Transcripts For WPVI Inside Story 20160228

Che guevara made 1961 the year of education. They had an illiteracy rate of 27 , which is ours, as well. And within a year, they dropped it to 4 . Howd they do it . They had the political will to attack Adult Literacy. And they closed the schools. Brigades of teachers and students went out into peasant fields, taught reading, taught writing. And within a year, it was turned around. And not only that, but today, cuba has the greatest literacy statistics in the world. And i talked to Michael Nutters the director of the Mayoral Commission on literacy, and she said, we could do that here. We have the plans to do that here. We dont have the political will to do that here. It would cost 56 million to really make a dent in Adult Literacy. 550,000 adults in philadelphia lack basic literacy skills. We cant get to job creation if we dont deal with this issue. And how would that begin . Explain once you do that part, what does it move within education for our kids to change how we see that system . Well, the way look, the city deserves credit for this read by 4th campaign, trying to get all kids to grade level by fourth grade. But if you start with the kids and theyre going home where theres no books, where because of lack of literacy skills, there is no jobs or underemployment, you start to get a sense of the cycle of poverty. Weve got to attack Adult Literacy to get to job creation, to get to transformation. And wouldnt that create jobs, if we had to create this army of people out there . A publicworks program of people teaching the city to read. Back in the day, they used to have bookmobiles and libraries that would be on wheels and would go into the neighborhoods, and you could read whatever age you were. There was easy access to education through books. I mean, to your point, you have children that go home, and they might not have books and they might not have parents who are wellread, but generations ago, you had parents that were not necessarily wellread, but they were inspired to make sure that their children were wellread. What we have are generations of people who are caught in this malaise that literacy is not that important, reading is not that important. Hence, we have lowwage employees because they cannot take on highwage jobs. We blame the teachers, and the teachers cant do triage if the children are going home into a family environment where their parents cant read, their parents cant help them. So, its absolutely important that we start in the home with the adults. So lets get to the big nut here. How do we get the 56 million . Where do we get it . Well, we can start with pensions because were spending an enormous amount of money, almost 650 million a year, to finance a 5. 7 billion crisis thats completely hidden from public view and mostly ignored by elected officials. A 53 billion problem at the stateofpennsylvania level. And the words reform, when we hear them in relation to pension, are really about moving people from defined benefit to defined contribution, which wont make a dent. Philadelphias problem needs an infusion of cash. The sale of pgw was a way to do that. For whatever reason, it got completely bollixed up. But there are many operating assets of City Government which could be sold to private enterprises or operated as municipal or regional authorities, and we could infuse the pension fund with the cash that it needs. When the Pension Fund Goes bellyup, which nobody thinks it will in elected office, because the performance in the market will eventually solve the problem. And our performance in the market has been pathetic. And last year, we made 0. 8 , and we were supposed to make 7. 85 . And this year, were down 4. 45 . So the markets not going to get us out of this. We need a systemic attack on this crisis. And youve got an answer. What should we do . Nobody at this table would put their money in an investment portfolio that was managed by people on the board who had no experience in investment. Philadelphia pension fund no experience in investment. We give bonuses whenever the pension Fund Performs in excess of 7. 85 . Ridiculous. Drop. Are you kidding me . We spent 1. 1 billion over the last 14 years to pay people big bonuses to retire. All of these things have to get fixed. The carrot is to put cash in the system. The stick is to change the nature of the pension fund benefit. But you talked specifically in your idea about certain assets that you would sell. We saw people try to sell pgw, and it got bollixed up. You say, can we privatize water, airport, pgw, parking . What do we need to do to make that happen . How much money would be enough to push this . The federal government passed a bill 15 years ago to privatize five airports, one large one. Midway got the designation in chicago. They had a 2. 6 billion sale on the table. They walked away from it. Philadelphia could go to washington and say, let us be the largeairport privatization test case. Across the street from this television station, everybody gets their water from a private water company. Parking authority, the most efficient operation in the country probably, at least when it comes to my car. And why does parking need to be a municipal enterprise . These are things that privatesector companies do all the time. It would be great to keep these things if we had the luxury of no problems. We have huge problems, and we spend so much cash from the general fund that we dont have the money to do what larry just suggested we do for education. Really quickly, george. Youre our political insider. How can we can we get this through in some way, privatizing these things . Well, the interesting is, we talk about this whole political thing. There is no and the notion that philadelphia is a democratic city but the philadelphia, as a democratic city, has no common agenda. And until you can get leadership weve had, what, five mayors and five president s of city council who havent worked really effectively together, this new mayor and new council president. But unless you get the legislative body and the executive office aligned