philadelphia daily record

PROTHONOTARY JOE EVERS threw his annual holiday party in Bonavita-

cola Law Library in City Hall yesterday. Everybody who’s anybody in and

about the courts showed up. More pics page 6.

PhiladelphiaDaily Record

No LawAgainst Lunch

Vol. II No. 201 (361) Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia December 15, 2011

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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 rDec. 15-Berean Institute Christmas OpenHouse at 1901 W. Girard Ave., 5-9p.m. For info (215) 763-4833.Dec. 15-Christmas Celebration in 6300block Germantown Ave., 6-7 p.m.Corporate and community dona-tions welcome! For more info, tomake a donation, A. Neal (215)438-1768 or A. Alexander (215)844-9345.Dec. 15-Join Stephanie Singer for anevening of political comedy at“This Is the Week that Is”, 1812Productions’ yearly political satire.Tickets, $20, cover cost of theaterticket, plus a donation of any size(from $1 up to the legal individualmaximum of $2,600). For infoJohn Barber (484) 469-0633.Dec. 17-Volunteers needed to help wrapgifts for Councilwoman JannieBlackwell’s Christmas HolidayParty for Homeless. Join her inCity Hall Rm. 401, 9 a.m. Call tosign up (215) 686-3418.Dec. 17-Phila. Federation of Young Repub-licans hosts Christmas Party atLiberties, 705 N. 2nd St., 3-7 p.m.Tickets $20.Dec. 17- Committee to Elect Brett Mandelhosts Auld Lang Syne cocktail re-ception at 2303 Lombard St., 6-8p.m. Contributions $100 to$1,000. For info www.brettman-del.com.Dec. 17-Black Professionals ChristmasParty at African American Mu-seum, 7th & Arch Sts., 8 p.m.-1a.m. $50 includes live music, en-tertainment. For info Earl Harvey(267) 244-3860.

Dec. 17-N.W. Futures PAC Christmas Bashat 5547 Germantown Ave., 9 p.m.-1 a.m. $20. BYOB. For info DerekS. Green, Esq., (216) 205-4988.Dec. 20-Councilwoman Jannie Blackwellhosts City’s homeless at her an-nual Christmas Party at Pennsyl-vania Convention Ctr., 3-7 p.m.Dec. 29-Friends of Council MajorityLeader-Elect Curtis Jones hosts“Black Out Party” at 4130 MainSt., next to Manayunk Brewery, 8p.m.-1 a.m. Dress in black. VIPCocktail 6-8 p.m. $1,000 host,$500 sponsor, $250 VIP, $50 gen-eral admission, guest. For info Do-rian Stanley (732) 642-2163.Dec. 30-Kwanzaa Dinner & Showfundraiser to send 50 students toAfrica at Imhotep Charter HS,6201 N. 21st St.,7-11 p.m. Tickets$40; seniors and children under12, $30. For info Maisha Sullivan(215) 385-0214.Jan. 2- Inaugural celebration for JewellWilliams, Sheriff of Phila., atHorizons Rooftop Ballrm., Shera-ton Hotel, 17th & Race Sts. Attire:boots and denim, and party [email protected]. 3- S. Phila. Tea Party meetingat Prudential Savings Bank, en-trance from parking lot in rear,1834 Oregon Ave., 7 p.m. Guestspeaker. All invited.Apr. 26-2012 Centennial Pk. Celebrationhonoring Joseph Manko, RyanHoward and Vanguard at Phila.Horticultural Ctr., MontgomeryAve. & N. Horticultural Dr., 6 p.m.For tickets, etc. Arthur (215) 988-9341.

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Casey: Keep Tax Credit To

Convert Homes To Gas

Corbett Praises Senate For Advancing

Marcellus Shale Law

US Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) called

on Congress to extend the Resi-

dential Efficiency Tax Credit that

is helping Pennsylvanians convert

to natural gas at 12:30 p.m. today

during a conference call. The tax

credit, which expires at the end of

the year, puts $500 in the pockets

of working families when they

convert their home to natural gas

or install other energy efficiency

measures.

Casey released a county-by-county

report showing 3 million Pennsyl-

vanians are already using natural

gas and say more will be able to

convert if Congress extends this

tax credit.

Gov. Tom Corbett yesterday

thanked members of the Senate for

advancing HB 1950, a comprehen-

sive Marcellus Shale bill, to the

House of Representatives.

