Philadelphia Mayor 2023 - Official Thread (Clark: high school, legal, affordable housing)

[thedirtypirate]

I think Johnson consolidates a lot of those other votes and wins. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's foreshadowing, but more like Helen Gym winning foreshadowing, which i think would be very disappointing.

[thedirtypirate]

domb killed it answering these questions, I wish he would win: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/637a...re%20FINAL.pdf

[KansastoSouthphilly]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Not Philadelphia, but similar Mayoral situation. Incumbent Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection bid in Chicago, and two different candidates will face each other in a runoff on April 4th.

Paul Vallas - More moderate candidate.

Brandon Johnson - Progressive candidate.

If Chicagoans elect Paul Vallas, might that be a foreshadow for Philadelphia's Mayoral primary in May?

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/polit...lts/index.html

It might foreshadow how Philly voters actually feel but, unfortunately, there is no runoff in Philly.

[cpomp]

Can someone explain the benefits (if any) to this mentality?
Wouldn't incremental reductions to the wage and BIRT taxes largely benefit the population and make Philadelphia a more economically competitive place to live and do business? What am I missing?

Philly Mayor Jim Kenney proposes small tax cuts and increased police spending in his final budget address to City Council
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philad...-20230302.html

Kenney’s plan would continue to slightly decrease the city’s wage tax, lowering the rate for Philadelphia residents from 3.79% to 3.7565%. It also asks Council to approve a lowering of the net income portion of the business income and receipts tax from 5.99% to 5.83%.

Gauthier said she intends to probe the administration’s tax cut plan during the budget hearing process, saying the city is “continuing to push lower business taxes without proof that that’s going to get us where we need to be.” She and other progressive members last year opposed cuts to the business taxes.

“I think we have to invest in people, directly in people, and into neighborhoods,” she said, “as opposed to this idea that we’re going to cut the tax rate and magically things are going to trickle down.”

[thedirtypirate]

She’s an unqualified bozo. I’m done pretending she’s anything else.

[cpomp]

Wonder where Cherelle parker was? Shared the article below.

Tax abatement, rent control and more: Where Philadelphia mayoral candidates stand on real estate issues

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=2#cxrecs_s

Speaking in front of members of Philadelphia's real estate community, six mayoral candidates on Tuesday articulated their stances on hot-button business issues from tax structures, to infrastructure spending, to affordable housing.

Derek Green, Helen Gym, Allan Domb, Jeff Brown, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Rebecca Rhynhart took the stage at the Kimmel Center in a forum hosted by BuildPhilly, a coalition of 20 real estate organizations. Green, Gym, Domb and Quiñones-Sánchez were all previously members of City Council, while Ryhnhart was Philadelphia's controller and Brown is a businessman who owns a dozen local Shop Rites and Fresh Grocers.

In an open-ended answer format, candidates discussed their views on items like City Council's role in determining land use, streamlining permitting processes, housing policies, diverse representation in development, and preservation of historical buildings. A rapid fire round followed, asking candidates to pick sides on controversial topics, stating their stance in a sentence or less.


Do you agree with the current tax abatement structure?

The new tax abatement law was amended in 2019 and went into effect at the start of 2022. The new policy sees residential projects get a 100% tax abatement for the first year, but that decreases by 10% in each subsequent year for 10 years. Previously, a 100% abatement stuck for 10 years for residential projects.
Derek Green: Yes.

Helen Gym: I think we need to evolve our tax structure. I called for a 21st century tax commission. This isn't about single taxes. This is actually about a problem we've got to incentivize development overall. So the tax abatement should fit within a broader structure.

Allan Domb: Yes, but it's a tool that we need to start using again on office buildings from City Hall to 20th [Street], JFK [Boulevard] to Market [Street] because those buildings are empty.

Jeff Brown: Yes for now. But we need to think about how we grow our pie and I'm not sure this is going to help us grow our pies, so it needs some rethinking.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: Yes. In addition to the affordable abatement that was just introduced.

Rebecca Rhynhart: Yes.

All candidates also supported the 100%, 10-year tax abatement for renovations of existing commercial or residential properties.

On if they would support waiving the 1% construction tax and real estate transfer tax for affordable housing projects

The city currently imposes a tax at 1% of building or improvement costs on new residential developments. There is also realty transfer tax at 3.27% of a property's assessed value or sale price imposed by the city, in addition to a 1% tax imposed the commonwealth.

Derek Green: Yes.

Helen Gym: I think everything's open. Again, this isn't just about one tax, yes or no. We need larger goals. Again, it depends what other structures are in place, including financing.

Allan Domb: I voted against the construction tax because a study was done in [20]18 that showed if we had a construction tax, the city, that over five years we'd lose $31 million.
Jeff Brown: Yes.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: Yes and I would also waive some of the permitting fees that I think are obnoxious. We're paying ourselves for some of the permitting processes.

Rebecca Rhynhart: Yes.

