projects while they are being formulated, curtailing the former standard practice that led to “Oh, well, it’s too late” that has turned Germantown in an expendable community. The leadership of Rev. Nancy Muth, Betty Turner, Rev. Kevin Porter, Pam Bracy and others has kept this effort alive, created an interactive website, and conducted regularly scheduled meetings. Those who think that Germantown residents have the same rights as Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill should participate. For information visit www.germantowncc.org. Jim Foster Publisher Opinion The Battle for Pennsylvania Voters By VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH   Democrats were jettisoned into a political spin in January and the fallout will likely be felt right up until the mid-term elections in November.  In a special election, the bluest state in the nation, Massachusetts, elected a Republican to fill the Senate seat held for decades by Ted Kennedy.  There are many reasons why Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley in Massachusetts. Some had to do with personality. Brown is personable; Coakley, not so much. Brown campaigned hard while Coakley virtually stopped campaigning after winning a hard-fought primary, presuming–wrongly–that the general election was a mere formality since the big fight had been among several Democrats. There were no exit polls, but voters may have ignored Brown’s conservative politics on many key issues, despite the fact that the majority of Massachusetts voters are Democrats.  There were other variables in the short campaign but the only one that is truly relevant to Pennsylvania voters is this: Democratic voters outnumber Republicans four to one in Massachusetts and Brown could not have been elected without Democratic voters. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 60-40 in Pennsylvania where a pivotal Senate seat is at stake in November. The other problem raised for Democrats in January was a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on corporate money, free speech and elections. In a case titled Citizens United  v. FEC (Federal Election Commission), a 5-4 majority opinion ruled that First Amendment rights trumped existing campaign finance reform restrictions. The complicated Supreme Court case stems from the contention of the conservative group Citizens United that their First Amendment rights were violated when an attack film they had prepared on Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primaries was not allowed to air on TV. The legal argument was predicated on whether the film could be considered a campaign ad under the McCain-Feingold Act, which restricts corporate and union funding of campaign contributions. The Court split on ideological grounds: the five more conservative justices voted in favor of Citizens United while the four more liberal justices voted for the FEC. Conservatives celebrated the ruling. Progressives decried it, calling it nothing less than judicial activism. The ruling resonated on both sides of the aisle.  Rush Limbaugh told his audience, “Freedom is awaking from its coma today because of a huge, huge, huge Supreme Court decision — huge. I cannot tell you how big this is.” President Obama, himself a constitutional law professor, held a different view, stating that the ruling “gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington – while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates.” In his weekly radio address Obama said “this ruling strikes at our democracy itself” and “I can’t think of anything more devastating to the public interest.” Over the top? Perhaps, but for Pennsylvanians, the impact of the ruling may be felt sooner rather than later, as political ads for the Senate race are slated to begin running in the coming weeks. Corporate interests, as well as union interests, are profound in this state, which is anticipating a brutal primary and general election for the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Arlen Specter. The primary is in May and one can only vote for the party one is registered for in primaries in Pennsylvania. Much was made of the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races back in November. Republicans wrested both seats away from Democrats. What was roundly ignored was what happened in Pennsylvania. In the off-year election last November, vacancies on the state Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court went overwhelmingly to Republicans, who won six of seven seats, among them the controversial conservative Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin, who was elected to the state Supreme Court. In 2008, voter registration in Pennsylvania hit an all-time high in anticipation of the presidential election, which included an increase of 1.5 million more registered Democrats than Republicans. Yet in the November 2009 election, even though Republicans were outspent by Democrats and Democrats control the State House and the Governor’s office, Republicans still won handily. That win was also without anti-Democrat momentum or access to soft money through corporate or union entities. Democratic pundits note that November is a long way off–and it is. But May is not and in Pennsylvania, primaries tend to determine which party will win the general election. In April, 2009 when Arlen Specter switched parties, the move was roundly seen as blatantly political. Specter, considered moderate by Republican standards, faced stiff competition from Pat Toomey, the right-wing contender for the Senate seat who came close to unseating Specter six years ago. Rep. Joe Sestak is Specter’s primary competition now, or wants to be. But Sestak isn’t even popular in his own district where the former admiral’s pro-war sentiments have been at odds with Democratic values. What’s more, when the health care debates broke out in force last spring and summer in Pennsylvania, it was Specter rallying for Obama’s health care reform plan and becoming a champion of the public option, not Sestak. Last week Democratic Party leaders in Pennsylvania requested that Sestak withdraw from the race as Toomey’s numbers continued to rise. Concerns are that a bruising primary will give Toomey even more momentum and end up in the unseating of whichever Democrat, Specter or Sestak, is the candidate in November. Could Pennsylvania go the route Massachusetts in January? Absolutely. Those of us who have covered politics in Pennsylvania for decades have not forgotten that it was ultra-conservative Rick Santorum who unseated liberal Harris Wofford in 1994 in the Republican congressional sweep. The November 2010 election has the potential to replicate that sweep and Pennsylvania is one of the key states Republicans are angling to win. Now they have way more available money to help in that fight, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling. Corporate interests in Pennsylvania are strong and Toomey has