philadelphia daily record

PhiladelphiaDaily Record

Vol. II No. 116 (276) Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia August 5, 2011

MICHAEL P. KELLY, center, has accepted an offer to become permanent executive director at PHA.

His new role became official at a special meeting of PHA Board of Commis-

sioner. Kelly had been on loan to Philadelphia from New York City Housing Au-

thority, where he has served as general manager since 2009. Also shown with

Kelly are Commissioner Estelle Richman, left, and PHA General Counsel Bar-

bara Adams. Story page 4.

Our ManKelly

2 | THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD 5 AUGUST, 2011

T h e P h i l a d e l p h i a P u b l i c R e c o r d C a l e n d a rAug. 5-

Swedish Museum hosts Summer

Crayfish Party in FDR Park at

1900 Pattison Ave. Tickets $50.

Call (215) 389-1776 for details.

Reservations end Jul. 29.

Aug. 6-

Mothers In Charity Fundraiser

Spades Charity tournament at

YMCA, 1400 N. Broad St., 2-6

p.m. For info or to register (215)

228-1718.

Aug. 6-

Johnson House will host Jazz In

The Garden summer benefit at

6306 Germantown Ave., 4-7 p.m.

featuring John Blake, Jr., jazz vio-

linist, and Alan Segal Quartet.

Admissions from $30. For info

(215) 438-1768.

Aug. 6-

Friends of Bill Rubin present Dis-

trict Council 33 Members Night

with Camden Riversharks (vs.

Road Warriors at 5:35 p.m. at

Camden’s Campbell Field) as DC

33 members work 3rd and 1st

Base concession stands. Tickets

$12. Proceeds to Bill Rubin. For

info Joan Gallagher at (267) 438-

6998, Irene Snyder (215) 582-

8611 or Sylvia Bullock (215)

471-6469.

Aug.11-

Friends of Ron Donatucci hold

Delaware River Cruise at Inde-

pendence Seaport Museum Ter-

race Ballrm., Columbus & Walnut

Sts., 6:30-9:30 p.m. $145 per per-

son. For info (215) 271-1667.

LIVE AUCTIONS EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 5PM (Preview 3PM)

LIVE AUCTIONS EVERY SATURDAY AT 11AM (Preview 9AM)

LIVE INTERNET AUCTION EVERY SATURDAY AT 4PM AT:

www.capitalautoauctions.com To Register & To Bid

3 BIGSALES

WEEKLY

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For more information, call William Hanna

267-808-0287

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215-464-6425

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5 AUGUST, 2011 THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD | 3

Casey: Stop Development Aid To ChinaUS Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.),

Chairman of the Joint Economic

Committee, joined a bipartisan

group of Senators yesterday call-

ing for an end to US development

aid to China, now the world’s sec-

ond-largest economy.

Since 2001, the US has provided

more than $275 million in direct

assistance to China for projects

such as expanding internet access

and improving public transporta-

tion. In addition, China receives

billions from multilateral institu-

tions like the United Nations, the

Asian Development Bank, and the

World Bank, to which the US is

among the largest contributors.

“With more than $3 trillion in for-

eign exchange reserves and a dou-

ble-digit economic growth rate,

China certainly has the financial

resources to care for its citizens

without relying on US assistance,”

the Senators wrote to appropria-

tors. “As the committee reviews

current appropriations bills, we

would request that in FY2012 you

end all US aid to China – other

than programs that assist the peo-

ple of Tibet or promote respect for

human rights and democracy in

China – and direct our representa-

tives at international organizations

to work to end multilateral aid to

China.”

China currently owns $1.2 trillion

of US Treasury debt and has

launched its own multi-billion dol-

lar foreign-assistance program to

rival the US.

Both the United Kingdom and

Australia announced this year that

they will no longer provide direct

assistance to China.

The bipartisan letter was also

signed by Senators Webb, Inhofe,

Kyl, Boozman, Levin, Reed,

Manchin, Kohl, Rubio, Tester and

Menendez.

Fattah Announces $1.6 Million In Grants

For Penn, Drexel

Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-

Phila.), a lead appropriator for sci-

entific research and advocate for

education reform, has announced a

$319,344 grant to the University of

Pennsylvania to study how school

districts are teaching early algebra,

especially related to underrepre-

sented students in Science, Tech-

nology, Engineering and

Mathematics instruction.

The award is one of seven research

grants by the National Science

Foundation, totaling $1,620,423,

directed to Penn and Drexel Uni-

versity in Philadelphia’s University

City science district.

“Algebra is a building block of

STEM education, and there is an

imperative to teach basic algebra

by 9th grade. This study will help

us monitor and succeed in that

goal,” said Fattah, Ranking Mem-

ber of the House Appropriations

Subcommittee on Commerce, Jus-

tice, Science and related agencies,

which oversees funding for the Na-

tional Science Foundation.

