Street talk

It might be a misnomer to say that the Cope Linder streetscape study “revealed” aspects of the Chestnut Hill business district that could stand some improving. Some of us have noticed the failure to replace street trees and the unkempt look of empty tree wells (the Local had an editorial about this in January); others have commented on unsafe sidewalks and Belgian blocks, the lack of consistent signage, the need for more lighting and, of course, those vacant storefronts. As for the community assets identified by Cope Linder, these are the things we all love about Chestnut Hill: its “walkability” and village scale, architecture, strong sense of community and excellent public transportation.

The value of the study is that it brings all of these elements together and offers strategies for sustainable, rather than uncoordinated and piecemeal, improvement. The solutions offered bring to the table a wider perspective based on what has worked in other, similar communities, and lay out funding options. It was beyond the scope of the study to delve into the challenges specific to Chestnut Hill — its status as a “suburb in the city” without recourse to the options available to independent municipalities. It is up to us to use this study in a way that “fits” with what the Hill can realistically do.

What is key now is that Chestnut Hill work out a coordinated way to tackle these streetscape projects. The Chestnut Hill District must work with the CHCA well in advance of next year’s community fund drive, for instance, to determine how funds from both entities would be best applied to Avenue improvement. Should the fund be primarily applied to routine maintenance, and BID money to capital improvements (such as new lights or newspaper honor box “corrals”)? What sort of grants can realistically be pursued (the Community Development Block Grants recommended by Cope Linder are usually given to lower income areas)? What improvements should be the responsibility of property owners, and how will those stipulations be enforced? How do we ensure that streetscape issues away from the Avenue (such as on Bethlehem Pike or Willow Grove Avenue) are not given short shrift? These are just a few of the important questions to be asked.

The BID board is not saying what the Cope Linder study cost, but we can be sure it wasn’t cheap. It’s now up to Chestnut Hill’s major players — the business association, community association and business improvement district — to demonstrate its practical worth.

James Sturdivant

 

Commentary: black history a lesson in social action

By AMY BRISSON

I had a teacher in eighth grade whose unorthodox curriculum made the administration angry and the other teachers nervous. Occasionally the principal would sit menacingly in the back of our class during her lesson. After only one year of teaching, she was fired. What was her crime? Teaching us about Martin Luther King Jr.

The subject was supposed to be ancient Rome; the topic was supposed to be Corinthian columns. But she tossed our handouts on the Coliseum to the side and informed us that civil rights was going to be the new subject for the year. If we graduated her class and only remembered one phrase, she said, it should be “non-violent resistance.” If we only remembered one date, it should be 1954, the year of Brown vs. The Board of Education.

Learning about African-American history changed the way I thought about the world. The story of Emmett Till made me question the meaning of the word “justice.” The words of King opened up a whole new way of thinking about resistance, dignity and what it means to be an American. Rosa Parks taught me that a small act of bravery could change the world.

For the first time, I realized that the lessons of history were relevant in my own life. I was amazed to find that non-reactive, non-violent responses defeated middle school bullies as well as racist Jim Crow laws. And I saw my favorite teacher fired for teaching what she believed in and challenging her students to defy authority.

Nine years and a degree in African Studies later, I still often think about that teacher and the controversy she provoked at my school. I see that same controversy bubbling up now over the question of African Studies in Philadelphia schools. Although I think the desire to teach African and African-American history is laudable, I have some of the same reservations about implementation that George Stern eloquently outlined in last week’s issue of the Local.

To my surprise, however, the debate that seems to have surfaced is not over how the class is implemented and taught, but whether African American history is something valuable. State House Speaker John Perzel was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer last Wednesday saying that African Studies in Philadelphia schools is “unnecessary” because “most of these kids will never go to Africa [and] they have no affinity toward Africa.” This argument does not seem at all relevant when it comes to African-American history in Philadelphia schools, but from the underlying idea emerges a larger question: is African/African-American history pertinent to all students?

