While Democrats — who far outnumber Republicans in Philadelphia — held court at a gala at the ballroom of the Warwick Hotel to rejoice President Barack Obama’s re-election, the reaction 15 blocks east was more subdued.

“Congratulations to President Obama and the Democratic Party on their victory,” said John Featherman, a Republican who ran against U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and lost. “The American people spoke, and I urge my colleagues to respect the will of the people. Differences that Republicans have with Democrats should no longer be met with obstruction.”

Featherman attended a Republican watch party on South Street Tuesday night, it was a group made up of what he called “loyal opposition” — Republicans from Philadelphia who have split with the party’s traditional leaders. Both sides agreed to a truce during the presidential election.

On the other side, Calvin Tucker, a Black Republican, speaking Wednesday, also congratulated the president.

“Hopefully, we can now get about the business of addressing some of the major issues that confront the nation and Philadelphia,” he said, adding that he too, would like to see the GOP embrace African Americans.

“What we have to do is engage the African-American community in a broader discussion about the issues they’re confronting,” Tucker said. “We’ve got to not be seen as the party who is not receptive to the big tent. If we do, we’ll have some success in the future.”

Featherman and the loyal opposition gathered in a second floor room at Paddy Whacks Pub at Second and South streets where about 125 Philadelphia Republicans watched the returns come in. Members of the city’s Grand Old Party gathered in knots near the bar and the buffet, steaming along the back wall, grazing on hors d'oeuvres and cocktails as overhead television sets carried the election results.

At least five flat screens — all turned to Fox News — carried election news to the faithful.

At 9:15 p.m. when the network projected that Obama had carried Pennsylvania, few people seemed to notice. There was a notable lack of enthusiasm, summed up by one woman as she filled her plate at the buffet.

“I don’t think tonight is going to be very exciting,” she said to the man next to her. He nodded in agreement as they meandered off to a table.

Featherman noted that many in the room were lukewarm in their support of Romney. As an example, he said he supported Ron Paul in the primary.

“That crowd was not an ordinary group of Republicans,” he said. “We tend to be more Center City professionals and once we register the numbers, we’re not going to spew hateful kinds of responses. Many of those people did not support Romney in the primary, so I don’t think they had much emotion invested in Romney.”

That 84 percent of Philadelphians had supported the Democrat was unremarkable.

But, outside the city and region ,the race had become a nail-biter.

By 10 p.m. with 56 percent of the state’s votes counted, most media outlets, including the New York Times and CBS News, trumpeted Obama’s win in Pennsylvania and the 20 electoral votes it gave the president.

Pennsylvania’s highest ranking Republican refused to concede anything.

“There’s a long way to go,” Gov. Tom Corbett told the Associated Press, waving away the party’s loss in Pennsylvania.

He would be proven wrong shortly after that statement.

In Philadelphia, on Election Day, party officials vigorously defended its prerogatives — suing to have a mural depicting Obama painted on the wall of the Benjamin Franklin Elementary School polling place covered up, and fighting to make sure minority inspectors were allowed in all polling places.

The congenial crowd at Paddy’s clung to the hope that Romney would somehow garner the 270 electoral votes needed to win the contest. But, with most of the voting behind them, that hope consisted mostly of glancing up from their drinks more frequently.

As the clock approached 10:30 p.m., many news outlets showed Romney pulling ahead with electoral votes 158 to 147. Fox defied the trend and reported both men in an electoral tie 163 to 163.

Chatter in the room increased, momentarily.

But California and its 55 electoral votes remained uncounted. None of the states of the far west had been counted.

At 11 p.m. western returns started to come in. Fox reported that California and Washington had backed Obama, netting the president 67 electoral votes.

By 11:19 even Fox was giving Obama 268. The crowd at Paddy’s thinned.

Early Wednesday morning it was clear that the president had won with 303 electoral votes to Romney’s 206.

