In a message dated 08/14/08 07:51:34 Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Saving our rights is up to us! While I don't always agree with Glenn's style, content, or methods ...
Those of you who supported Nutter and are now disappointed with his methods, I believe, failed to perform mayoral policy due diligence for the last mayoral campaign. This is a city government strapped for revenue and knowing it needs to attract new engines for capital and thus taxation opportunities. The arrival of Big City Altman was the siren song of the re-emergence of the Ed Everything's for Sale Rendell style of Democratic Governance justified by the need to feed vast entitlement programs that never seem to move people out of poverty or educate our kids for real world success. For those of you who have missed the Unisys/Two Liberty signage case, below is a look at the new style and speed of Nutter's government and Altman's commerce initiatives. Commerce will typically lead City Planning. For what it is worth, I was at a reception earlier this year with unnamed members of PCPC and they liked the TL Tower plan. A belated Happy Birthday to Liz! Ciao, Craig ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Posted on Thu, Aug. 14, 2008 Unisys-signs hearing is resuming today By CHRIS BRENNAN Philadelphia Daily News [EMAIL PROTECTED] 215-854-5973 Unisys, the technology company relocating its headquarters to Center City, today resumes its attempts to hang two giant corporate logos from the 37th and 38th floors of Two Liberty Place. The city Zoning Board of Adjustment, which heard Unisys make its case at a July 23 public hearing, will now consider testimony from people and groups opposed to the 16-foot-tall signs on the high-rise, at 16th and Chestnut streets. Just having a hearing today is a victory for Unisys, since the ZBA last month said that it would be unable to schedule a new hearing until at least September. Letters on file at the ZBA show that sign opponents didn't want the hearing to happen quickly while Unisys was pushing the case forward. Jerald Goodman, an attorney for Unisys, asked the ZBA to deny any requests to hold the hearing later. "The special hearing date will allow the board to conclude the case that day and render its decision promptly," Goodman wrote to the ZBA. An attorney for The Residences at Two Liberty Place - high-end condos just above the floors where the signs would hang - complained in a letter that the ZBA had agreed to not schedule the hearing for today but then changed its mind. Attorneys for the Center City Residents' Association and One Liberty Place wrote to say that they could not attend the hearing today. Still the ZBA, appointed by Mayor Nutter, pressed on. Andrew Altman, Nutter's deputy mayor for commerce, wrote to the ZBA in April to express his "strong support" for the signs because Unisys would be a "major corporate presence" in the city. Asked yesterday if the Nutter administration pushed for a speedy Unisys hearing, Altman twice said that the process needs to proceed so that all opinions can be heard. "I think it's time to air all these issues before the zoning board and let them make a decision," he added. The ZBA posts on its Internet site a listing of all upcoming hearings. But that listing yesterday lacked mention of the controversial Unisys issue. The site was updated after a call from the Daily News. The city called the incident an oversight. Unisys has said that the signs, red letters against the skyscraper's bluish-gray windows on the east and west sides of the building, would be a beacon to potential customers and employees. But residents in the building's new condos see them as garish billboards blinking a red glow into their homes. Among the residents to complain are former Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox and Richie Sambora, a bandmate of Jon Bon Jovi. Unisys has a 15-year lease for 3 1/2 floors, where 225 people will work. The company's lease allows it to seek permission for the signs but is not conditional on that request being approved. Still, Unisys has pushed the idea that a rejection on the signs could be a deal breaker that would make it rethink the move to Center City from Blue Bell, Montgomery County, where the company now has its headquarters. Goodman, the Unisys attorney, made that point at the end of his letter to the ZBA: "As noted at the initial hearing on this matter, further delay will be prejudicial to Unisys and will impede the company's ability to proceed with its plans." * Buzz this story. Find this article at: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080814_Unisys-signs_hearing_is_resuming_today.html?adString=pdn.news/local;!category=local;&randomOrd=081408053915
