[UC-Announce] PHRESH SELECT SURVIVES ANOTHER WEEK: PLEASE WATCH MTV TONIGHT A
Hello Everyone, Here is our latest update: our votes kept Phresh Select safe from elimination on Episode 2 of America's Next Best Dance Crew!! They did a great rendition of Chris Brown's Gimme That video, and the momentum created by their performance is carrying them forward. (You can view the entire episode on mtv.com). Please tune in and vote TONIGHT, or just go on-line to vote at 11:30 pm (if you can't watch), to keep them supported through the next round. Did I mention that you can vote as often as you like until 6:30 am on Friday? Their survival is dependent on our votes, so let's keep the votes coming, and spread the word! They are a great crew, embodying the best of Philly - young men from different crews collaborating, and driven by their desire to make an impact on the lives of youth, as well as represent Philly to the world. Our support helps them to have the heart to keep going!! Thanks for allowing me into your inbox once again I'll be in touch. Patty Bulack [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [UC] Pennspiracy L I response time to torture requests
In a message dated 7/2/2008 7:43:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I don't believe that Nutter and Rendell have drunk the Kool Aid, I just mean that they--Penn--are all over the place and should be subject to the same scrutiny by the media as say Geno's steaks. The mayor does seem in thrall to Penn. This isn't all bad, notwithstanding past and ongoing ethical lapses which we can't really tell are institutional or individual. But, as I recall from reading The Best and the Brightest long enough ago so that the recall may not be so good, President Kennedy didn't do all that well by going for people with high IQs as their main credentials but who simultaneously weren't well grounded in the realities of everyday life. Think of Robert MacNamara and the Vietnam war. MacNamara was no Cheney, but -- whatever either of their motives -- the result was a disaster. Also, I fear that Nutter is not being as free from the distortion of personal feelings as he could or should be (or, perhaps, thinks he is). All this hooey about Penn Praxis -- an objective look at the Delaware Riverfront (the mayor's speech as reproduced in yesterday's University City Review) and it's having run an open, transparent, legitimate citizen-driven planning process ... * As was pointed out by a representative of one of the casinos in the Inquirer a few days ago, Penn Praxis has already come out against the casinos that Harris Steinberg characterizes ad the windowless boxes -- so penn Praxis is hardly objective. * Anyone who's attended one (or more -- which helps to show the pattern) of the citizen-driven planning forums run by Penn Praxis knows they are pre-framed debates in which the conclusions are foregone and certainly known in advance by the folks running the show. Of course, we can talk to each other about this ad infinitum and achieve the usual nothing. How do we get, as Joe would have it, the media to subject these sorts of things to some scrutiny? Can we look to the Inquirer (or DN), considering that former editor and still big voice, Chris Satullo, has been part and party to many of the Penn Praxis citizen-driven planning forums? * Fox News * The University City Review, The Weekly Press * The Public Record * The University City Trumpet * The (new and struggling) Philadelphia Bulletin * The Philadelphia Tribune * The DP * A demonstration * A press conference * Nailing (or masking-taping) those theses onto the doors of City Hall Remember, you read it first here, on the popu-list , Al Krigman **Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut000507)
Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy (Was: Re: [UC] [Fwd: Re: Torture And L I])
Anthony West wrote: Pennspiracy theorists out there may enjoy what follows. When Philadelphia voters became passive consumers of notorious Wharton secret agent Michael Nutter, perhaps they didn't reckon on picking up all his fellow Pennspirators as well. In addition to PennPraxis, whose sinister effort to develop the Delaware River with community input and without casinos has received big publicity lately, Nutter has been stocking his cabinet with fellow Penn tools for months. roger that. consider penn praxis at the delaware river a high-profile dress rehearsal for penn's development of its holdings along the schuylkill river. and consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine, and when neighbors grappled with the penn-advised plans for the south street bridge. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] between the Scylla and the Charybdis
In a message dated 7/3/2008 10:08:37 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: roger that. consider penn praxis at the delaware river a high-profile dress rehearsal for penn's development of its holdings along the schuylkill river. and consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine, and when neighbors grappled with the penn-advised plans for the south street bridge. This was on the listserv. It does trigger a cute idea about the Campus Inn. An open letter in the UC Review and Weekly Press from Marianna Thomas, Magali, and a few others (including me) asking Penn Praxis to become volunteeringly involved as objective experts already recognized by the Mayor on matters of planning development. Suggest that they hold one of their famous open, transparent, legitimate citizen-driven planning process forums then present the community's concensus recommendations. Put them between the Scylla and the Charybdis. Al Krigman **Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut000507)