“For our nation to stay number one

in the global economy, we must

have all our young people edu-

cated and primed to succeed, espe-

cially in the STEM disciplines,”

Fattah said. “It is critical that un-

derrepresented young people from

low-income backgrounds receive

quality education in these subjects,

and their schools receive all the re-

sources they require.”

The grants announced by Con-

gressman Fattah are:

$319,344 for the University of

Pennsylvania for the proj-

ect titled “Collaborative

Research: Learning About

New Demands in Schools:

Considering Algebra Policy

Environments [LAND-

SCAPE].” The project is

under the direction of Ja-

nine Remillard.

$115,886 for Drexel University

for a project entitled

“EAGER: Confined Self

Assembly of Fully Conju-

gated Rod-Rod Diblock

Copolymers in

Nanofibers.” The project is

under the direction of


Vibha Kalra.

$449,999 to Penn for “CSR:

Small: Resource Manage-

ment for Real-time Cloud

Computing,” under the di-

rection of Linh Thi Xuan

Phan.

$227,694 to Penn for “Collab-

orative Research: Develop-

ing a Complete

Membrane-Cytoskeleton

Model for Human Erythro-

cyte,” under the direction

of Ju Li.

$247,500 to Penn for

“EAGER: Collaborative

Research: Information Dif-

fusion and Opinion Forma-

tion in Networked

Systems,” under the direc-

tion of Roch Guerin.

$150,000 to Penn for “NeTS:

Small: Collaborative Re-

search: Inter-provider Dy-

namics in Neutral and

Non-neutral Networks.”

The project is under the di-

rection of Saswati Sarkar.

$110,000 to Penn for “RI:

Small: Collaborative Re-

search: Statistical Learning

of Language Universals.”

The project is under the di-

rection of Ben Taskar.

He’s Permanent Now: Michael Kelly’s

Job At PHA Is Officially TopsThe man tapped by the federal

government to stabilize operations

at the Philadelphia Housing Au-

thority over a period of 6-12

months will be staying longer than

planned.

Michael P. Kelly has accepted an

offer to become permanent execu-

tive director at PHA. His new role

will be made official at a special

meeting of the PHA Board of

Commissioners at 3:30 this after-

noon. He begins his new responsi-

bilities on Aug. 8.

Kelly has been on loan to Philadel-

phia from the New York City

Housing Authority, where he has

served as general manager since

2009. Through a special arrange-

ment, NYCHA agreed to allow

him to serve as Interim Executive

Director at PHA while still han-

dling some of his duties in New

York.

In March, when the US Dept. of

Housing & Urban Development

took control of PHA, the federal

agency appointed Kelly to serve as

Administrative Receiver. In that

role, he is overseeing PHA’s re-

covery with the goal of returning

the agency back to local control in

2012.

“Mr. Kelly came to PHA at a very

difficult time. He immediately fo-

cused on creating an atmosphere

of mutual respect, getting back to

basics in property management

and resident services and making

PHA accountable and transparent

in business practices,” said PHA

Board of Commissioners chair and

HUD COO Estelle Richman. “We

are quite pleased Mr. Kelly has ac-

cepted our offer.”

Kelly, serving simultaneously as

Administrative Receiver and Exec-

utive Director, will be paid

$225,000, more than $100,000 a

year less than his predecessor’s

compensation.

Mayor Michael Nutter, who had

first contacted New York officials

including NYCHA chairman John

Rhea and Mayor Michael

Bloomberg about lending Kelly to

Philadelphia, called Chairman

Rhea yet again, this time to ask for

permission to keep Kelly. Again,

Rhea was completely cooperative

and supportive in agreeing to

Philadelphia’s need.

“Mike Kelly has quickly converted

PHA into an organization that

works well with others to provide

the best possible service to citizens

in need of homes they can afford.

We are gratified to have played a

role in making sure he stays here

to finish the job he started,” Nutter

said.

Foremost among Kelly’s key ac-

complishments since joining PHA

has been leadership during a chal-

lenging period to maintain organi-

zation focus and the delivery of

uninterrupted service.

He spearheaded the development

of PHA’s Transition Plan, empha-

sizing the creation of a culture of

respect, adopting a “back to ba-

sics” approach to property man-

agement and resident services, and

mandated accountability and trans-

5 AUGUST, 2011 THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD | 5

parency in conducting PHA’s busi-

ness.

Kelly instituted a zero-tolerance

policy for any violation of PHA’s

Ethics; harassment, intimidation

and discrimination policies; and

other employment policies in-

tended to eliminate and prevent

such practices in the workplace.

