Philadelphia Mayor 2023 - Official Thread (York, Parker: insurance, calculated, housing market)

[FindingZen]

FWIW here are my personal rankings:

1. Rhynhart - She's a bit of a compromise on my part. Not quite progressive but, among other things, takes crime and justice reform seriously without promoting a stop-and-frisk response. Getting two Mayors who aren't fond of each other to endorse her together in a commercial was a big coup on her part.

2. Gym - I probably like her for the same reasons people who prefer Domb and Brown do not. What we may all agree upon is that it will be hard for her to pay for all her aspirations, as much as I might empathize with her on them.

3. Parker - I like her a lot and if the two women above were not running, I'd probably choose her. The difference maker for meis that she appears comfortable sweeping up innocent people as she addresses more assertive crime reduction methods.

4. A. Brown - He's just not ready. It may be a downgrade salary wise for him to join City Council but IMO he should go there first before considering another run.

5. J. Brown - I'm grateful to him for creating oases of quality stores in several food deserts across the city as as well as looking out for staff and community members during the worst of the pandemic. Too many questions about his campaign, though. I also was not thrilled about his regard for Chester; how will he treat people from a part of the city that consistently opposes him as Mayor? Also anyone who gets an endorsement from McNesby (via the FOP) is not someone I want as Mayor.

6. Domb - Like I said earlier, people who love Domb will tend to dislike Gym and vice versa. I understand the "logic" behind his campaign platform; I just don't see it benefiting the most vulnerable in the city. For those clamoring for a Republican to be in the Mayor's Office, he's the closest you're gonna get.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by MPK21

Of course Domb's going to be labelled a ''slum land lord". There is also a perception out there that Domb is a real estate developer who is going to ''gentrify'' (what ever that means today) Philly.

Would have expected questions about this ''slum landlord'' issue being directed to Domb in the debates or brought out in the ''media''.

That's because none of that stuff about Domb is true.

First, he's not a developer. There are loads of broker-developers out there; most of them are small-scale in the latter department. Noah Ostroff, the man who pulled my career out of the ditch it had fallen into and the top-producing broker within the Keller Williams organization, is one of them. Domb is just a broker; if he has actually built anything, I'd love to be made aware of it.

Second, he's not a slumlord. He got the nickname "the condo king" because most of the properties Allan Domb Real Estate markets (look on the back page of the April issue of Philadelphia for one of his ads; he's a regular advertiser) are high-end condos in Center City. I'm not aware of his owning any rental properties.

Sounds to me like someone's spreading disinformation.

Originally Posted by mphilly

My concern with Parker has to do with her development stances, not crime. Although like I said before, I’d be fine with her winning, it’s just she’s not as good as Domb or Rhynhart for me.

Please fill me in on this subject. Or I guess I can go read her position on her website.

One of the reasons I liked MQS was because she did school herself on housing and development issues and did well at handling them.

[mphilly]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

That's because none of that stuff about Domb is true.

First, he's not a developer. There are loads of broker-developers out there; most of them are small-scale in the latter department. Noah Ostroff, the man who pulled my career out of the ditch it had fallen into and the top-producing broker within the Keller Williams organization, is one of them. Domb is just a broker; if he has actually built anything, I'd love to be made aware of it.

Second, he's not a slumlord. He got the nickname "the condo king" because most of the properties Allan Domb Real Estate markets (look on the back page of the April issue of Philadelphia for one of his ads; he's a regular advertiser) are high-end condos in Center City. I'm not aware of his owning any rental properties.

Sounds to me like someone's spreading disinformation.



Please fill me in on this subject. Or I guess I can go read her position on her website.

One of the reasons I liked MQS was because she did school herself on housing and development issues and did well at handling them.

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/ph...-20230410.html

I thought this was an informative article on Parker and her development stances

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by mphilly

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/ph...-20230410.html

I thought this was an informative article on Parker and her development stances

TBH, I share her opinion of vinyl siding.

While I do see echoes of Darrell Clarke in her positions on development and housing, it appears to me that much of what she has espoused is not so much because she sees the city as a giant suburb the way Clarke does but because she is very familiar with the character of much of her district, which includes the Oak Lanes and the neighborhood most people call Cedarbrook but whose residents object mightily when they do (they'll tell you they live in East Mt. Airy, and they have a case to make, for the developers who built the rowhouses and twins that make that neighborhood look like a chunk of the Northeast that got lost on its way to the Boulevard right after World War II gave their projects names like "The Estates at Mt. Airy").

Those are "middle neighborhoods" that are dancing along the border between stability and decline, as I wrote in my 2017 Next City feature on "Cedarbrook." I interviewed Parker for that article, and in the course of our conversation, I told her that West Oak Lane — the neighborhood she advanced to from North Philly — reminded me an awful lot of the east-side Kansas City neighborhood I grew up in. (I'd go so far as to say West Oak Lane is a rowhouse version of Oak Park [KCMo].)

Well, Oak Park has gone downhill a great deal from where it was when I grew up there. These neighborhoods haven't done that yet, though as that article notes, the subprime mortgage bubble sent shrapnel all over WOL when it exploded. I don't really blame her for trying to stick up for the people who don't want to see it go downhill.

