philadelphia daily record

Vol. III No. 55 (423) Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia March 23, 2012

STATE REP. CHERELLE PARKER, left, gets surprise visit from Dr. Gladys J.

Willis. She was future State Rep’s professor at Lincoln University. Teacher and

student pitched in together on a new educational project – see page 3. Photo:

Harry Leech

PhiladelphiaDaily Record

Homecoming

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T h e P h i l a d e l p h i aP u b l i c R e c o r d

C a l e n d a rMar. 23- 82nd Airborne’s

All American Dinner and

awards ceremony at Iron Work-

ers 401 Union Ha., 11600 Nor-

com Rd., 6 p.m. Gov. Ed

Rendell speaker. Tickets $35, in-

cludes dinner, dessert open bar,

entertainment. Make checks

payable to 82nd Airborne/HM

Chapter and mail to 1818 Mar-

ket St., 13th fl., Phila. PA 19103.

Mar. 23- Bernice Hill

hosts Democrat 63rd Ward

Spring Fling at American Le-

gion Post 810, 9151 Old New-

ton Rd., 7-11 p.m. DJ, dancing,

drinks, refreshments, raffle.

RSVP (215) 698-9421.

Mar. 25- Annual Men’s

Day Breakfast in Fellowship

Hall, Zion Baptist Church, 3600

N. Broad St., 8 a.m. Speaker

Michael A. Rashid, President

and CEO AmeriHealth Mercy.

Donation $8.

Mar. 25- Fishtown Neigh-

bors Association announce 2012

Chili Cook-Off at Skybox at

2424 Studios, 2424 E. York St.,

1-4 p.m.

Mar. 26- Congressman

Bob Brady takes to airwaves via

WURD 800 AM from 7 am to

10 am at Woodlawn Village

Restaurant, 5234 Woodland Av-

enue. For info, contact Andale at

21`5 724-6600.

Mar. 27-29 AFL-CIO State

Convention hosted by Phila.

Council AFL-CIO President Pat

Eiding at Sheraton Downtown

Hotel, 17th & Race Sts. Mar.

28: COPE Dinner.

Mar. 29- 66A Ward Leader

Shawn Dillon hosts fundraiser

for Ed Neilson, Democrat State

Rep candidate, at Bridgeman’s

Ha., 11600 Norcom Rd., 7-9

p.m. Tickets $30. Beef and beer.

For info Shawn Dillon (215)

637-6360.

Mar. 29- State Rep. Rosita

Youngblood hosts fundraiser at

Finnigan’s Wake, 3rd & Spring

Garden Sts., 7-9:30 p.m. Dinner,

open bar, dancing. Tickets $75.

For info (215) 745-4306.

Mar. 29- Fundraiser for

State Rep. Pam DeLissio at All

Seasons Wash & Lube, 6722

Ridge Ave., 5:30 p.m. For info

(215) 808-9167. Sponsor: $150,

Friend: $75. Bring checks or

send to DeLissio State House

Campaign, POB 46-606, Phila.,

PA 19127.

Mar. 30- Fish Fry

fundraiser for State Rep candi-

date James “Scoot” Clay at Wil-

son Amer. Legion Post, 2006

Orthodox St., 6-9 p.m. Food,

wine and beer. Tickets $20.

Meat

& DeliPrego Pizzelle Baker $29.99

Uno Panini Grill $39.99



Lutheran SeminaryBreaks New Ground

LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY launched major expansion yesterday. Breaking

ground from left are Dan Muroff, development expert and E. Mt. Airy community activist; Kim-

berly J. Turner chief of staff for State Rep. Dwight Evans; State Rep. Cherelle Parker; and Dr.

Gladys J. Willis. Photo: Harry Leech



US Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)

and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) came to-

gether in support of the biparti-

san passage of the JOBS Act

(HR 3606) in the US Senate.

The legislation, which passed

73-26, includes three job-creat-

ing bills authored by Sen.

Toomey:

• The Small Company Capital

Formation Act with Sen. Jon

Tester (D-Mont.) (S. 1544): This

legislation would cut regulatory

burdens on small businesses and

make it easier for them to raise

much-needed capital through

public offerings.

• The Private Company Flexibil-

ity and Growth Act with Sen.

Tom Carper (D-Del.) (S. 1824):

This legislation would raise the

shareholder limit from 500 to

2,000 for community banks and

non-banks and would exempt

employees from this cap. As a

result, small businesses will have

the flexibility to focus on long-

term growth, job creation and

creating better environments for

their employees.

