MAYOR NUTTER TO ADDRESS THE SAFETY OF NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS

WHO: Mayor Michael A. Nutter
Commissioner Charles Ramsey
District Attorney-Elect Seth Williams

WHAT: Mayor Nutter, Commissioner Ramsey, and District Attorney-Elect Williams will warn residents of the risks associated with New Year’s revelry.

WHERE: Hallway in front of the Mayor’s Office, City Hall

WHEN: Thursday, December 31, 2009 10:30 am

MAYOR NUTTER APPOINTS PEDRO RODRIGUEZ TO CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Philadelphia, December 30, 2009 ?Today, Mayor Michael Nutter appointed Pedro Rodriguez to the Civil Service Commission. He joins Lynda Orfanelli and Doris Smith on the three member panel. Mr. Rodriguez will serve a six year term, starting January 3, 2010.

“I am pleased that Pedro accepted my appointment to the Civil Service Commission,” said Mayor Nutter. “As a community leader, educator, and former City employee, he will have a valuable perspective on the issues that the Commission addresses.”

The Civil Service Commission is composed of three members appointed by the Mayor from among persons whose names are submitted by the Civil Service Panel, as set out in the Home Rule Charter. The principal responsibilities of the Commission are to serve as an appellate tribunal for employee appeals; to rule on proposed changes to the Civil Service Regula­tions and the Classification and Pay Plans; and to rule on requests for exemptions from civil service and waivers of the residency requirement. It is also the responsibility of the Commission to appoint the Personnel Director. The Commission advises the Mayor and the Personnel Director on matters concerning personnel administration in City service and upholds the interest of the merit-based civil service system.

“I am very honored to have been appointed to the Commission and look forward to working with Lynda and Doris,” said Mr. Rodriguez. “Like the Mayor, I believe in the importance of public service.”

The Commission holds employee hearings weekly, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 10:00 a.m. to conclusion; these meetings are open to the public. The Commission also meets weekly with the Personnel Director. Compensation for Commissioners is set at $100 per meeting ($125 for the Chairperson), to a maximum of 175 meetings per fiscal year.

Commissioner Bio:

Pedro Rodriguez is the interim Director of the Open Boarders Project (Proyecto Sin Fronteras,) a Huntington Park based organization that runs community programs such as English classes, computer courses and after-school programs. From 1997-2007, Mr. Rodriguez worked at the Action Alliance of Senior Citizens, a group committed to the issues of the elderly, first as a Legislative and Healthcare Organizer before becoming the Executive Director. Before that Mr. Rodriguez was involved in City government serving as the Assistant Director of Philadelphia Empowerment Zones under Mayor Rendell and the Legislative Director for City Councilman Dan McElhatton. He is also active in his community, having served as an AIDS educator with Congreso de Latinos Unidos and as an associate editor of the weekly Community Focus/Enfoque Comunal, the largest bilingual newspaper in Pennsylvania. He has been a teacher of Spanish for the last 11 years, part time, at the Spanish Language School in Center City Philadelphia.

Mr. Rodriguez is married to Pamela Waltz and has two children, Anatolia, who is a graduate of Philadelphia University, and Daniel.

MAYOR NUTTER APPOINTS ROBERT W. BOGLE TO INDEPENDENCE BLUE CROSS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Philadelphia, December 23 – Today, Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced that Robert W. Bogle will serve as his appointee on the Independence Blue Cross Board of Directors.

“Independence Blue Cross is one of our leading corporate and social partners,” said Mayor Nutter. “In addition to employing thousands of Philadelphians and insuring millions across the region, they support many local programs that make Philadelphia an exceptional place to live and work. This appointment will allow Bob to continue his great service to the city.”

“I am very delighted that the Mayor would consider me for this very important board particularly in view of the challenges that our nation is involved in to provide healthcare to all of our citizens,” said Mr. Bogle.

Mr. Bogle is the president and chief executive officer of The Philadelphia Tribune. Prior to becoming president in 1989, Mr. Bogle worked as the paper’s executive vice president/treasurer (1981-1989), director of marketing (1977-1981), and advertising director (1973-1977). He also has served as the president of the National Newspaper Publisher’s Association, a trade association of Black-owned newspapers across the country. Mr. Bogle has experience in the health services industry, having served as chairman of the Hospitals and Higher Education Facilities Authority of Philadelphia. He is also a commissioner of the Delaware River Port Authority and serves on the board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Bogle graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Cheney University.