On support for giving private developers access to housing trust funds and Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI) funds to build affordable and workforce housing

City Council launched its $400 million Neighborhood Preservation Initiative in late 2021 which mainly goes to fund city programs supporting affordable housing. The city's housing trust fund, meanwhile, can be leveraged by the city to assist developers, with a focus on Black and Brown developers.

Derek Green: Yes.

Helen Gym: It has to have a lot of conditions with it, but there's no way we're going to be able to build solely through the public sector. I'm open.

Allan Domb: We need the private sector, yes.

Jeff Brown: Yes, absolutely.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: Yes and I have the best models in the city.

Rebecca Rhynhart: Yes.

On if they support rent control

Rent control puts a ceiling on how high building owners can raise rent. California and Oregon have statewide rent control protections, while New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Minnesota have localities with rent control laws. There are currently no rent control or stabilization laws in Pennsylvania.

Derek Green: No.

Helen Gym: This is not a yes or no question for me.

Allan Domb: You have to understand that 90% of the owners of the properties of Philadelphia are individual mom and pops. California's 30%. So the answer is no. We're hurting our own homeowners and investors.

Jeff Brown: No, it's very destructive.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: No, I have a fixed-rate model that's better.

Rebecca Rhynhart: No.

On one project they would undertake as mayor: a Broad Street Line extension to the Navy Yard, the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway or capping I-676 and I-95.

Derek Green: Roosevelt Boulevard, but work with the private sector to make that work.

Helen Gym: Roosevelt Boulevard because it saves lives.

Allan Domb: I think the biggest impact is the subway on Roosevelt Boulevard.

Jeff Brown: I would cap as much as I could and open up more parks because we need more green space in those areas.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: Roosevelt Boulevard.

Rebecca Rhynhart: Roosevelt Boulevard.

On if they would require city employees to come back to work in person and how many days per week
City employees are currently not mandated to be in the office a certain amount of time. The city has experienced significant bumps in workers on Center City's streets, with the average number of people in the core office district on Tuesdays and Wednesdays seeing a 40% year-over-year increase.

Derek Green: Yes. Actually, me and my staff, when I was a member of City Council, came back full-time Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 in the second week of August 2021. I believe that we should take leadership as a city. I would say at least three, possibly four days.

Helen Gym: Yes, but my vision isn't that all of our city employees are just housed at City Hall. My vision is really that we push our city employees out. We really need to get people more out in communities, more door knocking. I think it makes a lot more sense than telling people to come into an office solely at City Hall. But clearly what we need is a real deployment of people out into Philadelphia so that actually Philadelphians feel like the city government is the cavalry that people are requesting right now.

Allan Domb: I think it depends on the job in City Hall. I know a lot of complaints I get is that people can't reach people in the city, or they can't get callbacks, or when they call no one's there. I would say for those types of jobs, it should be four days, maybe even look at five days. But for other jobs in the city, we can be a little more flexible. But with those jobs that require response time and service, we need people back four or five days a week.

Jeff Brown: I'm for returning everyone to work 100% of the schedule. In my business no one currently works remotely ... Let's set the example. Only exception is if there's a health reason.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: Yeah, absolutely. I've been calling on us providing leadership, we can't ask downtown to be safe and vibrant if our city workers don't lead that charge. So, yes, I would absolutely ask them to come back.

Rebecca Rhynhart: The short answer is yes. As city controller, I required my employees to come back two days. I was going to move it up to three days when I resigned to run for mayor.

[JamesJay64]

The ballot order that was posted on Reddit today:

1. John Wood

2. Parker

3. DeLeon

4. Rhynhart

5. Gray

6. Green

7. Amen Brown

8. Jeff Brown

9. Quiñones Sánchez

10. Bloom

11. Domb

12. Gym

Considering the belief that ballot order has a very real impact on votes among the uninformed, it's nice to see Gym last but worrisome to see Domb at 11.

[cpomp]

Some good news.

Former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter endorses Rebecca Rhynhart, becoming second ex-mayor to back her
https://www.inquirer.com/news/michae...-20230315.html

[Tweb66]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Wonder where Cherelle parker was?



Rent control puts a ceiling on how high building owners can raise rent. California and Oregon have statewide rent control protections, while New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Minnesota have localities with rent control laws. There are currently no rent control or stabilization laws in Pennsylvania.

Derek Green: No.

Helen Gym: This is not a yes or no question for me.

Allan Domb: You have to understand that 90% of the owners of the properties of Philadelphia are individual mom and pops. California's 30%. So the answer is no. We're hurting our own homeowners and investors.

Jeff Brown: No, it's very destructive.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez: No, I have a fixed-rate model that's better.

Rebecca Rhynhart: No.

What does that even mean? The answer here needs to a clear "no", all it will do is continue to hallow out the middle class.

[cpomp]

A shame, I like this guy.

West Philly City Council candidate drops out of heated race amid legal challenge
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/el...-20230320.html