When the learning of African-American history is discussed in terms of correcting racial inequalities or as a tool for producing racial pride, the way is paved for critics who would like to show that teaching that history is divisive or unfair to non-African-Americans. The counter-argument exists in the experiences of people such as myself. As a white person who came upon African-American history unexpectedly as a young teenager, I discovered lessons and ideas that were universal and transforming. Issues of equality, justice, freedom and resistance are so embedded in the story of African-American history that students are forced, through the material itself, to question the world around them.

For teenagers especially, the opportunity to critically examine America’s past hypocrisies offers insight into the realities of modern life. African-American history also offers potential answers to the demanding questions it raises. For example, the idea of non-violent resistance still offers possible solutions to personal and social problems. African-American history is in fact so current and so pertinent, that its study becomes more than a history class: it is a lesson in the philosophy of social action.

Learning about Corinthian columns in eighth grade would not have transformed the course of my life the way that hearing Martin Luther King Jr.’s words did. Instead of sticking to the conventional version of history, my teacher took a risk. And in so doing, she challenged her students to stand by their beliefs in the face of controversy. I see the City of Philadelphia taking up that same challenge by choosing to make a difficult and uncertain step on the road toward a school system that truly educates.

Amy Brisson is the 2005 Anna Fisher Clark intern at the Chestnut Hill Local.

Commentary: Politics and trolleys: the rest of the story

By JIM FOSTER

My commentary in the June 2 edition of the Local focused on a bizarre political situation that has been festering for over a year, the outgrowth of a most unusual conflict between a West Philadelphia neighborhood, SEPTA, an $84 million taxpayer investment and a high-profile councilman who walked away from an important decision.

Michael Nutter, self-appointed dragon-slayer of all social ills, could not seem to bring himself to override the wishes of a ward leader in his district, even though those wishes include an illegal conversion and use of a street, and a costly reversal of progress for a surface transportation project fully funded, paid for and potentially operational. That project is the Route 15 Girard Avenue streetcar system that was to initiate similar upgrades and restoration for two other routes, one of them being our own Route 23 on Germantown Avenue. The start date for Route 15 was June 2004.

Picked up by the Daily News, this story has generated widespread public outcry, virtually all of it outrage at how the public takes a back seat again to political power plays in a city where corruption and underhanded dealing makes national news. Three full-page articles have been published in the Daily News since June 2, the most recent one finally eliciting on-the-record comments from some public officials, all of whom were initially silent. The mayor and one potential candidate are aligned with those outraged, but Councilman Nutter, in whose district the problem arose, still exhibits a casual wait-and-see attitude, almost as if he had no authority over the matter.

Nothing is further from the truth. City Councilmen can make it rain.

In the process, this spotlight on the Route 15 situation has morphed into distinct stories waking some sleeping dogs many other politicians and executives of SEPTA would rather keep under the radar. The public has been largely dialed out during the trolley hiatus, but it will be difficult to silence those wanting some answers now. For a complete understanding, the stories should be told separately.

The $84 parking spaces

A few days before the widely advertised inauguration of streetcar service, Nutter caved in to a power play by West Philadelphia ward leader Carol Campbell. Her action was a result of a long-existent squabble with SEPTA regarding parking and other issues at the 59th and Callowhill depot. She carefully waited until the 11th hour before the service was to resume and then said that the neighbors will not move illegally parked cars, and Nutter essentially said, "OK by me." The new trolleys have not run to this day.

The neighbors — Campbell at the helm — say they will not give up their newfound parking places. A year ago, prior to June, SEPTA asked Nutter to make the street one-way, and neighbors said no to that. Nutter said no, too.

That's it, just no. And an $84 million project is stalled.

I have spoken to Councilman Nutter, and he still sounds somewhat cavalier as to the priority of getting service running. He only states that meetings are taking place, and the line should be running soon —no specific date or time, and certainly no regret in his tone. Mayor Street, in the meantime, goes on the record suggesting, "Roll the tow trucks and get those trolleys moving." Nutter sent the mayor his Christmas present early this year.

Don’t anger the Kingmaker

No politician wants to touch this issue, despite the fact that the bulk of the money was raised from the state, with some federal and city money thrown in.

