I just wanted to share with all of you a piece I wrote on the recent graduations of firefighter classes 183 and 184 (the piece ran as an op-ed in the Daily News Monday). I think all police and firefighter graduates deserve a huge thanks for their undertaking, so I gave it a shot.

I have not participated personally here for a few weeks due to time constraints regarding the campaign.

Thanks to all who supported my re-election. I am proud of the continued faith so many have shown in me and my work.

I supported Bob Brady for mayor. He is a good and decent man and he worked hard, as did the others who ran in this election. I am happy that Mike Nutter did win in the end.

I am looking forward to working with Michael now and into the next term. I am committed to working hard to help him fulfill his goals. He is smart and has a great vision for Philadelphia. We, as a city, need to work as a team to be successful, and I am ready to do my part to support our next mayor, Mike Nutter.

Thanks again to all for your support. Let's get to work. Jim

Vern Anastasio has decided, without my permission, to place a picture of me on his campaign's website. It is an old photo. It in no way indicates my support for him in any way whatsoever. I would hope he would remove it now.

I think Frank DiCicco is clearly the best choice for the First District and I am looking forward to voting for him again and to his re-election. Thanks. Jim

Just wanted to let you all know that Council adopted my resolution this morning to create a standing Committee of the Environment. I will be chairing the committee, which should be up and ready to go in the near future.

Needless to say, we’ll address matters related to the environment and how they directly impact our city and the quality of life our residents enjoy. Most of you know I am concerned with the effort to help make our city environmentally friendly and responsible, which I have recently highlighted with my green roof and rubber sidewalk legislation. And in the future I would specifically like to evaluate the environmental-friendliness of all city departments, including the materials used for work, consumption and waste, and general policy. This committee is a large cornerstone is what I hope will be a long, positive growth for the city’s environmental issues and policies. While it is just one step in the road, it is an important and necessary step as well.

I had an unfortunately typical experience today which I thought I would share with you all. A young man (20s) was walking around City Hall, and seemed like he was trying to figure out the literal and figurative maze for whatever kind of service he needed. I saw him as I was walking back to my office and inquired about what he was looking for and if I could help him. He said he needed to get a copy a police report, and didn’t know where to go or who to call.

I brought him back to my office and had one of my constituent service reps help him request a copy of the report with his district police office. He also needed the report stamped for insurance purposes, and luckily the district office is able to do that as well.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve visited Chicago and Houston to tour their 311 call centers and see first-hand how their Customer Service Request (CSR) systems are used to benefit city departments and residents. I decided to visit these two cities after recommendations made at my hearing last December on bringing 311 to Philadelphia.

As you all know, I believe Philadelphians deserve an organized and documented way of getting in touch with the city government to ask questions and make service requests. After a thorough site visit in both Chicago and Houston, I am confident that 311 will change the way Philadelphia serves its residents.

I will tell you now, if nothing is done to level the playing field between Knox and the other four very qualified candidates, we will have a dangerous "empty suit" sitting in the second floor of city hall.

As the campaign continues, the other candidates will trot out the disgraceful way in which Knox has come about his fortune he is using to try to buy the office of mayor, but I am genuinely concerned.

Yea, I know, my friend Mike Nutter has beat up my proposal. Dwight Evans has also, but when I spoke to Dwight Thursday he was, how can I say, less negative than his letter would indicate. Brady and Fattah expressed support, at least for now. Candidates for mayor can often shift with the wind. We will see.

I was one of the first council people to introduce campaign finance reform legislation, and have been a continued supporter of efforts today to help the issue progress. I support campaign finance reform because it allows good candidates who may not have a political foothold, but have the desire and ability to make a positive difference, a fair and fighting chance to win elections and bring change to the sometimes stagnant system.

One issue that is often overlooked in our city is the environment. And not taking away from the other essential problems which we need to address, I think that the environment is one of the easiest to improve. It could be as simple as a citywide promotion program encouraging recycling, or better incentives to use fuel-efficient vehicles and E85 Ethanol, or, what I’d like to address further in this post, a Green Roof program.

