Anderson@Large

2016 Democratic National Convention

As a citizen journalist and freelancer, I have covered the Democratic convention since 2000. This year, I decided not to apply for a media credential even though the Democratic National Convention is a short subway ride from my apartment. Count me among the disaffected.

Since I won’t be there when the convention is gaveled to order by Debbie Wasserman Schultz Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, I attended the Community Open House to get a sneak peek of the convention venue.

I’ll spend the next four days out and about at protests, panel discussions, cocktail receptions, etc. The highlight of my itinerary is the viewing party at the Barnes Foundation. It seems fitting to watch Hillary Clinton accept the Democratic nomination at an institution that is the subject of an award-winning documentary, “Art of the Steal.”

For convention updates, follow me on Twitter or hashtag #DemsInPhilly.

Philly’s Political Cultural Heritage

On July 15, 2009, I moved to Philadelphia. I’m a walker who has enjoyed discovering the city’s hidden history and cultural heritage. The once underrated City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection is now a magnet for millennials and empty-nesters.

I’m also a lifelong activist and citizen watchdog. The reactions to the conviction on all counts of Congressman Chaka Fattah showcase the underbelly of Philly’s political culture which more than 100 years ago was described as “corrupt and contented.” Fattah and his enablers boast about his “accomplishments.” Fact is, the poverty rate in the second congressional district is higher today than when Fattah was first elected in 1994.

With an overall poverty rate of 26.3 percent, Philadelphia is the poorest big city in America. Nearly 37 percent of the city’s children live in poverty. Philly has the highest rate of deep poverty (12.9 percent) of the nation’s 10 most populous cities. Roughly 200,000 residents have incomes below half of the poverty line.

There’s not enough money for the schools or affordable housing. Even with the new soda tax, Mayor Jim Kenney’s goal of universal pre-K remains elusive.

So my antennae went up when I read in Hidden City Philadelphia the City was on the hook to pay the $10,000 annual dues for Global Philadelphia Association’s membership in the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC):

There are no application forms for membership into the OWHC and no official guidelines, which perhaps has added to critics’ claims that Philadelphia was merely joining a private club.

[…]

“You need to get voted into the World Heritage City Club,” says brand strategist Alan Jacobson. “It’s kind of like getting into the baseball Hall of Fame. You don’t need a certain number of runs to get in. You just need to be accepted by the group.” Plus pay the annual membership dues–$10,000, a sum guaranteed by the City of Philadelphia (the U.S. government pays substantial annual dues to UNESCO, on account of U.S. World Heritage Sites, including Independence Hall).

Global Philadelphia Association (GPA) self-servingly conflates UNESCO’s designation of Independence Hall as a World Heritage Site and OWHC’s designation of Philadelphia as a World Heritage City. Fact is, OWHC and Global Philadelphia Association are private organizations. GPA’s board of directors includes the politically-connected one percent and a stunning lack of diversity.

Last year, the City got stuck with an $8 million bill for an event organized by a private organization, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Looking ahead, I’m concerned that taxpayers’ money will be used to pay for political insiders’ annual membership fee in a private club and junkets to the OWHC General Assembly.

World Heritage Philadelphia, the “brand,” has maintained a deafening silence as historic buildings, including the church where the legendary contralto Marian Anderson learned to sing, are demolished.

I want to know how much the City has shelled out for the World Heritage City “brand.” I also want to know what it will cost the poorest big city in the U.S. to remain a “member in good standing” in a private organization. Under OWHC bylaws, the City of Philadelphia may be obligated to pay the pro-rated expenses of a Canadian organization.

To get some answers, I filed a Right to Know request. Stay tuned.

Philadelphia's Not So Special Election

A new report by the U.S. Census Bureau found that voter turnout in the 2014 congressional elections was at an all-time low. The turnout rate of 41.9 percent was the lowest since the bureau started collecting voter participation data in 1978.