solid corporate support while neither Specter nor Sestak does. What’s more, Toomey is already trying to pivot off the Massachusetts win. And with record unemployment in Pennsylvania, Toomey has a ready-made platform for the kind of “change” message Brown ran on in Massachusetts. It may be too early to discern how much of an impact a wide-open campaign ad policy will have on the Senate race, but Pennsylvania voters witnessed the propagandistic ads that ran in New Jersey in the gubernatorial race–and that was without the lid being lifted on corporate interests. Will a primary with soft money tossed into the mix and a Republican groundswell benefit Toomey? It may be too early to tell, but Toomey’s lead increased this week. Toomey now leads both Specter and Sestak in polling, by four and nine percent, respectively. Specter handily leads Sestak 53 to 32 percent. Numbers shift, of course. But Pennsylvanians are strongly against health care reform–Specter’s key issue–and two-thirds say the country is going in the wrong direction. Money and issues could reprise 1994 for Democrats. It may be a long time until November, but political time is fluid. Martha Coakley thought she had her seat sewn up. Letters New Zoning Code Should Spell Out Criteria To the editor: Your article [issue of January 21] on the discussion of the work of the Zoning Code Commission at the annual joint EMAN/WMAN meeting was quite informative.  As one of the panelists, an attorney representing clients before the Philadelphia Zoning Board and a member of the WMAN Zoning Committee, I have firsthand experience with the failings of our present zoning process. Indeed, things are broken.  The Zoning Code (actually a separate chapter in the Philadelphia Code) has become a quagmire.  Numerous amendments, conflicting definitions, out of date uses and changed neighborhoods make not only development activity, but routine property improvements subject to this confusing and cumbersome body of law.  Because of these conditions, the actual hearing process has lost its way. The zoning code has always included a provision requiring an applicant demonstrate that a hardship exists because of the physical condition of the building on the property or of the property itself.  The fact is, probably 90 plus percent of appeals do not meet this criteria.  Only in neighborhoods like Mt. Airy, where an old carriage house may sit in the middle of a residentially zoned block, does a hardship exist. However, over the years and in the absence of an effective development review process, the Zoning Board has become the de facto development approval board.  This is unfortunate, because the members of the Zoning Board, while well-intentioned and intelligent individuals, are not generally trained or experienced in the field of city planning. Why not write a new zoning code and also prepare a new comprehensive plan for the Philadelphia that clearly describes what kind of development is permitted in any given area of the City?  Once the criteria are spelled out in a new zoning code, and it is understood that variances will be permitted only if there is a minor deviation, such as a side yard that is one foot less than required or there is a clear hardship preventing a permitted use, will we end up with more efficient and predictable system.  The community should be an integral part of developing a new comprehensive plan for all areas of the City.  Hopefully thresholds will be placed in the new comprehensive plan and/or the zoning code that will require developers early in the development process to work with communities and with the professionals at the Planning Commission. I am optimistic such a day will come.     Ralph S. Pinkus Mt. Airy Corps of Engineers Should Address Monoshone Pollution Problem To the editor: Thank you for having Patrick Cobbs report on the January 14 meeting which dealt with problems in the Wissahickon Creek watershed. The Monoshone, which runs along Lincoln Drive and empties into the Wissahickon, was one of ten problem areas covered during the meeting. Members of Northwest Greens and other Monoshone activists attended this meeting and left written comments protesting the Philadelphia Water Department’s (PWD) discharge of sewage into the Monoshone on a daily basis. At the meeting, I spoke with Bill Mulloy from the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) about the sewage coming from the PWD’s Outfall 5 into the Monoshone. Bill told me that he had never heard about this problem from anyone in PWD. I showed him the fecal test results in the PWD’s Monoshone Water Quality Update, and he was shocked. Bill asked how long it has been that way, and I told him for 20 years that I am aware of. I also said that citizens in the Monoshone watershed were upset by the sewage problem, and we would like the Army Corps of Engineers to help us. When Bill asked how he could be of help, I suggested that ACE has more leverage than mere citizens like us. I also suggested that ACE should say it will not do the Monoshone part of the Wissahickon project until after PWD cleaned up the discharges from Outfall 5. Unfortunately, Bill did not agree to do that, but he did say he would discuss the sewage problem with PWD. I think the evening was very worthwhile and that your reporting was excellent. Chris Robinson Germantown Editorials January 28, 2010 It Takes Two The 14th Police District presented its new Police Service Area (PSA) system for the Northwest in separate community meetings last week in each of the four new PSAs into which the sprawling district is now divided. Some of the meetings were well-attended, and that’s good. Others weren’t, and that’s very bad. No matter what the neighborhood, residents always list crime and quality of life issues - which are intimately connected – at the top of their list of concerns. But residents must do more than complain about these things, they must actively work to fight them. Perhaps the most important way they can do that is to provide the police with extra eyes, ears, and information. Budget constraints mean that the days when the Philadelphia Police Department could have a cop on every beat are over, and they won’t be back. The new PSA system is an attempt to recreate that era and keep a constant focus on each neighborhood’s individual concerns and problems. But it won’t work unless the public takes part, because the police cannot do it alone. So give serious consideration to attending the next PSA meeting in your neighborhood. Familiarize yourself with the system, meet the officers in charge, hear what they have to say, and tell them what you think about your neighborhood and what you’ve seen there. Plan on attending the townwatch meetings that are held monthly at 14th District Headquarters, 43 West Haines Street. (Meeting dates and times are listed in every issue of this paper in the Police Briefs section.) And turn out for the upcoming community workshop/town hall meeting on February 24 from 7-9 p.m. at the District. It will take two to make the Northwest a better, safer place to live – the police and the citizenry. Karl Biemuller Editor Opinion Little Minds, No Consistency in Our Politics By BRETT MANDEL We are reprimanded that “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” but a little consistency should not be too much to ask of city government.  