MAY 02, 2018 • PHIlyFREEPRESS.com • UcREVIEW.com • 9


HORNETS’ NEST continued from page 3


Political updates on the State & Local Level The UC Review and Philly Free Press compile political news that affects voters each week on the city and state level to keep readers more abreast of local politics. If there’s an issue you would like included in this column, please email it to newsdesk@ pressreview.net by the Monday, noontime deadline!


n response to drastic real property as- sessments recently announced by the Office of Property Assessment, Councilman David Oh, along with cosponsors Councilmembers Mark Squilla, Kenyatta John- son, and Alan Domb, introduced charter change legislation which would require Council’s approval for the implementation of any real property assess- ments whose year-over- year percentage increase exceeds that of the nation- al urban consumer price index.


I


The 2019 real property assessments amount to a big real estate tax revenue increase without a real estate tax rate increase— essentially a backdoor tax increase. While Council must approve any real estate tax rate increase, it currently cannot ratify any new assessments. The 2019 assessments


resulted in the median market value of single- family homes increasing from 2018 by 10.5% from $112,800 to $124,600. Out of 57 neighborhoods in Philadelphia, 48 saw in- creases in assessments, with the “North Phila- delphia/West” neighbor- hood — containing Brew- erytown and Strawberry Mansion — rising the most, increasing 47.1% be- tween 2018 and 2019. “City Council is re- sponsible for approving changes to tax rates, and if Council does not have the authority to approve of property tax assessment increases, tax revenues go up without Council’s approval,” Oh said. “This legislation is designed to preserve checks and bal- ances between branches of government, and I’m pleased that nearly a quar- ter of City Council has sponsored its introduc- tion.”


The legislation would add the following lan- guage to The Philadel- phia Home Rule Charter: “Real property assess- ments are to be made on the basis of the actual


value of individual real properties which shall be determined using cost, comparable sales, and income approaches considered in conjunc- tion with one another and independent of the need to balance the annual op- erating budget. Any an- nual percentage increase in overall real property assessments that exceeds the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ ‘Con- sumer Price Index—All Urban Consumers’ (CPI- U) percentage change for the same period shall require Council approval before it becomes effec- tive.”


The legislation now heads to the Committee on Law and Government for approval. Pending approv- al, it would be presented to the public as a ballot question.


State Sen. Vincent Hughes called for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to investigate an incident of reported discrimination in York County over the weekend.


In addition to calling for the investigation, Sena- tor Hughes offered his support to the group of women: Sandra Thomp- son, Myneca Ojo, Sandra Harrison, Carolyn Dow and Karen Crosby. The women said they were playing golf on April 21 at Grandview Golf Club in Dover Township when club ownership and staff told them they were not playing fast enough. They believe they were discriminated against be- cause of either gender or race because they played at the same pace as every- one else on the course. The women say they have wit- nesses who will corrobo- rate the fact they weren’t playing slowly. Similar to a recent in- cident of discrimination in Philadelphia at a local Starbucks, police were called.


frustrated,” Senator Hughes said. “We have to deal with situations like


“I’m just so damned


programs. Since the 1976 law the article refers to regarding Sheriff sale ads, the Inquirer has raised their advertising rates, at a time when their circulation has declined. Many people, including the members of the Philadelphia Multicul- tural Newspaper Associa- tion, believe the Inquirer gets those Sheriff sale ads as a no-bid contract. On the contrary, based on comparisons of cir- culation, multicultural advertising is delivered at a lower cost for a higher return. While the Inquirer questions the service we provide to a broad and di- verse population—African American, Asian Ameri- can, Latino American, LGBT Americans and to neighborhood papers that are read by low income and seniors—they need to ask themselves why people are choosing to read the news in minor- ity publications that more closely affect their lives while Inquirer and Daily News readership declines year after year. The In- quirer should look to its own worth rather than at- tacking ours. The Inquirer did not make clear that from 2012 to 2017, since the expan- sion of multi -cultural advertising and changes in the Sheriff’s office, the col- lection of delinquent taxes and fees from the Sheriff’s office rose from $27 million to $61 million. Accord- ing to the Sheriff’s office, $248.9 million has been contributed to the city tax roles since 2013. That mon- ey can be used for pre-K programs, police overtime or other city needs. It’s also important to note that the expense for multicultural advertising is a fraction of that amount, meaning that the city reaps many times its investment in multicul- tural newspapers. What other city department or public agency makes this kind of contribution? Does the city’s pension program or Inquirer’s 401K pro- gram do as well?


And we in multicultural


this too frequently. This time, police determined it was not a matter they should have been involved in, but it is appalling that someone would call the police for a non-violent incident where the only crime was being black on a public golf course.”


ENTREPRENEURS continued from page 5


environments that are ad- vanced far beyond cook- ing on charcoal firewood. We can understand that Africa can get to a level where we can experience cleaner, safer and better kinds of energy,” he said. For Zimbabwe’s Mpi Ndebele, of Innovation for Africa, science and tech- nology is a big issue in the world over. “It’s the present and


opens my eyes. We can collaborate across borders and across seas. I can en- courage people back home to have that mindset and work with others.” The world, he said, is


an increasingly smaller place. The best we can do, with the aid of Citizen Diplomacy, is encourage a culture to learn from one another.


benefit from the connec- tions he made through the program.


“Philadelphia has been very good to us,” he said. The visit gives an oppor- tunity to see how America is, as everything his coun- try sees about America focuses on the Oval Office. “I learned a lot of dif-


future,” he said. “For a country as mine, which is not as developed as other countries we are interact- ing with, I can get my ho- rizons expanded and learn from technology and make contacts to take back and develop my country.” The experiences through Citizen Diplomacy and IVLP had changed him already.


“No man is an island. No nation is an island,” he said. “To be able to come over and see others from other nations, it really


publishing are proud to take credit for the fact that wider listings in a vari- ety of papers has helped to grow the number of people who attend the Sheriff sales, get properties back to productive use, and put money into the city trea- sury.


“It’s a support system,” he said. “It’s sharing of ideas across all sorts of frontiers. We make the world a richer place.” EjaadTech co-found- er Zaid Pirwani, of Pakistan,said the IVLP experience is about explor- ing America and meeting people who are on the cut- ting edge of science and technology. He knew peo- ple back home that would


ferent things about how America works and what it is,” Pirwani said. “It’s important for people to open up. I know many people who came to America for work, and they come back and share experiences.”


to America through the IVLP, it would have been another decade before he made the trip alone. “I have a different view


If Pirwani had not come


continued on page 10


The Philadelphia Multi- Cultural Newspapers rep- resent publications in the African American, Asian, Latino, and LGBT commu- nities. Part of the report- ing for the Inquirer story was clearly elitist. Why would one of the reporters, Craig McCoy, ask us why we need photos of social events or sports coverage in our newspapers? Does he ask that question of the Inquirer? No, and that is offensive and biased. Maybe the reporters and the editors at the Philadel- phia Inquirer need their own kind of implicit bias sensitivity training like Starbucks is conducting. We’re proud that the Sheriff, along with many city and state departments, are finding the value of multicultural advertis- ing in a city whose major- ity population is minori- ties. The city has learned that inclusion can bring not only profit to the treasury, but communications to a wider diversity of Phila- delphians.


Mark Segal has written this on behalf of the Philadel- phia Multicultural Newspa- per Association


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