“I thank Sen. Scarnati and his col-

leagues for their strong leadership

on this issue,” Corbett said. “This is

a significant step forward toward fi-

nalizing a strong and sensible Mar-

cellus Shale legislative package.”

In October, Corbett outlined his

Marcellus Shale proposal, which

followed the work of the Marcellus

Shale Advisory Commission and

includes a plan to help create thou-

sands of jobs for Pennsylvania resi-

dents, to enhance protection of our

natural resources, and to move the

Commonwealth toward energy in-

dependence.

“While productive discussions are

ongoing and continue to resolve the

various issues related to Marcellus

Shale, today’s action reaffirms the

strong commitment of the Senate to

achieve our common goals of safe

and responsible natural gas devel-

opment in Pennsylvania,” Corbett

said.

Tartaglione: Senate Action Fuels

Public OutrageState Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione

(D-Kensington) issued the follow-

ing statement last night on the de-

cision from the chair to suddenly

close voting on a taxpayer-friendly

amendment to the Marcellus Shale

bill despite requests for reconsider-

ation:

“The cynical and arbitrary actions

of the majority on the floor of the

Senate tonight will only serve to

feed the growing public outrage

over the influence of corporations

on those who are elected to serve

people.

“The weight of wealthy energy

companies on the regulation of

Marcellus Shale drilling – from the

formation of the governor’s com-

mission to the unprecedented deci-

sion from the chair tonight – led to

the collapse of Senate protocol by

denying members the right to cast

votes as they intended.

“In the end, democracy broke. The

implications will be long-lasting

for our environment, our commu-

nities, our taxpayers and our faith

in a thorough and fair process of

government.”

A group of constituents gathered

outside of State Sen. Edwin Erick-

son’s (R-Delaware) office yester-

day to voice their concerns about

Marcellus Shale legislation. Ac-

cording to the organizers, the pro-

posed legislation could

dramatically weaken Pennsylva-

nia’s local control laws and let

Marcellus Shale gas drillers off of

the hook from paying an appropri-

ate impact fee.

“It’s outrageous that our legislators

are about to give gas drillers this

gift during the holiday season,”

said PennEnvironment Field Di-

rector Adam Garber. “Sen. Erick-

son should give the gift of clean

drinking water to all Pennsylvani-

ans by voting no on this legisla-

tion, rejecting the billion-dollar gas

drilling industry and their well-

heeled lobbyists that roam the

capitol.”

“HB1950, the so-called impact-fee

bill, is a direct attack on Pennsyl-

vania’s home towns and will de-

stroy the ability of towns to protect

residents from gas drilling and

fracking. This basically puts the

State and gas drillers in the

driver’s seat when it comes to local

zoning and planning,” said Maya

van Rossum of the Delaware

Riverkeeper Network.

The groups held rallies targeting

Erickson, along with other moder-

ate Republicans in Southeastern

Pennsylvania, to highlight their

vote that could severely damage

local environmental controls and

implement a weak impact fee.

The rally was organized by a coali-

tion of environmental and civic or-

ganizations including

PennEnvironment, the Delaware

Riverkeeper Network, Sierra Club,

Conservation Voters of Pennsylva-

nia, PennFuture, Clean Water Ac-

tion, the League of Women Voters

and Protecting our Waters. It is

part of a series of rallies this week

outside of Southeastern Senator of-

fices who are seen as swing votes

on this legislation: Sens. Erickson,

Stewart Greenleaf (Montgomery),

Senator Chuck McIlhinney

(Bucks), John Rafferty (Mont-

gomery) and Tommy Tomlinson

(Bucks).

In the end, Erickson voted to move

HB 1950, as did all other targeted

legislators except Tomlinson. But

all suburban Republicans voted for

an amendment by State Sen. John

Yudichak (D-Luzerne) which

would have sharply increased

drilling fees. This amendment (A-

7675) failed on a tie vote the first

time. Greenleaf cast five other

votes to strengthen gas-drilling

regulation, McIlhinney three, Raf-

Suburban Residents Rally Against

Shale Bill At Senator’s Office



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ferty two and Tomlinson one. All

were defeated, however.

But a Republican staffer predicted

the struggle over many of these is-

sues will continue in 2012.