I wanted to highlight Ron Goldwyn’s op-ed in the Daily News yesterday on O.V Catto, since I know there will be more than a few people here who will be interested in his story and how he changed politics. Mr. Catto’s story has been one which has inspired me and one which I care tremendously about. In a nutshell, he was one of the leading advocates for African-American voting rights in the mid 1800’s, fighting for equal participation in the political process amidst much violence and hostility. He was also largely responsible for the “Bill of Rights” which gave equal access to public transportation in Philadelphia. In addition to his political activism, Catto was an educator, teaching at what is now Cheyney University, as well as a major in the Union Army during the Civil War. A year after black males were given the right to vote in 1870, he was killed on election day in front of a polling place at age 32. You can read more about him in Mr. Goldwyn’s op-ed.

Three of the four bills at yesterday’s Law & Government Committee hearing were voted out of committee, one was held. I want to get the sole setback out of the way first. I know some people don’t believe having the ZBA makeup consist of the specific occupations on the bill would make a difference. I believe it would make a difference, forcing a wider variety of opinions into the fray instead of keeping things tightly wound around one inner circle. While I know that conflict of interest will always be a concern I believe having the ZBA made up of specific individuals would at the very least bring qualified individuals to the table with proven experience. Complete objectivity will not happen, but I hoped that with forced requirements on members, planning would at least be better thought out. The city deserves as much new and fair development as possible and the bill would be just one step in that process.

I chaired a hearing today discussing possible implementation of a 311 call center, which is designed to alleviate 911 of non-emergency calls and provide information and help to residents on city services. The system has been effectively introduced in many cities with many different methods of implementation and purposes. Some cities use it strictly for non-emergency calls like noise complaints or lost pets, while others use it for both non-emergency calls and for city requests like streets and water. Instead of trying to navigate through the web of city departments and numbers, most fielded questions and requests will be answerable by calling 311.

Systems like Chicago utilize a computer database which keeps track of calls, including the type of call, response time, and reminders to follow-up. 311 employees can enter requests into a database which is linked to the streets, water, or other city departments. And if any request is untaken, the system keeps reminding employees until the request is responded to.

I know that I am getting old when I realize that I am watching a Christmas special on WHYY from Germany. I am watching the Andre Reiu Orchestra with an international singing cast. They are performing a mostly American Lexicon of holiday songs. I just watched a German audience give a standing ovation to a beautiful Sicilian singer.

It saddens me that we as a country are now somewhat outcasts in the world community especially with our European bretheren. We used to be the example for the world to emulate and now we are pretty much not welcomed in most places in our ever shrinking world.

The Bush Administration by their policies, have isolated us from much of the world community. I hope that the next president will make the effort to reconnect us with our fellow world inhabitants. I do not like the isolation and I think it makes us less safe at home and abroad.

After almost 5 years of non-support for the current smoking ban in Philadelphia, I voted in favor of it thus insuring its passage. I like it and wished I had supported it earlier. Well, better late than never.

At the time of the ban's passage, a bill outlining exemptions for small taverns or "taprooms" was introduced in an effort to pick up a few votes for the overall ban.

How do folks out there at YPP feel about the creation of exemptions for such small businesses? I was considering supporting the exemption bill, but now am not so sure.

Just a little exercise in polling the younger (and young at heart) set. This is not a scientific poll. It's just an attempt to gauge your views before I have to cast a vote.

Thanks. Jim

Just in case anyone does not know, Jim Kenney is an at large City Councilman. He answers your questions below.--Dan

Do not know if I will be sorry or not. I have viewed this site for some time and have seen a couple of other elected officials comments. I think it could be valuable to engage people via YPP to exchange views about government and politics.

Some of these issues can be controversial and emotional, but I will try to respond to people as forthrightly as possible. I know that there may be purely partisan purposes to some people's comments reflecting one agenda or another. I will do my best to weed through these and have some productive exchanges with people so we both might learn something.

So, here goes the left mouse click. I'm here.