I don't like her opposition to ADUs or to subdividing houses, both of which are rooted in that old notion that renters don't care about the neighborhoods they live in and will junk them up. But I think that what she did with that senior housing complex, however, indicates that she won't be a knee-jerk anti-development or anti-urbanity mayor; she did back it over the opposition of its neighbors. It does, however, signal that affordable housing will be a high priority for her.

I'm not so sure she will turn out to be awful on this score. Certainly the building trades unions' endorsement of her suggests that they aren't apprehensive about that either. (Wonder who, if anyone, the Building Industry Association has endorsed?)

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by MPK21

True, look what just happened to Gym: ''Mayoral candidate Helen Gym is facing renewed accusations of acting unethically when she voted against a City Council bill in 2019 that sought to regulate pharmaceutical sales representatives while her husband worked in the industry."

Wonder if Rhynhart's 'pre-2008 'Wall Street Insider'' career working at Bear Stearns and Fitch will come up?
It needs to be raised, especially given its absence from her campaign bio. Can't believe any of this hasn't been mentioned as of yet anyway.

A self-described ''original progressive'' from a white privileged background working on Wall Street pocketing tons of $$$ from the pre-2008 mortgage fraud era that brought about, among other things, the collapse of black home ownership equity wealth...even as she campaigns in 2023 about solving the ''systemic racism in banking'' preventing blacks from owning homes....and no one has touched on this yet about her?

At least Gym's has some basis and made the Inquirer....Rhynhart's ''conflicts of interest'' hasn't been brough up, while Domb being a ''slum landlord'' remains, so far, a rumor.

Generally, someone's career prior to running for office is not framed as a conflict of interest. It may receive criticism, sure, but one is not beholden to a career of years past. And when the job was analyzing municipal governments, it is in fact highly relevant to changing careers in government. Domb on the other hand is a developer to this day. I am not personally criticizing his career, rather pointing out why it would make more sense for one to have concerns about conflict of interest for Domb rather than Rhynhart.

When did Rhyhart call herself an original progressive? I am genuinely curious, and would like more context.

Rhynhart did not "pocket tons of $$$ from the pre-2008 mortgage fraud era." She worked for Bear Stearns as a municipal credit analyst. She calculated the risk traders were taking with governments. She did not work with mortgages, lol. Bear Stearns itself having problems investing in mortgage-backed securities is not a reflection of Rhynhart's specific job duties.

Rhynhart is Jewish, which complicates the blanket criticism of "white privilege" so many lazily throw around. Do you have the same concerns about Domb's race? Besides Twitter trolls, who is calling Domb a slumlord?

[MarketStEl]

One mo' time:

Allan Domb is not a developer. He's a real estate broker only — he hasn't built anything. He's a fabulously successful one because he specializes in Center City condos.

He is, however, pro-development. Natch; it gives him more stuff to sell. It's just that he's content to let someone else do the building, like Carl Dranoff.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

One mo' time:

Allan Domb is not a developer. He's a real estate broker only — he hasn't built anything. He's a fabulously successful one because he specializes in Center City condos.

He is, however, pro-development. Natch; it gives him more stuff to sell. It's just that he's content to let someone else do the building, like Carl Dranoff.

Ok, ok we get it lol. My point was that he's still in the industry. In the context of my post, I say, tomato tomahto.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Ok, ok we get it lol. My point was that he's still in the industry. In the context of my post, I say, tomato tomahto.

He buys and sells real estate. He's not a slumlord. It's not a pronunciation issue. It's calling him something he isn't to hurt his campaign. I understand that to be the norm at the moment but I was hoping for better. As a democrat, I think the maga BS is horrendous and straight-up lie mongering.

I was hoping better from my party.

Politics is gross.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by Redddog

He buys and sells real estate. He's not a slumlord. It's not a pronunciation issue. It's calling him something he isn't to hurt his campaign. I understand that to be the norm at the moment but I was hoping for better. As a democrat, I think the maga BS is horrendous and straight-up lie mongering.

I was hoping better from my party.

Politics is gross.

I think you misunderstand what happened. I accidentally called him a developer rather than a broker. I did not call him a slumlord. As far as I am aware, developer does not have negative connotations. Like I said, the only people I've heard or seen call him a slumlord are twitter trolls.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

I think you misunderstand what happened. I accidentally called him a developer rather than a broker. I did not call him a slumlord. As far as I am aware, developer does not have negative connotations. Like I said, the only people I've heard or seen call him a slumlord are twitter trolls.

From the historical timeline of P.J. Clarke's, referring to the chain's original location on New York's East Side, midtown at 53d Street and 3d Avenue:

The Lavezzos refuse to sell 915 Third Avenue to evil, no-good developers razing the neighborhood’s buildings left and right. The New York Times described it as “David who prevailed over Goliath.”

I've seen the original location; it's surrounded by a black glass office tower.

There are people out there who consider "developer" a four-letter word. They will tell you that developers are the no-goodniks whose actions bring about the dreaded gentrification.

I will allow that there are also some out there who hold real estate salespeople in low regard as well, but they generally don't get labeled "evil, no-good".