How low can voter turnout go? Well, in the birthplace of our democracy, a special election took place last week and hardly any voters showed up. The winners received a combined total of 6,185 votes.

The election was held to fill three legislative seats, two of which became vacant following the incumbents pleading guilty to multiple counts of conflict of interest.

Ronald Waters represented the 191st legislative district. Backed by Democratic ward leaders, his replacement, Joanna McClinton, received 1,419 votes.

While a win is a win, the anemic turnout reflects a political system that has lost the trust of the people. Where else but in a notoriously “corrupt and contented” city would the winner “celebrate” her victory by posing with the disgraced politician who she was elected to replace.

So much for a new beginning.

It's Our Money

I’m a longtime advocate for transparency in government. Back in 2009, I attended the first-ever transparency camp. Earlier this month, I attended the Investigative Reporters & Editors annual conference. So my antennae went up when I read Philadelphia City Council had fast-tracked a bill to authorize the City to buy land on which to build a new prison.

I helped mobilize a coalition of journalists, advocacy groups and activists to stop what would have been a $7.26 million down payment on the school-to-prison pipeline. I was particularly concerned about the lack of transparency. The bill to authorize the City to purchase the land was introduced by Councilman Bobby Henon on April 30. Two months later, we still don’t know who owns the property at 7777 State Road.

On the same day that Henon tabled his bill, the Philadelphia Daily News reported the land is contaminated with nuclear waste.

The school-to-prison bill is dead, for now. City Council is on summer recess, but the battle for transparency and accountability continues. So on September 10, I will launch @PHLWatchdog, a citizen-led initiative to monitor and report on what the City is doing with our money.

Philly taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent. We will use social media to share information and calls to action. We will shine a light on government spending because sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Got tips? Send all tips to [email protected]. For updates, follow @PHLWatchdog on Twitter.

Philly’s School to Prison Pipeline

Tuesday is Election Day in Philly. For the Philadelphia School District, it’s Groundhog Dog. The school district is facing yet another budget crisis. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:

The city charter requires the school district to adopt its budget by May 30, but funding from the city and state are a giant question mark at this point, leading to the possibility that the district might violate the charter and go past its deadline for the second straight year.

[…]

In a similar situation last year, the SRC [School Reform Commission] opted to wait until receiving assurances from Council on a sales tax extension and other measures before passing a budget in late June. Green predicted that Council and the mayor would agree on a short term fix to help close the district’s $85 million projected deficit while they wait on the state, but no one knows for sure.

According to a recent poll, education is the most important issue for Philly voters.

Still, City Council ain’t got time for education. They’ll deal with the school budget deficit when they get around to it. In the meantime, Council is scheduled to vote on a bill sponsored by Councilman Bobby Henon that would authorize the Commissioner of Public Property to spend up to $7.26 million to acquire the land to build a prison. The bill was introduced on April 30 and referred to the Committee on Public Property and Public Works, which Henon chairs. A Council rule was suspended to allow for a vote on the bill on Thursday.

Why the rush? The price tag for the proposed prison is between $300 million and $500 million. The proposed prison is just that – a proposal by lame-duck Mayor Michael Nutter.

The new mayor will have the final say on spending priorities. In response to Decarcerate PA’s mayoral candidate survey, Jim Kenney, the likely next mayor, said he will not move forward on Nutter’s plan to expand the Philadelphia Prison System. He supports a moratorium on the construction of new jails and detention centers.

Get this: Henon said he found the condition of the House of Correction “deplorable.” Has he taken a tour of our public schools? Students are trapped in 100-year-old buildings without librarians, school nurses, guidance counselors or air conditioning.

900AM-WURD host Solomon Jones has been sounding the alarm about the new prison. Jones was the keynote speaker at the school district’s Family Education Summit:

I’m trying to tell you about principles. The only thing that stands between our kids and that prison is us. City Council has its priorities. Our priorities are these kids.

