Nutter came out swinging today against the sentence of Fumo and Arnao. Nutter, like many pundits, focuses on the punishment rather than the crime and in doing so continues to follow rather than lead the public in the necessary efforts to root out corruption and patronage in our city.

Rather than working towards eradicating poverty and bridging the many divides that exist in Philly Fumo worked to enrich himself and his friends. His reverse Robin Hood approach, best exemplified by the Gaming Act and the proposed casinos in Philadelphia, has done nothing to improve our schools, our quality of life or our economy. Instead Fumo's approach to policy was guided by a machine politics built on a foundation of corruption and patronage, the very things Nutter championed against as a candidate.

Today, two Philly Democrats, joined the opposition to video poker in the Gaming Oversight Committee.

Watch this video to learn more and please join these two Philly elected officials, Michael O'Brien and Curtis Thomas, in their opposition to video poker. Encourage them to keep voting "no" and help turn other Democrats into no votes. Supporting casinos and the expansion of predatory gambling is not progressive, Democatic, or democratic. Check out the video and take action to stop casinos and the expansion of gambling and corruption in our state.

Below is my response to the following letter from Councilman DiCicco's attorney.

DiCicco Threat Letter

Yesterday, through his attorney, Councilman DiCicco sent me a letter claiming that I defamed him by posting on YPP that the Councilman has engaged in “corruption” to the detriment of our waterfront and city planning. The letter demands an immediate retraction and apology. Rather than respond to his attorney I will post my response here. I will not retract my post nor will I apologize.

I am, however, happy to explain in greater detail what I meant when I referred (and will continue to refer) to the Councilman as a politician who engages in corruption. But let’s get real about the term – it means lacking in integrity, virtue and moral principle; it means a deviation from what is right; it means failing to represent the public interest. It does not mean that the official took a bribe and I have never used it that way. I should be able to use the term when I think the shoe fits. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope you support my right to voice my opinion.

In my post, I said that our Delaware waterfront is in a sorry state due to “his and his mentor’s corruption.” I think this is a obvious and unremarkable assertion. Our waterfront is an embarrassing joke. The control over its development is largely a function of local zoning and land use laws; and the Councilman has been in charge of zoning in the First District for some time now. The gated towers of Waterfront Square, the wholly inappropriate solid walls of the garage at the Hyatt Hotel, the overloading of the southern end and the resulting traffic, I could go on and on and on. We all could.

Our Delaware River Waterfront is one of the City’s greatest assets and its development history and current status is horrendous. Some would even say, rhetorically, that it’s a sin and a crime. Why hasn’t the Councilman changed the zoning on the waterfront in the many years that he has been the district councilperson? Why? And, finally, when we have a fantastic planning effort led by thousands of citizens, guided by Penn Praxis in an open and transparent manner – that gave us the Civic Vision – the Councilman drafts, sponsors and passes a new Zoning Overlay that fails to adopt all the recommendations of the Civic Vision and worse yet, drafts zoning for casinos that exempts them and their satellite parking from that zoning overlay. Sure, he passed some of the recommendations but not the key one about the width of the waterfront setback. Why can’t the Councilman just do what the people want? Why is it so hard? All of that is evidence (on top of what we can see – or not see – when we walk on Delaware Avenue) that his conduct was and is lacking in integrity, virtue and moral principle, that it deviated from what is right and that it is not in the public interest. It gets worse when he claims that he will protect one constituency and neighborhood at the expense of others and attempts, with some success, to divide and conquer. In my view, that is corruption.

And when crafting the zoning legislation which allows Sugarhouse satellite parking, exempting surface parking lots from the new zoning overlay for the Waterfront he opens the door for more corruption at the newly named Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, formerly the Penn’s Landing Corporation. Rather than advancing the civic vision in a transparent way we have an agency, City Council, and Mayor whose vision for the riverfront mirrors that of Neil Bluhm, developer of the proposed Sugarhouse casino, rather than that of the thousands of citizens who spent tens of thousands of hours developing the civic vision.

