Money Talks and Bullshit Walks: Philadelphia Politics from 1980 to the Present.

Tom Ferrick reported on politics from Harrisburg and Philadelphia for more than 25 years. He shares tales of many of Philadelphia's politicians from the 80s on up, from Ed Rendell to Mayor Jim Kenney. Guess who covered their office in tin foil so no one could eavesdrop? How much money is needed to be the next Philadelphia Mayor? What is the meaning of charter schools? MTBW learns a lot from Tom Ferrick - so join us!

John Kromer was the City's Director for the Office of Housing and Community Development for Mayor Ed Rendell in the 1990s. He shares insight into affordable housing, the North Philadelphia housing plan, and related topics that provide a foundation for understanding today's housing trends. John is the author of Philadelphia Battlefields: Disruptive Campaigns and Upset Elections in a Changing City; learn about key housing topics and more at    https://philadelphiabattlefields.org. 

Angel Ortiz is a formal legal services attorney who because a Philadelphia City Council member. In his tenure, he helped secure power for the Puerto Rican community that remains to this day, launched the careers of future leaders that included Michael Nutter, Scott Wilds, Kevin Vaughan and current City Council member Maria Quinones-Sanchez. He also led on numerous civil rights issues that included domestic partnership, a ban on assault weapons, an inclusion of Black and Latino workers in the Building Trades. He took on the powerful and won a good number of battles. Podsters Pete and Joe also discuss his work on the battles of the sports stadiums, the over-development of Columbus Avenue, redistricting, and more. 

"The model of how we learn and work is all wrong; we have to do this democratically and realize everyone has knowledge and value," Ira Harkavy tells our listeners. Podsters Pete and Joe talk to Harkavy, the Associate Vice President and Founding Director of the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. An historian with extensive experience building university-community-school partnerships, Harkavy teaches in the departments of history, urban studies, and Africana studies, and in the Graduate School of Education. As Director of the Netter Center since 1992, Harkavy has helped to develop academically based community service courses, as well as participatory action research projects, that involve creating university-community partnerships and university-assisted community schools in Penn's local community of West Philadelphia. We learn of the creation of PHENND, a national coalition of universities committing their institutions to working with their surrounding communities, much like settlement houses used to. In fact, Prof. Harkavy suggests a model that has transplanted traditional non-profit organizations that once supported low income communities that is moving forward with anti-poverty strategies. 

Fred Dedrick has spent a lifetime improving Philadelphia. From his start in community organizing in the 70s to economic development that took Philadelphia to China, Japan and Europe, Fred was involved in a part of Philly history that you won't find in the history books, but had a profound affect on the lives of its citizens and the vitality of the region. 

David Fair has been a leading activist in Philadelphia since the early 1970s . He provides a rich history of the human rights campaigns that focused on the City's response to the AIDS/HIV epidemic from the '70s through to the '90s. One of the leading organizers at that time, he talks about the struggles and the victories that helped the city eventually build a citywide human services network that supports people with AIDS/HIV to this day. He also talks about the birth of Philadelphia's African American power brokers, with interesting stories no one will find in a newspaper archive. 

Tony Ross talks to MTBW about the early 90s, sharing his 20+ years of experience in Harrisburg. He was as a staffer for the PA House Democratic Communications Office, then serving in a research capacity and then director of the Black Caucus. He eventually switched gears to become the United Way of Pennsylvania's Policy Director, and then its President. 

We start off with two Eagles stories (why not!) that could be characterized as a Jeffrey Lurie origin story. Tony is a faithful Iggles fan and we thought it would be a great start of the conversation. Tony shares with us his getting into Harrisburg via Franklin and Marshall, his alma mater, what legislative staffers do and how they support the legislators, and issues from the PICA, Philly vs. the state and vs. Pittsburgh, the financing of sports stadiums, Mayor Rendell's tenure, and much more. 

Podsters, this is our last episode, #32!, for season 2. Podster Pete recalls what he can remember of the Fightin' Phils of '93, a most magical season. Join us! 

Since election law is being debated nationally and locally, we thought a visit to the Stinson case of 1993 would update us on real fraud. The Stinson-Marks elections for PA State Senate had tons of drama for anyone interested in electioneering. Absentee ballots and more get discussed. Tune in.