Yes, thanks Al. I changed the wording a bit for my situation as the owner of a rental property and sent it in; it was very easy.
And it is important for everyone to stand behind business owners, or anyone being singled out: commercial storefronts today, apartment units next, then what the hell-- everybody later. The powers-that-be don't single out a specific segment because they're trying to address a problem specific to that segment. They do it because they're using a "divide-and -conquer" strategy and they perceive that segment as being the least powerful or the least sympathetic. The powerful can then separate that group from the whole, and make the whole believe that the proposed change will apply only to those being singled out. Then once in place, the change expands to include everyone. Examples: when Nutter wanted to cut libraries and pools, did he propose to cut all of them? No. Which ones did he select? The ones in poor neighborhoods. Why? The people there were perceived as being the least powerful. When UCD tried to get that NID/BID tax, did they propose to tax everyone and create a "residential improvement district" (or RID, which applies to housing, including both apartments and single family homes)? No, because homeowners would rise up against a new tax. And if homeowners did agree to have it, the Penn-connected folks who were behind it would have been outnumbered, and the NID/BID governance would have been controlled by homeowners. What did the NID/BID supporters propose? A "business improvement district" which defined the business to be improved as apartments (despite the fact that apartments belonged in RIDs and that BIDs were intended for commercial business strips like Lancaster Avenue or East Passyunk Avenue in South Philly). Why? Because the proponents could count the thousands of units they themselves owned in order to control the governance of the BID and how the money was spent. They could then tax the smaller landlords first while assuring homeowners the BID would never apply to them. And if the landlords resisted, they could be vilified as "cheap" and "greedy" villians who didn't want to use a tiny portion of the wheelbarrows full of cash they were making to clean up the mess that their trashy tenants were causing. Once the BID was in place, the proponents could come back later and claim that they needed more money and they have to tax eveyone. And if the homeowners resisted: "Cheap, greedy villians who..." Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:27:23 -0400 From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [UC] Register your objections to the $500 trash fee proposed for commercial buildings Al, thanks for keeping the list updated about this important issue. It's very easy to make the submission. Register your objections to this fee now, before it's too late. You may do so by submitting a simple form on the web page at www.icodat.com/notrashfee. What you fill in on this form will be converted to an email message and sent, individually, to each member of City Council as well as the Mayor and the head of the Mayor's new Office of Business Services. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] Sent: Jul 13, 2009 11:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [UC] Register your objections to the $500 trash fee proposed for commercial buildings You may be subject to the $500/year trash fee the city is about to impose if: you own a small building with commercial space do business in such a building And you may (rightly) have cause for concern if you own any rental property at all, because -- once the city gets away with charging owners of buildings with commercial zoning for trash pickup, owners of buildings with rental licenses will be next. (And -- if you're a renter -- you don't have to wonder whether a fee imposed on your landlord will find its way into a rent increase for you. It will!) Register your objections to this fee now, before it's too late. You may do so by submitting a simple form on the web page at www.icodat.com/notrashfee. What you fill in on this form will be converted to an email message and sent, individually, to each member of City Council as well as the Mayor and the head of the Mayor's new Office of Business Services. Alan Krigman KRF Management, ICON/Information Concepts Inc 211 S 45th St, Philadelphia PA 19104-2918 215-349-6500, fax 215-349-6502 [email protected] or [email protected] PS: And tell your friends (all over the city) who may not be UClist members about this simple way to make their voices heard in City Hall Looking for love this summer? Find it now on AOL Personals.---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see .
