4 WEEKLYPRESS.COM · UCREVIEW.COM · JULY 18 · 2012


Press meeting for Philly’s weekly newspapers


By Nicole Contosta Staff Reporter


F


or the city’s weekly news


papers, the Mayor’s Reception Room at City Hall was the place to be last Wednesday, July 11th. That’s when the Mayor’s Press Office organized a meeting between communi- ty newspapers, Mayor Nut- ter as well as representatives from other offices including the Philadelphia City Plan- ning Commission, Philly Rising, the Mayor’s Office of Aging, the Mayor’s Of- fice of Civic Innovation and Volunteer Services, Parks and Recreation and the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee. “We hosted this meet- ing because we wanted to get something from you, just as we imagine that you want something from us,” explained the Mayor’s Press Secretary Mark Mc- Donald. “On the occasions we receive calls from you guys,” the tone from report- ers seems uncertain about whether or not the Mayor’s Press Office can help, Mc- Donald said. “We’re here to help you,” McDonald assured, adding that he got his start at a community newspaper in North Caro- lina. “It was the best job I ever had. It was also the hardest […] what you do as a community reporter is the closet to the ground in the community. And people who work for community newspapers,” McDonald continued, “have multiple jobs that others don’t see. The job you have extends beyond just being a reporter and following a news beat.” According to McDonald, the Mayor’s Office wanted to organize more events like last week’s for community newspapers but couldn’t due to the city’s fiscal chal- lenges. “Since 1999, the Ad- ministration hasn’t had to deal with so many challeng- es,” McDonald explained Alan Urek, the City Plan- ning Commission’s Direc- tor of Strategic Planning & Policy Decision discussed aspects of Philadelphia’s new Zoning Code, which goes into effect next month on August 22nd. As result, the Planning Commission


The Mayor’s Press Secretary, Mark McDonald. Photo: R.C


as City Council President Darrell Clarke’s proposal of advertisements in public places, in lieu of the city’s property taxes.


“It’s not our goal to raise Mayor Nutter at last week’s forum for community newspapers at City Hall. Photo: R.C.


has focused on educating the public about the new zoning code through the Citizens Planning Institute (CPI). The CPI, Urek con- tinued wants to “engage and train citizens about the process and about how to plan for the city’s future land use.” Part of that, Urek continued, rests in the long-range comprehensive plan, Philadelphia 2035. “The centerpiece of this focuses on land use and transportation,” Urek said. In order to receive feedback from the community, the Planning Commission has divided the city into 18 District Areas. Residents of each district are encour- aged to offer their input on future land use when public meetings are hosted for that district. For ex- ample, center city residents visited the Kimmel Center to participate in the Central District plan in June. “We want to reach out at the neighborhood level,” Urek emphasized. Representatives from Philly Rising then took the podium to explain how there office coordinates with other agencies to both improve the city’s quality of life as well as resolve its crime issues on a block- by- block basis. Jimmy Tayoun, Publisher of the Philadelphia Public Record commented, “I don’t understand what you guys do,” Lydia Hernández Vélez, from the Mayor’s Office of


Aging began her remarks by stressing that the city’s “population of people over fifty will increase to one out of every fifteen people by 2013. And a growing num- ber of that population is be- tween 70 an 80-years-old.” The age difference between the senior populations cre- ates a disparity in the types of activities of interest to seniors. Some seniors want to engage in more dynamic activities, whereas others “just want the companion- ship of having a meal with friends.” They are concerns Mayor Nutter heard when partici- pating in the nation-wide Meals for Wheels day host- ed each year for mayors in 2011. “Nutter had to pre- pare, package and deliver meals to seniors,” Vélez said. In the process, “Nutter went into their homes and


heard their concerns.” As a result of those conver- sations, a task force was formed. The results from that task force included that some seniors needed assistance securing food from programs like SNAP. And other results included the need for more volun- teers for senior popula- tions.


Mayor Nutter discussed law enforcement, jobs and education during his re- marks. His office plans to hire 400 more police offi- cers by the end of the fis- cal year, Nutter explained. As for jobs, “take a look at the cranes in the sky. They’re 10, 11, 12 of them,” Nutter said, noting that two years ago, “There weren’t any projects. It’s a sign that the city is coming back to life […] not just in Center City but all over […] Girard East […] Mar- ket Street West near the El project,” said the Mayor, noting “that at times this project had negative a im- pact but it’s now primed for growth and the En- terprise Center is helping with that.”


Alan Urek, City Planning Commission’s Director of Strategic Planning & Policy Decision discussed aspects of Philadelphia’s new Zoning Code at last week’s forum for community newspapers. Photo: R.C.


Nutter then went on to express his support of the city’s charter school system. In coming years, “I think this number will grow to forty or fifty per- cent,” Nutter noted. When the floor opened to questions, this reporter wondered if Mayor Nut- ter supported alternatives to raising revenue, such


[property] taxes,” Nutter responded. “The School District is heavily sup- ported by them and it’s in a financial crisis. We are working with Clarke to talk about ways to raise addi- tional funds. Ads, if done well, are more than appro- priate.”


Mayor Nutter said that he was unaware of this issue and encouraged Christian to write his office a letter on the matter. Catie Wolfgang, from the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation and Volunteer Services noted that the office engages in projects such as the best ways to engage others in policy work. For instance, when it comes to matters such as juvenile justice, the of- fice tackles concerns such as “what’s the best way to connect people sentenced to community service to higher levels of service?” Wolfgang explained. Marsha Wayman of the Mayor’s Office of Property Assessment explained how her office is in the process of reassessing property values on a block-by-block basis.


“It will be an annual pro- cess that changes all of the time. Nobody has to let someone into their property to answer surveys such as how many bedrooms they have,” Wayman explained. The Publisher of the Uni- versity City Review and Weekly Press, Bob Chris- tian, then wondered how the new property assess- ments would affect rental units in buildings that are not licensed. According to Christian, some of those


rental units “are the most dangerous in the city. Will the Office of Reassessment be able to determine if the rental units are not li- censed?” “Yes,” Wayman said, “if the building is not listed as multi-family, the Office of Property Assessment will call L&I. It’s something that residents can do as well.” Kerri Morgan of Phila- delphia Meals on Wheels explained that “450,000 people in Philly use food stamps, another 180,000 are eligible […] about half of the city’s population is food insecure.”


When it comes to the 140,000 kids who are fed at lunch during the school year, Morgan explained that thousands of churches and rec centers provide food to those under eighteen dur- ing the summer. To find out where those sites are: call 311 or 855-252-MEAL. A representative from Philadelphia Parks and Recreation explained how this agency serves every demographic in the city for from ages 6 to 80-years-old. This includes everything from senior activities to per- formance camps for school- aged children, the represen- tative noted. And Wanda Jones, from Philadelphia More Beau- tiful, an agency within the Streets Department, explained that her office “focuses on making block- by-block clean across Phila- delphia.”


The Public Record’s Jimmy Tayoun then took issue with the Street Depart- ment’s Recycling Rewards Program. “The bar code on the city’s recycling bin is never scanned for rewards,” Tayoun said, adding that his paper will publish an inves- tigation of this matter dur- ing the week of July 17th.


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