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June 20-26, 2002 hall monitor Three Squares and a Cot
Homeless advocates are gearing up to fight Councilman Jim Kenney’s newly introduced bill that would add stiff penalties like jail time to the city’s anti-panhandling ordinance. Kenney’s bill would still favor a treatment approach but uses a maximum 30-day jail sentence and $300 fine as a last resort. Kenney spokesman John Hawkins says the councilman "does not want to put any homeless people in jail, [but] he is very concerned that the current system does not work and is not serving the needs of Center City residents and businesses or the homeless." Marsha Cohen, executive director of the Homeless Advocacy Project, calls the bill "a knee-jerk reaction to a perception of increased aggressive panhandling." She argues,"There is no point in giving fines to homeless people that they can't pay." Cohen believes the bill if passed would ultimately be counterproductive. Giving homeless people criminal records "can interfere with their ability to access public benefits or to get a job." Keel-hauledThe mayor’s wife, Naomi Post, defused controversy in January when she took herself out of the running for the appointment as the city’s new director of social services. But in her role as head of Philadelphia Safe and Sound, a nonprofit policy-analysis group focusing on children’s issues, there’s still plenty of room for conflicts of interest. At a recent press conference touting Safe and Sound's annual report card on the state of Philadelphia's children, Post couldn't help but slip in some praise for the mayor's anti-blight plan, the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. The press conference was set up by Bala Cynwyd-based Keel Communications. Yes, that's Keel as in Acting Communications Director Frank Keel, the mayor's top press flack. Keel has worked for Safe and Sound for years. In fact, it was the Post connection that got his foot in the door for the administration spokesman job. Keel put in a personal appearance at the Safe and Sound press conference in North Philadelphia. As Post chatted with journalists, Keel's cell phone and BlackBerry wireless e-mail device kept going off. Toward the end of the press conference, Post snapped at Keel for paying more attention to his e-mail than to her talk. Keel informed her that the e-mail he was reading was from the mayor. SEPTA: Not Just for Fat Asses AnymoreLost in the controversy over whether the seats on the new SEPTA commuter train cars would accommodate the oversized butts of America’s fattest city was anything else about the new train cars. SEPTA spokesman Jim Whitaker says the new cars will reduce overcrowding on rush-hour trains and make trips faster. In addition, conductors will no longer shout out the next stop as the new cars will have “voice enunciation” technology like that on the Market-Frankford El. (“Next stop Fifth Street for Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.”) In case you missed it, a third of the seats in the new rail cars will be 21 inches wide. The rest will be the traditional 18. Don’t Let the Revolving Door Hit You on the
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