• The Reopening American Capi-

tal Markets to Emerging Growth

Companies Act with Sen.

Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) (S.

1933): This legislation would

make it easier for growing firms

to go public by reducing the hur-

dles of an initial public offering

by phasing in many of the costli-

est obligations over time.

• “The Senate’s passage of the

JOBS Act today is a victory for

growing companies across the

country,” Sen. Toomey said. “By

lessening the regulatory burden

on entrepreneurs, small busi-

nesses, and other job creators

this legislation represents a lim-

ited-government solution for

spurring economic growth with-

out using taxpayer dollars. In our

struggling economy, quicker

entry into the market, greater ac-

cess to capital and reduced regu-

lations will help small compa-

nies expand, hire new workers

and create thousands of new

jobs. I am pleased Congress was

able to work together in a bipar-

tisan fashion, and I appreciated

the opportunity to help craft this

bill. I hope the House takes up

this bill in a timely manner and

sends it to the president to sign it

into law as soon as possible.”

For his part, Casey, Chairman of

the Joint Economic Committee,

commented, “This bill is an im-

portant step forward for the

economy, the people of Pennsyl-

vania and the nation. It not only

puts important measures in place

to help business grow, create

jobs and improve the economy -

it also shows the American peo-

ple that their representatives can

work together in a bipartisan ef-

fort to get things done in the best

interest of the nation.”

Toomey, Casey UniteIn Praising Jobs Act


• PHILADELPHIADAILYRECORD.COM | 5

Thomas Queries PlansFor Divine LorraineState Rep. W. Curtis Thomas (D-

N. Phila.) is wary of the latest

scheme to develop the historic

Divine Lorraine Hotel that sits

on Broad Street at Fairmount in

his district.

Developer Eric Blumenfeld is

the latest to come up with a pro-

posal to develop the National

Historic Landmark. Although he

doesn’t now own the property,

Blumenfeld, who previously

owned the property, has been

talking to Philadelphia School

District officials about clustering

four area schools – Masterman,

Franklin Learning Center, Ben

Franklin and Parkway Center

City – on one campus on a lot

behind the hotel. According to

the plan, the schools would share

a cafeteria and gymnasium.

Thomas said a lot of questions

need to be answered about this

latest proposal. “First of all, the

communities surrounding the

hotel have not been consulted

about this proposal. How do they

feel about this? I would not sup-

port any project of this type

where the surrounding commu-

nity is not involved in the plan-

ning.”

“Second, have the parents of the

students been consulted? Mem-

bers of the parent/teacher associ-

ations must be involved. In my

opinion, it makes no sense what-

soever to combine four schools

on one campus. It’s a recipe for

disaster. More importantly, our

children need equalization of a

comprehensive, quality educa-

tion first and foremost. I will not

support someone’s money-mak-

ing scheme involving our chil-

dren’s education.”

According to media reports, Blu-

menfeld has not disclosed

whether he is negotiating to pur-

chase the property, but has said

he is planning to purchase the lot

on 13th Street behind the hotel

for the new school. His plan

also includes working with an

arts collective to turn the hotel

into an art museum that would

offer arts education to the stu-

dents.

“To date, neither students nor

parents, residents of the West

Poplar community, Sen. Farnese

nor I have been consulted about

another experiment with young

people,” said Thomas. “It was

not that long ago that the School

District of Philadelphia and the

city spent millions of dollars for

architectural renderings and

studies to relocate the Franklin

Learning Center on this same

land. The relocation never hap-

pened. Today, we have two huge

lots filled with trash, high weeds,

debris and maybe bodies on

these lots. Eric Blumenfeld did

not keep the lots cleaned when

he owned the Divine building

before. It is time to develop and

implement a comprehensive edu-

cation plan for high school stu-

dents in North-Central

Philadelphia. The students and

parents of North-Central

Philadelphia are experimented

out. We are still waiting for im-

plementation of a plan for

William Penn High School

which is already in place.”

Thomas said he does not support

Blumenfeld’s plan and that a

comprehensive development

plan with community input

needs to be in place. “Before we

come up with a master facilities

plan we need to develop a com-

munity economic development

ideology with community input.

This community needs job train-

ing and economic opportunity.

Bottom line – we are not inter-

ested in another hodge-podge ex-

periment using our children.”



Boyle Bill Would StopDiscriminating AgainstUnemployed JobseekersState Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-

Northeast) has introduced legis-

lation to prohibit employers and

employment agencies from dis-

criminating against unemployed

workers in job advertisements

and hiring.