In fact, a little consistency is pretty much all we want from government.  Tell us what we can do and what we can’t, and then enforce the rules dependably so we all can go about our merry ways.  Of course, consistency is too much to ask in Philadelphia politics. The recent happy news that change may be finally coming to the Board of Revision of Taxes is certainly welcome.  After decades of maintaining a property-assessment system that is a fraud and a crime, and years of providing the pols and their pals with sinecures and sweetheart deals, the Board is poised to exit stage right.  If voters approve a Charter change this spring, the Board will be replaced by an agency of non-political, civil-service employees to conduct assessments and another panel of credentialed appointees to hear property-owners’ appeals. But, in considering this necessary change, the major topic of discussion in City Hall was not how to make sure that the new bureaucracy produces fair and accurate real estate assessments (which should be THE primary concern).  Our elected officials were consumed with how to protect patronage jobs.  For decades, the political armies have found jobs for their foot soldiers at the Board of Revision of Taxes where they work on the public payroll during the day and then perform political work when they are “off the clock.”  Critics contend that many of these jobs are make-work positions, wasting scarce public dollars to grease the wheels of the party machines. But, one might ask, aren’t city workers supposed to NOT engage in political activities?  That is absolutely correct. Scarred by years of rampant corruption, Philadelphians adopted strict prohibitions against having public employees participate in political activities (even when they are not working) when they adopted the 1951 City Charter.  In a city where public jobs were literally sold by party officials, the restrictions that keep public work and political work totally separate were a stride toward a government by the people, not by the political parties. To get around the prohibition from city workers engaging in political work, the patronage employees at the Board of Revision of Taxes were placed on the School District payroll since the District relies on the property assessments to determine the Real Estate Taxes that fund our schools. City Solicitor Shelley Smith reviewed the situation and correctly determined that the workers at the Board of Revision of Taxes are city employees.  Mayor Nutter declared, “They should be on the city payroll and subject to the same rules and regulations as city employees,” saying the current employees would be allowed to take a civil service exam to apply for positions in the new property-assessment agency. The move to allow the political workers to abandon their political positions and campaign work to apply for the new, civil-service jobs is a reasonable compromise to move forward.  (However, it seems absolutely clear that the new assessment agency should not have the same, bloated number of clerks and aides as the current BRT).  Here is where the need for consistency comes in.  Given the City Solicitor’s correct judgment of the situation, and the Mayor’s appropriate response, we need the same standard to apply throughout city government. The City Controller — the public’s watchdog in rooting out fraud in city government — currently uses the same “stick-em-on-the School-District-payroll” ploy to employ a number of pols.  In fact, the Controller employs his campaign treasurer in a make-work position, wasting public money with the ruse.  Hizzoner declared that the BRT’s workers cannot be political, but refuses to apply the same logic to the pols in the City Controller’s Office.  And what about the legion of political workers employed in other areas of city government, protected for years by a series of mayoral administrations that have looked the other way to preserve jobs for loyal party soldiers?  A Daily News article explained that the Nutter Administration went out of its way to avoid publishing a City Solicitor’s opinion on the matter or apply the same rules elsewhere in government.  Mayoral spokesman Doug Oliver said “The city wanted to avoid unintended consequences which might occur when the answer to a very narrow and well defined concern is applied broadly without thorough case-by-case analysis.” That foolishness is the very opposite of consistency.  The Nutter Administration’s response is nothing short of an inexcusable defense of the status quo; a weak-kneed capitulation to the hackocracy by the guy who told us he would “throw out bums in City Hall who have been ripping us off for years.” If there are jobs that need to be done, let them be done by individuals focused on serving the public, not serving political bosses.  If jobs are unnecessary — and quite a few of them are nothing short of our tax dollars fueling political campaigns — then we can eliminate them and generate savings in the budget to preserve some of our threatened city services or reduce our oppressive tax burden. The rules are clear.  In Philadelphia, if one wants to work in city government, one cannot play politics.  A little consistency from government in enforcing those rules should not be such a foolish thing to expect. Brett Mandel is a reform advocate in Philadelphia. Previously, he was the executive director of Philadelphia Forward, a citizens’ organization that pushed for tax reform, ethics reform, and budgetary transparency. Before that, he served as Director of Financial and Policy Analysis in the City Controller’s office and was appointed to the 2003 Tax Reform Commission. Letters New Solutions Needed for African-Americans To the editor: The country will be celebrating Black History Month during the month of February to honor the achievements and contributions of the African American people to the United States of America, even though I personally don’t believe the true history of the African American people has yet to be told. Many of us will be celebrating and remembering the great leaders of the past, others will honor the leaders of today, but I have to wonder how many will honor Black History Month by focusing on the depletion of the black family and the community we live in? African Americans are in the midst of a social crisis that threatens the very viability of the black community. The core of this crisis is the deepening plight of black men. In light of the state of the black family, it behooves us to bring this issue to the forefront of our history, particularly with catastrophic unemployment