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHES FOURTH LIST OF TOP BUSINESS TAX DELINQUENTS

In the fourth installment of the delinquent publication list, the City of Philadelphia         added 69 new businesses and 70 associated officers.  This adds approximately $5.7 million in newly published judgments to the outstanding $47 million dollars in judgments on the previously published list. The top 5 newly added businesses and officers include: Delilah Winder ($1,577,478.03); Delilah’s At Market ($1,418,334.80); Sharon Jort ($324,932.56); Stuart N. Harting and Lance S. Silver, officers of Katmandu Corporation ($252,120.21); and Benjamin Kenney, officer of Die Cut Specialty Company Inc. ($123,057.78).

Since the first list was published, an estimated $3 million in business tax revenue has been collected from delinquent taxpayers. Combined the lists now consist of 246 businesses and 217 associated officers, against whom the City has approximately $53 million in judgments. The City continues to aggressively and creatively collect delinquent taxes by utilizing all enforcement tools available.  On upcoming publication lists, the City will expand the lists to include those individuals who have judgments or liens against them as a result of delinquent fines, fees and other charges; including, but not limited to water charges.

Delinquent taxpayers who appear on the lists should contact the City of Philadelphia Law Department, Tax Unit, Judgment Execution Division, One Parkway Building, 15th Floor, Philadelphia, 19102-1595, telephone 215-683-5207.  The publication list will be replenished quarterly with names of taxpayers against whom the City has obtained new judgments.   Taxpayers who resolve their liabilities will be removed from the list on a monthly basis.The complete delinquent judgment lists are available on the Law Department’s website, www.phila.gov/law/Tax_Delinquent.html, and may also be accessed from the Revenue Department’s website www.phila.gov/revenue.

MAYOR NUTTER VISITS FIRST HOUSE RENOVATED BY STIMULUS-FUNDED NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAM

City Received Almost $20 Million to Rehabilitate Vacant or Foreclosed Homes in Targeted Neighborhoods

Philadelphia, December 22 – Today Mayor Michael A. Nutter visited 3333 Wellington St. in Northeast Philadelphia, the location of the first vacant or foreclosed home rehabilitated with Federal Stimulus dollars. The City of Philadelphia received almost $20 million from the Neighborhood Stimulus Program (NSP,) via the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is administered by the Redevelopment Authority. Philadelphia’s NSP focuses on reviving houses in select neighborhoods throughout the City. The house at 3333 Wellington Street was foreclosed on by the Bank of America and was sitting vacant when the RDA identified it as a possible NSP project. In September, the RDA made a loan for $241,000 to the developer (Innova Services Company) to cover the cost of the renovation, which took just under four months. Innova has found a buyer who will purchase the home and move into it in January 2010.

“Today we celebrate the beginning of a stimulus program that is eliminating vacancy in our neighborhoods and creating stimulus jobs,” said Mayor Nutter. “This block has one less vacant house and a new homeowner has a new place to live in this neighborhood. This is the first of 200 homes that we will renovate in the next year using federal funds.”

The neighborhoods targeted by the NSP were identified by the City’s Office of Housing and Community Development based on historic foreclosure data, indications of predatory lending, and the impact of vacant foreclosed homes on the value of residences in the surrounding neighborhoods. Eligible homebuyers cannot have an income exceeding 120% of the area median income – $65,400 for a single person and $93,360 for a household of four.

The NSP program hopes to accomplish four important goals:
Reducing Blight: Every time a house is rehabbed, NSP eliminates a blighted property in a neighborhood, preventing further neighborhood deterioration. Research by the Wharton School has found that a single blighted property decreases the value of each surrounding property by more than $3000.
Providing Jobs: The Program provides construction jobs for workers who are hired by the developer – providing much-needed employment in a slow economy.
Improving the Accessibility of the Housing Stock: NSP provides a homeowner with a renovated home in a neighborhood of their choice.
Sustaining Small Business: The program provides a $20,000 developer fee to the CDC or the developer in charge of the project – giving them an extra source of operating income during this recession.

“HUD is committed to helping to improve lives and strengthen communities recovering from the blight and vacancies that have become visual symbols of difficult economic times,” said HUD Deputy Regional Director Brenda Laroche. “It’s partnerships with federal, state, and local governments, and collaborations with non-profits and for-profits that put the NSP dollars to work in local communities, creating jobs and homeownership opportunities, and stabilizing a neighborhood.”

Innova Services Company, headed by Jeff Allegretti, was the developer of this property. Currently, Innova has six properties under construction and an additional two pending acquisition. The property received approximately $85,000 worth of improvements including the installation of an energy efficient heating and air conditioning system, an energy efficient hot water heater, insulated windows, Energy Star appliances, and an insulated roof. The property is currently under an agreement of sale for $159,900.