[UC] PHRESH SELECT SURVIVES ANOTHER WEEK: PLEASE WATCH MTV TONIGHT A
Hello Everyone, Here is our latest update: our votes kept Phresh Select safe from elimination on Episode 2 of America's Next Best Dance Crew!! They did a great rendition of Chris Brown's Gimme That video, and the momentum created by their performance is carrying them forward. (You can view the entire episode on mtv.com). Please tune in and vote TONIGHT, or just go on-line to vote at 11:30 pm (if you can't watch), to keep them supported through the next round. Did I mention that you can vote as often as you like until 6:30 am on Friday? Their survival is dependent on our votes, so let's keep the votes coming, and spread the word! They are a great crew, embodying the best of Philly - young men from different crews collaborating, and driven by their desire to make an impact on the lives of youth, as well as represent Philly to the world. Our support helps them to have the heart to keep going!! Thanks for allowing me into your inbox once again I'll be in touch. Patty Bulack [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [UC] Re: Torture And L I]
One property owner says he was issued over $10k worth of violations. Enough to close down some businesses and replace with gentrified ones. Sande, A few people contacted me and said, yes I know someone who has been hit like this. This L I problem of excessive violations seems to be widespread. They seem to be able to do as they please without any accountability. This type of abuse is why some people were correctly worried about a historic district too. With the PHC which I saw, it would be another tool to go after homeowners by bankrupting them. It is set up for civic associations and developers to target someone with huge bills so that they can force them out. Apparently like LI, the PHC is not an entity with standards and fair processes. Just like they changed their procedures, on the spot, so that they could approve the Campus Inn for Penn, they could bankrupt any target at will. Glenn - Original Message - From: SKnight To: UnivCity ; Joe Clarke Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 8:45 PM Subject: [UC] Re: Torture And L I] ...raising assessments and taxes... Perhaps I wasn't being clear enough. Raising assessments and taxes indirectly by issuing violations on business properties right and left. One property owner says he was issued over $10k worth of violations. Enough to close down some businesses and replace with gentrified ones. Sande Knight - Original Message - From: SKnight To: Joe Clarke ; Ucity Listserve Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 10:32 PM Subject: Re: [UC] [Fwd: Re: Torture And L I] ...What do you got to do to get them to come out?... Be a successful realtor in a thriving, up and coming neighborhood, newly hot, and tell them to check on businesses with the intent of raising assessments and taxes because Penn is going to announce they are supporting a catchment area. At least, that is the way I heard about it from one of those business owners. Sande Knight - Original Message - From: Joe Clarke To: Ucity Listserve Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 7:48 PM Subject: [UC] [Fwd: Re: Torture And L I] Original Message Subject: Re: Torture And L I Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:47:47 -0400 From: Joe Clarke [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Glenn [EMAIL PROTECTED] References: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] I made an appointment with L I to be tortured, but they never showed up! What do you got to do to get them to come out? But seriously now: I don't think that the vertical integration of corporate America with L I or the police department to route small time businesses is very likely. It seems like the corruption that exists in some of the city departments would thwart any meaningful alliance to conquer Philadelphia and the world. I think the recent PHA, Kenny Gamble HUD fiasco shows how the left hand is cutting off the right hand in order to get to the money first. Ironically, the City may be our last best hope to defeat the Military Industrial Christian Zionist Complex's march to Armageddon. However I do believe that Penn is another matter. It was just announced that Penn Praxis was hired to do an evaluation of the Casino sites, to see if it was rammed through. Rendell and Nutter are both Penn Alum's. I believe the School Board has had a cozy relationship with Penn's Graduate school of Ed for many years, providing it with many of its own. I know that the NIS -- Neighborhood Information System -- is a joint project between Penn school of Urban planning, Social Work, and the City's Bureau of records. The online resource database for social workers, S.O.S., was also a product of the City and Penn. Penn's got its fingers in many pies. The financing of the Wharton School's expansion deserves its own scrutiny. Penn-gemoney is here to stay and it seems to operate below the radar of the local media (which has its head in the clouds, literally, with its Dopellar 750, pregnant reporters and Health reports that are really infomercials for cosmetic surgeries that never seem to be covered by any insurance companies.) Anyway, I gotta go now. There are also the good people that exist at every level who don't go along with the plan. Joe (longing for the return of the Pirhanna Brothers) Clarke DINSDALE Glenn wrote: Hi Sharon, The market at 45th and Baltimore, The People's Market, was shut down. I don't know about the cameras but there is a trend in local closures. O'Haras at 39th and Chestnut had also existed for decades before what has been described as a strongarm closure.. Kelliannes had been a working class bar at 44th and Spruce for decades. I knew the owner was having trouble. A buyout offer was
