from Friends of the Free Library
www.libraryfriends.info

City Council just announced that it will have a "Resolution" concerning the libraries
Thursday, November 20th
@ 10:00am
Council Chambers, City Hall, 4th floor

BE THERE with signs!

This is an article in today's (11/18) DN on ways to cut the City's budget, written by Phil Goldsmith, one of the people I've most respected in local government over the last 15 years or so.

MAYOR NUTTER'S election gave many in the city our own mini-Obama moment. There was joy the smartest guy won. Here was a guy as disgusted with the old political culture as we were, as frustrated with the arrogance of government making decisions without consulting taxpayers. He threw open City Hall! He had a movie night! How cool was that?

But now, November finds him confronting the first serious - hugely serious - test of his administration: A global financial meltdown that suddenly opened a $1 billion hole in the five-year plan.

His administration's response - closing libraries, closing pools, some fire stations and rec centers, as well as a 1 percent cut in the city work force - are painful cuts, to be sure. But they're also, well . . . not very revolutionary.

In fact, they feel like a small response to a big challenge.

Don't get us wrong: We're willing to be convinced that we have too many libraries for our size, and the pools' costs may outweigh their benefits, but Nutter hasn't shown anyone that. Why are those libraries closing and not others? Why those pools? Why only 1 percent of the workforce and not more? We just don't understand how he got to the decisions he did. What's the rationale? Where's the data? Without it, these cuts don't make sense.

But more important: Do the cuts fit in with his vision for our future? Do they compromise it? If we take Nutter's first five-year plan at face value, the budget cuts could undermine all the major goals he outlined (Details on Page 25).

Exactly how are we going to come through this crisis stronger, as he promises on the city's Web site? He hasn't told us that, either.

The open house Nutter held when he won City Hall was a brilliant move. But little of that spirit remains, not in these cuts, anyway.

Nutter promised that there's nothing that government does that can't be done in the light of day. So how much has the public been consulted since the crisis was announced Sept. 11? Where were the public meetings to help people understand what we were up against? And maybe get input into some solutions?

It's unclear whether anyone outside the administration got to offer any ideas in this current plan. In fact, some smart and reasonable ideas offered by City Council members are nowhere to be found in the budget plan. Why? Doesn't every little bit count? Aren't we all in this together?

We're sure public hearings will be held in Council on the budget. But we all know what that means: a parade of people dictating written testimony into the record while Council members make cell phone calls and few pay attention to what's actually said.

The lack of public process is only part of it.

Confronting the financial crisis will take bold, radical thinking. So far, there's none of that in the budget plan. There are are no big ideas, just time-tested service cuts that every mayor threatens.

What do we mean by big ideas? We'll get into a whole list of them in this space tomorrow, but here's one worth pursuing: Conventional wisdom says we are required by law to produce a balanced budget every year. Some insiders say that's an interpretation worth testing. Why not announce we're going to run a deficit? Why not challenge conventional wisdom?

Meanwhile, this kind of crisis isn't just about balancing the books. It's about balancing the bottom line with the overall vision and promises we hoped for when we elected this mayor. *

If you're going to convince your fellow citizens to give back a tax cut that their neighbors in the rest of the state are getting, and if you're going to convince budget hawks like me that in doing so you're not harming the city's competitiveness -- and thus shrinking our tax base and multiplying the city's misery -- you ought to know the case for the other side.

But, from my perspective, this case should not be best articulated by Karen Heller.

My advice to Mayor Nutter is to write an even more substantive editorial like this, and then hold a series of public talks with city managers who made the call on specific cuts.

Might be painful, and it might mean listening to a lot of very real and very painful argumentum ad misericordiam, which is still a logical fallacy.

But the best way to do what's best involves talk and negotiation.

Look! All the links work...

http://www.nytimes-se.com/

For example, from "The End of the Experts?" by Thomas Friedman:

"The sudden outbreak of peace in Iraq has made me realize, among other things, one incontestable fact: I have no business holding a pen, at least with intent to write."

Catherine Baker Knoll has passed away from cancer. My condolences.

...And it sucks.

----

Please join Philadelphia's Digital Inclusion Coalition for a first meeting focused on developing a city-wide agenda around the Digital Divide

When: Wednesday November 19, 5:30PM
Where: United Way, 7 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Lobby 2
Why: Develop an agenda for Philadelphia around Digital Divide and the Future of the City

Dear Community Leader:

Despite the fact that just half of all adult Americans have a broadband connection at home, the United States is the sole industrialized nation without a clear national strategy for promoting affordable Internet access. Because President Bush neglected to articulate a national policy, municipal governments across the country are taking the lead to ensure high-speed Internet connections are available to all residents-particularly those living in poor and working class communities-so they may obtain city services, apply for jobs, take online classes, research health information and be civically engaged.

Last week, Mayor Nutter announced the city will close 11 library branches to help offset a $1 billion budget gap. That means thousands of Philadelphians who depend on their neighborhood libraries for Internet access will be stranded without a way to connect. Therefore, we must act now.