“I’m hoping we can put aside the rancor, and let the president and Democratic Party try to speak for the American people,” said Featherman on Wednesday morning.
Results tallied Tuesday are preliminary — the count only becomes official in Pennsylvania only after the state Department of State certifies the results, a process that can take several days.

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at 215-893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The groundbreaking at the construction site of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. begins this week, notable since it is the last full week of Black History Month 2012.

One of the most talked about donations is the Harriet Tubman collection, a gift to NMAAHC from Charles L. Blockson — writer, historian and former board member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He also is founder and curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection of rare texts, slave narratives, art and other historically significant artifacts. The items came to him after the death of a Tubman relative.

“I inherited her belongings, and for eight months, I kept them with me in my bedroom, but they belong in this museum,” Blockson said of the Smithsonian’s African American museum. “Harriet Tubman is one of the most important women in the history of America, and her story needs to be heard by generations to come.”

Blockson’s family story is intertwined with Tubman’s. His research shows he is the descendant of Jacob Blockson, who escaped slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with Harriet Tubman and settled in St. Catherine, Canada. Tubman, born into slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, gained international acclaim as an Underground Railroad operator, Civil War spy and suffragist.

“Several of my ancestors escaped with Harriet Tubman, came to Philadelphia, met with (Black abolitionist) William Still and later went on to Canada,” explained Blockson.

Among the items shedding light on the private life of Tubman are family photographs, a hymn book published in 1876 and signed in pencil by Tubman, and a lace shawl (circa 1897) given to her by England’s Queen Victoria. Among the photographs of Tubman’s funeral March 11, 1913, is one showing her lying in state at A.M.E. Zion Church in Auburn, N.Y., and surrounded by seven members of the board of directors of the Harriet Tubman Home.

“She died in Auburn, N.Y., and when I came back, I stood over her grave under the evergreen tree and my emotional armor erupted,” recalled Blockson. “I started to cry, and asked, ‘How did she do it?’ Of all the people in our history, she sort of reigns supreme. Wherever I travel and talk, everyone seems to know of Harriet Tubman. She is paramount — her blood, her soul force — she is the Moses of our people, as we were taught, and here she delivered us to the promised land. To me, the groundbreaking for the NMAAHC is history, and Tubman is the proper one to be the leading soul force.”

The NMAAHC collection holds nearly 10,000 items ranging from fine art, historic photographs and manuscripts, to items documenting the slave trade, the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights era.

“There is something both humbling and sacred found in the personal items of such an iconic person,” said Lonnie Bunch, director of NMAAHC. “It is an honor to be able to show the private side of a very public person, a woman whose very work for many years put her in service to countless others. This donation by Charles Blockson is a selfless gesture that ensures that her story will be enshrined forever within the Smithsonian Institution.”

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, making it the 19th Smithsonian Institution museum. It is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, art, history and culture. Scheduled to open in 2015, the museum will be the first green building on the National Mall on a five-acre site adjacent to the Washington Monument.

President Barack Obama will deliver remarks at the NMAAHC groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The event is by invitation only, but will be webcast at http://nmaahc.si.edu/Events/Groundbreaking. For more information, visit the museum at nmaahc.si.edu.

Contact staff writer Bobbi Booker at (215) 893-5749 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Federal, state and city officials are ramping up pressure on Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration in an effort to halt plans to implement asset testing for food stamp recipients.

“This is one of the most mean-spirited, asinine plans to come out of Harrisburg in a long time,” said Mayor Michael Nutter, in a burst of fiery opposition to the plan that seemed to sum up the opinion of all the government officials present.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, state Sens. Shirley Kitchen and Vincent Hughes and Nutter all voiced their opposition to the state’s plan to limit the value of assets held people who receive food stamps. People under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings or other assets – including an automobile – will be barred from receiving food stamps. For people over 60 that threshold would be set at $3,250.