rates, the disturbing high school drop-out rates of our children, the undeniably high teenage pregnancy and a continued increase of our young men and women in prison. The silent treatment of our community issues is the wrong medicine. Since 1965, through economic recessions and booms, the black family has unraveled in ways that have little parallel in human cultures. By 1980 black fatherlessness had doubled; 56 percent of black births were to single mothers. In inner-city neighborhoods, the number was closer to 66 percent. By the 1990s, even as the overall fertility of American women, including African Americans, was falling, the majority of black women who did bear children were unmarried. Today, 70 percent of black children are born to single mothers. In some neighborhoods, two-parent families have vanished. In parts of Newark and Philadelphia, for example, it is common to find children who are not only growing up without their fathers but don’t know anyone who is living with his or her biological father. America has more than two million citizens behind bars, the highest absolute and per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Black Americans, a mere 13 percent of the population, constitute half of this country’s prisoners. A tenth of all black men between ages 20 and 35 are in jail or prison; blacks are incarcerated at over eight times the white rate. Merely walking down the aisle can’t explain these differences. Rather, the institution of marriage appears to promote ideals of stability, order and fidelity that benefit children and adults alike. Those who pin their hopes for black progress on education tend to forget this. Numerous studies, when controlled for income and race, show that, on average, children growing up with single mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and go to college. This generation of people must arrive at the solutions for our family and community problems. The question to ask is: how will history remember us? It’s time to seek a new prospective for solving these problems within our family and our community. Editor’s note: Ms. McFarlane is the author of the newly-released book Release the Prophetic Destiny in Philadelphia: A City Under Reconstruction. Justice Center for Town Hall a Good Idea To the editor: [Regarding “A Justice Center for Town Hall,” editorial, issue of January 21] I couldn’t possibly agree more. The Germantown Town Hall is a magnificent building which has been criminally ignored and allowed to go to seed; using it in the manner you suggest would serve both to revitalize the area and serve DA Williams’ goal of providing “community prosecutors.” Adam Zion Aristide Denied a Role To the editor: Of all the officials flying into Haiti these days, there is one you are not likely to see; although of all people he would be the most welcome by the poor—most of the population. I refer to Jean Bertrand Aristide, the U.S. ousted president who won the 2000 election with over 90 percent of the vote. His absence is not for lack of trying. From his exile in South Africa he has expressed wishes to “be with my people.” With the all expressions of concern emanating from our government towards this earthquake of nature which has devastated Haiti, the Haitian people have long memories of the U.$.- made “quakes” foisted upon them: A U.S. backed coup in 1990 after Aristide won an overwhelming election. The U.S. refusal to release $100 million in aid to Haiti after Aristide was reelected in 2000, thereby denying him sorely needed funds to help the economy and raise the standard of living for the poor. And then, shamefully, the 2004 flight of America’s “other” black hero, then Secretary of State Colin Powell, to Port O Prince to tell President Aristide in effect, “You had better leave Haiti, or they will kill you.” The “they” he was referring to were aHaitian thugs led by the criminal Guy Philippe, who had returned from exile in the Dominican Republic hacking and slaughtering people in the countryside. Philippe and his element were the Haitian “contras”, not unlike the U.S.- backed contras during the Nicaraguan revolution. Sadly to conclude, Aristide is still so popular amongst the majority of Haitians that his party was denied participation in the last senatorial elections by the current U.S.-backed pro-business government. So much for American style “democracy.” But it ain’t over yet, folks, as history always reminds us. Lawrence Geller Philadelphia Thanks for Informative Articles To the publisher: I wanted you to know how pleased I am to see a Germantown paper again and also how much I have enjoyed reading those issues I have seen. Just recently, in the editions dated December 31 and January 7, I found the articles on “The Year That Was in Germantown” both informative and very interesting. There have been a number of other articles that were of particular interest, including the one about Girard College hosting the annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, and in the January 14th edition, the report about the plans for Hunting Park West. Thank you and your staff for providing news about our neighborhoods, and for a job well done! Evelyn G. Spann Germantown Editorial January 21, 2010 A Justice Center for Town Hall Seth Williams, our new District Attorney, has just been sworn in after running an intense campaign challenging the status quo with charges that our Philadelphia justice system was severely broken.  A multi-part Philadelphia Inquirer expose of just how far that system had deteriorated has just been published, and both a Supreme Court judge and U.S. Senator have backed up the Inquirer’s demand for major reforms in the office of the DA and the Courts. One of the concepts that Williams set forth during his two campaigns for this office was the regionalization of the DA’s office that would put investigators and Assistant District Attorneys closer to the communities and the victims of crime, in an effort to streamline the process and restore confidence.  At the same time the Police Department has been making organizational changes that have brought the 14th District a new captain and combined two other city districts for efficiency. This is the perfect moment to make positive use of a landmark Germantown facility owned by city that has been left idle for years, one that many would like to see serving the community.  This is Town Hall at Germantown Avenue and Haines Street, adjacent to the 14th Police District headquarters and a facility that formerly did house city offices. The 14th is the largest Police District in the city and it is undergoing an internal restructuring with its subdivision into Police Service Areas. This is an opportunity to balance those changes with DA Williams’ concept of regional law enforcement, by making a refurbished Town Hall the first regional DA location and even taking it two steps further. All detectives who work on 14th District cases are located at the 35th District on North Broad Street; far from the 14th District station.  