I think it was wrong for the Councilman to accuse me of defamation. YPP is a place for people to have discussion and debate in a public forum. Yes, when I wrote my post I was mad (and I still am). If the Councilman wants to rebut my statements, if he wants to claim that his stewardship over the development of the waterfront was based on integrity, virtue and moral principle, then he should post a response online. He is a public person and he stands up and takes praise wherever he can get it. But Councilmanic prerogative has to work both ways – it means that the Councilmember is responsible and should be held accountable for the zoning laws in his or her district, especially when there has been as much tinkering in the First District; and especially when he has presided over so many failures and lost opportunities at our waterfront.

After all, last fall’s show about making the Gallery the sworn choice for a Center City slots joint was a tough act to follow. No plan, no design, no studies, no financing, but Council was able to ram through rezoning a 16-square block area before they could blink.

A city planning commission vote was such a rubber stamp at least two Planning Commission members voted not to oppose the project by shrugging their shoulders. After 1,000 people marched in the streets and 60 citizens gave five hours worth of testimony at a packed Saturday Council hearing, Council committee members unanimously voted to move a motion forward and left the room before we had picked up all the signs and banners from the seats. Council acted similarly in waiving requirements to speed up the final casino zoning vote. Except for a brief comment by Councilman Curt Jones Jr. and a classic reprimand by Council President Verna – “nothing you say can change this vote” – nothing referenced the concerns that a distraught community had raised for weeks. The same held true for the Mayor when he came in on a Sunday morning to sign the legislation for the Gallery zoning into law, less than 24 hours after meeting with community members.

So how can City leaders possibly top that?

Let’s review the huddle conversation.

Michael Nutter had it right when he was a candidate. He not only actively supported keeping casinos out of neighborhoods he rightly stated that casinos are bad economic development and that he would not use their revenue for government services, no matter how worthy these services are. As a candidate and in his first year as Mayor, Nutter was poised to become a champion, to stand up to the predatory gambling trade and the corrupt governor, Senator, legislature and Supreme Court that has been pushing for years to make Philadelphia the largest US city to host casinos.

In a recent column, http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/39129332.html, in the Daily News Philadelphia's Dwight Evans made an outrageous comment.

Excerpt:

When I point out to House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans that in the past he was never a fan of funding government through gambling, he says, "People change. We're living in a time of change we can believe in."

Philadelphia-I came to Market Street to hand out the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) strategy flyer to protesters waiting for the President. There were not that many protesters so I did my best to get the two-sided orange flyer into everyone's hands. It didn't take that long. I had a nice talk with someone from Americans Against the Escalation in Iraq who desperately wanted veterans to speak at local events but stated that they had no money to pay. I let her know that if Moveon and others behind her group wanted the vets that money would be needed. IVAW is a powerful but vastly underfunded organization and those with financial resources need to support IVAW financially. It was a good conversation and I took her email to pass on to IVAW just in case there were any takers.

Please check out the USA Today article on casinos (not) coming to Philly. There is much to say about this article how our organizing and direct action has really changed the landscape in the past 8-9 months. Take a look at what Ed and Meredith are saying. They are both Fishtown residents from very different backgrounds but they work together (got arrested together last week to try to force the gaming board to be more transparent) to improve and protect their community. Meredith has been a key person in the creation and growth of NABR (it is the Best Riverfront not a Better Riverfront fyi) which continues to bring newcomers and old-timers together to advance a positive vision for this city built on what is already great about our riverfront while advancing new ideas that do not include the intrusion of casinos within our social and neighborhood fabric. Ed is one of my neighbors who continues to build tremendous organizing skills and has gone from great despair to great hope for what Fishtown, the riverfront and the city could be if people work together across our differences. And check out what Rene from South Philly had to say. Rather than just saying Foxwoods is the worst site she said something more powerful that really lies at the heart of this debate (are we finally actually debating casinos, about time!)-that she lives in one of the best neighborhoods and that is not something worth risking with a casino. If the City felt that way about our city than we would be out solving real problems rather than creating new problems that will only exacerbate existing challenges.

Finally, we have the Mayor saying that we need to "Adapt or Die" which I totally agree with. Like perhaps we need new City leadership in the Council who knows how to fight for something good and against things that are bad. Or a Philly delegation that actually learns how to create policies out in the open rather than in secret. Or a Mayor who actually has a vision rather than transplanting neon from neighboring Atlantic City. Philadelphia: "the City of Neon", now that has a ring to it. Anyway, check out the article, I think it is one of the best that has been written, and it is in a national paper (how embarrassing to the Mayor, the City and the State) with photos.

