(Fired up, ready to blow a really easy race. PA Democratic Party chairman Marcel Groen | Photo credit: Jewish Exponent) Philly Democrats recently blew an opportunity for an easy special election win in the super-safe 197th District House seat in North Philly, by nominating a guy who didn't live in the district. Continue reading

  Council President Darrell Clarke once remarked, "This is Philadelphia. People drive to the corner store. This is what we do.” This attitude is common in his Council office, and it leads them to seriously misunderstand--and misrepresent--the interests of 5th District residents. Continue reading

  (Button wall at the Board of Elections | Photo: Jon Geeting) Ever since Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States last November, those of us in the business of engaging our fellow citizens in the glamorous work of municipal politics have been living in the best of times (at least in one sense.) Continue reading

(Towey Rec Center | Photo: Jon Geeting) The Kenney administration's Rebuild initiative--a $500 million public works program that will reinvest in the city's beleaguered parks, rec centers, and libraries--was in the news this week due to some new political developments in Kenney's ongoing negotiations with City Council. Continue reading

  A new initiative from Council President Darrell Clarke suggests the recent (and not-so-recent) frustration expressed by the business community has generated some attention in City Council.  Continue reading

(Paseo Verde, Philly's first LEED for Neighborhood Development project, near Temple| Halkin Mason Photography) City Councilmembers Blondell Reynolds-Brown and Bill Greenlee introduced City Council's best economic development idea in years last week, and it won't even cost the city any money (except for some Planning Commission staff time.) Continue reading

The Council Report Card is a bit thin this week, since comparatively few bills were introduced last Thursday, and we're dedicating some extra pixels to two of them in separate blog posts. This week Bill Greenlee proposed allowing a topiary of honeysuckles to encroach on the right-of-way in Northern Liberties (for the Flower Show), and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez proposed small fee increases for a wide variety of permits and licenses, which would fund L+I. Continue reading

In which several Councilmembers introduce city lease agreements on behalf of the Kenney administration, and rezone some neighborhoods; Bobby Henon explores whether city animal shelters are up to snuff (they're not); and Mark Squilla and Kenyatta Johnson put a few properties in the Land Bank. Continue reading

(Photo: Philadelphia Inquirer) As we wrote two weeks ago, City Councilmembers Mark Squilla (D-District 1) and David Oh (Republican At-Large) are pushing a code amendment that would place a moratorium on new curbside electric vehicle charging stations. The moratorium passed the Committee on Streets and Services already, but not the full Council. Yet we are hearing that city agencies and the Philadelphia Parking Authority are already enforcing the moratorium even though Council hasn't actually done anything yet, with 12 electric vehicle owners' applications waiting in limbo. Continue reading

(Image: NYC.gov) The recent saga over Toll Brothers' plans to build a residential tower on Jeweler's Row has invigorated Philadelphia's historic preservation movement, and touched off an interesting side debate about the alleged trade-offs between historic preservation and promoting sufficient housing growth. Continue reading