Brownlee Opposes

Abortion-Clinic CrackdownState Rep. Michelle Brownlee (D-

N. Phila.) said legislation that

heavily impedes on women’s

rights and health care passed the

House this week.

SB 732 would require that the

same regulations that currently

apply to ambulatory surgical facil-

ities be applicable to women’s

health care facilities that perform

abortions.

“We need to enforce the laws that

are already on the books as they

provide ample safeguards for

women seeking abortions,”

Brownlee said. “This bill has the

potential to close many legally op-

erating women’s health clinics that

provide routine gynecological care

and ultimately threaten the health

and safety of women throughout

the Commonwealth.

“It is clear to me that this is more

about limiting access to abortion

and not the health and safety of

women.”

The Senate agreed to the House

amendments; therefore, the meas-

ure is now awaiting the Gover-

nor’s signature.

The House also passed legislation

that would prohibit health insur-

ance plans to cover abortions. HB

1977 would limit the scenarios

where abortion would be deemed

legally appropriate in order for an

insurance plan to cover the proce-

dure. The law would not allow

women to use their own funds to

purchase health-insurance cover-

age that would include coverage

for abortion procedures. A woman

would have to purchase a separate

policy to cover abortion proce-

dures if the reasoning for the pro-

cedure fails to fall under the scope

of the legislation.

“At a time where health care costs

continue to rise, this puts yet an-

other financial burden on women,”

Brownlee said. “I voted against

HB 1977 because it’s clearly an at-

tempt at rescinding a woman’s

right to choose.”

The measure is awaiting consider-

ation by the Senate Banking & In-

surance Committee.

Parents Warn Cuts Will Hurt Intellectual DisabilitiesMembers of the Pennsylvania

State House Human Services

Committee expressed alarm Tues-

day at the impact of across-the-

board cuts in State funding to

organizations that provide services

to people with intellectual disabil-

ity, and asked the Dept. of Public

Welfare to meet with the providers

and families testifying within 45

days with a plan to address the is-

sues that were raised.

“If these providers have trouble

fulfilling their mission, we’re all

going to be in a lot of trouble,”

said State Rep. Thomas Murt (R-

Northeast), chair of the House

Human Services Committee’s sub-

committee on Mental Health. Murt

presided over a hearing at the

State Capitol called to discuss the

6% “rate-adjustment factor” the

State’s Office of Developmental

Programs implemented in Novem-

ber, which cut funding to organiza-

tions that provide residential and

other support services to people

with intellectual disability.

Murt and many of his colleagues

on the committee were clearly

moved by the plight of service

providers and by the testimony of

parents, including Tom & Linda

Michael who brought their 22-

year-old daughter Sarah to the

hearing. The Michaels told of their

anguish in learning that funds

were unavailable to provide sup-

port for Sarah once she left high

school. Born with an intellectual



disability, Sarah needs constant su-

pervision and care, they said.

“The system offers us no relief,”

Tom Michael said, “no programs,

no funding, no help in any way.”

Michael argued that the cuts that

have been enacted will force many

families to put their adult children

in State institutions, as there will

be fewer community organizations

able to care for them in commu-

nity homes and little support for

families caring for adult children

with special needs.

“The State has to provide institu-

tional care at an estimated

$200,000 a year,” Michael said,

“that’s eight times the cost of the

funding we requested for Sarah.”

Evers Throws ‘Court

Record’ Wingding

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE Seamus McCaffery was a magnet for other party-goers who yearned to

be photographed with him.



\

HOST PROTHONOTARY Joe

Evers, right, welcomes LIBEW

political guru Brian Stevenson,

center, and Leonard Armstrong

to his party.

GREETING throngs of jurists

and staffers who lined up 50

deep to pass Prothonotary’s

sumptuous holiday buffet were

staffers Darrel Young, Stanley

Chmielewsky, Holly Clifford

and Kevin Cross.

DAN RENDINE and Judge Pat

Dugan share moment of com-

panionship in Law Library.



Mayor Kicks In Carton Recycling

Mayor Michael A. Nutter, the

Philadelphia Streets Dept. and the

Carton Council announced yester-

day food and beverage cartons are

now recyclable as a part of the

City’s residential curbside recy-

cling program. With this new serv-

ice, nearly all household

containers used by residents are

now recyclable.

