Blight removal plan waits for funds

If Mayor John Street wants City Council to approve significant funding for his blight removal plan -- the primary goal of the administration -- he may first have to rebuild his relationship with the city's legislative wing.

The mayor's plan, called the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, aims to improve Philadelphia neighborhoods by removing abandoned cars, demolishing abandoned buildings and cleaning empty lots, among other programs.

According to Councilman David Cohen, Street has been reluctant to include Council in discussions of the plan, an attitude Cohen thinks dates back to Street's tenure as Council president.

"We developed a Council that I thought was no longer a legislative branch but an extension of the mayor's office," Cohen said.

Now, Council is acting to assert its independence. Last Thursday, the majority of members went directly against the mayor's wishes by voting to hold hearings before introducing legislation to grant the initiative a $250 million bond-issue for demolishing and repairing decaying buildings.

According to Dan Fee, spokesman for Council President Anna Verna, the hearings are necessary because Council needs more information on how the money will be spent.

"Given the fact that there are limited resources in this world, let's make sure that we are using these resources in the most effective way," Fee said.

Some members of Council say that specifics of the plan have been slow in coming, pointing out that the relationship between Street and Council has been strained.

Street's exclusion of Council from discussions is "why we're compelled to move in the direction of having this hearing rather than having the hearing as part of the bill," Cohen said.

John Hawkins, legislative aide to Councilman James Kenney, said that Street's lack of a clear plan for the initiative is another reason why the hearings are necessary.

"If you speak to anybody in City Council or the mayor's administration, you will hear that they do not have a strategic plan on how to spend the $250 million," Hawkins said. "I don't think there is anybody in City Hall that believes that if money was allocated today the city's blight problems would be fixed tomorrow."

In August, Street responded to Verna's request that he address specific questions regarding his plan by personally handing Verna a binder loaded with details. Widely seen as a peace-offering, and at the time welcomed by Verna, Hawkins said Street's documents illustrated a lack of clear planning.

"The responses conceded that there is not sufficient planning on the demolition, relocation and redevelopment areas," Hawkins said.

According to Fox Leadership senior scholar and Philadelphia Daily News columnist Mark Hughes, it is not detail that was missing from the mayor's presentation of the initiative, but rather a clear unification of all the goals and programs.

"One sense of Council, or at least some members of Council, is there is an abundance of detail that's been transmitted to Council, but it's very hard to see how it all adds up," Hughes said.

Members of the Street administration deny that they have been less than forthcoming with Council. According to Cynthia Bayete, assistant director of the initiative, there have been over 100 briefings about the plan.

"What I would say about that is that we've provided many, many briefings for all kinds of audiences, and at many of those briefings council members have been present," Bayete said.

Luz Cardenas, Street's spokeswoman, said that although the mayor wants to see his agenda move forward, he does not oppose the hearings.

"If [Council] wants to have a public discourse and allow the public to weigh in, it's a public program," Cardenas said. "The mayor has said all along that Council needs to ask questions and that they need to be comfortable in getting this approved."

However, not all members of Council agree that hearings are necessary before introducing actual legislation on the bond-issue. Councilman Darrell Clarke said that the hearings may make it impossible for a vote to occur before the end of the year.

"There's always the potential that this could delay this until next year," Clarke said.

Clarke also disputed the assertion that Council's relationship with Street is strained.

"I think it's being portrayed as the entire Council, and I don't think that's the case," Clarke said. "I think the majority of Council members have a good relationship with the mayor."

Clarke represents much of North Philadelphia, a region which has some of the city's most blighted areas.

Cohen also said the chances of a Council vote on the end of the issue were small, although he supports the hearings.

"I don't see [a vote happening]," Cohen said. "That's only three months away."

However, Fee said that the Council's speed in acting depended on the mayor's cooperation, and that Council is aware of Street's timeline.

"If we get all of the information and all of the cooperation we need, I don't see why" a vote couldn't happen before the end of the year, Fee said. "We understand the timeline and we are working within those parameters."

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