The mayor says, why dont you try a 9 propertytax increase . Youve talked about selling commercial tax liens. There are other ideas out there. If you had to guess what the makeup is come june, whats in there . I think therell be a combination. The reality is, is that the commercial lien is a onetime revenue stream. But were basically dealing with a oneterm issue, because if the governor is successful in some aspects of this budget, theres gonna be significant revenue coming from the state to the philadelphia schools and schools across the sate. Were not sure where thats gonna play out, which is why we have this oneyear scenario. So, we have to figure out a way to segue into next year, but make sure that the School District does have the appropriate revenue to operate in a reasonable way this year. What do you say to council members, to voters who say darrell, every year theres a hole and were looking for money to fill it. When does it end . Well, the good thing is that, for the first time in recent history, everybody acknowledged that there needs to be more revenue. Even on both sides of the aisle in the state, theres an acknowledgment that there should be more money for schools. Thats a blessing. The common Conversation Centers around where the money comes from, will Governor Wolf. Will wolf get the fair funding . Get the fair funding, or will we get charterschool reimbursement, marcellus shale . Which looks like its gonna happen, more revenue coming from that particular issue. And then we, on a local level, have to figure out what revenue were gonna be in a position to put in this fiscal year to allow us to move until next years budget, that will be more reflective of what happens on the state level. Theres word now the republicans may be looking to tie what they call the achievement School District to fair funding, where theyd want to take the poor schools and put them into a special system pushing them towards charters, outside help. If Governor Wolf wants to get his funding, maybe he has to do that. How do you feel about that . It would be a lot of philadelphia schools. Well, the reality is, is that one side of the aisle has been pushing charter schools. And i think, ultimately, the approach would be to privatize and to do school vouchers, which i do not support. Im concerned, but its early in the conversation. There are a number of issues being put out there. We our issue here in the city of philadelphia is having local control with the appropriate revenue. So, its early in the process. Well see how this all plays out. You went to camden this week to look at something called shotspotter, where theyve got microphones up so even if they dont see whats going on, the mikes say, somethings happening right here. Get over here. Right. And you liked it for philadelphia, but it costs 50,000 per square mile. Can we afford it . If we decided thats a priority, we could afford it. The simple reality is, is that that particular program, thats used in other states, allows you to deal with crime in real time. I think that it can actually reduce the level of crime, particularly as it relates to gunshots. Based on statistics that weve seen, i think its an appropriate investment. Controller butkovitz came out this week and said weve got 250 Police Cameras out there, a third of them dont work, and a lot of them, nobodys watching. Youve talked about wanting to invest in fire stations, police stations. Whats going to happen there . Well, its all about priorities. I mean, this particular year, we got a request for 22 million for Voting Machines. And the Voting Machines are only 9, 10 years old. Im not sure if thats the appropriate use of money. I talked about the 22nd police district, where weve had two Police Officers killed in the last year. And the simple reality is, if you go to that facility, it is not fair to ask our First Responders to work in conditions like that. So, i like to think that we would rethink our priorities as it relates to Capital Investments in our municipal facilities. Now, of course, were all looking at the mayoral election. This week was big because we saw some black and latino leaders throw their support towards councilman kenney, who is white. And many people saying theyve never seen a landscape like this before. People always talk about racial math when it comes to elections in philadelphia. Has that changed, and has it changed permanently, that conversation . I dont think it is. I think the conversation coming out of certain portions of the candidates is making it that. But the simple reality is, i think that people want to have the same thing. People want to have good schools. They want to have quality neighborhoods. They want to have the opportunities that are presented as a result of a strong economic climate. Thats what people are focused on. I think this whole issue around race is somewhat a side issue, from my perspective. Im a little biased because im an elected official, but i really think we should focus on the issues. And because of that, youve run a lot of campaigns. It looks in the polls as though abraham, kenney, williams running neck and neck. As you assess the campaign at this moment, were still about a month out, whos looking the strongest out there to you . Its a strange election, as you said. Ive