We are asking for your participation in a new coalition that hopes to work with the administration to craft local policy aimed at bridging the digital divide. The Media Mobilizing Project is organizing this effort because we believe it is critical for communities with a vested interest in digital inclusion to begin developing and promoting a broadband strategy for Philadelphia. A citywide solution is possible, but only if we exchange ideas, identify shared goals and articulate an agenda. Please join us for a kick-off meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

As you know, Earthlink shut down its public WiFi network over the summer. Although the new investors promised to continue providing free outdoor access, the signals are weak or non-existent in many parts of the city. We can work with the Nutter administration to provide reliable and affordable broadband access. Of course, we recognize that digital inclusion must look beyond the availability of broadband connections. Computer hardware, Internet training and support services are issues we plan to discuss at next week's meeting.

Before then, please complete this brief survey:
Digital Inclusion Survey
Your responses will help us shape the evening's agenda and ensure the coalition focuses on the most relevant issues.

Your responses will help us shape the evening's agenda and ensure the coalition focuses on the most relevant issues. If universal access would benefit your organization or greater constituency, please join us on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the United Way, 7 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Lobby #2. As a leader in Philadelphia, we hope you will be part of this important effort to make communication technology work for all Philadelphians.

Please RSVP to Gwen Shaffer, gwenlisa@gmail.com or Todd Wolfson, twolfson1998@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

The Media Mobilizing Project

The Media Mobilizing Project
www.mediamobilizing.org
4134 Lancaster Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Here is my take on the Obama victory

I probably put enough up about foreclosures to bore everyone enough as it is. For those who want to read more: before I started back at school this fall, I co-wrote a paper with my former boss, Ira. Ira is basically policy expert numero uno when it comes to discrimination, foreclosures and predatory lending, as well as just generally the man in all things public policy. I am probably not particularly qualified to write something with him, but that never stopped me before.

Anyway, if you are interested, the paper is here.

Thank goodness:

In northeastern Pennsylvania, Kanjorski, a 12-term congressman, squeaked out a win against Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, a Republican mayor who became nationally prominent for his stand against illegal immigrants.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Kanjorski had 52 percent, and Barletta had 48 percent.

"We worked hard. We came up a little short in the end, but we ran a good campaign, a clean campaign, a campaign we can be proud of," Barletta said in his concession speech.

Phillies, shmillies - this was a night to remember.

THERE IS NO 'POLL WATCHER' SCANDAL.... Apparently, according to several far-right blogs, the scandal of the day is a decision in Pennsylvania to prevent poll watchers from hanging out in Philadelphia precincts and watching people vote...

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015513.php

ALERT: There is Street Money! And one nefarious committeeman is talking openly about using it to fund his bribes!

This is a very interesting article in the Politico, saying straight out that Obama's candidacy has catalyzed important conversations on race in primarily white labor communities across the country. It discusses the public conversations, communications strategies, and challenges that unions, especially primarily white trade unions, have faced as they've encouraged their membership to support Senator Obama in the presidential election. By marrying issues to prejudices and fears, these unions are trying to talk straight about race. Gotta give them credit. Johnny Doc is quoted as saying:

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 in Philadelphia, for instance, mailed out a plastic MP3 player to members that featured 60 minutes of local union workers and leaders offering testimonials on Obama's commitment to labor.

"This election is not a personality contest, nor should it be about race. So let's talk about that and get it out of the way right now. The fact that Sen. McCain is white and Sen. Obama is black should not matter. Though I know for some of you it does. You are not alone," says Local 98 head John Dougherty, through a thick Philadelphia accent. "Don't let the color of a man's skin prevent you from doing the right thing. I know Barack Obama. I know him to be a man of great character and conviction."

Read more below:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15176.html

Hey folks - are you really excited about Barack Obama being president?

I am! I am pretty damn excited! I am really ready to watch President Obama walking around with his kids and his dogs on the White House lawn! Yep! President Obama meeting with world leaders whose names he actually knows! Turning on WHYY in the morning and hearing, "President Obama today announced.. (fill in the blank here)" etc. Chris Rock performing at the Inauguration! All sorts of great stuff! Who knows!

We are almost there....and we REALLY need your help to GOTV in the Philly suburbs!

We need people to drive during Election Day and after the polls close to return vans at night. We will be in Delaware Bucks and Montgomery Counties and we will have the entire populations of New York and New Jersey descending upon us and will be be driving around all day. God knows we can't let these people get lost because we will never find them again and they will wander up and down Skippack Pike forever trying to flag a taxi, grumbling under their breath at having to be in the country.

It will be really fun, it will be funner than any other election day in the history of the world because this election is just a vast outpouring of joy and happiness and Democratic victory. A flood, in fact.

YOU DONT HAVE TO HAVE A CAR, JUST A LICENSE.

And we need people for shifts all day, after 10 - and in the afternoon and pm.

Please let me know ....
THANK YOU!

Hannah Miller
SEIU
215-888-8036
golden.notebook at gmail.com