philly

On February 15th, at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philly's own Next Great City project put on it's Mayoral Candidates Forum. All five candidates were there, albeit two of them over 45 minutes late, along with some 500 people in the hall and an additional 200 watching from remote locations all over the city via a live webcast. I was there too, taking notes and lots of photos (like the one of the crowd from the back of the room above). The good people at The Next Mayor have uploaded the 1h 56m video to Google Video for all to see.

Christine Knapp, the main organizer on the Next Great City side of things, welcomed the crowd with a few words and a quick .ppt presentation of the 10 Actions outlined in the plan for those needing a quick brush up before the event started.

The Daily News's editorial board member, columnist and blogger - Flavia Colgan - stepped up to the podium next, taking her position as the moderator for the evening. Taking a quick read over her Wiki entry, Ms. Colgan's got quite a history with some serious connections just about everywhere; I never knew. She set the tone for the evening by starting the opening with the candidates' opening statements before PA House Rep. Evans and US House Rep. Fattah arrived. As an aside, apparently, there was a Barack Obama fundraiser at the Four Seasons that evening. I presume all of the candidates were there making appearances and trying to get some money into their campaigns as well. Three of them made it to this first formal 2007 mayoral race on time, for some reason, which was not disclosed, Rep. Evans and Rep. Fattah were late.

First up for his two-minute introduction was US House Rep. Bob Brady (PA-01). Rep. Brady is also the Democratic Executive Committee of Philadelphia Chairman. I've never seen this guy before, but I'm familiar with his work. He carries the air of everyman Philadelphia. He's got the accent. He's got the face. He's got the demeanor. All wrapped up in a nice suit with union stitching.

Former Councilman (At-Large) Michael Nutter was up next (skipping over the not present Evans). Before getting into the nitty gritty of what everyone said and how everyone presented themselves this evening, let me say that Nutter shined brightest. It was a combination of him being more personable and actually answering the questions asked along with just a general horribleness from the other candidates which made him look so damn good throughout the night. He was cracking jokes, yet not going overboard corny. He made his points and stayed within time constraints. He did well.

HMO-made millionaire Tom Knox was up next (skipping over the not present Fattah). Knox was the other one who did well. He was personable and on point throughout the night.

PA House Representative Dwight Evans (PA-203) showed up 45 minutes late to the first mayoral candidates forum. Forty-five minutes late to a packed house with an additional 200+ watching remotely. Forty-five minutes late to an event put on by some large and well regarded institutions within Philadelphia. He maintained the demeanor of a bully throughout the entire evening yet also taking on a very defensive and knee-jerk reaction to several comments.

US Congressman Chakka Fattah (PA-02) was also 45 minutes late to this event. Dumb. I still don't understand why he's running for mayor when he can (and should) be bringing home some serious pork from DC. Sitting pretty on the House Committee on Appropriations he could be sending some seriously needed dough Philly's way. What kind of cash is he going to bring back from Harrisburg?

The evening was 2 hours long and too much stuff for me to transcribe/recall. I took several pages of notes in my little moleskine and I'll discuss some of the questions asked/answered… Colgan asked the candidates about dedicated funding for SEPTA. First up was Fattah.

Fattah went straight into stating that Dubya has set aside $100B for congestion studies. He mentioned how London has raised $__ [didn't catch the amount] in funding with their rush hour car fee in downtown London. Her said that Americans [or was it specifically Philadelphians?] waste $63M on gas sitting in traffic each year. Fattah's full plan on transportation is viewable here.

Nutter wants to make sure that there are good representatives from Philly on the SEPTA board and wants to work with our neighboring counties instead of fighting with them for much needed funding. He said that SEPTA is the only mass transit system in the US without a dedicated funding stream. He wants to re-open the Department of Transit. He wants to change the attitude of SEPTA to "Welcome to my bus" instead of "Why are you here" - Nutter got some big applause for that.

Knox came out blasting that Philly needs a better taxi system. [What?] He said that NYC's taxis are clean and that they're cheaper [I'm 100% sure that they're waaaaaaaay more expensive]. I'm not sure if he's been in a taxi in NYC lately. The math is here: NYC and Philly. NYC has rush hour charges, additional passenger charges, night surcharges… Philly doesn't. I'm consistently shocked as to how cheap [comparatively!] the taxi rides I take in the city are [not that I take them often, but when I do, I notice].