Asset testing will go into effect May 1 unless opponents are able to convince the Corbett administration to reconsider. The food stamp program feeds 1.8 million Pennsylvanians, including 439, 245 in Philadelphia.

Vilsack, who spoke with Nutter and Brady at a press conference at City Hall, refuted the official reason for implementing asset tests – cost-cutting and fraud prevention – saying that Pennsylvania already had one of the lowest fraud rates in the nation, and added that the program is funded by the federal government.

“It’s not going to save the commonwealth of Pennsylvania a single dime,” Vilsack said. “The money for this program is federally funded. Number two, it’s likely going to cost the commonwealth of Pennsylvania money because when you institute an asset test you have to make sure that you create a process by which those applications are reviewed.”

Last fall, state Department of Public Welfare Executive Deputy Secretary Timothy Costa outlined plans to change eligibility rules. The department has the authority needed to make the changes without approval from the state legislature. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, does not need to sign off on the plan. In his testimony, Costa said the change would reduce the state’s costs and cut fraud. Officials hope to slash $470 million from the state welfare department’s budget.

Vilsack also said that the many stereotypes about who gets food stamps and why were wrong.

“Do we really want to reduce access for senior citizens who’ve played by the rules all their lives?” he asked. “Do we really want to say to children that they are not going to have access to nutritious food? Are we at a point where we really want to say to people with disabilities ‘you’re on your own?’ I would hope not.”

Nationally, nearly 75 percent of food stamp recipients are in families with children, and more than a quarter of them are in households with seniors or people with disabilities, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Nearly one-third of recipients work, according to the USDA.

“Before we take any action we want to make sure that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the folks who are administering the program understand the full impact,” Vilsack said.

Brady, who has for weeks been urging Corbett the reconsider the idea, said there was little federal lawmakers could do, because while the food stamp programs are funded by the federal government, they are administered by the state.

“It’s a ‘state’s rights’ kind of thing,” he said. “We do fund them, and the funding is already there, but what do we say to them, ‘We’re going to decrease your funding next year?’ Then they make the asset test $4,000.”

He added that he was confident the Corbett administration would eventually come around.

“I really think that somebody made a mistake up there. I think they’re looking for a window to get out of,” Brady said. “We’re putting pressure to help them find that window. “I think Corbett probably grabbed a hold of somebody and said, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ because it wasn’t thought out.”

Kitchen questioned the administration’s motives, and said she had not seen numbers to back of claims of fraud.

“DPW maintains that it is working to ‘root out fraud and waste,’ yet it has yet to produce solid numbers on any fraud and waste in DPW programs,” she said. “Meanwhile, children, the elderly and disabled individuals and their loved ones are enduring the agony of losing their lifeline and scrambling to re-apply. It’s shameful.”

Hughes noted that the federal government already mandates income limits for food stamp enrollment, so asset tests are a waste of time and administrative costs.

“This is a misguided policy that does a disservice to the needs of Pennsylvania citizens,” he said. “Punishing low- and middle-income individuals for trying to lift themselves out of poverty is not only cruel, but also completely unnecessary.”

Contact staff writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

PHILADELPHIA — Education advocates gathered Monday at a 97-year-old city high school with chronic water leaks and a single functioning science lab to urge support for federal jobs legislation that includes billions of dollars for school repairs and renovations.

Challenger James Clay now a sure thing

State Rep. Tony Payton has withdrawn from the primary race for the 179th Legislative District, after being thrown off the ballot earlier this week by a challenge in Commonwealth Court, according to reports.

More than 1,600 signatures on his nominating petitions, which had 1,854 signatures, were voided in a court challenge filed by Doris Robinson, ward leader of the 23rd Ward.

Payton did not return the Tribune’s repeated phone calls Friday.

However, he told the Daily News that he thought Robinson’s ward leader, former city Councilman Daniel Savage, was behind the suit.

Payton acknowledged that he’d had problems collecting signatures.