The City is bringing carton recy-

cling to its residents in a public-

private partnership with the Carton

Council, a group of carton manu-

facturers united to deliver long-

term collaborative solutions in

order to divert valuable cartons

from the landfill. Philadelphia’s re-

cycling diversion rate, the amount

of materials diverted from the

waste stream, currently stands at

nearly 20%, reaching rates of more

than 25% in some neighborhoods

of the city.

Nutter said, “We are proud to part-

ner with the Carton Council to

bring recycling innovation to our

residents. This collaboration

shows what can happen when gov-

ernment and companies work to

create successful public-private

partnerships. I am proud to be the

mayor of a city with individuals

and organizations that are dedi-

cated to creating clean and green

neighborhoods.”

Beginning immediately, residential

households can place all empty,

clean and dry food and beverage

cartons in their recycling bins.

Commonly used carton containers

include milk and juice cartons,

along with soup and broth, soy

milk, eggnog and wine cartons.

The addition of cartons to the

curbside recycling program will

enable residents to earn more

Philadelphia Recycling Rewards

points and properly dispose of

commonly used holiday materials.

“Adding cartons to your recycling

bin is a great way to earn more Re-

cycling Rewards points, which can

be redeemed during the holiday

season to purchase gifts for your

friends and family,” said Streets

Commissioner Clarena I. W. Tol-

son.

The Carton Council’s collabora-

tion with the City of Philadelphia

serves as a model for how other

cities can promote and implement

carton recycling in their communi-

ties. “Carton recycling is a win for

Philadelphia’s residents and the

environment,” said Derric Brown,

director of sustainability for Ever-

green Packaging, a Carton Council

member. The Carton Council is a

group of carton manufacturer

united to deliver long-term collab-

orative solutions in order to divert

valuable cartons from the landfill.

The members of the Carton Coun-

cil are Elopak, Evergreen Packag-

ing, SIG/SIG Combibloc and Tetra

Pak.

Butkovitz Reports Library Employees Cheated City

In response to a local Fox TV in-

vestigation that alleged Philadel-

phia Free Library maintenance

employees were working on proj-

ects unrelated to their jobs during

assigned work hours, City Con-

troller Alan Butkovitz released the

results of his own investigation

and an expanded audit of the Li-

brary’s building-maintenance oper-

ations.

Entitled Review of Building Main-tenance Operations within theFree Library of Philadelphia, the

investigative report found signifi-

cant opportunities existed for

maintenance employees to fraudu-

lently report their work locations

as well as their work time.

Butkovitz found these opportuni-

ties existed because there was no

oversight of the Library’s mainte-

nance department and its employ-

ees, including no accountability

over employees’ time and work as-

signments. He also found there

were no policies in place detailing

the procedure for assigning work

projects, supervising employees

and reporting when specific proj-

ects were completed. There were



also no established time standards

for how long specific tasks should

take to complete.

“Library management clearly

failed to design and adopt appro-

priate procedures to monitor the

work of its employees and super-

vise them,” said Butkovitz. “These

conditions created opportunities

for Library maintenance employ-

ees to abuse and waste time at

work – as well as possibly commit

fraud by working privately at the

same time they were getting paid

by the City.”

By examining Library’s records

for the selected date, the painter

was logged as having worked 14.5

hours, which included 6.5 hours

overtime, at the Frankford Library

for a project that required cleaning

and repainting the ceiling of the

men’s public restroom. On the

same day the painter was logged

for having worked 14.5 hours for

the City from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30

p.m., the Fox TV news team ob-

served the painter at his home

from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and

again from 3:40 p.m. to 4:52 p.m.

At 5:17 p.m., the news team

videotaped the painter returning to

the Library’s Center Branch.

“While Library management as-

signed the job to the painter, there

was no indication as to how many

hours were needed to complete the

repair work,” said Butkovitz. “Ad-

ditionally, Library management

had no system for documenting

whether the work was actually

completed or not – and there was

no evidence spot checks were per-

formed by supervisors.”

“This maintenance worker was al-

lowed to cheat the city by earning

pay that he did not deserve, and it

was pay that he should have never

received,” said Butkovitz.

“It’s completely unacceptable for a

City department to operate under

its own rules and not abide by the

City’s regulations,” said

Butkovitz. “Library management

needs to cease paying ineligible

employees for stand-by duty im-

mediately.”

