tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2010:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65 2008-06-06T19:45:15Z The latest Philadelphia politics and policy from the Inquirer's City Hall bureau Movable Type 3.35 tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6964 2008-06-06T19:42:45Z 2008-06-06T19:45:15Z

You can now find us at: http://www.HeardInTheHall.com...

Patrick Kerkstra www.philly.com http://www.HeardInTheHall.com]]> tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6771 2008-05-12T14:25:27Z 2008-05-12T14:28:22Z

So far, Mayor Nutter is a pretty popular guy in Philadelphia. But it's looks as though his appeal isn't limited to the city, or even to the region. According to an internal presidential poll obtained by The Inquirer, Nutter has...

Patrick Kerkstra www.philly.com So far, Mayor Nutter is a pretty popular guy in Philadelphia. But it's looks as though his appeal isn't limited to the city, or even to the region. According to an internal presidential poll obtained by The Inquirer, Nutter has fast become relatively well-known and well-liked on a statewide level. More than 60 percent of respondents statewide were familiar enough with the mayor to have formed an opinion of him, and his favorable-to-unfavorable ratings ratio was almost 3.7 to 1, which is outstanding. "I'm impressed," said Pennsylvania pollster Terry Madonna. "His image is very strong, he's considered kind of an independent reform voice." The poll also offered a close-up of public opinion in a few congressional districts in and near Philadelphia, where Nutter fared even better than he did statewide. That backs up anecdotal evidence suggesting the mayor is wildly popular in the suburbs. And it raises an interesting question for him: What role, if any, will he attempt to play in suburban politics? State Democrats think suburban Republicans are highly vulnerable. Might Nutter fund-raising and campaigning on behalf of some challengers put Democrats on top? The poll's findings should be taken with a few grains of salt. First, the poll is dated. It was conducted in late March. Also, the copy obtained by The Inquirer was heavily redacted, and no sample size was available. Still, internal campaign polls are generally considered to be reasonably accurate. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6763 2008-05-09T17:42:03Z 2008-05-09T18:02:49Z

Slain Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was remembered today as husband, father, dedicated officer and, lest we forget, a huge Flyers fan. With team scheduled for Game 1 of it playoffs series with Pittsburgh tonight, 24-year-old Matt Liczbinski asked mourners to...

Jeff Shields www.philly.com With team scheduled for Game 1 of it playoffs series with Pittsburgh tonight, 24-year-old Matt Liczbinski asked mourners to perform, in honor of his father, what may have been a first-ever Flyers cheer at Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica. Taking a time out from "all the seriousness," Matt Liczbinski led the congregration in "Let's Go Fly-ers" chant, complete with da-da-dadada clapping. Sports, in life and death. That's Philly, baby.]]> tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6753 2008-05-08T20:49:38Z 2008-05-09T15:28:31Z

The Mayor of Iraq's third-largest city was touring city government Thursday, including a stop in City Council, where he received a warm welcome and got to watch a sleepy Council session. Zuhair Mohsin Mohammed Abdulazeez, the mayor of Mosul in...

