PhillyInc

Phil Goldsmith, former managing director of the city of Philadelphia, and now chief of Ceasefire PA, recently spoke with Inquirer columnist Monica Yant Kinney about businesses stepping up to help addess the worsening problem of violence and guns in the city. Not usually one to hold his tongue, Goldsmith opened fire (sorry) on business people for being more talk than action. Yant Kinney gave us her unpublished notes on the short conversation, printed here with Goldsmith's permission:

Yant Kinney: What will it take to get outcry from the business community and/or the rest of white/powerful Philly about the violence? Will it really take the shooting of a kid from Penn?
Goldsmith: Unfortunately, the answer is yes. If the homicides were occurring in Center City, God forbid, as opposed to where they do occur, you would have a much more engaged business community, a much different rallying impact. ... The business community, the Chamber [of Commerce] is actually on record in favor of one gun per month. They’re in favor of reporting lost/stolen [guns]. It’s one thing being in favor of something. It’s another actively getting your constituents involved.

Yant Kinney: Has the business community been asked to get involved?

Goldsmith: I don’t know if they’ve been asked, but I don’t think they have to be asked. My point is, what’s going on in Philadelphia, as well as in Reading, as well as Lancaster, as well as Allentown, this is just not a Philadelphia issue. It’s having an economic impact in the city. When Philadelphia makes the national news as it has, the past several months, there’s no way in the world that helps the business community, economic development or tourism in that city. It shouldn’t take having a white kid killed in Center City to galvanize the community in this city. It shouldn’t be that difficult for people to connect the dots. They know what to do if they want tax breaks. This is as important to the vitality of this city as well as the livability of the people who live here.”

Goldsmith also said, in a paraphrase from Yant Kinney, that the first thing businesses and universities ought to do is have a "more vocal role" in Harrisburg, where legislative efforts to fight the problem consistently have faced impasses or been watered down.

We intend to ask the Chamber for response. Yes, the Chamber, led by Joseph Frick of Independence Blue Cross, and some other business people have been speaking up and taking some action about the violence and the need for busineess community involvement. But are they the exception? Tell us: What other business people are really stepping up? Funeral directors?

- Thomas Ginsberg