IN RECENT days, both 2nd District Councilman Kenyatta
Johnson and businessman Ori Feibush gave away Thanksgiving turkeys to the needy
in Point Breeze.
They did it separately.
Johnson is a former state rep in his first term in
Council. His district includes parts of Center City, South Philadelphia,
Eastwick and Hawthorne, in addition to Point Breeze.
Feibush is a high-profile and controversial developer in
Point Breeze and elsewhere who will challenge Johnson in next year's election.
Johnson wants us to see Feibush as a crybaby; Feibush
wants us to see Johnson as a crook.
Point Breeze is ground zero in the war between the
councilman and the developer.
"In 2003, 2004, 2005, you couldn't give away Point
Breeze properties," says Herb Wetzel, executive director of City Council's
office of Housing and Community Development. The same empty lots today are sizzling.
The skyrocketing prices are the result of developers
moving in to turn city-owned lots into homes for the well-heeled who want to
live close to Center City. The flip side: Rising prices drive out long-time
residents, often low-income and black.
This creates a dynamic between white "haves"
and nonwhite "have nots" and a battle between competing visions for
the end use of city land.
A lawsuit filed by Michael Pollack last week charged
Johnson with steering parcels of land to political contributors, contrary to
city law. A federal lawsuit filed earlier in the year by Feibush claimed the
same thing.
Johnson says Feibush is using the courts as a weapon.
Feibush says Johnson uses his councilmanic prerogative as a club.
In my column covering the latest suit last week, the
councilman's people wanted to know why I didn't reveal a Pollack-Feibush
connection. I didn't because it wasn't germane to the issues in the suit, which
will be settled by the courts.
While they once were real-estate business associates,
they currently are partners only in a sports bar that will open soon at 1612
South St. Both deny Feibush instigated Pollack's lawsuit and both say city law
requires property to be sold to the highest bidder.
Here's where it gets tricky.
Although the City Charter does require city land be put
up for competitive bid if it is selling directly to the public, that's rarely
how land is sold. The usual case is for the city to convey the property to
another agency, such as the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority or the
Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, where the buyer may have
been selected in a competitive process.
There are other stipulations. The charter also requires
City Council to approve all city sales or acquisitions and that creates (choose
the word you like) a loophole, a safeguard, a prerogative.
Being the highest bidder does not guarantee purchase. In
addition to the cash, the city reviews the applicant's ability and plan.
Because of the scarcity of affordable housing in
Philadelphia, Wetzel said, an applicant planning to build affordable housing
may get preference and the parcel for a "nominal" fee.
It's a "matter of balancing competing
interests," Wetzel said.
Feibush has done a good thing for Point Breeze, but he
has done it at a cost. He builds quality homes, but they are too expensive for
current residents to buy. For a guy with a slim build, Feibush has broad
shoulders and pushes back when he thinks he's been wronged, angering the
political class and intimidating neighborhood opponents, which leads to his
windows being shot out.
It's indisputable the city has long dragged its feet in
sending tax-delinquent properties to sheriff's sale. Feibush says the city
discourages success. Anyone who's done business with the city understands his
frustration.
What Feibush doesn't see as clearly are the goals of
Johnson, who says, "Since I've been elected I've been consistently
supportive of his development goals even though he supported my opponent in the
last election."
Feibush sneers: "The councilman is counting
oversleeping and not showing up in opposition as being supportive."
"That is typical of Ori Feibush, rather than have a
debate on issues he wants to engage in personal attacks," responds Mark
Nevins, Johnson's campaign spokesman. "Ori has purchased more city-owned
land in the 2nd District than anyone else."
The conclusion?
"Kenyatta and Ori come at development from different
perspectives," says Brian Abernathy, executive director of the
Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.
Feibush is a market-rate guy, while Johnson, who
represents the entire community, "is concerned about economic diversity in
his neighborhoods," Abernathy said.
Johnson doesn't want Point Breeze to become Gladwyne, no
slight intended to the wealthy, leafy suburb.
In a perfect world, Feibush and Johnson's visions might
mesh.
In Philadelphia, their visions will compete in the May
primary.
Source: Philly.com
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