Let’s move them to the same location and have all local Municipal Court hearings and arraignments there as well. What could be more efficient and effective than by having next to the police district the detectives, the ADA’s and their investigators in one facility in a very prominent location, one that the city already owns? Town Hall was put into the city’s “attic” indefinitely back in the 1990s. We can reverse that process and make some significant local history in a building that is certified part of history itself, and one the community wants to serve a purpose. At the same time our City Councilperson could establish a local office in the same building, where residents of the community could have the kind of access that has been denied to the Northwest. We currently have the only District Councilperson who does not have a community office in her own district. Functioning local government, law enforcement, and a key part of our justice system in one prominent location: maybe once that is accomplished more than half of those charged in crimes would not walk because of system failures, and citizens could have greater access to the government to which they are now going to pay even more taxes.   Jim Foster Publisher Opinions Opinion: Lack of Math Holds Inmates Back by Paul Schlueter III Editor’s note: Paul Schleuter is serving a life sentence at the State Correction institution at Dallas, Pennsylvania, where he is a member of the ProLiteracy Council and serves as a volunteer tutor. His article on literacy problems among the prison population appeared in the October 22, 2009 issue of this paper. There is a spectrum of educational levels among inmates, ranging from immigrants who never attended anything like U.S. public schools, through individuals who dropped out of education at various points, and reaching as high as those who have attained college degrees. There is a bell curve of sorts, with the bulk of inmates falling into the middle, having more than a sixth grade education, but less than a college education. Numeracy can broadly be defined as an individual’s familiarity with numbers, their uses, and their manipulation for practical or intellectual purposes. Let’s begin with the skill of counting. Our base ten number system is fairly well understood by inmates, but while nearly every inmate can count Monopoly money, it is routine to see confusion when trying to discuss the tens column vs. the hundreds column. This shows considerable practical skill at counting, but a drop-off of ability at the point where numbers become abstract. The age at which abstract math thinking arises is usually around 15-18. For most U.S. children, these are the high school years. For many inmates their high school education was either incomplete or non-existent. Dropping out of school certainly places a definite point on the end of formal education. You can probably define “denominator” with relative ease. How well can you define “rational numbers?” Can you define, and give an example of, “inversions?” Each of these terms is used within the high school curriculum, and at least moderate competence at applying these skills is required to pass a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) test. The GED also includes geometry, algebra, and some basic trigonometry, and if you don’t grasp the abstracts listed above, those more-advanced subjects will be beyond your reach until you acquire remedial assistance (the need for which is likely to be a stunning blow to the fragile ego of a teenager!) One serious bout of disease in the early teen school season, and you could very well find yourself hopelessly lost in math class, as well as psychologically unable to admit your “stupidity” and seek out extra help. In prison, I discovered that even a high school education gives one a considerable advantage over the majority of fellow inmates. I saw that my fellows had great trouble reading a ruler, planning to budget their miniscule incomes, or grasping statistics expressed in percentages. Yet everyone could tell me how many quarters a dollar was worth. Everyone knew (by rote experience) how many quarter-grams of meth or cocaine there were in each gram, and how many grams of pot there were in a quarter-, half-, or whole ounce. They could easily split $15 two or three ways. Where practical application fell into their experience, I saw that inmates were generally quite competent, even confident, with their math. It was just the abstract applications that tripped them up. In that area, they were “innumerate.” In the prison tailor shop, a man might not be able to actually measure a 3-1/2” width of cloth using either a ruler or a tape measure. He’d wear a tape measure around his neck to look the part, but if you asked him to measure someone’s waistline, he might simply mark the dimension with his thumb, and hold it until he can compare it to the waist of a pair of pants off the shelf! A bit of string would serve as well. In most prison jobs, an inmate isn’t expected to demonstrate numeracy before being hired. (Rules require earning a GED or showing a diploma, but ironically many with those credentials still suffer from innumeracy.) He’s likely to get a prison job on the basis of social networking (a purely practical skill), and from that point on he’ll assert seniority or toughness or some other irrelevant distraction whenever called upon to perform math he doesn’t grasp. Classes are different. When in a class on Building Trades, the student is forced to demonstrate that he can read the even-denominator fractions of a standard ruler early on. If he can’t, non-judgmental assistance is given for as long as necessary until he masters the new skill. The same goes for every skill taught in the class, from hammering a nail to running a table saw to figuring out the rafter angles and lengths of a complex gabled roof. In seeing that the math has practical usefulness, and that he won’t be allowed to attempt the task until he can, like his peers, demonstrate that he understands the theory, the student is motivated to learn. Despite the innumeracy issues affecting the majority of inmates, those on the higher end of the spectrum do enjoy some opportunities to exercise their math intellects, such as a computer programming course or college level courses in accounting/business management. In conclusion, there is a desperate and ongoing need for funding, staff, and facilities to teach inmates numeracy skills in order to bring them up to a level where they can effectively fit into the workplace after release. A large (and continually refreshed) portion of the inmate population suffers from an effective lack of abstract thinking skills where math is involved, and those skills are necessary to obtaining a GED, and to successful reintegration after release. Letters Considerable Progress on Parking Problem To the editor: I believe that pieces