As far as this is concerned:
"the praxis-delivered principles for 40th street run counter to the proposed
hotel. principles like: " values of the community " commerce and culture
reflecting the surrounding neighborhoodThat's where our neighbors who feed at
the Penn trough come into play on behalf of Penn. It would seem that few
people think (or, at least, will say out loud) that it seems odd that the most
strident and outspoken supporters of Penn Real Estate's hotel proposal just
happen to be mostly real estate agents and large property owners who rent to
Penn students. Nor does it seem to be odd that those self-same real estate
agents, property owners, and the hotel developer were the same people who all
somehow ended up being named to the steering committee which tried to get
Penn's UCD BID proposal passed into law. Now it's been revealed that a local
community association has had board members quit in disgust over its zoning
committee seemingly ignoring their members' loud and clear objections to the
hotel.
All of this is to say that "the community" can be hijacked by those with self
interests who are willing to throw the actual community under the Penn bus.
"Pay no attention to my blatant conflicts of interest, and to near-unanimous
opposition from everyone else. I am the Community, and I am here to rubberstamp
anything Penn wants!"
> Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 12:04:40 -0500> From: laserb...@speedymail.org> To:
> univcity@list.purple.com> Subject: Re: [UC] Penn-gemony receives its next
> Mayor> > Joe Clarke wrote:> >>> This relationship precedes Nutter's
> administration and will > >>> probably succeed it as well. Penn's School of
> Education has > >>> produced at least one -- Connie Clayton -- head of the
> school board. > >>> I know that the city's Human Resource database, SOS, was
> built by > >>> Penn. The BRT database was also a co project with the
> University's > >>> social work, urban planning, etc.. There are probably
> dozens of > >>> other links to the city--why wouldn't there be. To have that
> much > >>> expertise a half mile west, you'd have to be out of your mind not
> to > >>> use it. However, I'd like to see the city be less beholdin' to one >
> >>> institution that already has enough money to consider putting tanning >
> >>> booths in each dorm room in order to achieve a more diverse student > >>>
> body. I'd like to see them mix it up a bit. Get some of the other > >>>
> schools involved. Don't just go to Penn each time you need an expert > >>> on
> "ethics", genetics, faith-based initiatives (this is laughable), > >>> on and
> on. Penn wants to guard its place at the funding trough (Penn > >>> is often
> the distributor-of-choice for funds to the area, the local > >>> agent, for
> which it gets a hefty administrative fee). Penn positions > >>> itself to
> benefit Penn and there's no better way than to be up to > >>> your nose in
> political access. The community is also Penn's petri > >>> dish for social
> programs and other government initiatives to "help > >>> out" the community.
> No doubt, Penn does good for some, but it is > >>> always on Penn's terms, as
> it positions itself to be in the front of > >>> the line when the ole funding
> spigot gets turned and that vital > >>> replenishing liquidity comes gushing
> forth and streaming down over > >>> them like lucre's holy sacrament (secular
> alleluia's are appropriate > >>> here). In the meantime the community
> beneficiaries get to be close by > >>> when all that comes rushing through,
> where even the spray is enough > >>> to revive a program for the next funding
> year. Amen> > > agreed, joe. and while it's questionable enough for penn to >
> interfere, as a private entity, with the waterfront > development, with
> businesses along 40th street, or with the > kimmel center re-do, it's even
> more questionable for penn to > interfere with decision-making about city
> budgets. > especially when penn does not offer concomitant expertise on > how
> taxpaying voters can hold penn agencies (and their > creations) accountable.>
> > example: penn praxis on 40th street>
> http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/40th/> > > UNACCOUNTABLE> the
> praxis-delivered principles for 40th street run > counter to the proposed
> hotel. principles like:> > " small-scale retail> > " values of the community>
> > " commerce and culture reflecting the surrounding> neighborhood> > "
> reduced energy consumption> > " continued consultation, communication,
> dialogue and> promotion> > and yet it is the friends of 40th street who are
> held > responsible for these principles. (by whom?)> > > NON-TRANSPARENT> the
> meeting minutes of the praxis-created friends > disappear from the website in
> oct 2007, and never mention > the hotel (the story of the hotel broke
> publicly in the uc > review oct 2007). and yet it is the friends of 40th
> street > who are held responsible for 'communication.' (by whom?)> > > > >
> will this model (where penn frames the dialog and creates > non-accountable,
> non-transparent "friends"), be applied to > philadelphia's budget
> decision-making? to what extent will > nutter be accountable? not
> accountable?> > > ..................> UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ----> You are
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