never seen, this late in the game, theres a potential for three people to win the election. I think its gonna be about organization on election day. I think its gonna be about turnout in specific areas. We will see over the next couple of weeks which way this will start to trend. And its gonna be quite interesting to watch. That was an answer with great finesse. Absolutely. You have put out a bill trying to get organizations that are putting money into the campaign weve seen 3 million come into this race so far to say who they are and what theyre about. But i notice that these organizations, theyre not shy about saying, yeah, thats me. I put that money in. How would this bill change anything . Well, you have to report it. You can say that, were participating in it, but i dont know where all of that money is coming from and who funds those organizations. The simple reality is that we did Extensive Campaign reform to have some level of participation in terms of whos actually showing that money. Theres an extreme lack of transparency in whats going on. That was not the intention. I think this is going around the spirit of what we have done in the past. I think it needs to be changed. We cannot limit those contributions, but we can in fact ask for people to be transparent in terms of whos actually funding these campaigns. Okay. Councilman, always a pleasure when youre here. Thank you for being with us. Thank you so much. And well take a short break and come back to our panel on inside story. Inside story is presented by temple university. Temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. Plugged into the city, powered by the world. Temple. Edu takecharge. Tradingin or selling your car, truck or suv . Webuyanycar. Com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. One, get your free online valuation. Two, drive to your local car buying center. And three, walk out with your check in as little as 30 minutes. Buying used cars is all we do. All makes and models. No dealership pressure. Well even settle your loan or lease. So dont wait. Get your free online valuation now at webuyanycar. Com welcome back. Im tamala edwards. This is inside story. Lets introduce you to the panel. First up, attorney ajay raju. Good morning. Morning. Columnist and attorney christine flowers. Good morning. Good morning. Attorney jim eisenhower. Good morning, tam. If i need to lawyer up, i am good. [ laughter ] and Communications Executive do you have a law degree Jeff Jubelirer . I dont, but i play one on tv. [ laughs ] okay. If you have a problem with them, you come to me. All right. So, we just saw Darrell Clarke here talking about a number of things, starting with the budget, the hearings going into may. Of course, funding for education, number one. Do they get the 103 million that the mayor has asked for and who wins out on how they get there . Well, you know, historically, mayor nutter has not been very successful at getting budgets passed. I chaired the pica board for the first five years of his term and i dont think he got a single budget passed. So, i think what the mayor has proposed is unlikely to be the final result, based on history. And, now, what the councilman likes the selling of property liens that would only get them 50 million. They still thats only half the money. Do we have thoughts on what else theyre gonna probably end up doing . I think its a complicated topic with nuanced solutions. It cant just be one panacea that cures this problem. It wont just be the propertytax increase. It wont just be the as the Council President said, it wont just be the sale of tax liens. It would be finding efficiencies in different governance and allocating some of the efficiency dollars back to education. It will be doing something with the vacant lots. You know, you have seven or eight different ways to solve that problem. Everybodys looking for just one pill to cure it. Its not going to be. Its going to be a complicated answer to a complicated question. Now, one of the things about councilman clarke is he is a very careful person in terms of what he assumes. But you could tell from his answers, he really thinks that Governor Wolf is going to get the change in funding he wants for the schools. Is that a smart assumption . Maybe its hopeful and optimistic, but remember who controls the legislature in harrisburg. Its the republicans. And thats where you see and you talked with councilman clarke about this proposal for this achievement School District. Whether or not that passes, what it signals is youre not going to get the money without accountability. There is no way that the leadership, the republican leadership, that doesnt frankly, represent they represent the state, they represent their district, but not the city of philadelphia is going to pass anything thats just heres money. Good luck. Youre in control. What was interesting about that, christine, is it wasnt as though they floated the bill and everybody said, youre not gonna get it. They floated it, and it sounds like people on both sides of the aisle are open to it, the idea that there would be this district, bottom 5 of schools go into it, turn around. We, you know, want you to probably look at outside contractors or charters. And if you dont, were pretty much gonna force