and willing to make hard choices, to make the kind of hard choices about congressman fattah, for example, campaigned for mayor six years ago on selling the airport. And you just cant get traction on those things because there are labor issues or a whole bunch of isolated issues. But there needs to be, in my judgment, youve got to get that collective political will, and youve got to get a greater privatesector power center in the city thats focused more on things other than just taxes. I think many people think political will will never happen. Can we get a privatesector group together . Could the work on that get going and they present it as a fait accompli to the politicians, we want this . I think thats been sorely lacking in philadelphia a sort of group of civic and Business Leaders who are in the ear of elected officials sort of leading the way. You know, the World Bank Just came out with a study of the most Competitive Cities in the world. And the one thing that all the cities in the world whose Economic Growth exceeds that of their host country, the one thing they all have in common is a collaborative working relationship between the Business Community and the political class, that theres consultation not dictation and not fear. And thats what does not exist here. And, you know, thats really interesting on a national scale. One of the reason that donald trump is so popular right now is because hes looked at as an outsider, as a businessman and not a politician. And were looking at it at a macro, local level. But there really is that you know, no matter what you think about donald trump, there is a desire on the part of the electorate of people to have that symbiosis between the Business World and the politicians. And the entrenched interests maybe will be neutralized if you can have that kind of a symbiosis. But, you know, one of things because we dont have a lot of Corporate Headquarters located here, many of the businesses that are located here are dependent upon the political process. It impacts their businesses on a daytoday basis. So those relationships are important to them, and antagonizing them is hard for them to do. Could we scoop down into wilmington, with all of those big businesses down there, and get them to all come together and say, we could make it really good in philadelphia . Since 1871, this has been a oneparty town. 80 years of republicans. Were gonna celebrate 80 years of democrats soon, too. When you dont have competition for ideas, you dont have competition for the jobs that fill the decision making, its very hard to create an environment in which you are going to be on the edge of where this city should be. Lets talk a little bit about, going on to the next topic, cause were talking about politics political corruption. Youve been talking about something. Its a big issue. So much of the infrastructure, people are tied to the way things are. How do you move them off the dime . Lets do this differently. You say one place to start is the courts. Absolutely. Well, as an attorney, and there are other attorneys at this table, you know, were so used to the system in pennsylvania and philadelphia, where we elect our judges. Thats actually the minority position in the nation. Most judges, even at the state level, are appointed. And i believe that you know, this is sort of almost biblical money is the root of all evil. One of the problems i remember i graduated from law school in 1987. And a couple of years later, there was the roofers scandal, which everybody will remember here, where we had city hall, common pleas, and municipal courts judges taking envelopes with 400 i mean, they were selling themselves pretty cheaply there 400, and they were getting this money from people who would eventually appear before them, or their associates would appear before them in court. I remember reading a man for all seasons, and theres a scene where someone whos supposed to appear before saint thomas more in court is trying to give him a silver goblet and some hot cross buns to sweeten his judgment. He didnt take them. Our judges did. And that shows that we need a system where no one is going to be beholden to people who are actually financing their positions. Campaigns are based on money. I think we need a system where we can appoint judges, even though that may concentrate influence in a Smaller Group of people. You immediately wonder, if corruption is rife, why would we believe that appointed judges are better than elected judges if somebodys just making a deal with a group of people versus trying to do it with a lot of people . Well, and this is gonna sound elitist, but i think that, at the very least, when you have a group of people who are going to be able to appoint judges, you can vet those individuals on those committees and understand what their knowledge of the legal system is. Are they retired judges themselves . Are they attorneys . Whereas, the vast majority of individuals who vote for judges, in the city of philadelphia at least, really dont know what and who they are voting for. Those who do vote because, i mean, when you look at the judicial retention elections, its pitiful. I mean, sometimes its fewer than 1 in 11 people that actually go out to vote. Would this make a difference . If we made this switchover, would we see a significant difference in terms of political corruption, or is there Something Else . Should we be tweaking this is in some way, looking at another this is the place to cook up an idea. How should we look at this . Not sure that the people who would do the appointing would be any less influenced than the people who were running for judge. But we have a system where people get on the bench who may or may not have anything other than good ward leader credentials or relationships. And the quality of justice thats meted out in the system leaves something to be desired. George, im gonna come back to you. Ive been spending a lot of time recently thinking about chief Justice Roberts as were going through this whole Supreme Court nomination process and how much he is influenced by the venom that has been