Roughly $77 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, $4 million from the federal government and $3 million from the city was spent over the last several years to rebuild track and infrastructure and modernize cars, streetscape and control systems. From Gov. Rendell, who as mayor had a hand in the initial agreement with SEPTA, through those in Congress and the local Democratic party, most say the problem is “not theirs” and point to Nutter.

The real story is that Carol Campbell, ward leader and secretary of the Democratic City Committee, sitting at the right hand of U.S. Congressman Bob Brady, is so powerful that she is seen as the kingmaker or career breaker in the next mayoral election. She is reputed to control so many inner city wards that a few phone calls could end or start careers. Nutter is genuinely afraid to cross her, and Brady will hide in the corner if told to do so — and he did so.

Let’s remember two things: Nutter is chairman of the transportation committee in City Council and the bulk of Route 15 runs through Brady’s congressional district, with the car barn area in dispute actually in his district.

Once again we find pervasive power plays trumping responsibility and good government. Believe me, the taxpayer money spent means absolutely nothing to them. I heard no urgency from Councilman Nutter in our recent conversation. Interestingly, he avoided five attempts to speak on this subject before the Local published my article, but now takes my calls.

Unofficial sabotage

As so often the case, SEPTA management used deliberate and devious means to disenfranchise riders and dismantle a system.

The City of Philadelphia has jurisdiction and actual ownership of the trolley tracks through a purchase and leaseback agreement crafted some years ago, when it helped SEPTA take over the PTC from private ownership. Through a 1992 agreement, three operating trolley lines (15, 23 and 56) were kept on the books as streetcars with bus substitution as a temporary measure only. The infrastructure was to be maintained by SEPTA, and that includes responsibility for the track and roadway maintenance for that portion of the streets the tracks occupied.

The current SEPTA management seems to want to do all it can to remove itself from any obligation to run trolleys again, and for that reason has not taken a very aggressive position in trying to remedy the stalemate on Route 15. No wonder a full year has passed since the announced start date. Some feel that by keeping the spotlight off that trolley line, it precludes SEPTA from having to explain not only why the two other routes have languished, but why the agency has begun selectively dismantling the infrastructure it was supposed to maintain. Most of this “unofficial sabotage” began the month after the Route 15 startup was put off.

Since June 2004, Route 56 (Erie-Torresdale Avenue) has been largely paved over and wire taken down with under-the-radar political help, some of it from State Sen. Mike Stack and Joan Krajewski in City Council (where was our transportation chairman?), and portions of our own Route 23 have seen the same fate in the last month or so. It has been suggested that SEPTA would gladly sell the $23 million worth of streetcars to some other city and have the $61 million spent for the Girard Avenue infrastructure (mostly tracks, islands and wires) go to waste, and then walk away.

SEPTA’s decisions in some areas often remind me of the military practice of telling recruits to first dig the ditch, then fill it in, then dig it again. There, it was a training exercise. With SEPTA, it is pure reckless management. Sen. Brightbill and the Harrisburg Republicans will just love this story when SEPTA stands up in a couple of weeks asking for more money. Personally, I would not give them a dime. Greatly increased transparency on the SEPTA board and management staff must precede further funding.

In recent days, a press announcement in the Daily News confirmed a closed-door meeting between SEPTA board chairman Pat Deon, Congressman Brady, Councilman Nutter and ward leader Campbell. Reportedly, trolleys will roll in September, and, in a face-saving exchange, SEPTA will clean its depot, plant trees in the neighborhood, and address employee parking issues.

The press releases on this issue from all of the suddenly-concerned politicians make interesting reading. Brady says, "I wouldn't want any of the residents to think we somehow sold them out on this, working out a deal without them." Following that up, he helps SEPTA board chairman Deon pass the buck to previous management, while giving the credit to long-absent Nutter with the statement, "Michael took the lead on this. He made it happen." There has not been that much manure moved around in Philadelphia since we had horsecars.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has been inexplicably silent on this topic, possibly as a favor to Michael Nutter, the favorite of some to become our next mayor. Being the "best of the worst" is not a credential. In my view, a Council member, particularly the transportation chairman, who cannot make timely decisions in these matters is not equipped to deal with the crucial demands of the mayor's office. After all, this is Philadelphia, where we play hardball without gloves.