Jeff Shields www.philly.com The Mayor of Iraq's third-largest city was touring city government Thursday, including a stop in City Council, where he received a warm welcome and got to watch a sleepy Council session. Zuhair Mohsin Mohammed Abdulazeez, the mayor of Mosul in northern Iraq, is on a 10-day tour of the states, with stops in Minnesapolic, Philadelphia and New York. Mosul, a city of 2 million, is beset with problems, and Abdulazeez is examing everything from budgeting to cultural funding to solid waste. Councilman Bill Green was his tour guide in council. Below is a briefing on his trip from the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia: MR. ZUHAIR MOHSIN MOHAMMED ABDULAZEEZ Mayor of Mosul Iraq This visitor is invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program. Department of State Program Officer: Office of International Visitors; Ms. Pat Kowall. May 5 - 12, 2008 – Philadelphia program dates May 6 – 9, 2008 Accompanied By: Arabic Language Interpreter: one, not yet assigned BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION Iraq Name: Mr. Zuhair Mohsin Mohammed ABDULAZEEZ Present Position: Mayor of Mosul Previous Positions: Security Advisor, City of Mosul Economic Advisor, City of Mosul Iraqi Military, Civilian Auditor Education/Training: Currently pursuing courses in Municipal Administration, University of Mosul BA, Military Science, University of Baghdad Personal Data: Born 1965 in Iraq No pork; no alcohol Languages: Arabic U.S. Travel: No previous U.S. travel IVC Program Background Mosul is a city of approximately two million people. Many current city services are outdated, non-existent, or non-deliverable. The generation of electricity is inadequate, fuel distribution is difficult, the water delivery system does not work effectively and the water is often non potable; there is no viable solid waste treatment program; and there are no cultural events to speak of in the city, for example the museum is closed and the artists union is afraid to work. Following attendance at the U.S.-Arab Cities Forum in Chicago, Mayor Abdulazeez will visit the United States for ten-days. He will visit Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and New York City and wishes to examine: - Waste Water Treatment: design and construction of municipal sewage treatment systems; maintenance of municipal waste water treatment facilities; programs utilized to avoid pollution and environmental degradation; and regulation of waste water treatment facilities; a site visit to a water treatment plant. - Small Business Development: City-wide initiatives that encourage small business development (with an emphasis on development of small factories); training programs that are available for small business owners and potential employees; financial and management assistance programs for small business owners; and microloan programs that provide start-up capital to new businesses. -City, State and Federal Government Interaction: Attendance at some type of city government meeting (city council meeting, board of education meeting, community organization meeting) to allow the mayors to see how citizens have a voice in the city government decision making process. Meet with mayors and their financial officers to see first-hand the budget execution process for a city of similar size. Receive practical information about budget development, prioritization of projects, and an overview of how local government ensures that basic services are provided to all citizens. - Solid Waste Disposal: An overview of integrated solutions to municipal solid waste management. View the entire solid waste process starting with garbage collection and then moving to the separation procedures and finally the disposal sites. Visit a site that has a successful recycling program (especially plastic and aluminum) and compare and contrast private and municipal run waste disposal programs. - Public Transportation Systems: Development, management, maintenance, and funding programs for public transportation in cities of comparable size (Mosul has approx. 2.0 million population). Special provisions are made by municipalities for the elderly and people with disabilities . - Cultural Activities and Entertainment Venues: How are these services provided to citizens; how does the city work with private business and non profit organizations to ensure that citizens have cultural opportunities, festivals, and sporting opportunities. This should be at a very basic level because there is virtually no cultural activity currently available in Mosul. The mayor is interested in looking at traditional cultural activities but also at youth sports leagues, soccer field development, coffee shops, internet cafes, and shopping centers. He would like to explore this at the neighborhood level, but also see how a city properly plans cultural and entertainment opportunities for its citizens. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6731 2008-05-06T21:37:52Z 2008-05-06T21:38:39Z

City Council's Public Safety Committee on Wednesday will look at the way the city handles Protection from Abuse Orders. Councilman Bill Green called for hearings to explore why some abuse victims apparently are made responsible for serving protection orders on...

Jeff Shields www.philly.com City Council's Public Safety Committee on Wednesday will look at the way the city handles Protection from Abuse Orders. Councilman Bill Green called for hearings to explore why some abuse victims apparently are made responsible for serving protection orders on their abusers. Philadelphia Police believe they should be in charge of delivering such orders, Green said. Nearby counties are expected to testify about how their systems are run. The hearing is 10 a.m. in Council Chambers. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6714 2008-05-05T21:37:43Z 2008-05-06T21:05:34Z

Crime has gone down by 13 percent in the areas where the city's first 18 crime cameras were installed beginning in 2006, a Temple University professor has found in a study. With the city in the process of installing 250...