MAYOR NUTTER TO VISIT FIRST HOUSE RENOVATED BY STIMULUS-FUNDED NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAM

WHO:

• Mayor Michael A. Nutter
• HUD Deputy Regional Director Brenda Laroche

WHAT:

Mayor Nutter will visit the first vacant or foreclosed home rehabilitated with Federal Stimulus dollars. The City of Philadelphia received almost $20 million from the Neighborhood Stimulus Program (NSP,) via the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is administered by the Redevelopment Authority. Philadelphia’s NSP focuses on reviving houses in select neighborhoods throughout the City.

The neighborhoods targeted by the NSP were identified by the City’s Office of Housing and Community Development based on historic foreclosure data, indications of predatory lending, and the impact of vacant foreclosed homes on the value of residences in the surrounding neighborhoods. Eligible homebuyers cannot have an income exceeding 120% of the area median income – $65,400 for a single person and $93,360 for a household of four.

WHERE:

3333 Wellington St – NOTE THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE INSIDE THE PROPERTY DUE TO THE WEATHER

WHEN:

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 3:30 pm

STREETS DEPARTMENT IN 4TH DAY OF SNOW OPERATIONS MORE THAN 350 VEHICLES ON THE STREET, 120+ DEDICATED TO RESIDENTIAL STREETS SNOW EMERGENCY ENDED AT 6AM

PHILADELPHIA – The Streets Department began the 4th day of snow operations today and ended the snow emergency at 6am this morning. Operations commenced Friday when highway maintenance crews treated City streets with a brine solution. Highway maintenance truck and sanitation trucks, augmented by other City departments and contractors, conducted salting and plowing operations throughout the weekend. Weekend work cleared snow emergency routes, secondary streets treated and most residential streets were plowed and salted.

Monday’s daytime deployment started at 7 a.m. with a focus on clearing residential streets as temperatures rise. There are 230 sanitation and highway vehicles to plow and salt primary, secondary and residential streets. These vehicles will open intersections with significant snow and continue to push back snow where needed. The Streets Department is coordinating a fully staffed deployment of more than 85 vehicles dedicated to clearing residential streets. Trucks are salting and plowing residential grids. Each truck is assigned a zone and will target streets that have not been plowed or appear icy. More than 40 small snow lifters are assigned to the grids to move snow. Residential salting vehicles are deployed to support small snow lifters.

There are cases, in neighborhoods with narrow streets (e.g. South Philadelphia North Philadelphia), trucks were not able to service some streets due to parked cars blocking streets and parked cars blocking turns. Plows on residential snow vehicles are over 8′ wide. If adequate clearance is not available, the plows are unable to service these streets.

On residential streets, the first goal is simply to make streets passable. Due to the volume of snow, compaction and cold weather some residential streets are icing up. Until temperatures warm, it is unlikely that Streets crews will be able to break the heavy ice up. The Streets Department continues to encourage residents and businesses that are shoveling out to refrain from shoveling into the streets. This is illegal and significantly hampers our plowing operations.

Also, the Streets Department has begun ticketing those who have yet to clear a 30 inch path in the sidewalk in front of their building. Enforcement will first focus on blocks near schools. The Department will not ticket on blocks that have yet been treated. Enforcement could have begun as early as yesterday, 6 hours after the storm but the Department waited to give individuals more time to complete the task.

If your car was towed from a snow emergency, call 215-686-SNOW for its location. Do NOT call 911.

MAYOR NUTTER, CONGRESSMAN BRADY: DAD VAIL 2010 WILL BE IN PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia, December 17 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Congressman Robert A. Brady, and organizers of the Dad Vail Regatta announced today that the 2010 Dad Vail Regatta will be held in Philadelphia. The announcement was made following a meeting in the Mayor’s Office between Mayor Nutter, Congressman Brady, City officials, and the event organizers.

“Dad Vail 2010 will be in Philadelphia, where it belongs,” said Mayor Nutter. “We never stopped working to bring the Dad Vail back and today’s announcement is a victory for the young men and women who participate in this event, for the many thousands who enjoy the spectacle, and for all Philadelphians. I want to thank Congressman Brady, Jim Hanna and the Dad Vail organizers, and Herb Lotman who were all instrumental in this process.”

“The Dad Vail Regatta is a Philadelphia tradition and I wanted to continue to work with the Mayor and the DVR board to make sure that this major sporting event stayed in Philadelphia. The effort to keep the regatta in our city was important because it offers our young people the opportunity to compete in the largest collegiate regattas in the country. So it was very important that we continued to talk and work together to ensure that it stayed right here where it belongs,” Congressman Brady said.