“Currently, some job advertise-

ments circulating stipulate that

candidates must be presently em-

ployed or that unemployed need

not apply,” Boyle said. “I am

truly surprised and saddened by

the idea that employers are ex-

cluding thousands of qualified

and capable workers from even

applying for consideration for a

work opportunity – especially in

light of our current economic

conditions.”

Boyle said such actions create

unnecessary roadblocks for

Pennsylvanians actively seeking

gainful employment.

More than 500,000 Pennsylvani-

ans are out of work. The US Bu-

reau of Labor Statistics reports

that more than 44% of these in-

dividuals have been looking for

jobs for more than six months.

Boyle’s legislation (HB 2157)

would create the Pennsylvania

Fair Employment Opportunity

Act to establish a complaint

process within the Pennsylvania

Dept. of Labor & Industry and

authorize administrative fines for

employers and employment

agencies that run such advertise-

ments or refuse to consider un-

employed candidates.

It would also support efforts to

help residents seeking reemploy-

ment.

The bill is part of JumpstartPA,

the House Democratic job cre-

ation plan emphasizing infra-

structure maintenance and

repairs, restoration of education

cuts made in the Corbett budget,

worker training, and tax credits

to help employers hire more

workers.

HB 2157 awaits consideration by

the House Labor and Industry

Committee.



Babette Scores 100%On Environmental Votes

State Rep. Babette Josephs (D-S.

Phila.) has received a perfect

100% rating based on her votes

regarding Marcellus Shale natu-

ral-gas drilling.

The Pennsylvania Marcellus

Shale Scorecard was created by

four of Pennsylvania’s largest

citizen-based environmental or-

ganizations: the Sierra Club

Pennsylvania Chapter, Clean

Water Action, PennEnvironment

and the Conservation Voters of

Pennsylvania.

“The extraction of natural gas

from the Marcellus Shale could

be a boon to our economy. But it

really is an environmental catas-

trophe that ruins county roads,

pollutes air and water, contami-

nates wild and scenic rivers, cur-

tails the forest-product industry,

cuts tourism, fragments the state

forests, and endangers the

aquifer that makes agriculture

our biggest industry. The only

people who benefit are out-of-

state international oil and gas

conglomerates,” Josephs said.

“That’s what Tom Corbett and

the Republicans have chosen for

the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.

“I am proud to have received a

100% rating from these environ-

mental groups, who rightly un-

derstand that this environmental

crisis is hurting every single

Pennsylvanian and that when I

voted against HB 1950, which

levied a meager impact fee on

the oil and gas industry, it was

the right thing to do.”

The scores are based on a series

of votes on HB 1950 (Act 13 of

2012) held by the legislature be-

tween November 2011 and Feb-

ruary 2012.

The four citizen-based environ-

mental organizations work

through advocacy and grassroots

action to protect Pennsylvania’s

environment.

Josephs is a member of the

Green Dog Legislative Caucus in

the House, which promotes leg-

islation to enhance and protect

the environment. She also is a

member of PennEnvironment,

PennFuture, Sierra Club, Clean

Air Council, Bicycle Coalition of

Greater Philadelphia and Penn-

sylvania League of Conservation

Voters.



Sims Whacks JosephsFor Not DebatingBrian Sims, who is challenging

State Rep. Babette Josephs of the

182nd Dist. in the Apr. 24 pri-

mary, criticized her yesterday for

declining his calls for a series of

debates.

“This evening was the fifth and

final night that Liberty City

LGBT Democratic Club had of-

fered as an opportunity to debate

in front of its members. I agreed

to all five dates, as you saw in

this YouTube video, but Rep.

Josephs refused to debate,” said

Sims.

“Rep. Josephs has agreed to only

one debate for this campaign,

one week before the election, in

her own neighborhood. Today I

issue a challenge for her to agree

to at least five more debates so

that all voters can hear from both

in person.

“The 182nd Dist. is made up of a

diverse set of neighborhoods,

and I have welcomed the oppor-

tunity to give voters a chance to

hear from the incumbent and

myself in their neighborhood.

This race is too important for her

to rob the voters from across the

entire district of the chance to

hear us debate.

“Rather than throw my hands up

in the air, I issue this challenge.

Voters in Bella Vista, Washing-

ton Square West, the Gaybor-

hood and Grays Ferry deserve to

hear a debate, not just voters in

Rittenhouse Square. Voters in

Logan Square and Graduate

Hospital should not have to

travel out of their neighborhood

for the one opportunity to hear a

debate. There are condo, apart-

ment and coop buildings with

hundreds of voters in them: I

will debate in any and every

high-rise in this district.”



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