Jeff Shields www.philly.com here. Ratcliffe is a former policeman and author of the new book, Intelligence-led Policing. Last August The Inquirer did its own analysis of the city's 18 closed circuit crime cameras, which had been installed a year previously. Crime statistics around the cameras showed two trends: Around highly visible, unmonitored cameras, crime went down; around less visible, constantly monitored cameras, crime went up. Experts suggested that the more visible cameras discouraged crime, while the less-visible, fully monitored cameras may have led to more reported crime because police caught more crime as it was happening. Ratcliffe said some area may not have shown a positive impact on crime stats for this reason. He has submitted his study to the city, which is spending $8.9 million this year to install the new cameras, all of which will be fully monitored and highly visible, combining the best aspects of the two different cameras used in the pilot program. ]]> tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6712 2008-05-05T18:40:57Z 2008-05-05T18:43:06Z

As Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey explained his sweeping reorganization of the Police Department to the media last week, an odd couple stood shoulder to shoulder behind him: Fraternal Order of Police president John McNesby and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety...

Patrick Kerkstra www.philly.com As Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey explained his sweeping reorganization of the Police Department to the media last week, an odd couple stood shoulder to shoulder behind him: Fraternal Order of Police president John McNesby and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison. McNesby was livid in January, when Nutter named Gillison - a lifelong public defender - his public safety czar. The biggest FOP objection to Gillison's resumé was his representation in 2006 of Solomon Montgomery, who was convicted of killing Police Officer Gary Skerski. McNesby publicly condemned Gillison's appointment in a letter. Later, when McNesby discovered that he and Gillison were booked to appear on the same panel at a Temple Law School forum on gun violence, he refused to share the stage with the deputy mayor and walked out on the event. "That's old news," McNesby said last week, when asked about his feud with Gillison. "We made our point on that and moved forward. We're professionals, we do what's right for the city." Gillison turned the other cheek when McNesby objected to his appointment. In remarks he made to a reporter before Ramsey's news conference, Gillison said he thought he was making progress on winning the police over. He was right about that. It's worth noting that all this happened before Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was shot and killed by a bank robber on Saturday. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6698 2008-05-02T17:49:39Z 2008-05-02T18:00:01Z

Among the top City Hall brass who Mayor Nutter did away with upon taking office in January was Prisons Commissioner Leon A. King. But a few weeks ago, King resurfaced. His new boss: City Councilman Frank Rizzo. “He’s smart, he...

Marcia Gelbart www.philly.com Among the top City Hall brass who Mayor Nutter did away with upon taking office in January was Prisons Commissioner Leon A. King. But a few weeks ago, King resurfaced. His new boss: City Councilman Frank Rizzo. “He’s smart, he knows the people, and he knows his way in and out of the Law Department,” Rizzo said of King, the No. 1 prison official throughout most of former Mayor John Street’s administration. Before that, King worked as a city lawyer on prison issues, and in that role he helped negotiate the end of litigation that kept the prison system under federal court oversight for nearly two decades. Rizzo turned to King after his longtime director of legislation left for a private-sector job. “Our professional relationship is a good one,” the councilman said. How long will King stay? “Who knows,” Rizzo said, acknowledging that King is now making about half of the $128,000 he earned as prisons commissioner. “I’m sure he’ll find a job eventually that will pay him the money he is used to making. But for now, he is doing a valuable service to me.” tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6695 2008-05-02T15:29:23Z 2008-05-02T15:32:11Z

The press crashed what Mayor Nutter intended to be a private budget briefing for City Council yesterday. The fullest accounts of the incident can be found here and here, while the Inquirer report dealt principally with the substance of the...

