During this week’s 76 Place hearings, officials from the Parker administration and the Philadelphia 76ers learned the importance of being prepared.
Scene at City Council during the 76 Place hearings, a somber Phila. City Council president Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Mark Squilla address the press.
Photo: Denise Clay-Murray
By Denise Clay-Murray
To understand just how badly the first two days of hearings on the proposed arena for your 76ers went for the Parker administration and the Sixers themselves, you’d have to return to your school days.
We all have had that moment where we’re staring at a test and asking ourselves, “How am I going to pass this?” It’s a feeling that usually comes when you don’t study as much as you could have and aren’t quite as prepared as you could have been.
You knew the test was coming. It was clearly marked on the syllabus. You had plenty of time to study for it because the teacher had told you several times that it was coming. You even got a study guide with everything you needed for the test.
But you didn’t study. And now, you’re looking at a test that may as well be written in a language you don’t speak and hoping that staring at it for a while will miraculously wake something up in your brain that would allow you to answer enough questions to get a passing grade.
I’m pretty sure that by the time Tiffany Thurman, Mayor Cherelle Parker’s chief of staff, Michael Carroll, deputy managing director of the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems for the City, David Gould, chief corporate affairs officer, and Alex Kafenbaum, senior vice president and head of development for the Sixers left City Council chambers, they knew that (a) they needed to study harder next time because (b) they not only failed the test, they failed it spectacularly.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Council’s Committee of the Whole got the chance to ask the Parker administration and the officials from Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment — otherwise known as the Sixers — about everything from the $50 million Community Benefits Agreement to what kind of help the team will provide to SEPTA to deal with increased traffic.
Unfortunately, Councilmember Mark Squilla, who introduced the 13 pieces of legislation needed to make 76 Place happen, said their answers to the group left much to be desired.
“I think we heard from a lot of the council members, and I believe that if there is no change in the CBA, I don’t think that there are enough votes right now to pass it out of committee and bring it to the floor,” Squilla said.
That’s mostly because Council heard too many “no” or “I don’t know” answers to its questions regarding details for the $1.3 billion project.
For example, the Community Benefits Agreement, which was negotiated by Parker and has many of her pet projects at its center, allegedly includes provisions that would hold 76 Development Corp. accountable for meeting the company’s minority participation goals on the project.
When Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson asked for details on what form that accountability would take, and whether Council could weigh in, the answer she got from Thurman was less than satisfying because it featured a phrase that was repeated all too often during the first two days of testimony: “I don’t know.”
But the only response that Council heard more than “I don’t know” is “No,” which was uttered by Gould and Kafenbaum a lot when it came to the Community Benefits Agreement, the upgrades of SEPTA’s Jefferson Station that would be needed for this project due to the increase in traffic, and just about everything else.
The SEPTA part was what made Councilmembers most angry. Just before Wednesday’s meeting, SEPTA announced that it would have to hike fares and cut service to riders due to fiscal shortages. So, they wanted a hard and fast commitment to paying for the upgrades.
“We have always said and remain committed to paying for any capital costs to Jefferson station as a result of the proposal,” Kafenbaum said in a conversation with Councilmember Cindy Bass.
“But, beyond the capital cost, the operational cost, who is paying for all of that?” Bass asked.
“We’ve asked a number of questions regarding some of their assumptions,” Kafenbaum said. “We’re not sure that all of them are accurate in relation to our plan, and some of that information might actually be needed. We’re working with them to help them form that analysis, things like assumed station closures, or track workers or entrance closures. So those are all the things that we’re working with them to make sure that the proper assumptions are in their report.”
“Shouldn’t that have been worked out before we got to this point?” Bass asked.
Yes. It should have. But fast and correct aren’t always on the same page.
Now, there are certain things in life where you can say, “The dog ate my homework,” and folks may not come down on you like a ton of bricks.
But a presentation to a group that didn’t have much input on a building project valued at $1.3 billion dollars about said project is not one of those things.
Which is why the Parker administration and the Sixers are going back to the drawing board. Following Wednesday’s hearings, I tried to speak with Gould and was told that no one from the 76 Place brain trust was going to be talking to media for a while.
Maybe by the time they do, they’ll have something other than “I don’t know” to say.
The hearings continue Tuesday, starting at 10 a.m.
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