In a message dated 6/8/07 3:28:56 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> You have to fund it somehow, and if one of the goals is to cut the big > doners out (and thereby their influence), you need to make up for some > of that lost revenue. And we already heard that going door to door with > hat in hand doesn't seem to work. If you tax everybody, then a) you get > the money you need and b) you don't have Penn and Drexel calling the > shots and c) it's beholden to it's funders -- us. I don't see another > way to do it, (apart from roving vigilanti groups that issue smackdowns > on people who don't clean up their own properties, which I could go with > as well). > > That means we'd need to form a BID. The main reason that the UCD BID proposal has dragged on for so long is that Councilwoman Blackwell has heard that there isn't universal approval of it, so she refuses to introduce it in City Council. To be clear, her introduction wouldn't mean that she SUPPORTED it - it would merely trigger the notifications & meeting required under PA law, at which point the assessed group would be able to vote against it if they didn't want it to become law. So an introduction on her part wouldn't make it law; it would let the landlords and business owners decide. But, she won't introduce it and let whatever happens, happen. So, if new group of folks came up with a BID and there wasn't universal support - well, if Jannie remains true to her request for consensus first, then she wouldn't introduce it. And we'd be stuck right where we are now. Can another Council member introduce it? In City Council, there is a CUSTOM - not a law, but a custom, a sign of respect - where no other Council member will introduce a bill which will affect a District Councilperson's area. It's called Councilmatic Privilege. So in addition to needing a business plan and willing donors, you need Jannie to agree to support the bill, if you want to have a reliable, fair, evenly divided income stream. That's the way the BID law works. Melani Lamond Melani Lamond, Associate Broker Urban & Bye, Realtor 3529 Lancaster Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19104 cell phone 215-356-7266 office phone 215-222-4800, ext. 113 office fax 215-222-1101 ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