written recently in the Independent about parking in the 7100 block of Germantown Avenue depict my land as largely untapped potential and don’t reflect the improvements I have made to improve the parking situation for our tenants, neighbors, and the business district. The reality is that currently 60-100 cars per day park on the land behind the Sedgwick and the 14-car lot I own on Mt. Airy Avenue. Many of those cars in the past would park on Chew Avenue and surrounding streets or take up spots on Germantown Avenue. I want to acknowledge Northwest Human Services and Paul Sachs who partnered with me to make this possible. I understood ten years ago that a healthy Mt. Airy business district needed more parking. Because of that, I incorporated in my initial lease with NXNW the right to use the small store to its right as part of a passage from Germantown Avenue to a consolidated lot that I hoped would be created by the community and me. At the time, I owned far less land than I do now. Much of the land was broken up into small unpaved parcels surrounded by an unattractive fence and had weeds and trees growing in the parcels. Rather than wait for the community, I purchased a large parcel five years ago that allows the creation of one large consolidated lot. Today much of the land is paved and has better lighting. In addition, we have removed unsafe and unsightly garages and fencing that were falling down. Today the land is a vastly improved open space that serves the parking needs of many who use it including neighbors. During those ten years, I have reached out to those who have the responsibility to create a healthy business district. I wanted to see if we could work together to make the land behind the Sedgwick more useful to the community. I consider that effort a failure. I am still open to conversations that are respectful. In the meantime, just as I have in the past, I will continue to improve the land behind the Sedgwick and explore the many exciting uses, including parking, for that land. David Fellner Germantown Avenue Citizenry Isn’t Angry Enough To the editor: Are we angry enough yet, folks? Well, it “ain’t gonna happen” until we do get angry…angry enough to say, “Hell, no, we aren’t going to take it anymore.” Case in point. The polls have repeatedly shown that “we the people” favor a public health option, Medicare at 55+, and a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Yet, none of that is happening. Nada, zilch, zero. But do you remember or reading about the ‘60s when the most oppressed segments of the black population said, “Hell, no. We aren’t gonna take it any more?” And they let that be known. Remember that? The results? The Civil Rights Act and voter registration legislation, both of which had been in congressional committees going nowhere forever. Are we angry enough? Yes, the health care plan of 2010—whatever passes—will be a step forward. Goodness knows, we are so far behind every other western nation, that anything would be step forward. Yet we are #1 in armaments production, U.S. troops in over 100 military bases around the globe, and a military-industrial complex increasingly pervading our everyday life. Are we getting angry enough folks? Some people around the world are. Lawrence Geller Philadelphia Price an Effective Advocate for Mt. Airy To the editor: Vernon Price recently stepped down as Democratic Ward Leader for the 22nd Ward to accept a position in the District Attorney’s Office.  Mr. Price was an outstanding ward leader. He was an effective advocate for Mt. Airy.  While vigorously supporting his own political party, Mr. Price worked with me in the spirit of bipartisanship to ensure that elections were run smoothly and that every Mt. Airy resident was able to exercise his or her right to vote. I thank Mr. Price for his service to the community and wish him success in his new endeavor. Aaron Finestone Republican Ward Leader 22nd Ward Phils Will Excite Again To the editor: The Phillies of 2009 can be described in a few words: exciting, dramatic, and unbelievable.  Exciting, because the Phils were able to beat the Dodgers two years in a row.  Dramatic, because Chase Utley managed to hit five home runs during the World Series.  And last but not least, Cliff Lee was unbelievable as he posted a 4-0 record in the post-season. The Phillies had a chance to repeat as world championship in 2009.  The New York Yankees were simply the better team.  But you have to believe that the Phillies will return as one of the top teams again in 2010. In 2010 the Phils will be tough after improving an already fine pitching staff with the addition of Roy Halladay.  Halladay, who came from the Toronto Blue Jays, was one of the better pitchers in the American league.  Halladay has won 20 games twice in his career. Offensively, the Phillies should continue to score runs consistently.  First baseman Ryan Howard is one of the leaders as he has knocked in 135 RBI’s or more the past three seasons.  Utley, Jason Werth, and Raul Ibanez should have productive seasons again this year.  As a team, they averaged more than 5 runs a game in 2009.  Howard has had more than 40 home runs for four consecutive years. Defensively, the Phils are solid up the middle with Utley, Jimmy Rollins, catcher Carlos Ruiz, and Shane Victorino in centerfield.  Rollins at shortstop has won a Gold Glove. Overall, the Phils in 2010 should contend for the top spot again in the National League Eastern Division.  But of course, the Mets will try to bounce back after finishing in fourth place.  The Marlins and Atlanta Braves are always tough competitors in the NL Eastern division.  Let’s play ball! Christopher Saxon Mt Airy Editorials January 14, 2010 Well Done, PFD A city that has had more than its share of bad news recently had some glad tidings to share on January 11: there were fewer deaths from fire in 2009 in Philadelphia than in any other year in the city’s history. 30 Philadelphians lost their lives to fires in 2009, down 23 percent from 2008, announced Mayor Michael Nutter and Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayres. And while the Mayor noted that even one fire death was too many, for a city that has a million and a half residents and over half a million residences – many of them very old - that’s a pretty good record. It’s even more striking in the wake of the deactivation of five Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) engines and two ladders, a reduction in staffing that was forced on the PFD by budget cuts. The reduction in fire deaths is likely due in part to the PFD’s Freedom From Fire safety and education program. Prevention is the key to reducing loss of life and property from fire: it’s much easier to prevent fires than it is to put them out. And if a fire does occur, residents in a dwelling with working smoke alarms have a far higher chance of escaping the blaze unscathed. So there are two things that residents should put at the top of their list of things to do this winter season of the new year. The first is to check their smoke detectors if they have them, and install them if they don’t. The second is to do an assessment of the risks their dwellings face from fire. The Fire Department will help in these tasks. Those who do not have smoke alarms and cannot afford them should call the Smoke Alarm Hotline at 215-686-1176 and the PFD will provide one for free. To learn how to reduce the risk from fire, residents can consult the Home Fire Safety Check List that is available at www.phila.gov/fire and at local fire stations. If everyone takes these steps there’s a good chance that the number of deaths from fire will be even lower in 2010 than they were in 2009. But for now – well done, PFD. Karl Biemuller Editor Opinions With Respect for the Past, An Avenue for the Future By NICHOLAS COVOLUS It’s no secret that Germantown and Mt. Airy have faced their share of adversity over the years.  