you into a charter. Yeah, basically. I mean, and the src exists because of problems that the state had with the School District of philadelphia. And, so, i think philadelphia has always been a huge concern for the commonwealth. And, you know, in order to make sure that philadelphias going to make good use of whatever monies are made available to it, there has to be accountability. You know, it just it, to me i do think that people are finally coming to the realization that philadelphia requires something above and beyond the treatment that everyone statewide gets. But there has to be some accountability, and they havent seen that. Lets talk a little bit about the mayors race. And ill start with you, jim cause you were about to say something. We talked about what we saw this week. We saw black leaders come out and say, actually, were for kenney, some of them. We saw hispanic leaders come out and say, were actually going to go with kenney. You know, this is a place where people always talk about racial math. Is this a oneoff particular to these candidates, or is this a change in the landscape in philadelphia . I think it is. I disagree with the idea that racial politics are as dominant as they were, say, in the 80s. I think we might actually be getting beyond that. However, money really determines whats gonna happen in the closing weeks of this election. And the only candidates that have enough money to be on television are the two leading candidates jim kenney and Tony Williams. Well, i mean, look, i dont know if its racial math, but if you are serving the communities where the communities exist and if you have a large majority of the city happens to be africanamerican and if youre in there day in and day out, as Tony Williams has been serving the community, lives in the neighborhood you may have one or two who dont agree with him on politics, may have endorsed him. But overwhelming majority of the black leaders have endorsed Tony Williams. So, i dont know if it was an avalanche as you suggest. I think its still i dont know if its because hes africanamerican. Why they support him is because of his record and what he has done for the community. And that, to me, is not racial math as much as we vote for people that we like and because they have done something to benefit us or have served us in some capacity, and thats why we like them. And i would say our own insider George Burrell was the first person who said this is coming, and he clearly was somewhat shocked by it. You know, we dont usually see this, any black leaders on the level that came out, to go for somebody other than a black leader. So, he seemed to suggest, and a lot of people seemed to think it was something unusual. Well, lets remember, you know, the black Political Community is no different from any other Political Community. There are factions. Its not monolithic. There are theres the chaka fattah group. Theres the dwight evans group. Theres the Darrell Clarke group. Exactly. And thats why there was that support for jim kenney. I dont think i really i agree with ajay. I dont think its the racial math any longer. Identity politics still play a role. But its more, you now, what has this person done for my constituency . And, you know, kenney has a natural constituency. So does anthony williams. So does lynne abraham. She has the name recognition. But, christine, if you look at the latino leadership, they have, in the past, endorsed danny savage, but councilman sanchez beat him two to one. They have now endorsed manny morales, you know, with real problems. And, by the way, unfortunately linked also, now, to the kenney endorsement since they received it. Right. And they havent endorsed our former table mate. But ill say to you councilman sanchez will beat him two to one easily. So, i dont know if these endorsements mean much. Its endorsement by few who have a political agenda, but i dont think they represent the entire community of constituents. I think thats the point. You know, what is the value, still, of endorsements . And, jeff, lets talk about Something Else that was brought up, which is these changes that people are talking about making about independent expenditures. 3 million that weve seen from these outside groups. And now theyre trying to make it where anybody putting money into the race, we start to know at least a little bit about who they are. Would that really change what we would see here in terms of money . Or not really, we would just know who they are . Well, its changed dramatically because of the Campaign Finance law in the city of philadelphia. Without that money, we would have hardly seen dribs and drabs at this point, less than one month out, these candidates up on television. It seems theres been many forums, many debates. No one seems to be watching or paying attention. We are cause this is what we do. But, in a way, its informing the electorate. Today, if you still think about it, in philadelphia, the people that are going to vote, the likely voters, are watching television. Theyre 55plus. Theyre not 24 to 29yearolds. These folks still get their information yes, they may be on facebook from television. And what youre going to see in the coming weeks is a barrage. Whether theyre from the independent expenditure groups absolutely, and i