Letters

Unfair ticketing

Something has happened to the fairness to drivers who park on the street in Chestnut Hill.

Last fall — when I returned to my car after a haircut — there was a $35 ticket on the windshield. The lady of the house, upon seeing me, apologized for having called the police to complain that I was blocking her driveway. She thought my car belonged to people down the street whom she did not like. The driveway was not blocked.

Today I received in the mail a notice of violation and fine for not paying a parking ticket six weeks ago. The only problem is that I never received the ticket. Now the $20 ticket, with penalty, is $43.

I called the Parking Authority and was told that my only recourse is to request a hearing. I guess the Parking Authority realizes that most people value their time more than the cost of the violation so they pay it, fair or not. This is probably easier and more profitable than chasing the true deadbeats.

James Dannenberg
Mt. Airy

Silver lining

This letter is a thank you to some members of the Chestnut Hill community who went out of their way to provide support in the midst of a very upsetting and disturbing experience.

A friend and I had met for lunch at Solaris Grille at 8201 Germantown Ave. on July 14. My friend suddenly felt her purse being moved from its place at her feet. As she reached for it she realized that it had clearly been moved, and she immediately looked inside to find that a bank card and a credit card were both missing. My friend told the waitress that she believed the party at the next table, who had come in after us and seated themselves at that table, had stolen her cards. At that point the woman at the table jumped up and began protesting, opening her purse, pulling her clothing up and offering to go into the bathroom for a search. The children got up and started moving toward the exit.

As this transpired, the waitress reported the incident, police were called and the woman started exclaiming, “Thank you for ruining my children’s lunch.” After saying this very loudly a few times, she and the children bolted out of the patio and started running down the avenue.

The owner/chef at Solaris immediately began chasing them on foot. The waitress encouraged my friend to start telephoning the bank and the credit card company. Two police officers, one in a patrol car and the other on a bicycle attempted to apprehend the party, but it is speculated that they had a car nearby and left the area in that. Both officers then came to the restaurant and took reports from my friend and from the owner/chef, who returned from his chase in the patrol car. The police also alerted area businesses.

This was a very unnerving episode for both my friend and me. The saving grace in it all was the quick action and compassion of the owner/chef, the waitress and the 14th District police. They responded very professionally, and made every effort to find and question the woman. My friend and I are both grateful to everyone involved who went the extra mile to be sure that everything possible was done to apprehend the parties and to ensure that the matter was promptly reported.

Helen M. Hogan
Andorra

The path to reform

Earlier this month, we saw news footage of an FBI/IRS takedown of a chain of Philadelphia supermarkets in swat-team like fashion. Reportedly the FBI was following a money trail that led to the three families of Palestinian background that owned “Cousins” supermarkets and additional enterprises in this city.

It was in similar fashion that the offices of Keystone Financial Services of Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy were raided just a short time ago, resulting in the conviction and sentencing of Steven Vaughn, the chief of staff to City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. In addition, several city officials, including City Treasurer Cory Kemp, have been found guilty in this wide-ranging FBI investigation into municipal corruption. The probe began accidentally as the FBI was following a trail in a drug investigation. The Feds originally found local drug dealers were making payoffs to local political operatives with connections to administration officials.

According to news reports, the hours of wiretap recorded in this local investigation exceed that of any case the FBI has ever pursued. One would think there are many trails still open, as these folks have operated pretty recklessly for a long time and local law enforcement will not touch them for political reasons. Lynne Abraham, our district attorney, has stated that investigating political corruption is not her job, but that of the Feds who have more money to perform that function. Of course, investigating corruption is her job, just as investigating drug dealing is her job. Neither of these is done in Philadelphia on the local level to any serious degree — for political reasons.

The past five decades have shown a serious degradation in government integrity. The reform Democrats of 1952 were dedicated to never becoming what they replaced. Their comptroller, Chestnut Hill attorney Alexander Hemphill, ran his office with an investigative zeal that would make any federal prosecutor proud. He was effective in not letting the redirected spoils system gain instant momentum, he put several of his own party commissioners in jail in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, and he never relented in helping to keep government clean. This city had days in the sun from 1952-70, before the steep decline into exactly what Bernie Samuels and the previous Republican machine represented.

The future: mayoral candidates include Chaka Fattah, Jerry Mondesire, Dwight Evans, Michael Nutter and Johnny Doc. With the possible exception of Evans, we have examples of massive egos battling, not for reform, but for control of the same old power base. No reform movement, no coordinated local or state investigations, no “superhero” candidates and two lackluster political parties leaves the federal investigators with the only meaningful game in town. My guess is that there is much more to come, and if so, the next round of indictments may clear the stage and open the door to unified reform from presently unknown quarters for this most corrupt of American cities.

Jim Foster
Mt. Airy

Reduce emissions

It was only after I finished my tuna fish sandwich yesterday that I realized the dangers of what I had just eaten. The sickening amounts of mercury contaminating all of Pennsylvania’s waters allow the neurotoxin into our bodies. The mercury pollution is not a conscious problem to most of us, and therefore we may be inadvertently poisoning ourselves.

The answer to this mercury pollution is, and has been, available. The public must become more aware of the issue so that we can address it. PennEnvironment is currently working to put filters on the coal-burning power plants that would reduce the mercury emissions by 90 percent.

If we know there is a successful and cost-effective solution, why aren’t we using it?

Kate Zipin
East Falls

Discussing Iraq

Five members of the Northwest Greens met on the morning of July 7 with Congressman Chaka Fattah at his Germantown Avenue office to discuss the war in Iraq. The group commended Fattah on his consistent votes in opposition to the war, and for the proposal he has made for a prompt withdrawal of our military personnel.

In March 2005, Fattah had written a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with a “practical exit strategy” which would turn peacekeeping operations in Iraq over to forces from other Arab nations in the region.

The Greens noted that Fattah has a district that is solidly behind him, and he can afford to be even bolder in publicizing the disastrous consequences of the administration’s policy and the need for fundamental change in our approach to the region. Such publicity might be especially important to counter the administration’s deceptive pronouncements that the war is going well, and that the Iraqi people are grateful to America for their liberation.

The group then asked how they as citizens might support Fattah’s antiwar agenda in Congress. Easy, he replied. There are a dozen other representatives and senators from this region who are still pro-war. These are the people who need to be visited. Fattah felt that the 2006 election presented an opportunity for citizens to approach and to pressure area legislators such as Reps. Curt Weldon and Michael Fitzpatrick, and Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum. Fattah did not include any Democrats who have voted for the war, such as Robert Brady or Allyson Schwartz.

Fattah agreed with Northwest Greens that the public was well ahead of their representatives on this issue, and that members of Congress needed to hear from their constituents in order to appreciate the strength of antiwar sentiment nationwide.

Northwest Greens is a non-partisan group of 150 neighbors from Chestnut Hill, Germantown and Mt Airy. The group is not affiliated with the Green Party, but Northwest Greens does try to educate voters about the Ten Key Green Values (see www.gpop.org/tenkeyvalues.html) For more information about Northwest Greens, contact nwgreens@yahoo.com.

Josh Mitteldorf
Mt. Airy