“I went to several churches,” Payton said. “It turns out, a lot of people at church aren’t registered, or are registered Republican or with no affiliation.”

As the incumbent, Payton was expected to win re-election. His withdrawal leaves the seat open for Democratic challenger James Clay Jr., the only other candidate on the ballot.

Payton will continue to serve the rest of his term, which ends in January.

The 31-year-old Payton has crossed swords several times with the city’s Democratic establishment, and failed to receive the party’s endorsement in at least one of his re-election bids.

He first won the seat in 2007 when he replaced retiring Rep. Bill Rieger, who had held the post for 40 years. At that time, Payton prevailed over fellow Democrat Emilio Vasquez, who had the blessing of party leaders, only after a long court battle, which left a judge to declare Payton the victor.

Even after winning, Payton continued to spar with party leaders, openly feuding with Savage after Payton appeared at a campaign event with Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sanchez as she fought Savage to represent the 7th District.

More recently, Payton was a vocal critic of Democratic City Committee Chairman and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady for his role in drawing up the state’s new redistricting plan, which Payton said gerrymandered the First Congressional District to give Brady more white supporters as he prepared to face a Black challenger, Judge Jimmie Moore.

Payton threw his support to Moore, who has since withdrawn from the congressional race.

Citing fraud, Gov. Tom Corbett plans to cut off thousands

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady has asked Gov. Tom Corbett not to implement asset testing for food stamp recipients and invited Corbett to tour the First Congressional District to see first-hand how the change would affect thousands of Philadelphia residents.

“I strongly urge you to reconsider, as I am certain the impact of imposing the proposed asset tests will be both devastating and counterproductive,” Brady wrote in a letter dated Jan. 12. “If [the state] proceeds with current plans Pennsylvania only stands to lose.”

The governor’s deputy director of communications, Kirsten Page, said the governor’s office had received the letter, but she was unsure if Corbett had seen it personally.

The state Department of Public Welfare is planning to introduce asset testing later this year, possibly as early as March.

Under the proposed change, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients would lose their benefits if they possess assets — the value of their cash savings or automobile — which exceed a certain amount. Seniors and individuals on disability would lose their benefits if they had assets valued at $3,000 or more, excluding their primary residence and personal property. For everyone else the cutoff would be $2,000.

Brady, whose district is already one of the hungriest in the nation, is very concerned that forcing so many people out of the program would leave many more poor people worried where their next meal was coming from.

“One in fifteen people are living at, or below, the poverty line, and demand for SNAP benefits grew to its highest level ever in May 2011,” he wrote. “The minimum asset limits, which were set in 1980, are not only outdated, but unrealistic — and will force families on the brink of poverty between the security of a modest savings and being able to feed their families.”

Page said the changes were a response to taxpayer concerns.

“Obviously there are many viewpoints on this particular issue, but at the Department of Public Welfare one of their main goals is to ensure that assistance is available to those who need it the most — and that people who have additional resources are not taking advantage of the program,” she said. “They hear a lot from taxpayers who are not happy about people taking advantage of the system.”

It was too early to say whether Corbett would take Brady up on his invitation to tour the First District.

“The governor does receive dozens of requests for his time every week, and every request that comes in is given consideration,” Page said.

The change, if enacted as planned, could affect as many as 170,000 Pennsylvanians. The majority of the state’s food stamp recipients are from Philadelphia. According to city figures, 450,000 Philadelphians receive food stamps. That compares to about 850,000 recipients statewide.

In hearings last fall, Department of Public Welfare Executive Deputy Secretary Timothy Costa outlined his plans to change eligibility rules in testimony before the Pennsylvania House.

The department has the authority needed to make the changes without approval from the state legislature. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, does need to sign off on the plan. That is expected to happen over the next several months, allowing the state to roll out planned changes as early as March.

In his testimony, Costa said the change would reduce the state’s costs and cut fraud. State officials hope to slash $470 million from the state welfare department’s budget.