"A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a Farce or a Trajedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power of knowledge gives." - James Madison

"You don't want to be doing something that's a bunch of window dressing," Fumo, a veteran of Harrisburg's political scene, said in an interview last week. "What we need is more transparency in the process."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counti...

Okay, those that know me will undoubtedly wonder why I would start a blog post with quotes from Madison and Fumo. But hey, if it works.

The fact is, there is something going on here and it is worth noting. It is also important for us to ask a variety of questions, this one comes to mind immediately:

Check out this article, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/11/15/a_win_f...

Right after the 2004 elections my friend Nick and I launched www.turnyourbackonbush.org. The result was a powerful action that effectively challenged Bush's claim to a mandate on inauguration day, January 20th, 2005. We had a busload of folks come down from New Hampshire and from many other states. Turn Your Back on Bush was a call to action, a symbolic and direct stand against the President and what he sood and stands for. Overall, our part in Carol Shea-Porter's victory was minimal, it took thousands of volunteers to get her to the Capitol and the Democratic Party, consultants and insiders did not think she could win. But as we prove again and again the winnability calculation often doesn't account for committed people developing clear strategies that rely on organizing people to make a deep impact. Direct action should and will also play a role in winning strategies whether it be on issues or for candidates. Great work Carol!!

It appears that the Governor has a very different opinion than the Gaming Board, http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/15912658.htm. The public comment period for the stand alone casino application ended June 2nd despite calls by groups like NABR and the Philadelphia City Council to extend the deadline until after final proposals were released. If we had access to the most basic documents about what was now being planned, as proposals have changed considerably since June 2nd, than we would be happy to provide meaningful input. But the Board continues to withhold this and other information. And even if we had this information the Board ended the public comment period on June 2nd and is rushing to license the two Philadelphia casinos on Dec. 20th. Please go to www.casinofreephila.org to learn what you can do to make our Commonwealth open, transparent and accountable.

This Sunday, October 29th, from 6 to 10 PM NABR will hold its 6 month anniversary party and benefit at Johnny Brenda's. With you there it will be a lot more fun, check out www.nabrhood.org for the details and help us spread the word. A few months back I penned this op-ed for the Daily News, http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/15357016.htm. Just a couple months later we have been successful, it appears, in retaining zoning control by forcing Fumo to reverse his position and this week the House, due to the leadership of Lederer and Taylor, and others, appears to have retained the public's rights to the river (the public owns more than 75% of the Sugar House casino site through riparian rights along with much of the land along the river's edge in this city). The Gaming Control Board is still not open or accessible to real people and on Monday Casino Free Philadelphia will be launching Operation Transparency, check out www.casinofreephila.org for information about this campaign in coming days.

I had a great time tonight, leading a training with residents involved with the Philadelphia Affordable Housing Coalition. I left feeling as I often do when working with poor and working class people--that there is real potential for massive positive transformation in this city. I also left with growing clarity about just how ineffective our City has been at addressing the housing crisis that we are facing. One third of Philadelphia's households earn under $20,000 a year and yet the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and other City programs continue to not be targetted to this population, particularly when it comes to helping permanently house these working families. More important than the neglect was the sense of power that I feel is growing in our city. Across race and class people are regularly moving from despair to action.

Please join Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront, www.NABRhood.org, and groups from around the city at 12pm on Thursday, June 1st as we launch Casino Free Philadelphia. The noontime rally will take place at the Pennsylvania State Building, 1400 Spring Garden Street at Broad. As you may know there are five casino operators competing for two licenses to locate slots parlors in Philadelphia: 2 in Fishtown, 1 in Nicetown/East Falls, 1 in Northern Liberties, and 1 in South Philadelphia. From the beginning we have been kept out of the process by our elected representatives in state government. The proposed casinos are the result of the corrupt business as usual policies that brought us the pay raise and other nightmares from Harrisburg. Stopping them will be yet another step in the growing movement for a new and better way of doing things in our city and state.

As an added bonus, the rally will include the unveiling and operation of one of the largest slot machines in the world, as well as speakers and other entertaining and educational activities!

Please help us spread the word far and wide and check out the NABR website for updates. Join our email list to stay informed. We look forward to your active participation in the struggle for the best riverfront and city that all Philadelphians deserve.