Re: [UC] Pennspiracy L I response time to torture requests
a.. Anyone who's attended one (or more -- which helps to show the pattern) of the citizen-driven planning forums run by Penn Praxis knows they are pre-framed debates in which the conclusions are foregone and certainly known in advance by the folks running the show. This seems to be the only type of meeting that citizens are allowed to endorse in this new order that seems to govern us! I haven't seen anything else lately except when people gather with their fists in the air. I do feel there is some value for us to tell the stories, share ideas and discussion on our populist. I agree with you that a next step is missing. When the cops gave me misinformation about a carjacking, they said they should have immediately referred me to their media unit. Our listserv and other internet forums are considered and function as media. It's a small media, but it's the place where we might expect to sometimes get honest stories and accounts. I think that is part of what infuriated the barking cheese gang when they couldn't shut up honest information here from someone like you. ( I suspect you were one of the unidentified ranters that was targeted to be pre-banned on the Penn list..) One tangible thing that I believe concerned citizens can start doing is to commit to always rejecting any plans that use the dog and pony shows; these citizen driven planning forums When people play games, placing hoped for outcomes over the process that gets there; the people always lose. I see this as the reason that divide and conquer works so well. Rather than being helpless, I see rejecting these dog and pony shows outright, by all of us, as the important first step. When these entities demand that dog and pony shows substitute for honest transparent information, they can not and must not be trusted! (I continue to focus on the credibility of Campus Inn and SHCA. They are protecting lies given during official testimony to a government commission. All of their additional studies, drawings, etc are completely irrelevant until they publiclly apologize and start the process over from the beginning. Period) If we could somehow band together around the principal that an honest process must be more important than some hoped for outcome, the power to divide and conquer is taken away. Here in the UC District we have hoped for some free charity to trickle down and thus accepted these dog and pony shows for several years. If we don't come to some societal agreement to focus on the propaganda, lies, and secrecy; I think everyone needs to realize that each of us will live in the shadow of a campus inn eventually. When the deceivers toss out their trash, it will drop on all of us! This Department of Recreation problem should also have us all angry about the Clark Park redesign money not ebullient that UCD is a winner. I think we need to tell the mayor to take back that big fat check to UCD and stop being a party to dog and pony shows too. Sincerely, Glenn - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: UnivCity@list.purple.com Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 7:47 AM Subject: Re: [UC] Pennspiracy L I response time to torture requests In a message dated 7/2/2008 7:43:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I don't believe that Nutter and Rendell have drunk the Kool Aid, I just mean that they--Penn--are all over the place and should be subject to the same scrutiny by the media as say Geno's steaks. The mayor does seem in thrall to Penn. This isn't all bad, notwithstanding past and ongoing ethical lapses which we can't really tell are institutional or individual. But, as I recall from reading The Best and the Brightest long enough ago so that the recall may not be so good, President Kennedy didn't do all that well by going for people with high IQs as their main credentials but who simultaneously weren't well grounded in the realities of everyday life. Think of Robert MacNamara and the Vietnam war. MacNamara was no Cheney, but -- whatever either of their motives -- the result was a disaster. Also, I fear that Nutter is not being as free from the distortion of personal feelings as he could or should be (or, perhaps, thinks he is). All this hooey about Penn Praxis -- an objective look at the Delaware Riverfront (the mayor's speech as reproduced in yesterday's University City Review) and it's having run an open, transparent, legitimate citizen-driven planning process ... a.. As was pointed out by a representative of one of the casinos in the Inquirer a few days ago, Penn Praxis has already come out against the casinos that Harris Steinberg characterizes ad the windowless boxes -- so penn Praxis is hardly objective. b.. Anyone who's attended one (or more -- which helps to show the pattern) of the citizen-driven planning forums run by Penn Praxis knows they are pre-framed debates in which the
[UC] Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy
In all fairness to PennPraxis, some party has to actually hire it, or otherwise contract with it to run a forum for it. It doesn't run around looking for controversies and organizing forums on its own whim. The contractor doesn't have to be Penn. In fact, it usually isn't, I believe. I did watch PennPraxis become involved in a neighborhood issue once, at the request of a neighborhood group that had issues with a Penn-related project. So it may be PennPraxis wasn't involved in either of the neighbors' dealings you cite, because those neighbors did not ask it to become involved. -- Tony West consider penn praxis at the delaware river a high-profile dress rehearsal for penn's development of its holdings along the schuylkill river. and consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine, and when neighbors grappled with the penn-advised plans for the south street bridge. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] A million for Penn parks