spewed at him by conservatives who were excited about his appointment to the United States Supreme Court, but now disappointed in his interpretation of the constitution, which they say theyre in support of, with respect to obamacare, and whether that influences his behavior, both as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court and what his decisionmaking process is. I dont know the answer to that question, but theres a lot of venom. They think they can influence him by their public attacks on him. You know, again, george, im gonna come back to you, because youve watched a lot of administrations. People always talk about public corruption and wanting to change it. If you could get one thing, if we could do one thing, what would it be . You know, people who are dishonest are gonna be dishonest. I dont care who the mayor is, what Michael Nutter did, what mayor nutter did focusing on it, building the infrastructure in place to really root it out. Thats the best you can do, is respond to it and respond to it quickly. But we also need to be focused on, and im no fan of corruption, but and i used to say this mayor nutter, you know, honest government doesnt have to be good government. Government is about judgment and what you do. But i think you got to get all you can do is root it out. You cant stop it. I think its also transparency. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, as my brother larry platt likes to say. But i think thats probably the one thing that you can do, just transparency. Brother from another mother, to be clear. But, you know, when we say that, everybody talks about the situation with the commissioners, everybody talks about drop. We know about it. Its out in the light. But people wonder, will it ever change . Is that really enough . Is there anything else we can do . Well, theres a group called Transparency International that actually is a global group that does audits of governments in terms of their ethics and actually has an Assessment Tool kit that does exactly what ajay is talking about, which is shining a light on and can write a plan. But you have to be open to change, and this system is not necessarily open to change. I happen to like what sheila bair, the former head of the fdic, proposed, which was, lets hold a portion of elected officials salaries in escrow and only release them when you hit certain metrics. But you know what . Thats a brilliant idea because it turns the whole idea of money being a motivator on its head. Youre actually channeling it in a positive way. But can i say this . Most people hear the term public corruption, they still dont see how it impacts their lives directly. We havent necessarily quantified in dollars and cents at the end of the year to say, this is how much public corruption costs us. Because if you can get people invested and say, wow, this money could have gone to x, y, and z. Why is it like this . You have to start a campaign where it matters so people can feel it. Who should do that . I think we could have i mean, we can have this as a private foundation that can work with that. Because what youre talking about, it could be something that the schools could do the university of pennsylvania, for example, when youre looking at the Fels Institute as well as the annenberg school. Just like we have politicheck, where basically it checks on whether people politifact, excuse me where it says that politicians are speaking truthfully, we should have those same kind of metrics and tools, and we can use the universities as a resource. Well, actually, jeremy nowak at the citizen actually did find an academic study i forget where it was from that found that the average philadelphian pays 1,300 a year in a corruption tax. Well, this is a function that used to be performed by the media and by the press. And, you know, as the press, particularly the printed press and electronic media, have been diffused through the internet, the Resources Available to do the kind of investigations that are necessary to bring to the publics attention cases of political corruption, which, by the way, isnt just politicians, its the corrupters, the people who are paying, who also need to have a little sunshine on them. We got to take a quick break. When we come back, were gonna take a look at urban redesign and jobs. More new ideas. Well be right back. 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. Hello. Im tamala edwards. Welcome back to our new ideas show here on inside story. Ajay, were going to go to you. Urban redesign, you say its a simple idea with a big impact. So, there are 42,363 vacant lots in philadelphia. Thats 1,790 acres that currently create 3. 2 billion of economic blight to adjacent properties, 10. 6 million in essential services that the city provides, and 1. 8 million in lost tax revenues. By all accounts, the vacant lots are a problem. Theyre blighted. They are. A haven for crime. And also in a county that ranks last among all counties in pennsylvania in terms of obesity and health reasons, it is also a food desert. Imagine if you can convert that into urban gardens. In summer months alone, we can generate 220 million of produce in philadelphia, enough to feed our hungry. So every time you walk by a vacant lot, imagine a container full of food that is rotting away that our hungry and the poor cant access. What would you say to people who say, but weve heard of urban gardens before. Schools do them, others do them. What would you tweak on this that would sort of push this to the next level as something we should do . Germany is the leader in vertical farming, so is canada. Now other parts of the United States are leading vertical farming. Just imagine if you just spark that as an idea. Now, i know that political process. You cant take 1,790 acres of land and convert it into urban farming. Okay, i know that. In a city that needs fresh vegetables when more people die because of drivethroughs rather than drivebys, its not gonna happen because of political process. But other cities are doing it. Other countries are doing it. Now, you can even have Something Like uber