Brady went into how integral he was during the last SEPTA strike negotiations. He stressed how, time after time, he is the one called by the Governor or the Mayor to step in when things get hairy. He noted the recent SEPTA strike and the plumbers' union hassle for the Comcast Center. The results? No fare increase for SEPTA (SEPTA NEEEEEEEDS a fare increase, perhaps a 5¢ increase each year for the last decade would've done the trick instead of pushing off increases for so long fares need to jump by 50% at a time) and a secondary set of completely unusable set of pipes installed in the Comcast Center. Wow, now those are some wonderful negotiation skills. He said that he himself would go to Harrisburg to request funding for SEPTA and not send a lobbyist. Wow, strong words. I was underwhelmed by Brady all night.

Evans, on the heels of Brady's boss-like "need" within the system said that public policy shouldn't be done one transaction at a time as Brady does via the Governor and Mayor. This was the single clearest statement Evans made all night with which I agreed. Additionally, he'd like to change the constitution in the long term to give Philly more of a say and implement a sales tax increase, income tax increase and a PA turnpike toll tax [leasing of the intrastate as Gov. Rendell proposed] in the short term.

Colgan asked the candidates on the 2005 Mayor's Climate Change Agreement. Nutter was up first in the rotisserie format of the forum.

Nutter wants to retrofit all of SEPTA's diesel fueled buses with filters. The money [$1.2M to start] is sitting there from the Sunoco settlement allotting millions to fit filters onto old city vehicles. This is one of the points in the Asthma-related action point put forth by The Next Great City. That would put a nice dent of 240 vehicles retrofitted with the filters. He also wants sustainable materials used in all new construction and updated city buildings; a LEED standard.

Knox went to the issue of the 7600 cars in the City of Philadelphia's fleet. He wants to make sure they're efficient cars. I'd like to plug my company here, as well as Mayor Street's administration, for a sec. PhillyCarShare has reduced the City's fleet by 330 vehicles and Philadelphia, under Mayor Street, became the first city in the nation to have a municipal government share vehicles with the general public [take that Berkeley, Seattle and Minneapolis! ;)]. Knox also wanted to shoot for a LEED gold status, but from what I can see on the Rating Systems page, such a distinction does not exist, it's simply LEED or not there are varying degrees of LEED certification and versions of LEED.

Brady suggested looking to bio diesel as the state will reimburse vehicles converted to bio diesel [I think that's what he said]. He noted that the school district has a contract to convert to bio diesel, but it hasn't been acted upon. Unfortunately, from what I know about bio diesel, the infrastructure simply does not exist for it to really make a difference. Gas companies have to make the change to have hundreds [if not thousands] of bio diesel pumps to make the idea viable. In all my travels in the Philly area, I am aware of two biodiesel stations, one at 12/Vine Sts and another up on City/Conshohocken Aves. Unless Brady can negotiate the city [and the state] some serious bio diesel production, it's going to take a massive used kitchen oil initiative to fuel all those bio diesel vehicles.

And what did Evans suggest? Using the oil from restaurants as a fuel source! I'd be all for it, but I don't think Philly is a crunchy enough city to do this. But who knows, perhaps with some serious collaboration with the Sustainable Business Network in Philadelphia and other groups like the Clean Air Council and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, it could happen. I don't think, in all my rainbow-filled, liberal-hearted, zero-emission laden fantasies that this could work in such a large scale any time soon, not here, not yet. Evans also pointed to his leadership abilities; he pointed to his leadership abilities throughout the evening many many many times.

Fattah advocated for improved building standards, green roofs (like industry-leading Chicago) and improved mass transit via dedicated funding from a PA turnpike toll tax and a tax on imported oil and a congestion charge for driving in Center City during peak hours.

The final question of the evening was which part of The Next Great City's plan would be the hardest to undertake and implement. Evans was up first and said the Asthma problem was the hardest. His unsure answer made it seem as if he'd read the report.

Fattah, Nutter and Brady all said that the modernizing of the Zoning Code would be the hardest action point.

Knox lost me here as he said that all of the points would easily be accomplished with good leadership and I'm going to infer that he meant that he could get them all done.

It was an informative evening, but in my book, former Councilman Michael Nutter was a cut above the rest. I hope to see all five of them in future forums. NOTE: This is in NO WAY an endorsement of Nutter's candidacy.

