Mayoral Forum at Free Library on Design
On Monday the 9th at the Free Library, the Design Advocacy Group held a forum on Design for Community and Quality of Life. It was a well attended forum with a packed house of I'd say 250 – 300 people. Dwight Evans, Chaka Fattah and Michael Nutter were the only ones there. Bob Brady and Tom Knox were not there and neither of them have an events section on their site to see why they were not present. Republican candidate Al Taubenberger was supposed to be there too, but was a no show.
Above is a shot of the president of the Free Library, I didn't catch his name Alan Greenberger, the chair of Design Advocacy Group [thanks Brad!]. He said a few brief words and introduced the moderator for the evening.
The moderator was Chris Satullo, editorial page editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He didn't do much for the evening other than ask questions. I wanted to ask him about the Prius v Hummer "Study", but I didn't recognize him up front until the forum was about to start, arg. Satullo announced that there was another forum that evening so they'd get right to it without opening statements and before any more people arrived for the 5.30p start. People trickled in for a few minutes during the opening question and answers.
The first question from Satullo was what signature piece of design would each prospective mayor leave for the city. U.S. House Representative Chaka Fattah (PA-02) (above) said that rebuilding and transforming the lives of the people was a priority in his plan to improve Philadelphia. He wants to take away councilmanic veto power for individual projects within District Council "fiefdoms" as he called them. He said that big projects need the input of the full council. He did not list a single piece of physical design.
Former Fourth District Councilman Michael Nutter said that reforming the zoning code would be his way of affecting design within the city. The 50-year-old code is sorely in need of an update and reaffirming the planning commission would provide the new code with a set of responsible guardians. He did not list a single piece of physical design.
P.A. House Representative Dwight Evans (203rd) wants to rebuild the great forgotten avenues of the city. He listed Woodland Ave and Baltimore Ave as two of them. He wants to make them destinations again to improve neighborhoods by rebuilding from the main arteries.
Question two was on the issue of casinos, specifically the referendum on the May 15th ballot:
Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to prohibit Council from taking any action that would permit licensed gaming within 1500 feet of a residentially zoned district, an Institutional Development District, or certain residentially-related uses, and to prohibit the Department of Licenses and Inspections from issuing any license or permit authorizing licensed gaming within such areas?
In plain english: Should the City keep casinos 1,500 feet away from a school, home, places of worship, or playground? [translation via Casino-Free Philadelphia]. Michael Nutter (above) simply responded by saying he advised every Philadelphian to vote for the referendum to keep casinos out of Philadelphia.
Dwight Evans stated, once again, that he voted for the casinos to come to Philadelphia in the State House. His reason, which he states at every stop on the campaign trail: the reduction for each resident of the wage tax refund. The actual amount to be saved by each Philadelphian, all of $100.
Chaka Fattah stated, once again, that there will be two casinos in Philadelphia and that we must accept it.
Question four moved to the topic of affordable housing in the city with there being too many luxury housing units and nobody building anything for the middle income bracket. Evans (above) said that we must look to the projects in cities like Boston and Chicago. He cited Boston's linked development projects which, from what I understand, mandate that within a new large plot of land for luxury condos and the like, there must also be some amount of middle income housing as well involved. I didn't catch what he said about Chicago's measures.
Nutter said that we must maintain an abatement incentive to develop, but change it slightly. He suggested splitting it to perhaps a 5-year abatement in some areas and 15-year abatement in others. Nutter said that NYC has a similar split abatement program and that they have an even longer abatement program. He also wants to split the money garnered from developments coming off the abatement to a 90% and 10% split: 10% to go towards a housing trust fund. (I think I'm getting this a little fuzzy, I don't totally understand it, I'm no good with numbers anymore).
Fattah wants 100% of the offline abatement to go towards the housing trust fund which will be $53M fund to go towards much needed programs spread across the city.
Nutter clarified his statement and Fattah's statement (I'm probably still getting this wrong) to say that the $53M will take ten years to accrue while his plan will make new developments pay the 10% up front right into the housing trust fund.
Satullo moved onto a subject which I had previously never heard discussed before. Question five was on the issue of sinking/lowering I-95 on the Delaware River waterfront to take back the city's riverfront. Nutter came out and said he wholeheartedly supported the plan. He said that it will take enormous state and federal support and that Fattah and Evans sit on very powerful committees in the US House of Representatives and PA House of Representatives, respectively; Fattah has a good deal of seniority sitting on the House Appropriations Committee and Evans is the Democratic Chairperson of the PA House Appropriations Committee. Both committees could move much monies to such a project. He emphasized that "This is worth an investment" to very loud applause.
Fattah supports the plan and stressed that this would incredibly change the landscape of the city and would change the city dramatically.
Evans said that this is a 30-year project and that he supports the plan, but the city needs to spend money elsewhere in more pressing areas including new/improved rec centers and within the police department.
Nutter added that Philadelphia made the decision to build two new sports stadiums and they're done. He agreed that there are more short term/immediate needs for funding, but that there are long term plans, like the I-95 plan, which need to be on the agenda as well.
Questions six was on mass transit/SEPTA – how to give the city more of a voice in the matter. Evans wants to stop the "civil war" between the city and the suburbs. The issue isn't the number of people representing Philadelphia on the SEPTA board, he said, but the predictable [I think he meant dedicated] funding. He said that this was the most important long term issue the city faces, over the I-95 project.
Fattah said that we do need more than the two seats we currently have on the SEPTA board and to completely redo the relationship with SEPTA over the lease of the train tracks. He said that the suburbs have to put in their share of funding the program. Fattah said he 1000% supports the Governor's plan to lease the turnpike for SEPTA to get more [possibly dedicated] funding money.