Deindustrialization.  Suburbanization. Impoverishment.  Bigotry. Crime. Overall neglect.  All are major factors that have tested the resolve of our neighborhoods.  And yet, despite all of these seemingly insurmountable headwinds, we have endured. While initially this may seem to be cause for relief or even the most mild celebration, we should not be satisfied with what has been done. There are much greater things to be accomplished. With the renewal of Germantown Avenue, we are afforded an unique opportunity to understand the potential of our redevelopment efforts. Rebuilding the Avenue is meaningful for us in a number of important ways. First and most obviously, the Avenue reflects on the areas it serves. The work completed in Germantown and Mt. Airy is absolutely magnificent.  By doing the job in such a good way, the positive image of our communities has been greatly helped. Similarly, the Avenue’s restoration marks a continued emphasis on the importance of maintaining the historical integrity of the area.  It would have been easy to roll in the dumptrucks loaded with asphalt. Thanks to the efforts of those who recognize the importance of our assets, this was not done.  Instead, a rewarding compromise was made. Pairing cobblestones with tastefully poured concrete impressively achieved the goal of preservation while also affording a pleasant driving experience. In addition to our Colonial heritage being honored so elegantly, our Victorian heritage has similarly been honored by the green streetlights that were installed. Both of these solutions contribute to the character of our neighborhoods that so many find attractive, which is one of the main draws of our neighborhoods and city. Another important point is that the Avenue construction project shows that we have strong support from a variety of people.  Community leaders and preservationists stood up for the rest of us when we needed them to do so.  Elected and appointed officials recognized the unique place that the Avenue has in the city.  Those who gave the project’s final sign-off ultimately made things happen. Looking forward to our future, there is indeed much to be excited about.  One of the most important sources of inspiration that one must look to today is continued urban renewal.  Perhaps “renaissance” is a more fitting term. It was not too long ago that cities were declared obsolete. Fortunately for society, we have not been condemned to such a fate. Recent developments have proven that cities are key to a viable future.  As society continues to focus more on community, culture and responsible use of energy, the advantages of urban living are all too obvious. Ultimately, we are the masters of our fate.  While necessary, public and private leaders are not solely responsible for our community.  If we are to desire the rightful renaissance of our community, we must be our own advocates. The easiest way anyone can be an advocate is by helping make our neighborhoods beautiful.  Given the tremendous architecture of our areas, the hard work has been done.  Cleanup of litter costs next to nothing.  Graffiti removal mainly requires one’s time.  Keeping one’s dwelling looking great is its own reward.  When a community shows that it cares, it will attract even more leaders than it already has to take on the bigger projects. Germantown and Mt. Airy are poised for greatness.  Through the strengthening and solidarity of our communities, we are able to realize our potential.  We have the roadmap to success.  It is up to us to benefit as much as we can. Letters Avatar and Colonialism To the editor: I am not much for Hollywood over-hype of movies, but recently I viewed the latest James Cameron $300 million production [Avatar] while my wife suffered through “Alvin and the Chipmunks” with my two sons over the holidays.  Needless to say there were spectacular effects with or without 3-D but the real story beneath the surface was about imperialism.  This movie can provide a real opportunity for recalcitrant Americans to explain to their children precisely why native peoples (black, brown, yellow, pink) around the globe distrust/dislike/hate Europeans and Americans. The story could have been told through an American, British, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish history book but in the nutshell ... Earthlings scout another planet, identify a rare mineral, befriend the local natives, give an ultimatum to move ... or else, then proceed to bomb, burn, ravage and kill the people in the name of progress (manifest destiny).   My fellow liberal Germantowners and Mt. Airyites, if the topic of the movie comes up with your children and/or city/suburban brethren, use this as a teachable moment.  This could be particularly useful during the approaching “kum ba yah” fest that MLK Day has become.  Pacifists typically never want to talk about how “power concedes to nothing but more power” (Garvey.)  MLK became a “realist” in his later years and understood that nowhere in history is it recorded that “Imperialistic aggression was magically transformed into kind-hearted-benevolence” without a willingness to die. Ken Booker Mt. Airy     One Vote That Mattered To the editor: Re last November’s election – One voter, a KYW radio staffer, noticed that no political party had bothered to nominate and put on the ballot a candidate for judge of elections for his particular polling place. So, this voter wrote in his own name, was elected by his own single vote, and intends to serve. Charles Parsons Germantown Former Democratic Judge of Elections 59th Ward, 19th District. Back to Germantown Newspapers Home Pagemailto:editor@germantownnewspapers.comhttp://WWW.WMAN.NEThttp://www.walkacrookedmilebooks.comhttp://www.livealbum.orgmailto:editor@germantownnewspapers.comhttp://www.mtairylearningtree.orghttp://www.germantowncc.orghttp://www.phila.gov/fireshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6shapeimage_1_link_7
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Index to

