Maybe, Why Not?, Oh God Yes, Sure

How to vote on the city referendums.


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Published: May 13, 2010

Don't let this primary business fool you: Even if you're not registered with a party, you can still vote on the four ballot questions. And this time around, we've got a real doozy. (Check Committee of Seventy's website for explanations of each.) Here's what's on the docket:

Question 1: Should City Council be given powers to ensure companies who do business with the city have plans to use a diverse work force, and to reprimand those who do not follow through?

Two things to consider: Ensuring that minorities have equal opportunities is an all-around good; Council already has measures (legislation, budget approval) to reach this end. Flip a coin.

Question 2: Should the six-member Zoning Board of Adjustment be downsized to five?

This would designate the current sixth member (L&I commish) as an alternate who can sit in for an absent member, making a quorum more likely and postponed decisions less likely. No harm in that.

Question 3: The biggun. Should the Board of Revision of Taxes be abolished, and its powers be assigned to two new entities?

If you haven't already, hit up go.philly.com/brt and read Mark Fazlollah and Joseph Tanfani's stunning investigation of the BRT — an object lesson in the ills of rampant political patronage. The BRT is charged with assessing all the city's land properties. Those values determine property taxes. Property taxes fund the school district. It's a huge municipal duty.

As the Inquirer series revealed, the BRT was doing a big thing badly. The agency had become a bordello of political favoritism, with backroom deals cut, regulations ravaged and the public trust horrendously flogged. Yes, yes, vote to abolish the BRT. Then have it scattered to the four corners of the map.

Question 4: Should the city borrow $65.5 million for capital improvements for transit, parks, community development and the suchlike?

Capital improvements mean jobs, and hey, what's another $65 million when you're already a fuckload in debt?

(editorial@citypaper.net)