concept, where if you have a backyard and youre not using it currently, i can rent it and i can create vegetable produce. Just a spark of an idea. You have vacant lots that are currently not generating revenue, economic blight, are a haven for crime. Whatever your policy reason is why you want to do it, even if you take 10 , 20 , we lead the country in child poverty. We ought not to be a city that has such richness and yet we have poor who cant access food. Weve got weavers way here. Is that the kind of thing that. Mayor street started, a part of his nti program, was cleaning and greening lots in the neighborhood. And della clark at the Enterprise Center now has a program where shes trying to get entrepreneurs to kind of take these lots and use this neighborhood farming as an entrepreneurial idea. So there is some thinking about it. Singapore, germany, other parts of the United States. Now theres also federal funding. And also there are philanthropists who are willing to convert lots into urban gardens. There are some of those lots that are happening on a small scale and pilot level in kensington and such because theyre fueling restaurants. All this restaurant boom you see in fishtown and whatnot are in partnership. So, yes, this could happen and we could go on partnership with the Penn State Extension that teaches farming, that talks about health and wellness. And then we can go into partnership, whether youre talking about soil out in Chester County or kennett square, or you can even look even closer to home. If you have a home depot, if you have a lowes, can you strike a deal with them to say, in deferment for x of your taxes that you would do x and y investment in these communities and these particular lots. Theres a possibility i dont know necessarily that weve explored it. I think its worth exploring because, again, in these same neighborhoods, its not just about the food and the physical wellness, its also the emotional wellness. When you see people who have had issues, even at philadelphia prison has a garden to help people with emotional stability issues sometimes. And working in the earth is incredibly healing for a lot of people. And trust me, that mental instability in those neighborhoods pop, pop, gang, bang, right . Well, thats exactly what im saying, too. Because the corollary effect is you dont have vacant lots where, what is that going to attract . Criminality, drugs. When you have people in the neighborhood seeing that those lots are being used for something good, you also may have Police Details that arent going to have to patrol that particular area. You might be able to, you know, focus on areas where you can maximize the resources. And it really is important to have people walking by vacant lots and seeing them being used for gardens, flowers, and activity. Nia, you get the last idea. We have a couple of minutes, and yours touches on jobs and education. Jobs and education we make it seem like its such a big thing. Im gonna go back to an old idea. I really truly believe that teachers should live in the neighborhoods where they teach. Its crazy sometimes when people look at it. We have enough properties that can be rehabbed and can be revitalized, where if you can provide an Incentive Program where you say, okay, if you are a teacher thats coming into this neighborhood thats going to teach at this school, you can live here. And give a term of when they dont have to pay rent or dont have to pay a mortgage or whatever. And then let them be two years or three years without that. Those lower salaries for teachers, youre in a neighborhood, you say, okay, this could be worth an investment on a couple levels. One, youre investing in the families and the communities in which you teach. Youre not the flyby teacher. Almost half of Philadelphia Public School teachers do not live in the city, let alone in the community. At one time, you had teachers that were down the street from you. Youre caught up, somethings going on, you have a better understanding of whats happening in that world. Not just some, oh, well, they dont do what theyre supposed to do like johnny and sally like the books say. You have a better, deeper, realistic understanding of life and living. Doesnt mean you have to retain or cut off the rest of your world, but you can be part of a community, not just someone who just flies through it. Weve seen this work in University City for drexel, for penn, getting the professors into those communities. It seems like a good idea. They did it by incentivizing. First, they incentivized them by creating a Public School that would be a place that students would want to go to. Both of these ideas the gardens, the farming, bringing people, not just teachers, but firefighters, Police Officers, back into the Community Take a long time. But theyre worth pursuing because if you think about the Mural Arts Program at the very beginning, it was a couple of walls. Today, its everywhere. But speaking of long time and macro projects, you know, the past 50 years was about the computer code. The next 50 years will be about decoding the genetic code and robotics. China, south korea, germany, United States, theyre the countries that are leading it. Unfortunately, i got to go to commercial. I think we have cause for a second show. Well be right back. 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. Thanks for watching the new ideas show here on inside story. Im nydia han, tragedy in virginia a Police Officer was shot arena killed a day after joining the force, the latest up next. Philadelphia police are investigating two Convenience Store robberies and the same suspect may be behind both. Oscar sunday is finally here. Were live from the red carpet with a preview of the starstudded event. Those stories and the exclusive accuweather sevenday forecast next on action news. Is in a good afternoon, it is sunday, february 28. Im nydia han along with gray hall. Heres a look at some of the stories were working on on action news. A Police Officer is virginia is shot and killed in the line of duty. We have just learned that the suspect works at the