Canon Blasts

The people are no longer content, so we'll see about the corruption.

by Bruce Schimmel

Crime is top of mind for many, especially since terror sells papers. But the big civic issue on which all others really hang is development. Everything depends on how we'll reshape the city's built environment: our jobs, our home lives, our health and certainly public safety.

Back in February, when city planner superstar Jaime Lerner packed the Academy of Natural Science at an Urban Sustainability Forum [Loose Canon, "The Man With the Plan," Feb. 16, 2006], Philadelphia had no path to the future. Planning was done on-the-fly, and lurched toward any developer flashing some cash.

The city was corrupt, but this crowd was hardly content, and roared their outrage when Lerner declared that "big developers can't profit [excessively] if everyone knows the plan of the city." But Philadelphia didn't have a plan. Wave cash and the city would waive its rules. Height. Density. Parking. Developers named it, and got it.

In June, a miracle happened. Councilman Frank DiCicco publicly declared he wanted out of planning ["The Instant Slum," June 1, 2006]. The process had become a mutual shakedown, with developers overreaching and neighbors overreacting, and DiCicco uncomfortably in the middle.

DiCicco called on the mayor and council for change, and got it.

In October, the city Planning Commission was reborn with a new executive director, Janice Woodcock, and a boatload of mandates: to create plans for green space, for the Delaware waterfront ["Retaking the Delaware," Oct. 16, 2006], for a professionalized zoning board and a completely revised zoning code.

Great news, were it not for the casinos that've just been dropped on the waterfront. Despite a public plea from Woodcock for more time, this dice may be cast. Still, the pranksters of Casino-Free Philadelphia ["Gaming the Casino Board," Nov. 23, 2006] will be plotting a counterinsurgency on Jan. 6. Everyone's invited.

Meanwhile, PennFuture, which co-sponsored Lerner's appearance and the other Urban Sustainability Forums, will soon release a report called "The Next Great City." It's a reasonable, affordable action plan for the next mayor, that encompasses recycling, storm water, zoning, transit, greening — the works. Not yet public, the plan's been reviewed by all the mayoral hopefuls: Knox, Nutter, Fattah, Dougherty, Brady and Evans.

The people are no longer content, so we'll see about the corruption.

Sheriff John Green, whom Richard Costello of the Fraternal Order of Police once said, "makes the sheriff of Nottingham look virtuous," is going to get some political opposition. Green has been extracting unnecessary fees from destitute homeowners ["Sheriff Green's Foreclosure Machine," April 13, 2006]. And now former Senior Deputy Attorney General Michael Untermeyer is going to challenge the 20-year incumbent.

Black Hate Radio, at least some of it, has been wiped from Philadelphia's airwaves ["Black Hate Radio," Feb. 9, 2006]. I wrote about the efforts of a group led by Damon Roberts to shut down the Star & Buc Wild Show being broadcast by Power 99.

In May, the Star & Buc Wild Show got tossed from the network, after its star, Troi Torain, threatened to sexually assault a competitor's 4-year-old child. As for Damon Roberts: The 36-year-old Guyan-born lawyer has just quit his day job at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, and recently became an American citizen. The Harvard- and Howard-educated lawyer will likely run against Councilman Anna Verna. WiFi, the technology that made Philadelphia famous ["Hang 'em High. Now!" Feb. 23, 2006], has just ramped up its proof-of-concept area in central North Philly. Once past the technical tests, Philadelphia Wireless's new CEO, Greg Goldman, has the daunting task of selling $10 accounts to families just above the poverty level. Goldman's got a plan that sounds like it'll work. Even if it tanks, it's already forced the Verizon/Comcast duopoly to keep its prices low.

Urban farmer Mira Kilpatrick ["Bet a Farm on Mira," June 29, 2006] tried to find a farm in the city. But she and her mentors, Nicole and Steve Shelly, who worked the Philadelphia Water Department's Somerton Tank Farms, are moving on. Despite grossing $67,000 on the half-acre plot, the farmers are looking for land of their own. This city ought to treat its farmers at least as well as its developers.

(bruce@schimmel.com)