think theyll be negative in many ways to their candidates. But also the candidates themselves, because this is it. Theres nothing left. But if they had to do a better job of saying, yes, this is me putting this money out there, would that change who was part of that . Absolutely. There are some folks who wont contribute to these independent groups with by being known. They dont want to upset anyone, or if theyve got business with someone, they dont want to be out there. But, you know, i think anything sunlights the best disinfectant. But were not there yet. You know, to what jeff says and its sort of, like, a corollary, but he was talking about the over 55, the 45 to 55 group being the ones paying attention. There was an article on philly. Com about how the millennials, so many of the millennials are just not involved in this race. They dont care. Theyre not paying attention. Its disappointing. Its very disappointing. And you have to figure out what constituency are you focusing on and targeting here . Lets turn a little bit and talk about something that came out this week. Septa news about a contract they had with a concern called fti, looking at legal issues how to cut down on all of the lawsuits. Now, on one hand, they cut the number of lawsuits, and they seem to have saved them money about 15 million if you compare to two years ago. But, boy, it was a 2. 8 million contract. No bid. And there were people getting billing as much as almost 650 an hour. How do we look at this . They got their moneys worth or, boy, this was not a good idea . I love the way the media likes to pick up on these things. They dont like lawyers. They dont like consultants. No 600 an hour . I mean, its ridiculous. Thats more than the septa inhouse lawyers would make. Its an exaggeration. But she ended up only getting 35,000 for the 22 hours of work. But, ajay, should they have done it through bids . They said, look, we just wanted to get it done. We just wanted to start saving the money. Let me put it this way they spent 2. 8 million. I think its more than 15 million. Its around 25 million that they saved. Thats a 10times return. In our business, in any business environment, thats a home run. So, if youre a homeowner and somebody says, why did you fix all the windows . Before, air was coming in, our utility bill was 10,000 a month and now its only 100 a month. If youre complaining about 200 you spent to make sure the windows are not leaking air inside, thats what this storys about. They spent 2. 8 million to get 25 million in savings. Remember, last year, our septa and pat deons leadership was called numberone Transit Authority in the entire nation. Thats what were criticizing right now. But let me play contrarian. Why dont you do that . I agree, and those are the facts, but heres its perception. And perception is reality. Perception is, the board of septa itself did not have to vote. They have rules. And they didnt break any rules. They could nobid this. Theres no sunlight, as i say again, and there are people on the board that didnt even know what happened. I just think that being a little bit more open about it, saying were going to do this because we are committing to you that we are going to save x amount of dollars. Its like complaining about the Weight Watchers bill because you lost 600 pounds. Openness. Openness. Its still public dollars. Well, one thing that is open, taking a look at a different campaign, is whats going on between joe sestak and pat toomey. If you compare them, sestak raised about 300,000 over the last three months. Toomey brought in 2 million. Very different amounts of money on hand. What does this mean for sestak . Does he keep going . Or does he say never mind . It means that there are going to be people who are going to challenge him. Hell probably stay in the race. Ed pawlowski already in. No, he i mean, i dont see sestak leaving the race. Hes a pretty tenacious character. Pretty . [ laughter ] very. Yeah, what was it 422mile walk across pennsylvania . Right. But there are going to be a lot of people seeing his achilles heels. And toomey has, amazingly, been able to make alliances across the aisle with a very Diverse Group of backers. Including some democrats. Many prominent democrats. Absolutely. And sestak has not been able to even when he was in the house, he wasnt able to do that. Hes seen much more as a partisan figure. Lets not forget, though, you always have an advantage if youre the incumbent. Youre always gonna raise more money. But the dscc has said they want this seat. They think its one they could pick up. What are they doing right now . If youre them, who are you you know, weve heard williams they have josh shapiro on speed dial. Exactly. 