Patrick Kerkstra www.philly.com here and here, while the Inquirer report dealt principally with the substance of the meeting. Reporters, who tend for obvious reasons to take an expansive view of state open meetings law, felt that the session (which included well over a quorum of council members) constituted a public meeting under the act. Nutter's administration takes the view that it is free to hold closed informational sessions with council, so long as no work is done on legislation. It isn't a new disagreement. Governments and the press dispute the scope of the law all the time. In December, for instance, City Council held what amounted to an illegal closed meeting to hammer out an agreement on minority inclusion for the Convention Center expansion project. What was new was the tenor of the confrontation between the press and the Nutter administration. It wasn't a friendly disagreement. At one point Councilman Frank Rizzo cracked, "the honeymoon is over." Nutter administration officials are plainly angry about the incident. They say that the administration has so far been remarkably open and transparent. That is absolutely true. Reporters' questions are answered promptly. Facts and figures that in past administration were difficult to obtain without filing an official and time consuming right to know request are now handed over with little to no fuss. And Nutter and his senior staff remain remarkably accessible to the press. But given his campaign commitments to transparency and open government, Nutter is being held to a higher standard. The press isn't alone on this either. It's clear that at least a few council members also felt the meeting should have been open. How else would reporters have known there was a meeting to crash? Bonus reading: a state primer on the open meetings law.]]> tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6668 2008-04-30T19:53:00Z 2008-04-30T19:55:20Z

Local 98 business manager John Dougherty is "absolutely not" stepping down from his seat on the board of the Penn's Landing Corporation, said his spokesman Frank Keel, debunking a rumor floating around City Hall today. As reported in yesterday's Inquirer,...

Patrick Kerkstra www.philly.com Local 98 business manager John Dougherty is "absolutely not" stepping down from his seat on the board of the Penn's Landing Corporation, said his spokesman Frank Keel, debunking a rumor floating around City Hall today. As reported in yesterday's Inquirer, Dougherty is stepping down from his post as chair of the Redevelopment Authority. But that's it, Keel says. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6664 2008-04-30T15:41:15Z 2008-04-30T15:45:55Z

The Philadelphia Bar Association will partner with the Philadelphia School District in the fall to lead students in discussions about ethics and the justice system. And who better to run the class than a Philadelphia lawyer, who according to Webster's...

Jeff Shields www.philly.com Advancing Civics Education program, as a way to help teach students values and conflict resolution. ]]> tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6646 2008-04-28T15:06:58Z 2008-04-28T15:08:14Z

Pennsylvania’s primary election is over, but that doesn’t mean folks have forgotten which candidate Mayor Nutter backed. When introducing Nutter at a Pennsylvania Bar Association luncheon for minority lawyers on Friday, attorney Jettie Newkirk called him “Philadelphia’s Obama.” Nutter, of...

Patrick Kerkstra www.philly.com Pennsylvania’s primary election is over, but that doesn’t mean folks have forgotten which candidate Mayor Nutter backed. When introducing Nutter at a Pennsylvania Bar Association luncheon for minority lawyers on Friday, attorney Jettie Newkirk called him “Philadelphia’s Obama.” Nutter, of course, is among Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s biggest fans, but he took the joke well. “I always thought that Senator Obama was the country’s Mike Nutter,” the mayor cracked, as he took the stage. There were big laughs all around, and the episode seemed to confirm the conventional wisdom on Nutter’s endorsement of Clinton: Plenty of Philadelphians didn’t get why he backed her, but neither did they hold his choice against him. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6625 2008-04-25T18:23:46Z 2008-04-25T18:31:36Z

A city official for nearly 30 years, John F. Street was fond of saying that he never lost an election. Now he has. On last Tuesday’s primary ballot, Philadelphia’s former mayor was one of 12 candidates from the First Congressional...

Marcia Gelbart www.philly.com Under Democratic Party rules, the district can send just seven delegates to the convention, which will be in Denver. Officially, those seven may not be confirmed for weeks. But what’s known now is that at least five of them will be supporters of Barack Obama, based on somewhat complicated arithmetic related to the percentage of the district voting for Obama. What’s not complicated is that there’s no chance Street will be headed out West this summer. For one thing, Street ran as a Hillary Rodham Clinton cdelegate in a district heavily backing Obama. For another, he received 18,980 votes - fewer than any of his 11 competitors. Translation: Street hasn't grown any more popular out of office than when he was in.]]> tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6581 2008-04-21T21:30:20Z 2008-04-21T21:32:52Z

A lawyer for Tommie St. Hill, a consultant to electricians union Local 98, told a city judge this afternoon that he was not the owner of a laptop on which he created a flyer attacking Mayor Nutter during last year's...