He reestablished the Office of

General Counsel to ensure greater

accountability and transparency

with respect to legal affairs of the

Authority and efficient manage-

ment of legal cost. Along with that,

he reorganized and renamed the

Office of Inspector General as the

Office of Audit & Compliance to

ensure regulatory and operating

compliance of all PHA’s business

transactions.

On Kelly’s watch, historic collec-

tive-bargaining agreements were

negotiated between PHA and

Building & Construction Trades

Council of Philadelphia & Vicin-

ity, AFSCME DC33, AFSCME

DC47 and SEIU Local 32BJ.

Kelly served more than nine years

as executive director of the Wash-

ington DC Housing Authority be-

fore moving to New York in 2009.

He has also served as head of the

housing authorities in San Fran-

cisco and New Orleans.

“As I have said since shortly after

my arrival last December, PHA is

a fundamentally sound organiza-

tion with well-trained employees.

We have worked to assess and then

address problem areas and are well

on the way to regaining our reputa-

tion as a great housing authority,”

said Kelly. “The beneficiaries of

PHA’s recovery will be the resi-

dents who count on us and the

communities in which they live.”

The Philadelphia Housing Author-

ity is the nation’s 4th-largest hous-

ing authority, serving more than

80,000 rental residents.

Draw Your Own Council Map For ‘Fix

Philly’ ForumWhile it’s unclear if City Council

will pay attention, a group of ac-

tivists has invited all citizens of

Philadelphia to join in redrawing

Council Districts as they think

best.

A Civic Engagement Forum and

Fix Philly Districts Kickoff will be

held Monday, Aug. 8, at WHYY

studios, 150 N. 6th Street.

“The near future of representative

democracy in the city of Philadel-

phia will be decided right after

Labor Day,” wrote Chris Satullo

for WHYY’s Newsworks. “And

hardly anyone is paying any atten-

tion, except for the members of

City Council. Who are bound and

determined to screw it up.”

In September, Philadelphia City

Council is required to adjust its

District boundaries to reflect the

results of the 2010 census.

“The last time Council had this

task, a decade ago, it made a leg-

endary hash of it, blowing its dead-

line badly only to concoct a

terrible crazy quilt of a map that

was mostly about maximizing in-

cumbent job security and fundrais-

ing. That terrible map took so long

to do that Council members went

without pay for months; some

think those payless weeks were

part of the reason one councilman,

Rick Mariano, indulged in the

shenanigans that got him sent to

prison,” said Satullo.

City Council has shown little inter-

est in a meaningful public process

for redistricting, charged Satullo.

Stepping into the breach is Robert

Cheetham, the head of Azavea,

who has designed free mapping

software for use by all. “It puts

into the hands of ordinary voters

the same data and computing

power the political bosses wield

when drawing election maps,” Sat-

ullo said.

Working with WHYY, Azavea has

posted this software online. Citi-

zens are invited to try it out. You

can check out this tool at Fix-

PhillyDistricts.com. The best maps

will win prizes totaling $1,000 and

be presented to City Council.

At Monday’s meeting, presenters

will explain the tool to any inter-

ested person or group. Cheetham

and his staff will give a run-

through; Harris Sokoloff of the

Penn Project for Civic Engagement


will give some tips on how groups

can identify their common goals

for a map before they start point-

ing and clicking.

Registration starts at 6:30 p.m.; the

program begins at 7:00 p.m. Please

RSVP at [email protected] or

(215) 898-1112

Parker Helps Philadelphia Seniors Stay

Cool

State Rep. Cherelle L. Parker (D-

Northwest) will distribute 100

fans to pre-selected low-income

seniors at 10 a.m. Wednesday,

Aug. 10 in her District office,

1536 E. Wadsworth Street.

“As Philadelphia continues to

push through the summer heat

waves, we must be mindful of our

seniors,” Parker said. “Providing

fans for those on fixed incomes is

one way to ensure our seniors will

be able to catch a cool breeze as

we endure the summer heat.”

Seniors are among the most vul-

nerable population when tempera-

tures begin to soar. Due to the na-

ture of aging, various factors con-

tribute to a senior’s heat

exhaustion and rapid dehydration.

Therefore, staying cool and hy-

drated should be major priorities

for Philadelphia’s seniors during

the summer.

In addition to staying cool and hy-

drated, the city’s Dept. of Public

Health recommends:

·Wearing lightweight, light-

colored, loose clothing,

·Wearing wide-brimmed hats

or using umbrellas for

shade,

·Staying indoors during the

hottest part of the day (10

a.m. to 2 p.m.), and

·Taking a cool shower or bath.

“Keeping these recommendations

in mind, it is our responsibility as

a community to guarantee that our

neighbors stay healthy during the

heat waves, especially our sen-

iors,” Parker said. “I encourage

our seniors to take the necessary

precautions to beat the heat.”

Parker said the fans were donated

by Walmart Stores.

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