Clout: Public to get a say in Philadelphia City Council sessions

FOR MORE than half a century, most of the fun in City Council came from what the members said to or about their colleagues. That's about to change.

Now it's your turn to talk.

The state Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling made public yesterday, says Council has been violating the state's Sunshine Act by refusing to allow people to comment on legislation during Thursday's weekly sessions. Council argued that allowing people to comment in committee hearings before legislation is considered by the full Council was adequate.

The Homeowners Association of Philadelphia challenged the practice in 2007, amid concerns about legislation requiring property owners to list their city business-license numbers in advertisements for rentals. A Common Pleas judge ruled against the Homeowners Association, a decision later upheld by the state Commonwealth Court.

In the majority opinion, Justice Thomas Saylor said the Sunshine Act does not give Council the power to assign public comment to some other sort of meeting. Chief Justice Ronald Castille, writing the dissent, worried that the ruling would cause "disruption" in Council practices in use for more than 50 years.

"This will have a significant impact for all meetings in the future, way beyond our specific case," said Darrell Zaslow, attorney for the Homeowners Association. "We look forward to participating with Council effectively and respectfully. We're sure all citizens will be appropriate with their conduct before Council."

Victory laps before resolution

Republican State Committee has continued to lambaste Democrats in the wake of the general election, but there's been no word from state GOP chairman Rob Gleason about the still-pending dispute inside Philadelphia's Republican organization.

In September, the state party's credential committee stripped the title of Philadelphia GOP chairman from Vito Canuso, citing "numerous irregularities" in his election in June.

The credentials panel suggested that the seat remain vacant until "an election free of substantial irregularities" is conducted.

Gleason announced then that he was "temporarily" reinstating Canuso until after the election.

"I imagine we'll get to it in a few weeks," party spokesman Mike Barley said. "We're still kind of doing the victory lap here."

Canuso told PhillyClout that Gleason shouldn't bother.

"There won't be a new election, because we don't have to listen to them," Canuso said. "They don't run our organization. . . . If they think I shouldn't sit up there at state committee meetings, that's another issue. They can make that decision. It doesn't make any difference to me. It would save me a lot of time and money."

City Commission strikes back

The fascinating feud continues between the City Commission, which runs elections, and the Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit watchdog group.

The Committee of Seventy in June released a report on the May 18 primary election called "Five Easy Ways to Improve Local Elections." The group suggested the City Commission bring its website "into the 21st century," clamp down on electioneering, take charge of finding polling officials, mandate training for those officials and invite public feedback and then take it seriously.

Bob Lee, the Commission's voter-registration administrator, this week released the first of five responses. It's a fair reading of Lee's 11-page missive that he found the Committee of Seventy's report lacking. Lee spends a page and a half rebutting what Seventy had to say about his wife.

Allow us to explain:

Lee joked at a May 19 Commission meeting that his wife showed up at the wrong spot for her polling place on Election Day.

The Committee of Seventy then used her as an example of confusion in finding polling places.

Lee writes that his wife didn't check before heading to her polling place to see if it had been moved. There was a sign on the door directing voters to the new location across the street.

"Is Seventy implying that because I personally did not remember to tell my wife of the change, that it is indicative of anything more than that?" Lee asks, adding that he can't "personally inform all 1,064,000 registrants of their polling-place location."

Up go Philly insurance rates

Clear the streets and look both ways: Gov. Rendell, who leaves office in January, will soon be driving for the first time in 20 years.

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Philadelphia plan to sell building to Boy Scouts hits a snag

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A proposed settlement to end a lengthy battle between the city and the Boy Scouts deteriorated Thursday amid confusion and politicking that left the future ownership of the group's Center City headquarters uncertain.

On Wednesday night, the Nutter administration said it expected City Council to introduce legislation Thursday required for Philadelphia to sell the property to the scouts.

That surprised Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who would have introduced the bill because the building is in his district. The City Charter requires Council approval for the sale of city-owned property.

"I have no idea where they got that from," Clarke said Thursday. "My conversations with the administration centered on a process that was not close to being completed on my end."

It wasn't clear how the miscommunication had occurred.

Clarke said he had spoken to Mayor Nutter's chief of staff, Clay Armbrister, about his plans Wednesday. Armbrister said he had apologized to Clarke for the misunderstanding.

"Unfortunately, there was a misinterpretation of certain information, and the administration prematurely announced what we thought were Councilman Clarke's intentions," Armbrister said. "I have spoken to him personally, expressing my regrets for our premature expression of his intentions."

Clarke and Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Nutter, said they believed they could resolve remaining issues soon.

Clarke said he was not ready to offer the bill because he wanted more time to discuss the proposal with key constituents. They include the building's neighbors and the gay and lesbian community, whose objections to the Boy Scouts' national policy of not allowing openly gay scouts and scoutmasters led to the court case that put the headquarters in play.

"I would think any resolution of this issue would definitely include those individuals," he said.

Under the proposed settlement, the building, which the scouts have occupied for 80 years near Logan Square, would be sold for $500,000. Both sides agree its appraised value is at least $1 million. In return, the scouts would not seek repayment of $1 million in legal fees from Philadelphia, which they are entitled to as the winner of a federal civil rights case.

Sandy Girifalco, one of the scouts' attorneys, did not return a call seeking comment.

In June, a U.S. District Court jury decided that Philadelphia had violated the Boy Scouts' First Amendment rights by moving to evict them after the local group refused to explicitly renounce the national policy of not allowing openly gay scouts and scoutmasters.

Andrew A. Chirls, a lawyer for a group of people who had worked with the city on the issue over the years, most of them gay and lesbian, said he wanted the city to continue with its appeal of the case rather than settle.

He said the city and the Boy Scouts had not consulted with his group on their agreement.

He questioned the city's $1.1 million valuation of the property, pointing out that some homes near the headquarters, at 22d and Winter Streets, have sold for more than $2 million.

"It's a Renaissance-style mansion with an atrium and marble appointments, and you're selling it for the price of a rowhouse," he said. "This is a subsidy. They're giving them a gift so they can discriminate in it."

The settlement would give the scouts two years to buy the building. In the meantime, the Cradle of Liberty Council would limit its operations to those the city views as nondiscriminatory.

Also Thursday, the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania sent the Nutter administration a letter criticizing the proposed settlement.

"This settlement is a bad deal not only for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Philadelphians, but also for the taxpayers of the city of Philadelphia at a time when the city is struggling to balance its budget without drastic cuts in city services," the letter said.

The Depression-era Beaux-Arts building was built by the scouts but is on city land and effectively owned by Philadelphia. Despite the scouts' court victory, which the city appealed, the city could have evicted the scouts if the eviction occurred without violating the organization's constitutional rights.

After the verdict, Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter advised both sides to negotiate an end to the dispute.

Clarke said one of his concerns was that the property's zoning would allow a high-rise if the scouts sold the property, which neighbors would oppose. He said he believed he could prevent a high-rise with any legislation he introduced to approve the sale to the Boy Scouts.

Rob Stuart, past president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, said his group had not been included in settlement discussions but expected to be part of ongoing negotiations.

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