Marcia Gelbart www.philly.com A lawyer for Tommie St. Hill, a consultant to electricians union Local 98, told a city judge this afternoon that he was not the owner of a laptop on which he created a flyer attacking Mayor Nutter during last year's mayoral primary race. So who was? St. Hill wouldn't say. Nor would his lawyer, Lewis Small. "That's something for another day," Small said. But both men told reporters, after a contentious court hearing, that the laptop also did not belong to anyone affiliated with Local 98. "It has nothing to do with the IBEW," Small said, referring to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, which is led by state Senate candidate John J. Dougherty. The ethics board has apparently been looking into whether the union created, produced or generated 125,000 of the flyers, which violated campaign finance law by not stating on them who paid for them. The flyers took aim at Nutter's "stop and frisk" anti-violence proposal by showing a 1970s photograph with six men suspected of being Black Panthers being strip-searched by police. The text beneath it read: "A vote for Nutter is a vote for racial profiling." St. Hill, a Local 98 consultant, told the ethics board during a deposition last summer that he created the flyer on his own. The board later learned that Local 98 paid him $22,500 in the weeks before and after the primary, and is trying now to get receipts and vouchers from the union detailing what those payments were for. As part of the investigation, Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan last week granted an order allowing the ethics board to examine the laptop and other computer equipment in St. Hill's Center City office. But St. Hill disclosed afterward that the laptop was stolen months ago. The ethics board also has been unable to examine the desk top computer since St. Hill's office has been found locked on each of three occasions that the board has sent its computer experts there with the understanding from St. Hill or his attorney that they would be allowed access. Even so, Greenspan this afternoon refused to hold St. Hill in contempt of court for blocking the ethics board. But the judge did order St. Hill to let the ethics board examine the computer Wednesday, at 9 a.m. tag:blogs.phillynews.com,2008:/inquirer/heardinthehall//65.6580 2008-04-21T20:33:59Z 2008-04-21T20:45:28Z

From Inquirer reporter Joseph A. Gambardello: In the waning hours of the campaign, candidates John J. Dougherty and Anne Dicker are ganging up on Larry Farnese in the First District state Senate race. Johnny Doc’s people are charging that allies...

Marcia Gelbart www.philly.com From Inquirer reporter Joseph A. Gambardello: In the waning hours of the campaign, candidates John J. Dougherty and Anne Dicker are ganging up on Larry Farnese in the First District state Senate race. Johnny Doc’s people are charging that allies of incumbent Sen. Vince Fumo are intimidating insiders and others who are supporting Doc and State Rep. Bill Keller in his race against Christian DiCicco, son of Fumocrat City Councilmember Frank DiCicco. Fumo, you may recall, has been supporting Farnese’s bid behind the scenes. Dicker for her part is offering a history lesson. Here’s what she is saying in an email to supporters: “In 1978, State Sen. Buddy Cianfrani was convicted of federal charges of racketeering, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice and was forced to give up his state Senate seat for a seat in jail. Buddy Cianfrani engineered that his protege and first-cousin, 35-year-old Vincent Fumo, replace him in a special election. It is widely understood that Cianfrani pulled the strings of the young Fumo from his jail cell. “Now facing a 139-count indictment for mail fraud and obstruction of justice himself, Vincent Fumo has stepped down and is supporting Larry Farnese for state Senate. Although not a direct relative, Farnese's grandfather is closely linked with Vince Fumo. Many believe that the strings are firmly tied to the 39-year-old Farnese.” The Dougherty campaign has been hammering the same theme for weeks now. Brian Abernathy, a spokesman for Farnese, of course calls Doc’s charges false and rejects Dicker’s assertion. After all, Abernathy has noted, Farnese entered the race when Fumo was still in it and, by all indication, the front runner despite his legal troubles. Abernathy also sees the two-front attack as a good, all things considered. “I’m glad we’re being noticed,” he said. Translation: The other guys must be worried about something.