It was a long 19-hour day, but it was one hell of an event my company put on. The inaugural Philly Sound Clash* was awesome. We were filled over capacity by 9p. There was a line out the door into the alleyway for several hours, eventually people were allowed inside the venue as early goers headed home early on Thursday evening. The shot above was from behind the DJ stand as two of our co-founders took to the mic thanking everyone for coming out for this event. I was running around with a [horribly uncomfortable] headset snapping 800+ photos of the bands, people and co-workers. A flickr set of 49 shots from the evening.

This was my favorite shot of the night. The drippy yellow stage lights reflecting off of the back screen with that single pink/white light still lit. The white of the bassist's t-shirt just right. The velvety, rich black stretching all over the frame. Killer. As much as I liked the rest of my shots, I was THRILLED at how well this shot came out. The band was Matt Santry.

The winner of the grand prize was Philadelphia Slick. I've been to two battle of the bands at World Cafe Live and this is the second hip hop ensemble group to win [not so oddly {?}, both mostly white]. They got the packed house moving throughout their 15 minute set. Unfortunately, some haters stole their gigantic Billy Madison winning check. I wish I could remember their intro freestyle which mentioned something about Philadelphia Slick's entry into this 2007 mayoral race.

I want to do it all over again and also don't ever want to hear about this event again. It was crazy in a good and a bad way, but I guess that's just how it works. I had fun. And I'm still tired. I ran into so many friends randomly throughout the night. Including the keyboardist of the runner up band with whom I play soccer during the spring/summer. It's a small world.

Anybody head out to this event? Thoughts?

*We hope we can throw another event like this next year!

My company is throwing a HUGE battle of the bands Thursday night, it's called The Philly Sound Clash. Click on the image above to peep the MySpace page for more info.

It's a completely homegrown local music event. Local artists, local organization putting it on, local venue, local judges, local prizes… We're trying to do good. The FREE event is at World Cafe Live and the doors open at 6p. The bands won't start playing until about 8p, but there will be Magic Hat drink specials throughout the night to get things rolling. There will be prizes given away to the crowd throughout the night. T-shirt giveaways. And the bands! A good variety of genres reflecting the wide range of music this great music city has to offer.

Hopefully I won't be running around too crazily so that I'll be able to shoot some photos throughout the night. It's not very often that I can go to a large concert, for free, and take photos at will. We'll see if I actually can/will. If not, I'll be running around making sure everyone else is having a good time.

I've seen the photos from the past few years of Chinese New Year celebrations here in Philly and I finally got around to heading up to Chinatown to see it in person yesterday. It was cold out and starting to flurry, but there was a sizable crowd out to watch shit get blown up an dragon dancers prance and drummers bang away. I took a few shots, nothing outstanding. I got stuck behind the drummers after staking out a spot to get a clear line of sight for one set of firecrackers. Arg.

I can assure anyone who didn't make it out or hasn't experienced it in person, it's smoky as hell and noisy as you can possibly imagine. If I stayed to watch for the entire day, I would've definitely done some serious damage to my ear drums. Every person there who was working had earplugs; I wish I had a pair for the hour or so I was there. And the smoke from the thousands and thousands of jumping jack rope of firecrackers was nuts as you can see in the shot above.

It was interesting to see the teams of dragon dancers switch off during different parts of their dances. I'm sure it served a dual purpose of simple proximity of the smoke and them getting tired after a bit; they're really moving and jumping around.

There were a few politicians making their rounds too. Andy Toy, running for City Council At-Large was there - I was just at a house party for his campaign before heading up to Chinatown. Councilman Frank DiCicco (District 1) was there. As were mayoral hopefuls US Congressman Bob Brady (PA-01) and PA Congressman Dwight Evans (PA-203). There were tons of people handing out Toy's campaign literature. I picked up a button at the house party. I plan on rocking it on my jacket for the next few months.

Oh it's election season again and step one is getting your ass on the ballot and I've decided I'll be helping two folks do just that. One of them is Andy Toy who is running for City Council At-Large. He's aiming to become Philadelphia's first Asian councilperson and I'm gonna help out however I can. Philadelphia has a thriving Asian community, but as far as I can tell, absolutely no representation in city government. While Toy wouldn't be some one trick pony advocating solely for Asian initiatives, he would bring a point of view never brought to the planning table before and this city needs some fresh eyes. His issues page isn't all encompassing, but it's a good start.

