Thanks - I know about the petition, I signed it. This sounds like a good effort. I certainly hope that stakeholders in the UCD, both institutional and individual will attend and that there can be some productive feedback. I'm a little worried that the legal folks are going to keep a lot from being said, from the institutional side-but maybe Penn has somebody who will have the guts to attend, and at least pass questions up the chain.
_____ From: S. Sharrieff Ali [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 1:57 PM To: 'Bill Sanderson'; [email protected] Subject: RE: [UC] Blackwell calls to save Fenton's job Bill: The motion carried and was without opposition to have a community meeting organized by "concerned community residents". I made the motion and volunteered to make sure the meeting happened. 20 people signed to participate in a committee to organize the meeting. Glenn Bryan's "Penn" meeting was hijacked by a broader community issue today, all other agenda items took a back seat, particularly to the indictments of Councilwoman Blackwell. The idea was not to rely on the UCD or Penn to organize a meeting. It was clear everyone in the room who was aware of the issue with John stood outraged by his treatment, the lack of information prepared by UCD to release to the public, and the revelation of John's "forced resignation" as we were told today. It was clear to me UCD has been advised by legal to say nothing besides the very short statement released. Channel 6 WPVI News attended, filmed part of the meeting and took statements from a few attendees. Councilwoman Blackwell stated she viewed the situation with John as a particular affront on her reputation for political reasons. The UC-Review has volunteered to moderate the community meeting with a suggested location of Rosenberger Hall. It would be wise for representatives of the Board of UCD to participate as well as the trustees committees of the institutions represented. It is not about "Sharrieff Ali" putting a meeting together as an excuse not to attend. Unanimously the "community" is behind the effort to get answers, the meeting is a part of the process. As Tony mentioned, there was a petition of 300 signatures in support of John which had already been forwarded to Councilwoman Blackwell's office. I will post information as I get it. If anyone on the listserv would like to join the committee, e-mail me off-list. S -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Sanderson Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 11:20 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [UC] Blackwell calls to save Fenton's job Tony - one point of clarity: You mention the meeting agreeing on three points. Was there any response from either Glenn Bryan or Lewis Wendell to the idea of the forum organized by Sharrief Ali? I would expect the first two points to require further internal process, but I wonder if they were able to agree to participate in the forum? _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Anthony West Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 10:02 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [UC] Blackwell calls to save Fenton's job Two days after her office had said Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell had no plans to update the community about the Fenton-Knox affair in Malcolm X Park at the First Thursday meeting, she showed up promptly and did just that. She went much farther, angrily baring a serious rift between Univesrsity City District and her. She delivered petitions with 300 signatures in support of Fenton. The room at Walnut St. West Library, filled as usual with 70 people, most of them representatives from more than three dozen agencies and organizations that are active in West Philadelphia, noisily concurred and made forceful pleas to retain the popular UCD employee in his job. There was universal agreement Fenton has been a tireless supporter of the labors of all civic groups to improve their community. Blackwell charged Fenton was being offered resignation with a severance package from UCD. She said she had asked to find ways to help underwrite his work but had been rebuffed. She said she had suggested mediators for the dispute but had been rebuffed. UCD Executive Director Lewis Wendell attended the meeting. He read a previously published statement. Fenton, he reiterated, is still on paid administrative leave pending the results of an internal investigation. In addition, he said, "We are in discussions to resolve the matter." Blackwell repeated her denial that she had involved Fenton or his community service team with a political rally for Tom Knox in the park. "Everybody knows I supported Tom Knox for Mayor," she said. "A couple of weeks before the election, the other candidates began releasing their supporters to support Michael Nutter. They didn't want Knox to win because he was an outsider. Nutter had no constituency of his own." But the community service team was not involved in the Knox rally, she said. Instead, it was engaged in park cleanup and facilitation of another event, a fair that was going on in the park. In this case, the Councilwoman said, her eyes flashing, "John Fenton and UCD did what they do. I work with Penn and UCD. But somebody decided to lie on him. I'm very disappointed." Blackwell expressed her view that UCD has been slighting her in other ways for some time. Although First Thursday is not a parliamentary body, Penn's Community Relations Director Glenn Bryan ceded the floor to the Councilwoman. Community members raised three motions, all of which passed with scarcely a dissenting voice. The meeting endorsed John Fenton and asked he be retained in his position. It asked that UCD policies in general be made public. It supported a community meeting to discuss concerns with UCD, that meeting to be organized by a committee from among the attendees at the meeting, which Sharrieff Ali volunteered to coordinate. -- Tony West
