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07/05/2004 Indictments cast a pall on Liberty Medal 2004 (Ed Goppelt)

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Fire Commissioner Harold Hairston
2004/07/05 Compared to Colin Powell in 2002, this year's Liberty Medal was a subdued affair. It's not hard to imagine why. On June 28, 2004 the federal probe of corruption at Philadelphia's City Hall bore its first fruit, when prosecutors handed down a fifty-six count indictment. City Treasurer Corey Kemp was accused of selling his office for a handful of cash and some tickets to the Super Bowl and the Mayor's friend Ron White for corrupting Kemp.

The Mayor soldiered on, assuring the crowd that he was having a great day, but had trouble finding dignitaries in the audience, settling finally on Hairston and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson. Governor Rendell was the most prominent no-show, but had a good excuse: he spent the Fourth of July in Harrisburg legalizing slot machines. City Councilmembers were nowhere to be seen, though Councilmembers may have had a different reason for avoiding the ceremony. This year's budget fight over tax reform was especially bitter even by Philly standards and the Mayor's take no prisoner's style has got to be hard on friend and political opponent alike.

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A more modest and open celebration
2004/07/05 Capping this year's Fourth of July celebration, a more modest Liberty Medal ceremony went off without a hitch.

By turns jublient and dignified, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted this year's Liberty Medal and its award of $100,000. Karzai smiled as American and Afghan children awkwardly greeted each other in a staged exchange of gifts and greetings and at one point kidded the crowd by repeatedly pointing to his oversize check for $100,000. Last year the Liberty Medal ceremony was folded into an opening day extravaganza for the new National Constitution Center. At the climax of last year's ceremony, an improperly secured stage prop--a giant frame--fell, seriously injuring National Constitution Center Head Joe Torsella and narrowly missing 2003 Liberty Medal recipient Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

This year's ceremony struck me as the most relaxed and open since the terrorist attacks of 9-11: City officials appear to have succeeded this year in balancing their security needs with putting on a celebration in which the public is welcome.

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Liberty Medal Ticket
2004/07/05 Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 City officials quietly made tickets mandatory and the City's ticketing practices quickly became a focal point for controversy:

1. The number of tickets set aside for the public was very small.
2. VIPs were getting most of the tickets. In 2003 with the National Constitution Center running the event, just 600 out of 2,000, or about 1 in 3 tickets went to public; two-thirds went to VIPs of one sort or another.
3. Advance publicity put out by the City and Welcome America failed to mention the need for tickets or where or how to get them. This situation favored insiders and those who had attended the event before.

The City has made significant progress in all 3 areas.

1. For the first time since 9-11, the City set aside a small seating area for those without tickets. In the past officials argued that tickets were essential to security.
2. A quick count showed many more seats overall with the majority of them (67%) going to the public:

   Area	Number of Seats	Percent
   VIP	500	33
   Public	750	50
   Public without tickets	250	17

3. Advance publicity this year did mention the need for tickets, but judging by the empty seats the City could probably do a better job getting the word out about the event.

I was in the middle of doing my crowd count when a stone-faced official from the City Rep's office told me that I had to sit on the bleachers with the rest of the press as my press pass did not permit me to be in the public seating area. How the City expects journalists to cover public events if they are not allowed to talk to the public is a bit of mystery. Twenty minutes after being confined to the press bleacher, the same official informed me I was free to move about, but by then the ceremony had started and a count was no longer possible.

For the record, according to this Inquirer report between 600 and 800 people attended, meaning that about every other chair was empty.

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Media, public cluster at rear of public seating area
2004/07/05 The newly remodeled location south of Independence Hall was comfortable and spacious. I'm guessing that the space could accomodate several thousand people. In past years up to 10,000 people turned out to watch Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela receive their medals.

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Park Superintendant Mary Bomar flashes a winning smile
2004/07/05 From left to right, Managing Director Phil Goldsmith, Park Superintendant Mary Bomar, TV Anchor Jim Gardner, Congressman Joe Hoeffel.

Bomar has good reason to smile: according to her, attendance at Independence National Historical Park has surpassed pre 9-11 levels.

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Mayor John Street and Afghan President Hamid Karzai
2004/07/05 Emphasizing the threat of world terror faced by both Afghanis and Americans, Mayor Street told President Karzai that "your future is our future." Besides international terrorists, the Mayor shares another problem with Karzai: corruption in his administration.

According to this report in the June 8, 2004 Washington Post, Karzai appears to have struggled with corruption just like our Mayor:

"Last week, Karzai said he was stung by American columnist Robert Novak's description of him as "hopelessly corrupt." In the interview he defended his personal honesty and said he had been frustrated in attempts to attack corruption, especially because Afghan public institutions are weak and the reach of the central government is extremely limited.

However, unlike Karzai Mayor Street has the means to go after corruption in his Administration. For example, thanks to Philadelphia's strong mayor form of government, he could issue an executive order that all professional services contracts be put out to bid. But rather than setting a good example for future Mayors, the Mayor seems determined to follow the bad examples he witnessed "coming up" and has chosen to ignore the recommendations of his own 21st Century Review Forum.

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National Park Ranger hands out water to spectators
2004/07/05 After my unpleasant experience with the National Park Service rangers last year it was a welcome change to see a ranger doing something nice for the public.

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Bonnie Grant on the Jumbotron
2004/07/05 As Deputy City Representative Grant is the City official responsible for producing the Liberty Medal ceremony. This year's ceremony was a big improvement over past years, at least when it came to including the public.

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H. Craig Lewis
2004/07/05 Lewis is Chair of the Philadelphia Foundation. To assure that there is a Liberty Medal in years to come the Philadelphia Foundation has assumed responsibility for raising the prize money.

The Liberty Medal does not have a dedicated endowment and in the past the award survived on a wing and a prayer: Philadelphia businessmen would "pass the hat around" to collect the $100,000.

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Bob Owens, Senior Vice President Sunoco Corporation
2004/07/05 The Mayor couldn't thank Sunoco enough:

"A special word of thanks for our sponsors of Sunoco Welcome America and of course Sunoco our prime sponsor for ten years. We look forward to Sunoco continuing its sponsorship."

I assume the Mayor is sincere in his gratitude to Sunoco. But since that City and State taxpayers are the ones really footing the bill for our celebration, wouldn't it make more sense to call the event "Taxpayers' Welcome America?" When I do the math, Sunoco's support amounts to just 10% of Welcome America's revenues, while taxpayers are paying a whopping 71% of the bill.

According to tax documents filed by Welcome America, Sunoco gave the festival $450,000 in 2002. But it is City and State taxpayers who are paying the lion's share of this party, not Sunoco. In 2002, the City chipped in $1 million in in-kind services, not listed on the tax documents, and a $1 million loan which the City is preparing to write off (read Gwen Schaffer's excellent report on the loan shenanigans). This brings the public sector's contribution to $3 million, an amount which dwarfs Sunoco's meager half a million.

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Eyes Wide Open
2004/07/05 On the lawn opposite the Liberty Medal, the Friends set up these 865 pairs of combat boots, one pair for each American soldiers killed to date in Iraq. It's easy for glib politicians to tell their fellow citizens that their children are dying for God and Country, but it seems to me that the acid test of our leaders' sincerity is whether they are willing to send their own children into harm's way. According to Michael Moore's new movie Fahrenheit 911 only one member of Congress has a child stationed in Iraq.

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2004/07/05