Editorials, Opinions

& Letters


Editorial, Letters & Opinions


February 25, 2010


Speak Up at the SEPTA Forum


Saving Lives for Black Heritage


Why No Enforcement on Emergency Routes?


Snowfall Leveled Life for All


Deer Kill Guidelines Ignored


February 18


How’d They Do?


WMAN Seeks 50 Good Neighbors


Don’t Make the Avenue a Garbage Dump


Saving Lives for Black Heritage


‘Walk-a-Palooza’ a Great Success


February 11


They Get The Grease


NIM Takes City-Wide Role in Child Care


GCC a Great Idea But Needs Some Improvement


Women Must Be Aware of Heart Risks


Correction to Haiti Article


Thanks to Those Helping MALT Building Campaign


February 4


United We Stand


The Battle for Pennsylvania Votes


New Zoning Code Should Spell Out Criteria


Corps of Engineers Should Address Monoshone Pollution Problem


January 28


It Takes Two


Opinion: Little Minds, No Consistency in Our Politics


New Solutions Needed

for African-Americans


Justice Center for Town Hall a Good Idea


Aristide Denied a Role


Thanks for Informative Articles


January 21, 2010


A Justice Center for Town Hall


Lack of Math Holds Inmates Back


Considerable Progress on Parking Problem


Citizenry Isn’t Angry Enough


Price an Effective Advocate for Mt. Airy


Phils Will Excite Again


January 14, 2010


Well Done, PFD


With Respect for the Past,

An Avenue for the Future


Avatar and Colonialism


One Vote That Mattered

February 25, 2010

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