Nutter said that the city needs its own policies set on mass transit and to do so, the city must re-open the Office of Mass Transit – he would do so as mayor. He would also advocate the development of property around SEPTA stations to make them hubs of activity.
The packed house seemed to like question eight a lot: Convince a recent graduate of one of Philadelphia's fine colleges to stay here and not move elsewhere.
Fattah said that everything important in the world can be changed from within Philly. In addition, Philly's proximity to the financial hub of NYC and the political seat of DC, it's an ideal place to live. He wants Philadelphia to be the first American city to truly take on the issue of poverty and make the city livable by all inhabitants. Fattah had to leave at this point for another engagement.
Evans told a story of his walk over to the library. He said while walking through LOVE Park, he heard bunches of tourists excitedly talking about all of the historic and new things to see in Philly and that by living among it all, Philadelphians simply don't appreciate the greatness of the city.
Nutter said the future of this city is right on the horizon and its past is rich. The city boasts one of the largest city park systems in the world coming in at 9200 acres [an American football field is 1 1/3 acres] and the city will have leadership [under him] which understands the city well.
Question ten was directed primarily at Nutter. It was about skate parks and what happened to ban skating in LOVE Park. Nutter said his vote on city council to take skating out of LOVE Park came because it would take $1M a year to repair the park from the damage the skaters [supposedly] did to the park. He is, however, fully supportive of the new skate park proposed behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art and more skate parks around the city. He said that people need to be out side having fun, more so than they do currently. I thought that was a refreshing thing to hear at a forum, a candidate concerned with constituents being outdoors doing things. Evans had no comment on this Nutter-specific question
Question twelve was on the issue of unions and their power to sculpt development – a question aimed at the very recent issue of waterless urinals and the Comcast Center. Nutter said that he hears it over and over again: it's too expensive to build in the city. One of the reasons, the demands of the unions. He said that if the building/zoning codes were standardized and enforced, there wouldn't be issues of what should and shouldn't be done. He added that he sees too many out of state license plates at job sites – we need more Philly residents doing work, especially people of color [more loud applause].
Evans said that Pat Gillespe (head of the Building Trades Council) should never have been on the Convention Center committee. And that John Dougherty (head of the IBEW Local 98 – electrician's union) shouldn't be on the Redevelopment Authority. I think what he was trying to say is that union leadership cannot serve on the decision making panels of building groups.
Lucky number thirteen asked the candidates their thoughts on a push for green buildings in Philly. Evans said that incentives work well and that the city of Chicago has been a model for other cities to follow with their green enhancements – their green roofs especially. He commended this administration in its partnership with the PA Horticultural Society and another group [didn't catch it] to think more green.
Nutter said that zoning code should change to incorporate LEED standards and for all city buildings to be built to LEED standards [I think he also wants all rehabbed city properties to be LEED as well]. He said incentives of money and speedy permits/inspections should be applied. Nutter said that the city must take the lead with LEED building to encourage other developments as the city of Boston has done.
Question fourteen was a combination of two topics, what to do with the Parkway and whether each candidate was for/against the move of the Barnes Museum to the Parkway. Evans said that Paul Levy (Executive Director for the Center City District) has good ideas on the Parkway [didn't list any, but given the audience, may have scored points for the mention?] He said that the Barnes move has become a large political decision no longer thinking about the impacts of the move for the area it is leaving and entering and no longer a design/architectural decision. I didn't catch if he was for/against the move.
Nutter supports the move of the Barnes to the Parkway. He said that Logan Square (he calls it a Circle) should be made a more walkable area one way to do that is to slow down the traffic in and around the Square and on the Parkway in general.
The final question of the night was on the recent past of the Street administration and the Rendell administration: what was the main positive/negative thing they learned from each administration. Nutter said that he was constantly amazed as to how then Mayor Rendell was everywhere at once. He said that everyone wants to see their mayor in their neighborhood and Rendell delivered just that. He pointed out Street's focus on neighborhoods during his tenure and applauded his efforts to improve each one of them. He did have some criticism in that both administrations did too much deal by deal transactions instead of respecting codes.
Evans said that Rendell could say "No" well and that he had a poor place to start working with at the beginning of his term. Evans also commended Street's work within the city's neglected neighborhoods. But that it was impossible to do everything. He suggested looking at a 16-year plan, two terms past the end of any mayor's time in office. He gave the example of the Chicago Daleys and their 40-year reign [separated by a few administrations] over Chicago. He noted the people of Chicago's confidence in their government and the trust specifically in their mayor. It took twelve years for Millennium Park to be built, but the city stood by it; politicians must win back the trust of the people into their government and have transparency as well.
Nutter and Evans said that Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative was a good concept, but that the implementation/follow through was lacking. Nutter stressed the incredible cost increases to bulldoze a building. At the beginning of the initiative, it cost $11k to demo a building and now it costs $22k. Incredibly, the cost has doubled.
In the end, Nutter came out on top. He spoke well on the issues and actually answered questions asked. Most importantly, he actually offered some ideas. Some more thoughts on the forum from Plan Philly via Philly Skyline who unfortunately missed the forum] complete with video. A flickr set of my shots from the night.
And lastly, as I was leaving, I ran into Andy Toy, candidate for City Council At-Large. He was passing out literature for his campaign – he had a whole bunch of supporters in the audience all wearing buttons (myself included). I asked Nutter to pause and take a photo with Toy and he obliged. I'd love to see the two of them join forces and support each other in their respective candidacies. For now, and unless something drastic happens, I'll be voting for both of them on May 15th.
Monday April 16th is the final day to register to vote in the upcoming primary.
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