City officials announced that the City of Philadelphia and the Dad Vail organizers will seek to reach a multi-year agreement in order to continue to stage the Regatta in Philadelphia. Mayor Nutter and Congressman Brady committed to assist the organizers with identifying potential sponsors. The City of Philadelphia will continue to work with the organizers to identify potential savings and ways to keep costs low, as it does with every potential event host in the city. However Mr. Hanna emphasized that City costs were never a significant factor in these discussions.

MAYOR NUTTER SETTLES BASEBALL SCORE WITH LOS ANGELES MAYOR, VOLUNTEERS WITH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PHILADELPHIA

WHO: Mayor Michael A. Nutter
Habitat for Humanity of Philadelphia

WHAT: Mayor Nutter will volunteer with soon-to-be Habitat for Humanity Homeowner, Nykia Reid, in Germantown. Earlier this year, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a wager on the winner of the National League Championship. The winning mayor would volunteer at the local Habitat for Humanity, and the losing mayor would provide lunch.

The Mayor Nutter will settle the score and volunteer with Nykia Reid, the soon-to-be Habitat homeowner.

This gut rehab project represents the 143rd affordable home built by Habitat Philadelphia – and is the result of a unique partnership between Habitat Philadelphia, LaSalle University and Interfaith Houses for Habitat (collaboration of eight houses of worship).

Habitat partners with low-income working families who invest 350 hours of sweat equity both in the classroom tackling financial literacy classes and on Habitat construction projects. Upon completion of their sweat equity hours, partner families purchase their home with a zero-interest mortgage from Habitat Philadelphia. Saturday marks the completion of Nykia Reid’s 350 sweat equity hours and brings her closer to achieving homeownership with Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia.

WHERE: 845 Church Lane Philadelphia PA 19138

WHEN: Saturday December 19, 2009 12:00 pm

MAYOR NUTTER APPOINTS MARK GALE AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PHILADELPHIA DIVISION OF AVIATION

Philadelphia, December 18 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter today announced the appointment of Mark Gale as Chief Executive Officer of the City of Philadelphia’s Division of Aviation. The appointment is effective immediately. In his new post, Gale is responsible for directing the development, planning and administration of all the activities of the city’s Division of Aviation, including the Philadelphia International Airport, Northeast Philadelphia Airport and the management of about 800 airport personnel.

“After a national search and interviewing some impressive candidates, it is clear to me that Mark is the best in the business. Mark’s accomplishments as Acting Aviation Director and as Deputy Director of Aviation for Operations and Facilities, bolstered by his vision for the future of Philadelphia International Airport, are impressive. He is the right choice to lead one of region’s most valuable transportation assets,” said Mayor Nutter.

As CEO, Gale serves as the city’s chief representative in local, state, national and international affairs, and as liaison with state and federal agencies and legislators in marketing the airport system and improving air service. The CEO will work under the general direction of the mayor and the Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities and will earn a salary of $200,000 annually. The salary is funded by entirely from the airport enterprise fund, not general taxes.

“Mark brings to this very important post the exceptional management style that is required to run one of the country’s most important airports,” said Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler. “Philadelphia International Airport is an economic engine for the Delaware Valley, I am confident that under Mark’s leadership that engine will contribute more to the vitality of the region than ever before.”

As Acting Director of Aviation for the past 11 months during a period of economic challenge for the City and airline industry, Mark secured over $32 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for critical repairs and improvements at PHL, trimmed division of aviation overtime budgets by half, helped keep PHL affordable for our airline partners, advanced the 6-year $4.8 billion Capital Improvement Program, opened the runway 17-35 extension and opened this great new parking lot.

“I am honored that Mayor Nutter and Deputy Mayor Cutler have chosen me for this important assignment. Philadelphia International Airport should not only serve as a world-class air transportation facility, operating with maximum efficiency while offering premium amenities and excellent customer service, but must and will serve as an epicenter for consistently strong regional economic development and global connectivity,” said Gale. “As both the Airport CEO and a life-long Philadelphia area resident with a tremendous sense of pride in our great City., I am committed to working tirelessly with all necessary stakeholders to achieve these goals.”

Gale understands Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Airport inside and out, having started his career with the Division of Aviation as an intern in 1985. After graduating from college, he returned to the airport in early 1989 and held a variety of positions during his tenure. In 1996 he was appointed the Airport’s Operations Manager before being appointed Deputy Director of Aviation for Operations and Facilities in 2000. As Deputy Director he led a group of managers to direct day-to-day critical airport functions, including all airport operations, security, safety, maintenance, information technology, engineering design & construction, emergency plans, snow removal, rules & regulations development and also oversaw the daily operations at Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

In 2003, he was named Aviation Facility Manager of the Year by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation. Gale holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is an accredited member in the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). Additionally, Gale currently serves as an Officer on the Board of Directors for the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania, and also serves on AAAE’s Policy Review Committee.