Sometimes City Council actually works the way it should: Joe Citizen has a good idea that could do right by some people. Joe Citizen runs into a councilman who agrees it's a good idea that could do right by some people. The councilman brings the idea back to council, which quickly and efficiently does its best to get it turned into law.

Sometimes, this actually happens.

In this case, Joe Citizen's name is Jim Basile and the good idea is a plan to ease the financial burdens of Philadelphia reservists and guardsmen by refunding their property taxes while they are deployed on active duty and by not taking city wage taxes out of their military pay. Because of a chance encounter at a dry cleaners, that plan may soon hit the books.

Some background: Jim's my buddy. Went to Fordham University with my brother. Forty years old, four kids, a lovely wife, Ellen, and a redbrick row home near the Italian Market. He works for a company that cleans and restores commercial buildings.

Jim gets involved in things. His parish. His kids' schools. He once served as committeeman for the Democratic Party. But he's not some type of activist.

"An activist is someone standing in front of the White House with a sign," Jim said the other evening sitting at his kitchen table. "That ain't me. I just try and get involved in things I'm passionate about and maybe my kids learn sometimes you have to take a stand."

Jim got passionate when terrorists attacked his country. He went down to the Coast Guard station at Broad and Washington streets and was sworn into the United States Naval Reserve.

Petty Officer Basile went to boot camp. Learned how to put up a tent, dig a foxhole and defend a position. Recently, they taught him how to fire a grenade launcher. There is training one weekend a month and there are longer deployments too. Last year, his unit went out to Mississippi for a month of exercises.

Jim's unit is called the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion. It's their job to fix the things that get broken in war zones. Like bridges and roads. They like to say they "pave the way for victory."

Jim has not been deployed overseas yet. But some in his unit have.

And a lot of these reservists suffer financial hardships when they are called for deployments that often last a year or more. Many leave decent-paying jobs and struggle to support their families on a soldier's salary. Jim had this in mind a couple of months ago when he was reading the article in the Navy Times about how some cities offer property and wage tax relief for active National Guardsmen and reservists.

"Philly should do that," thought Jim.

He made himself a mental note to contact Councilman-at-Large Jim Kenney, whom he knows in passing from around the neighborhood. Jim had not yet contacted the councilman when he ran into him one morning at the dry cleaners at Broad and Tasker streets.

Jim was dropping off.

So was the councilman.

They spoke on the sidewalk.

Jim told him about the property and wage tax idea. The councilman—who has some problems with the war but is all for supporting the troops—said he'd look into it. And he did.

His aides did some calculations. There are 1,138 National Guardsmen from Philadelphia. If all of them were on active duty at the same time—right now 412 are active—it would cost about $1.5 million to give them a tax break on property and wage taxes.

That's doable, figured the councilman.

He called hearings. They were held two Mondays ago. Jim was invited to testify. He threw on a suit and sat in the council chambers waiting for his turn to speak. A few years ago, Jim's company unsuccessfully bid on the city contract to buff up council's wood and marble finishes. Jim took a look around the place. "We would've done a better job," he thought to himself.

Jim had prepared comments. He cleared his throat, pressed down his tie and began to speak. "We are asked with very little notice to put our civilian lives on hold," he said, "to tell our families and employers goodbye We do this willingly. We cannot promise we will come home because we just don't know if we will. Councilman Kenney realizes this sacrifice."

The councilman then thanked Jim for bringing the matter to his attention. Jim said the councilman deserved all the credit. The finance committee voted unanimously in favor. There was a scattering of applause.

The full council will vote sometime next month. Kenney predicts easy passage. There are still a couple obstacles, though. The mayor, no friend of Kenney's, could veto the bill. (The mayor's press people would not say if he felt one way or the other.) And even if it passes it won't take effect until 2007, the next available budget year.

But still, says Jim, "It's nice to know you live in a city where your legislative officials are accessible. It was all pretty cool."