Jones continued:

They know where that $300 million is coming from, but they don’t know where the money is coming from to close the school district’s $85 million deficit. We must make sure their priorities line up with ours. … The bottom line: If you have $300 million for a prison, then you have $85 million for the schools. Take it from the Capital Budget if you have to, but do what you have to do to fund our schools. ... Vote on Tuesday, and then whoever doesn’t do what’s right by our schools, vote them out.

Doing what’s right means stopping Philly’s school to prison pipeline. City Council and the next mayor must be held accountable. To do so, we must turn Election Day into Accountability Day.

Billie Holiday@100

Today is the centennial of the birth of Billie Holiday. Contrary to popular belief, she was born in the City of Brotherly Love in Philadelphia General Hospital.

The misapprehension about Holiday’s place of birth may account for why she hasn't been inducted into the Walk of Fame. Despite her arrests and conviction in Philadelphia, she had love for her hometown. It was, after all, the place where she could work in the nightclubs. After her conviction, she lost her cabaret license and could not work in any place where alcohol was sold. She could perform at a sold-out Carnegie Hall, but couldn't get a gig at a hole-in-the-wall in Harlem.

Parenthetically, Holiday was inducted into the Apollo Theater’s Walk of Fame yesterday.

Yes, there’s an historical marker noting that when Lady Day was in town, she often lived at the Douglass Hotel.

Holiday is depicted in the Women of Jazz mural in Strawberry Mansion. But the mural is scheduled to be demolished by the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

The Walk of Fame plaque is the highest honor Philadelphia bestows on a musician:

The Music Alliance is best known for the Walk of Fame along Broad Street’s Avenue of the Arts. This series of over 100 bronze commemorative plaques honors Philadelphia area musicians and music professionals who have made a significant contribution to the world of music. The Walk of Fame is the City’s most impressive public monument to the people who have made Philadelphia a great music city.

It’s never too late to do the right thing. So I nominated Billie Holiday for induction into the Walk of Fame.

Happy birthday, Lady Day. We love you more than you’ll ever know.

UPDATE:The Philadelphia Music Alliance announced that “as a special birthday gift,” Billie Holiday is the newest inductee into the Walk of Fame. In a statement, Chairman Alan Rubens said:

The Philadelphia Music Alliance wanted to present what we think is a 'perfect' birthday gift to an extraordinary vocalist, Billie Holiday, and announce her induction on her 100th birthday. It will be an absolute pleasure to be able to walk down Broad Street and see her name where it rightfully belongs, on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame, with other homegrown jazz giants like John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, and Grover Washington, Jr.

Again, it’s never too late to do the right thing.

Moaning and Groaning

It’s “CBC Week” – the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.

I’ve attended at least half of the conferences dating back to, well, never mind when I started going.

There’s a mash-up of workshops and braintrust meetings from the “Art of Social Entrepreneurship” to “Working Families Fight Back.” To be sure, some folks will be moaning and groaning about the lack of follow-up. It somehow escapes them that the follow-through starts with the person in the mirror.

As a blogger who focuses on the intersection of popular culture, public policy and civic engagement, I’m particularly looking forward to the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses 18th Annual Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts. The honorees include Bill Withers.

A. Shuanise Washington, the president and CEO of the CBCF, said in a statement:

Any discussion about African-American history and culture must include African-American artists. Through the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, the CBCF and the CBC Spouses pay homage to those whose creative bodies of work convey the rich and diverse African-American experience.

About Bill Withers:

Bill Withers is a legendary singer-songwriter with a music career that spans more than four decades. Between the 1970s and 1980s, he won “Song of the Year” Grammys for “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Just the Two of Us” and “Lean on Me.” His songs have been covered by numerous artists across various genres of music, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Michael Bolton, John Legend and Jill Scott. In 2005, Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

I can’t pick a favorite Bill Withers’ song because there’s one for whatever mood I’m in. That said, some of my favorite lyrics are from “Moaning and Groaning”: “If she ain’t the best in the world, she’s good as the goodest one.”