If you can't do that, then please apologize to the Mayor, to the Secretary of DCNR, to the list and to yourself for making the same type of ad hominem attack that you so wisely deplore. Andy, Sorry to disappoint you, but I have incredible passion about this transition to plutocracy!. Out of 75 Recreation facilities inspected; 75 were found to be deficient with safety hazards! The cost estimate to correct these was the same 1 million dollars. This money would not be welfare for Penn’s (or Drexel, Temple) real estate schemes. This is basic maintenance absolutely needed by the people of Philadelphia. If you read the reports, you will know Rec’s answer is to start closing them. To allocate that money properly, the taxpayers would not be funding a redesign of a public park with the intention of breaking up a dynamic culture as is the UCD master plan.. (As Penn bombarded the world with propaganda about whores, drug addicts, and gang members in Clark Park, the public has been banned from any real input or transparency into this Penn redesign. The ruler of FOCP gets to rubber stamp the Penn agenda with the usual unanimous community support while the organization lies about open public forums and participation from park stakeholders. Those political leaders get to play stupid about their partners) Since I will not deliver an apology to Penn’s assistants, Mr Nutter, Mrs Blackwell and the lazy doofuses behind locked doors at the Department of Recreation, I would ask that you deliver this message to them on my behalf. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! I am disgusted that political leaders, who have no time or interest in the needs of their constituents, continuously are doing photo ops handing big fat checks to Penn! (Hey lets cut funding to Philadelphia schools so that we can build magnet schools for Penn cronies while we give them a big fat tax abatement. Why should rich people pay for the excellent education of their young when working people have one penny left for their own children? That system is so self evidently divine and sacrosanct!) (And why doesn’t the mayor (so concerned with trash) and city council come to look at the corporate trash thrown out on our streets while the enforcement officer sits at UCD headquarters stuffing doughnuts in her face? These leaders know about these special rights for UCD board leaders because I told their firewall staffs. Some of this firewall staff worked for Penn and their surrogates serving up the doughnuts! And they also know perfectly well about the use of L I to circumvent constitutional protections!) That photograph at Clark park is so symbolic. We are to stand around and clap while these leaders give one giant middle finger to the people of this city, and one giant check to Penn. Let me make sure my message to Mr. Nutter, Mrs. Blackwell and the other doofuses is quite clear: SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Please consider why I might feel so passionately. Best, Glenn PS: Please please study the literature about the ad hominem fallacy. There is a great confusion about the meaning. One can be very harsh and not be using this fallacious argument strategy. Conversely, a person can use words like sir and gentleman while using the ad hominem fallacy to prove their point to an unsophisticated audience - Original Message - From: Andy Frishkoff To: Glenn ; univcity@list.purple.com Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 11:55 AM Subject: RE: [UC] A million for Penn parks Glenn, This post disappoints me. Sometimes, you literally can't see the forest for the trees. Please explain how how Penn, UCD and corporate plutocrats benefit from the other five awards that are part of the announcement I have pasted below, especially the one that is for one of the recreation centers you are championing. If you can't, then please explain how the process of selecting these projects was corrupt or flawed. If you can't do that, then please apologize to the Mayor, to the Secretary of DCNR, to the list and to yourself for making the same type of ad hominem attack that you so wisely deplore. Andy Friday, June 13, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DCNR AWARDS GREENING AND RECREATION PROJECTS IN PHILADELPHIA GRANT OF $1M Philadelphia, June 13, 2008 – Tomorrow Mayor Michael A. Nutter will announce that six projects in Philadelphia will receive support from a $1m grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). The award is being matched by funding from the City of Philadelphia and State Representative John Taylor for a total of $2m in project funding. This funding is crucial to our efforts to create a more accessible, green, healthy Philadelphia, said Mayor Nutter. I am excited about these projects and want to express my appreciation to Governor Rendell, Secretary DiBerardinis of DCNR and State Representative John Taylor for their
Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy (Was: Re: [UC] [Fwd: Re: Torture And L I])
and consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine, and when neighbors grappled with the penn-advised plans for the south street bridge. That's a good point! For several years we've been reading these glowing news-mercials about the Friends of 40th St. Penn-praxis congratulates itself for brilliant community driven forums. The only time I went, a long time ago, it was nothing but a dog and pony show. We were told to drool at the vision and throw out wishes for a new and improved centrally planned 40th St. (I remember a woman speaking well about Marty's, the downscale store that had all your needs covered. I hope LI can't find her.) Penn-praxis, our friend on 40th St, should have been hosting a public forum before delisting the mansion was secretly attempted! This hotel group and Penn-praxis are interconnected through Penn Real Estate. It appears to me that Penn-praxis is less of a friend to public forums and transparency, and more of a friend to secret agendas and conflict of interest than we were led to believe. Joe asked it well: What's Penn's interest in all this? Why are we Pennspiracist theorists or anti-Penn for asking this question? Just like Joe was able to rattle off a list in which the university seemed to conduct itself while having some questionable ethics-many of us can add to it! Why does this important question seem to be forbidden with the threat of an ad hominem attack for those who dare to ask it? People would not need to probe and study so carefully, if the powerful neighbors were open and honest with us in the first place! I know that I would be able to support some of their agendas if they would just be honest. One thing we can generally say with great confidence; there is more going on than we are being told. Glenn PS: I read a letter in the Daily News. The writer was complaining about a biased article, big publicity, about the Delaware River issues in that rag, The Public Record. I didn't check. I only pick up that paper to clean-up after my dog. - Original Message - From: UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Ucity Listserve univcity@list.purple.com Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 10:05 AM Subject: Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy (Was: Re: [UC] [Fwd: Re: Torture And L I]) Anthony West wrote: Pennspiracy theorists out there may enjoy what follows. When Philadelphia voters became passive consumers of notorious Wharton secret agent Michael Nutter, perhaps they didn't reckon on picking up all his fellow Pennspirators as well. In addition to PennPraxis, whose sinister effort to develop the Delaware River with community input and without casinos has received big publicity lately, Nutter has been stocking his cabinet with fellow Penn tools for months. roger that. consider penn praxis at the delaware river a high-profile dress rehearsal for penn's development of its holdings along the schuylkill river. and consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine, and when neighbors grappled with the penn-advised plans for the south street bridge. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.4/1530 - Release Date: 7/2/2008 8:05 AM You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy
Anthony West wrote: In all fairness to PennPraxis, some party has to actually hire it, or otherwise contract with it to run a forum for it. It doesn't run around looking for controversies and organizing forums on its own whim. The contractor doesn't have to be Penn. In fact, it usually isn't, I believe. I did watch PennPraxis become involved in a neighborhood issue once, at the request of a neighborhood group that had issues with a Penn-related project. So it may be PennPraxis wasn't involved in either of the neighbors' dealings you cite, because those neighbors did not ask it to become involved. au contraire, tony. the campus inn at 40th and pine was cited by the developers as part of the 40th street development, and for years now the development of 40th street has been THE agenda for 'the friends of 40th street forum' working with penn praxis. here is what the penn praxis 'friends of 40th street' website says on their homepage: With its long history, 40th Street is continually evolving. The arrival of the Bridge Cinema and the Freshgrocer are just the most recent sign of this. With so much going on, it was time to have a community conversation about the street. Healthy conversation can lead to mutual understanding and respect for varying goals and visions and to the emergence of new ideas. So, Penn Praxis, working with a community-based steering committee, created a process that gave the community the chance to talk about 40th Street, a way of building bridges and trust among people and communities, a place of common ground where we could feel comfortable about our place at the community table. We created a series of safe and facilitated conversations (see documentation in the right column) that allowed people to talk about something that is often difficult to talk about. In the case of 40th Street, many people and communities feel passionately about the street and all too often difficult histories prevent us from creating a shared future. The community forum process was and remains about a shared future. but you will find no mention of the proposed hotel in newspapers or even on the friends of 40th street website: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/40th//reference.html that is why I wrote: consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine - - - - - - and in the case of the south street bridge, the neighbors DID ask penn to intervene for them, but penn said NO: http://tinyurl.com/6kbpw2 The design proposed by the city will make the South Street Bridge much more structurally sound than it is today. Still, several neighborhood associations recently joined forces to push for changes, arguing that the current plan is cold, industrial and lacks pedestrian-friendly features. The coalition has been unable to sway the Streets Department to consider changes, so it is turning to another neighbor of sorts, the University of Pennsylvania, for help. But to their surprise, Penn officials say they will not get involved. [...] University spokesman Tony Sorrentino said Penn will not take a side in the current debate, to the dismay of Campbell and the other groups. We don't want to use our authority to affect someone else's project, said University architect David Hollenberg. He added, however, that the Streets Department did consult him and his predecessor, Charles Newman - who declined to be interviewed for this article - about the design several times during the planning process. Penn even lobbied successfully for some changes during meetings with the Streets Department, according to Hollenberg. One such change was a redesign of the guard rails on the sides of the bridge. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Open letter to PennPraxis Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy
So it may be PennPraxis wasn't involved in either of the neighbors' dealings you cite, because those neighbors did not ask it to become involved. I made a draft for a Penn Praxis letter. Any thoughts or additions? Tom and Tony, can you deliver the final draft to our friends at PennPraxis? Dear Penn Prazis, As you may know, the University of Pennsylvania along with several corporate partners have a plan to develop a hotel at 40th and Pine. A recent report by Moody's has found that universities are putting urban land into use with corporate partners so that the universities may retain long term ownership of the land. Without performing work themselves and minimizing risk, universities maximize profit of the land with this system. As this evolves here on 40th St, the process has been described as an example of economic rent seeking. by the university. Serious ethical problems too, on the part of the development team, began long before a news article exposed the classified plans to we friends of 40th St.. False claims about conducting open public forums were given during public testimony to the Philadelphia Historical Commission. In reality, the team has been completely secretive, manipulative, and obfuscatory in all its dealings with the public. A fact that goes entirely against your vision for a shared place at the discussion table for 40th St. In short, the development team of this hotel is attempting to smash many established standards and zoning rules so that the developers can assist the University gain maximum profit without adding in any way to appropriate productivity of its banked land. This project is overwhelmingly opposed in the residential community near 40th St. The project is opposed overwhelmingly in this entire West Philadelphia neighborhood. We feel that our collective voices and our rights as citizens in this community are ignored. An attempt to bulldoze this project over top of us, in the interest of maximum profit, is obvious throughout the community. We need your help! Since your organization is widely known for work on a vision for 40th St and widely known for hosting citizen driven community forums, I would like to find out your fee to assist our community to stop the hotel and force the sale of the property. Can we leverage some funds from Friends of 40th St to cover your fee? As a good neighbor, I believe this project risks the integrity and reputation of the University; and therefore is problematic not only for we friends of 40th St but for the entire University community. I believe we need to host a public forum where we can demand answers from Dr Gutmann and the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. A forum where the public can ask any and all questions about the ethics of the process being used for this banking of land in our community. A public forum where the media can report evasive answers or refusing questions from the community. A forum where we can demand an accounting of the university of Pennsylvania's hidden activities in the manipulation of our government for the people. A citizen driven forum! Can you help us? How much will it cost? If you are preparing your own condemnation of the process used for this Campus Inn hotel or your own recomendation for the university to sell the land, I believe citizens in this community would be very excited to work with you. Your reply is awaited with great enthusiasm, West Philly residents and friends of 40th St - Original Message - From: Anthony West [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Ucity Listserve univcity@list.purple.com Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 12:06 PM Subject: [UC] Re: The real-estate Pennspiracy In all fairness to PennPraxis, some party has to actually hire it, or otherwise contract with it to run a forum for it. It doesn't run around looking for controversies and organizing forums on its own whim. The contractor doesn't have to be Penn. In fact, it usually isn't, I believe. I did watch PennPraxis become involved in a neighborhood issue once, at the request of a neighborhood group that had issues with a Penn-related project. So it may be PennPraxis wasn't involved in either of the neighbors' dealings you cite, because those neighbors did not ask it to become involved. -- Tony West consider penn praxis at the delaware river a high-profile dress rehearsal for penn's development of its holdings along the schuylkill river. and consider that penn praxis was conspicuously absent from the media when it came to helping neighbors deal with penn's proposed hotel at 40th and pine, and when neighbors grappled with the penn-advised plans for the south street bridge. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG.