On the environment, he looks to the guidance of the city's design community. A new look already! Energy efficiency through efficient building is a wonderful way to save money and energy. Philly's rowhouses are densely packed together and energy efficient and you didn't even know it. There are other ways to actively conserve without the end user even knowing it and that's where innovative designers come in to play. The zoning board and the codes they, achem, enforce are bogus. They need to be redone and not by crony developers. Of course, there's gotta be community involvement from the start! Toy was a big part of cleaning up Brownfields sites here in Philly and helped bring in $2.5M+ in federal and state funding for Brownfields projects.

On equity, he talks of ending the USELESS [my mistake] changing the ten-year tax abatement to perhaps a seven-year abatement in places where business is doing better and extending it in places where more developmental encouragement is needed and have the money recouped from actually collecting the tax "go to the Housing Trust Fund, which supports affordable housing development." Whoa - affordable housing development, crazy!

And then we have Mike Untermeyer for Sheriff. Philadelphia has a sheriff! Who knew? Well, I knew, but only because I [ocassionally] read my Neighborhood Networks newsletter and caught that we have a sheriff and a challenger this time around. I met Untermeyer, briefly, at my Ward 5 NN meeting last week and he told us about what the sheriff does and what a crook our current sheriff is. Untermeyer is overqualified for the office, but wants to hold it because he felt the office, commanding ~250 staff, is a microcosm of the city and he believes he can fix this office because he's worked along side it and has seen and experienced its inefficiencies. The proof is in the pudding and the pudding this time is in the form of controller's reports. The current sheriff has an office which is missing $11M. Not as bad as the $8B missing in Iraq, but let's get Untermeyer to fix one problem at a time.

Where's my clipboard…

Photo credit: Photos from campaign sites

So, there's a new magazine in town and it's dropping at the end of the month at a launch party over at the ICA. It's called Daydreamer Magazine [MySpace] and I know one of the people involved. After exchanging a couple emails about my helping out with the new startup, I was assigned my first photoshoot for the mag, it was with the co-founders, James and Taj, of dork magazine. [pictured above].

The only catch was that the shoot was on the day after my birthday bash! The writer for the piece was present for a couple hours of drinking, but I was there through the end doing some drunk cleanup. I showed up a little late to the shoot up in Fairmount, but everyone was aware of why and they graciously understood. We shot for a bit inside the restaurant where they were eating brunch, but left for some outdoor shots and ended up at the Rodin Museum in the biting cold. Everyone acted as if they were in good spirits though and we got through it and I was quite happy with the resulting shots.

I turned in an array of simple portraits, conversational shots, candids and semi-posed shots out in the museum front garden area. And crazy enough, I ran into one of the co-founders on Chestnut St last night while on my way to a friend's house for dinner. He recognized me from 50' away in the dark. I was kinda stunned when I saw him as to his ability to ID me from such a distance (note to self, do not commit any crimes within 50' of Taj where I won't think he'll be in on it with me). He said he had seen some shots and was happy with them as well. So, all is good I guess?!

Can't wait to see the first edition in print and I'm gonna lose it when the second edition comes out with one of my shots in it.

Go read what dorks write. This post on some cool flickr hacks is sweet.

Photo taken with a Nikon D70 and a Tokina 12-24mm f/4 lens @13mm; f/8; 1/500; ISO-200 with a wirelessly triggered SB-600 held above my right shoulder for fill [while hanging precariously over the ledge!].

In front of 17,000 people at the old Illinois State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln delivered his House Divided speech 148 years earlier, Senator Barack Obama officially announced his entry to the 2008 Presidential race. In an expectedly well delivered speech, Obama made the crowd cheer. The speech is archived on his homepage and [currently] accessible via the homepage. Some of the promises he made:
*"let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America"
*" Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills"
*Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term.
*Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil.
*But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.
*It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war.

I thought his mention of laying broadband lines particularly interesting. His campaign has already been noted for its use of the web [on the use of Facebook]. His campaign's usage of facebook, you tube and flickr are quite evident with prominent buttons lining the bottom of his homepage. The image above is used under a Creative Commons license via the campaign's flickr. I should note that they wisely changed their "All Rights Reserved" copyright to a CC license allowing for usage, good move assuring that the official campaign shots be distributed widely and legally by folks like me. But not so hot is how overexposed the shot is - that 5D should've been at a slower ISO and the shutter speed a little faster, but hey, I'm sure their staff photog was scrambling around during the speech and you can't be perfect every shot.

Obama's podcast on Net Neutrality.