16 has the potential this is analytical speaking, not necessarily personal of being a big Democrat Year because of hillary clinton. Theres gonna be more people coming out. We know what happens in pennsylvania. There hasnt been a republican whos won pennsylvania since george bush sr. Hillary we dont know who the republicans gonna be has the potential to clean clock in the suburbs. We have the convention here in philly. And the convention. Josh shapiros from here. He has a strong record on fiscal issues, not just social issues. I think hes probably thinking about it pretty hard. Almost ready to bet that ill shave my head off if toomey loses. You heard it here. If toomey loses. Write that down. [ all speaking indistinctly ] i said almost. I said almost. But i will tell you this. I will do it because i dont think hes gonna lose. He is now the new senator specter. He has come has such support from both sides. Why did he sign that letter to iran, though . He signed with the wackos in the republican party. Well, were gonna remind you about this almost bet. Finally, lets jump across the river a little bit and talk about new jersey. Governor christie, continuing, it seems, to play out, does he want to run for president . But also having some trouble in stadia. Been trying to negotiate with various unions to deal with pensions. The new Jersey Education Association got up from the table and said never mind right as the courts are about to take up. Does he have to fully fund the pensions, which he doesnt really have the money to do . What happens here for governor christie . Well, you know, hes dealing with a democratic state, essentially. Hes a republican governor in a democratic state. And that makes it very difficult for him to get his initiatives through, particularly when hes been weakened by bridgegate and other things that hurt his poll ratings. And hes dropping precipitously in the polls in new jersey. So i think hes gonna have no choice but to fund the pensions because its required by law. But you guys are lawyers. We see cases where people are told, you get these damages, but then the person youre getting it from has no money. Youll get nothing from them. What happens here if, at the end of the day, he doesnt have the money to fund those pensions . Yeah, you know, i have not been following this topic at all, so, uh. [ laughter ] ajays honest. But, tam, okay, i have. I have. You know, you cant take water from a stone, right . But i think the courts and im not the lawyer on this panel could very well rule against him, and money will come from somewhere. But interestingly enough, this could actually help christie. I think everyone, democrats, certainly republicans, realize that something has to be done about this crisis. Not just in new jersey, but the state or, excuse me, the country, as it relates to the rising cost of pensions. Defined benefits, not 410 k s, Health Benefits that are cadillac plans. And im not ngas representing their members. I respect that. But something needs to be done. I think jeffs absolutely right. I think its gonna blow back. She agrees with me. I do. But something has to be done, also, to pay for this show, so were gonna take a break and come right back to our insiders inside stories of the week. Inside story is presented by temple university. Temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. Plugged into the city, powered by the world. Temple. Edu takecharge. Welcome back. Time now for inside stories of the week. Ajay, well start with you. Tamala, more people in philadelphia die because of drivethroughs than drivebys. Obesity is a major problem. For pennsylvania, Heart Disease is the numberone killer. So, go on the website for the American Heart Association which is doing work in trying to make sure that were healthier and be healthy. Christine. Tam, this week, the Supreme Court is going to deal with the issue of samesex marriage for the second time in three years. Some thought that it was going to be a slam dunk, that samesex marriage is gonna be legalized across the board. But then we saw what happened in indiana, with the conscious laws. The justices watch the news, and they understand that its not as cut and dry as the legalities, and we have to look at, what impact will this have on the religious conscience laws and the protections for americans who are opposed to samesex marriage. Jim. Tamala, embattled attorney general Kathleen Kane finally caught a break last week when the court continued her hearing for contempt which was scheduled for tomorrow monday to consider some of her legal arguments and have some more discovery on some of the issues. That gives her some time to try and pull something together and avoid this finding. All right. Well end with you, jeff. Sure. Politics make strange bedfellows. In philadelphia this week, you had Union Leaders standing up with Business Leaders like Gerard Sweeney from brandywine to say, tax us more. Really . Tax us more . What theyre calling for is to increase commercial taxes, commercial property taxes like buildings, things that dont move, and lower that wage tax, lower that net income tax for people cause thats how you attract jobs. Its got a chance to pass. Lets see if they get it. Thank you for joining us here on inside story. Im tamala edwards. Well see you next week. You people nydia han along with eva pilgrim. Coming up next on action news, breaking news, two people are killed in a violent wreck on interstate 295 were live. A death poll is rising in nepal after the massive earthquake. They continue to search for survivors. Those stories and newer next on action news. Good afternoon, it is sunday april 26. Heres some of the stories were following on action news. Breaking news, at least two people are killed and several others hurt in a crash on 295 in gloucester county. Were live with the latest. The death