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> 07/10/2002 Park Commission Meeting (Ed Goppelt)
07/10/2002 Park Commission Meeting (Ed Goppelt)
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Meeting Room, Horticultural Center
2002/07/10 At the last minute, the meeting's location
was changed from Memorial Hall to the Horticultural Center.
Had it not been for an alert sent out by
Friends of Philadelphia Parks I and other
members of the public might not have been able to attend.
Even so, about 40 members of the public ended up attending.
By the end of the meeting, every public seat was taken and some
people were standing. I hope that the Commission
will hold its next meeting in a room sufficiently large to
accomodate not only Commission members comfortably, but the public as well.
Commission staff said they moved the meeting to the new, air-conditioned location
because of the Summer heat. This seems reasonable, but I think
the Commissioners must do a better job of
giving adequate notice about any changes they make to their meeting schedule.
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Robert N.C. Nix, III
2002/07/10 Commission President Nix appears to have moved quickly to take things in hand at the Commission.
In contrast to last month's contentious meeting, this month's was downright dull. Work got done. People didn't fight publicly.
Not a bad thing.
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Rosanne Pauciello & Larry Copeland Confer
2002/07/10 Mr. Copeland is the Commission's lawyer;
Ms. Pauciello a Commissioner
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Bill Mifflin and "Mary Mason" eye the camera
2002/07/10 Beatrice Turner stars in the Mary Mason show on WHAT-1340/AM,
the "Voice of the African American Community." Mr. Mifflin is Executive Director
of the Commission. Ms. Turner was first elected to the Commission
in 1997 with the backing of Party Boss' Bob Brady.
At the time this caused a bit of flap as
Ms. Turner/Mason was seen as having taken
the seat of Commissioner
June Hairston-Brown, another politically prominent black woman. Apparently Ms. Turner/Mason regularly slammed black politicians
on her show for not being more supportive of their sisters in office.
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The Crowd
2002/07/10 Third from the right is Nancy Longstreth.
Mrs. Longstreth, who attends meetings in a wheel chair, has been a long time
supporter of the parks. She helped found Friends of Philadelphia Parks and continues
to serve on the board.
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Rosanne Pauciello Reports from the Nominating Committee
2002/07/10 Ms. Pauciello
is the Ward Leader for South Philadelphia's 39A and works
for
party boss Sen. Vince Fumo. I am told that Ms. Pauciello and the Senator went to school together.
Ms. Pauciello is a bit of prickly character--
she gave Friends of Phila. Park's Beth Ounsworth a verbal thrashing I thought went over the top--but she asks good, if pointed, questions. Of all the Commissioners, she
seems to be the most sensitive to the
needs of younger park users. In past meetings
she has taken up the cause of the skateboarders displaced
from Love Park.
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Philip Price
2002/07/10 Price is a former State Senator. His consulting firm,
Price & Associates, act as a matchmaker between
community groups and corporations. Under the Comprehensive Service Program/Neighborhood Assistance Program
corporations can receive tax breaks of up to 70% for ten years
if they team up with community groups.
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Refreshments for the Commissioners
2002/07/10
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Fairmount Park Staffers
2002/07/10 Paul Nice, Kate Lapszynski and Mark Focht.
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E. Harris Baum, Esq.
2002/07/10 Baum is one of the named lawyers in the
firm of Zarwin, Baum, DeVito, Kaplan etc. His specialty
is complex litigation. He is also the spouse of Family Court Judge
Myrna Field.
Baum's suggestion that FPC
enter into a covenant with Residence at Rodin
to protect its interests is a good example
of how different board members can bring different skills to bear, for
the benefit of all.
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Michael DiBerardinis
2002/07/10 As Rec. Dept. Commissioner Mr. DiBerardinis turned around
a troubled City Dept. I am told that both Rec. Dept. Staff as well as the Politicians liked him and the job he did while at the department.
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Barry Bessler
2002/07/10 Mr. Bessler is Executive Director Bill Mifflin's Chief of Staff. Along with his boss, he is responsible for the
day-to-day operation of the Parks.
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John Binswanger
2002/07/10 Binswanger is Chairman of Binswanger, an international real estate firm.
He is a long time board member. Mr. Binswanger also serves as President of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, a Non-Profit which raises money for the Park. As far as I can tell, while Mr. Binswanger works in the City, he does not live here.
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James Bloom
2002/07/10 Bloom has his own company, Bloom Staloff, a stock trading firm. He is one of four Commissioners
the Judges chose to reelect to the Commission.
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Beatrice Turner/Mary Mason
2002/07/10 Beatrice Turner has a talk show on WHAT-1340/AM where she works under
the stage name of "Mary Mason." I asked Ms. Turner/Mason what her legal name is, but
to date she's not saying.
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Lawrence Copeland, Esq.
2002/07/10 Mr. Copeland works for the Law Dept. as a Deputy City Solicitor.
He acts as the Commission's attorney.
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Robert N.C. Nix, III and James Bloom
2002/07/10 Messrs. Bloom and Nix appear to have formed an alliance. Among other things, they pushed hard
for newcomer Debra Wolf-Goldstein's election as Vice President.
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Debra Wolf Goldstein, Esq.
2002/07/10 Goldstein works as corporate council for the Heritage Conservancy.
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Kumar Kishinchand
2002/07/10 Mr. Kishinchand is Water Dept. Commissioner.
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Marcia Makadon
2002/07/10 Mrs. Makadon was originally named to the Commission
by Mayor Rendell to act as his representative and was retained by
Mayor Street. She is the spouse of Ballard Spahr Managing Partner Arthur Makadon.
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Old & New: "Mary Mason" & Debra Wolf Goldstein
2002/07/10 Ms. Wolf-Goldstein is a newcomer to the Commission. Ms. Turner/Mason was voted
off the Commission by the Board of Judges but has returned as Council President Verna's representative.
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Bill Mifflin
2002/07/10 Mifflin is Executive Director of Fairmount Park, the top staff position. He is
responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Park.
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Rosanne Pauciello
2002/07/10 I never saw such a serious group of Commissioners as when I was filming yesterday. Once exception was Commissioner Pauciello who flashed me this killer smile.
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John Herzins
2002/07/10 Mr. Herzins represents his boss,
Ex Officio Commissioner Andres Perez. Mr. Perez is Commissioner of Public Property.
Mr. Herzins Deputy Commissioner of Public Property.
Unlike Rec. Dept. Commissioner Richard, Commissioner Perez makes a point
of sending the same person every month.
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Bill Mifflin makes a point
2002/07/10
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Carol Roache
2002/07/10 Ms. Roache's title is Administrative Technician.
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Leon Tucker, Esq. Eyes the Camera
2002/07/10
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Doris Smith
2002/07/10 Ms. Smith works for the Exodus Project out of
the 59th Street Baptist Church. She comes to the Commission
with a background in city planning and activism.
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Joseph R. Syrnick
2002/07/10 Mr. Syrnick is Chief Engineer and Surveyor for the City of Philadelphia.
Unlike some of his Ex Officio colleagues, Mr. Syrnick shows up for meetings of the Commission.
Mr. Syrnick headed the nominating Comittee for President, VP etc., an experience
he half jokingly said he would never do again.
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Leon Tucker, Esq.
2002/07/10 Mr. Tucker has a legal practice downtown. Like Commissioner Baum, he has a judicial spouse, US District Judge Petrese Tucker.
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Carlton Williams
2002/07/10 Mr. Williams is one of several people
Ex Officio Commissioner Victor Richard sends in his place.
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