So here's my view. We can't have a situation in which the corporate duopoly dictates the future of the internet and that's why I'm supporting what is called net neutrality. In the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee reached different conclusions on network neutrality. Judiciary Committee members voted to protect net neutrality and commerce voted with the Bells and cable. That debate is going to hit the House floor this Friday [6/06]. In the Senate, Senators Snowe and Dorgan are leading the fight for net neutrality and I've joined in that effort.

He spoke of his arrival to Illinois some 20 years ago without a job, without money, without familial connections (like me and Lady!) and taking a job, at a church, as a community organizer for $13k. The end of the first third of his speech was my favorite part:

The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. We've done this before.

His acknowledgment of the flexibility of our government is nice to hear; a drastic change from what this administration has shoved down our throats for the last 7 years. We're currently experiencing mass job loss and rising poverty numbers. [Illegal and legal] Immigrants are being persecuted while being exploited and embraced. The moon, and NASA, are now afterthoughts. American justice mocked all over the world after the episodes in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Can Barack lead us to the mountaintop once again?

It's going to be a big money dance. This Harper's article give a little look into the money behind Barack. He's no Clinton (take your pick of either one), but hey, when he says things like this:

And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bill. They get the access while you get to write a letter. They think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It is through. It's time to turn the page, right here, right now.

You got to back that up. People are fed up with people saying they're going to do this and not take this person's/group's money but then they do take the money and they do vote a certain way or allow certain bills to pass/not pass. Politics is ugly and politics has gotten uglier with the influx of money in the last couple decades.

It'll be interesting to see which of his Congressional colleagues come out to back his run. Hillary already has that constantly scheming Schumer running around like a poodle saying this and that about his meal ticket. I'd take either one in the end. Whatever. I'd be content [NOT HAPPY] with either a non-white or a non-male candidate on the D side of the ballot. It's about fucking time. It's shameful a disgrace this country of ours has yet to embrace such a candidate for the highest office in our land. We have to grow up some to regain a seat at the rest of the world's adult table.

Two more years to go. This is going to feel like an eternity, because it will be just that.

Photo credit: Barack Obama flickr

Just read this article on the University of Phoenix and how shitty it is. NO SHIT SHERLOCK. For real - who goes to this university boasts a 16% graduation rate. 16%! And you know what? According to the NYT article, the UoP receives more federal financial aid money than any other school. Why would the federal government feed this school with money? The continued dumbing down of America is on the federal agenda, that's why.

How this academic institution with 95% of it's instructors are part-time and the syllabi these part-timers are teaching are written at the corporate headquarters of UoP. How this academic institution charges a little under $10k a year is in-fucking-sane. How corporations continue to send their executives to the UoP to advance their degrees is beyond me.

So how much time do those enrolled at UoP spend in class? 20 - 24 hours per course; the national average is twice that.

Government auditors in 2000 ruled that this schedule fell short of the minimum time required for federal aid programs, and the university paid a $6 million settlement. But in 2002, the Department of Education relaxed its requirements, and the university's stripped-down schedule is an attractive feature for many adults eager to obtain a university degree while working. But critics say it leaves courses with little meat.

So, under the Bush administration, which has given us the "No Child Left Behind Act" and a president who is known as bringing an "MBA" to the White House. His penchant for the notion of holding an MBA-lite degree bodes well for sham programs like those UoP offers. Just to be clear, Dubya does hold an MBA from Harvard - I'm not calling Harvard some fake school, but simply saying that Dubya's degree is bullshit.

I can't imagine ever turning to the UoP to further my career. I'd probably be found at a local college or community college taking a course here and there, a course directly related to some field I'm trying to advance in. But most likely not, I hate school.

Burns a fucking hole in your retina don't it? The people in the Nutter camp have started to unfurl "The Saidel Technique" across the city.

I saw these stickers start to appear over the weekend and they are everywhere in Center City. They're on all the honor boxes and on some streetsigns. Not quite as annoyingly everywhere as the Saidel stickers.. yet.

Tomorrow night, local photogs (well, suburban) Dustin Fenstermacher and Laura Kicey are hosting an opening reception for their new photo show: Joints. They are an incredibly talented duo taking on similar scenes through two very different perspectives.

The show went up on the 4th and runs through March 4th and the work is hung in Mugshots up on 21/Fairmount Ave.

Lady and I are the proud owners of a photo of each of theirs. I don't have the money right now to pick up another couple, but I plan to head over to wish them luck and undoubtedly see some local photog friends.