Running For HealthHEALTH PARTNERS

held its holiday Well

Party yesterday. Hun-

dreds of people lined

up for family fun, im-

portant wellness infor-

mation and photos

with Santa Roo,

Health Partners mas-

cot. From left are Bill

George, president and

CEO of Health Part-

ners; Santa Roo; Ce-

line Vasquez of N.

Phila.; and Chi Dang,

Health Partners com-

munity outreach spe-

cialist. Front, Jaliah

Tomoney, Najia Colon,

Charlize Colon, Ami-

rah Tomoney, all from

N. Phila.



Abington Hosp. Expands Partnership With CHOP

Abington Memorial Hospital has

recently expanded its partnership

with CHOP, offering around-the-

clock surgical coverage and con-

venient access to CHOP’s newly

expanded and relocated Specialty

Care Center located on Abington

Memorial Hospital’s campus.

In addition to providing pediatric

surgical services, Abington physi-

cian and director of Pediatric Sur-

gical Services, Ala Frey, MD, now

also sees patients in the CHOP

Specialty Care Center at Abington

located at Abington Memorial

Hospital. Joining Frey and the

Abington medical staff is Pablo

Laje, MD. Both surgeons will per-

form surgical procedures at Abing-

ton Memorial Hospital and CHOP,

providing full coverage for pedi-

atric surgical care.

As a notable pediatric surgeon,

Frey has co-authored various sci-

entific studies presented before the

American Academy of Pediatrics

and the American Pediatric Surgi-

cal Association. She has also been

the co-author of papers published

in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery andArchives of Pediatric Adolescent Medi-cine, among others. Frey has re-

ceived numerous awards, among

them the City of Philadelphia

“Next Generation of Women Lead-

ership Award.”

Laje is a fellowship trained pedi-

atric surgeon from CHOP. He has

contributed to multiple interna-

tional articles and presentations.

The CHOP Specialty Care Center

at Abington is a 4,600-square-foot,

state-of-the-art facility specially

designed to meet the needs of chil-

dren, with eight exam rooms, two

physician consult rooms and labo-

ratory space, which opened in

spring 2011. The new office con-

solidates pediatric specialists in

cardiology, gastroenterology, en-

docrinology, pulmonary medicine

and surgery into one location on

the Abington campus.

The partnership between CHOP

and Abington Health has been on-

going for more than 20 years in

which pediatric hospitalists pro-

vide inpatient medical care for

children in a 15-bed facility, as

well as consultation to the emer-

gency department.

Penn Vet Opens Minimally-Invasive Surgery Suite

The University of Pennsylvania

School of Veterinary Medicine re-

cently opened its new, state-of-the-

art minimally invasive surgical

suite at the Matthew J. Ryan Vet-

erinary Hospital. The Buerger

Family Foundation Surgery Suite

is the first of its kind in any veteri-

nary teaching hospital and is one

of the only operating rooms in vet-

erinary medicine that offers a com-

prehensive array of minimally

invasive surgical procedures for

companion animals. The Buerger

Family Foundation named the

suite with their generous gift to

support the construction as well as

the Minimally Invasive Shelter

Animal Spay Program.

Minimally invasive surgical proce-

dures allow for quicker recovery

times, shorter hospital stays and

less opportunity for post-surgery

infection. Types of procedures

available in the Ryan Hospital

suite include:

Arthroscopy

Laparoscopy

Thoracoscopy

Interventional radiology

Interventional endoscopy

Minimally invasive fracture repair.

Complete with video conferencing

capability, surgical images can be

sent anywhere, allowing true tele-

medicine for real-time collabora-

tion with referring veterinarians,

sharing information with col-

leagues on either of Penn Vet’s

campuses, or for use in the class-

room. Images can be recorded as

video or still images.

Lillian R. Aronson, VMD, chief of

surgery at Ryan Hospital, said,

“Not only will the tools and equip-

ment in this amazing facility allow

us to better prepare the next gener-

ation of vets with these specialized

skills, we will now be capable of

providing our clients an option for

less-invasive, less-painful surger-

ies for their beloved pets.”

In addition to providing an option

to clients, the School’s Shelter An-

imal Medicine Program will bene-

fit from having access to these

advanced tools so that minimally

invasive spays and neuters of shel-

ter animals can be provided.

philadelphia daily record

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