Melanie, Your minutes and Al's posts don't disclose whether Al or anyone else asked the Lt. why he was using a UCD card. Did anyone actually ask him or better yet, criticize him directly?
Paul -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: univcity@list.purple.com Sent: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 6:32 pm Subject: Landlord meeting [was: Re: [UC] Who do sworn officers of the Philadelphia Police report to? In a message dated 9/28/07 4:31:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: It is deceitful of UCD and demeaning to the Lieutenant to make it appear that the Lieutenant is subordinate to UCD administration, rather than being the Commander of a Philadelphia Police Substation that happens to be supplied by UCD. He is responsible to the Philadelphia Police chain of command, not to Lewis Wendell or UCD. It is a deliberate blurring of authority that further creates the impression that UCD is a governmental entity in and of itself, with authority over everything in this area, including the duly sworn officers of the Philadelphia Police Department. I'd like to add more information on the landlord meeting that Al Krigman (but not Karen Allen) attended on Wednesday morning. I was there also. I think that perhaps Al's information may have provided a somewhat skewed version of the proceedings and unnecessarily fanned the anti-UCD flames on the list. At any rate, there's no reason not to have more than one report, right? Just before the meeting began, Al helped himself to his hosts' bagel & cream cheese breakfast, and kindly offered me some advice when I picked up two bite-sized muffins for myself: "If you eat those, sweetheart, you'll get fat." UCD sent out the invitations to area landlords and provided space for the meeting. Lindsay Johnston of Common Ground Realtors chaired it, assisted by Penn's Off Campus Living Office Director Miki Farcas, who has organized periodic meetings for landlords who use OCL's services for many, many years. Her office doesn't have a conference room, so the meetings have always had to be held elsewhere. An agenda had been distributed in advance, and speakers talked about various topics, including: rental rates and trends in UC (Miki Farcas), crime and fire safety (Lt. McCurdy and others), the Rental Suitability Act (Marcia Nelson, City of Philadelphia, L&I Dept.), UCD initiatives (Carolyn Hewson). Also, UCD's new director of Operations, Clean & Safe, Dexter Bryant, was introduced. Perhaps that will be of more interest to the UC list than Lt. McCurdy's contact information. If anyone is interested, I can tell you a little more about him. Let me know. We all listened to the various speakers, asking questions and making comments as we chose, sometimes telling them something THEY didn't know! At the end, Lindsay asked if we'd like to have future meetings, and the consensus was that we would; the next one will be planned for January. Minutes from the meeting were delivered via email yesterday. Here's the section on Lt. McCurdy: <<Lt. John McCurdy of the Philadelphia Police Department introduced himself as a 22-year veteran of the PPD and explained the UCD sub-station co-located with UCD’s administrative offices. He distributed his business card and encouraged those present to contact him directly to report problems ([EMAIL PROTECTED], 215/387-3942), emphasizing that requests for immediate/emergency assistance should go to 911. He said that problems could be reported by phone, in writing, or by email. He distributed and discussed 15 tips to help apartment residents maintain a safe environment. He clarified that the UCD sub-station covers Powelton Village and extends west to 50th Street. The requirements for fire safety can conflict with those for security. For instance, L&I does not permit deadbolts that require a key to operate because they are dangerous in case of fire. L&I mandates that all rooms in which people sleep have egress through the windows, precluding the use of bars. Campus Apartments is using screens that increase security but which can be opened in the event of fire. Strollers and bicycles are often kept in hallways for security reasons, but this blocks or impedes passage in emergency situations. UCD staff offered to poll landlords to identify common issues such as bike storage to determine whether there might be vendors of products such as bike pods that could help ameliorate challenging issues. The police encourage the use of cameras for security, and rental insurance for tenants. PPD is aware of the recent upsurge in theft of architectural elements such as leaded glass from buildings and plain clothes burglary teams are deployed to address this and related concerns. Brass exterior connections are also being stolen for scrap metal. The police will perform safety audits at the request of landlords or tenants.>> Lt. McCurdy offered repeatedly to make himself available to help with problems that are not 911 issues. I don't think that anyone attending the meeting was confused about who he worked for or reported to. We only had questions about the territory. Landlord Bill Brown asked him if he handled problems in Powelton (he said yes), and I asked how far west he covers. He replied that he covers to 50th St. and beyond, since he works out of the 18th District at 55th & Pine. So, the good news is that Lt. McCurdy is another resource we all have when we need help from the police. He didn't restrict his contact information to those present; he offered it to all. If you or anyone you know wants to contact him, you can use the contact info in the minutes above (and repeated by many writers on the list in the last few days as if it were a BAD thing that he's there for us). I think it's a good thing, and I'd suggest that you keep the contact info handy in case you want to be in touch. Melani Lamond In a message dated 9/26/07 1:15:04 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: One would think that sworn officers of the Philadelphia Police Department, regardless of where they went in the morning to report for work, operated through the Department's highly structured and ostensible chain of command. I discovered this morning that this may not be the case. Or, at least, that the people at UCD and the police officer who has a desk at the UCD administrative building, don't necessarily think so. I attended a meeting at which Lieutenant John McCurdy made a short presentation, then handed out business cards so people would know how to contact him. Only, they weren't Philadelphia Police Department business cards. In fact, they weren't City of Philadelphia business cards in any form. They were (you guessed it) standard UCD business cards with "lt. john mccurdy/city of philadelphia policedepartment" (all in lower case, as shown) where the name and position of a UCD employee would normally go. This is a serious, if symbolic problem. Especially given that many people in this area think UCD has alreadyusurped too many powers that it should not have, given it's accountability only to its primary patrons. And use of this business card by a sworn City of Philadelphia police officer with extraordinary powers obfuscates the fact that the chain of command and responsibility goes right up through the ranks at 55th & Pine through the Police Commissioner, City Council, and the Mayor -- without a nod to anybodyat UCD. It is totally unacceptable. Lt McCurdy is probably guilty of nothing more than extremely poor judgement. Wendell Lewis and the others who make the decisions at UCD are more likely guilty of at least trying to obfuscate their actual role in the neighborhood, and perhaps of making yet another subtle power grab. --------------------------- I Melani Lamond, Associate Broker Urban & Bye, Realtor 3529 Lancaster Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19104 cell phone 215-356-7266 office phone 215-222-4800, ext. 113 ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com