Brady said concerns about fraud were unfounded, and that DPW was not enforcing current fraud protection measures.

“With existing fraud controls largely going un-enforced, I find DPW’s institution of additional checks to be unjustifiable,” he wrote. “The proposed changes are based on unsupported claims and stereotypes of welfare beneficiaries. In fact, Pennsylvania boasts one of the lowest instances of fraud in the administration of federal programs, with current SNAP fraud rates at less than one-tenth of one percent.”

Contact Staff Writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Volunteers with the Obama re-election campaign will be more visible this week, gathering the signatures required to insure that the president is on the Pennsylvania primary ballot, as the Feb. 14 deadline for nominating petitions nears.

“Collecting signatures is the first step toward winning in November, and an important opportunity for Democrats in Pennsylvania to show their support for the president,” said Jennifer Austin, press secretary for the Obama 2012 Pennsylvania campaign.

Austin said volunteers were out in strength throughout the city over the weekend and would be out again this week.

Though the gathering of signatures can be counted as one of the more mundane parts of campaigning, it’s a crucial step toward November’s general election, she said.

“The election in November represents a clear choice for the American people, between continuing the progress the Obama administration has begun — creating jobs and restoring economic security for hard-working Americans, or the GOP candidates like Mitt Romney, who are fighting for tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations and propose returning to the same failed policies that created the current economic recession in the first place,” Austin said.

Many people assume that since President Barack Obama holds the highest office in the land, his name will automatically be included on the Pennsylvania ballot in the April 24 primary.

That is not the case.

All candidates have to gather signatures to secure a place on the ballot. That includes the incumbent president, who must have the signatures of 2,000 registered voters to guarantee a place on the ballot.

“He has to have so many names, just like everybody else in the state of Pennsylvania,” said U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, noting that of almost equal importance, potential delegates to the Democratic National Convention, who cast their votes at the convention, also need a certain number of signatures. “It’s also important that he has delegates and they have to get on the petition, even though there is not opposition.”

Gathering signatures — even within the party — is not as easy as it sounds, and the bitterly partisan political climate has made it difficult to convince even stalwart Democrats to sign Obama’s petitions, volunteers said.

“I had one husband and wife … they thought it was a scam,” said Angela Harrison, who has been collecting signatures for the Obama campaign for a couple of weeks. “Because they thought it wasn’t necessary to sign a petition, they thought it was to take him off the ballot, not put him on the ballot.”

The couple, both registered Democrats as required, signed and then the next day informed Harrison that they had changed their minds, asking her to remove them from the list, something that surprised her.

“I let them take it off, because it was their right,” she said.

While that was the most extreme case Harrison encountered, she has had difficulty convincing people that the petition drive is legitimate.

“People say they aren’t aware that Obama needed to re-petition since he was the incumbent,” she said. “In the state of Pennsylvania, he does.”

As of Monday, Harrison had gathered about 100 signatures, but that required talking to many more people. She estimated that she’d spoken to more than 300 so far.
Volunteers have been circulating petitions since Jan. 24, and the campaign expects to have far more than the 2,000 signatures needed to secure a spot on the Pennsylvania ballot. Once the petitions are filed, opponents may challenge them, and the courts have until Feb. 29 to rule on the validity of the signatures.

At the moment, the primary is scheduled for April 24.

However, that could change as state lawmakers duel in the courts over the validity of the recently approved redistricting plan. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that the plan approved by the General Assembly was invalid.

Last week, Republican leaders in the Senate filed suit in federal court in an attempt to block the ruling.

That could force state officials to move the date of the primary.

“We’re in uncharted territory as far as a timetable moving forward,” Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi told a reporter this weekend.

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady celebrated Veteran’s Day with the dedication of the new veterans’ center named after his father, Robert G. Brady.

“The opening of the service center is just a small part of the debt that we owe to our returning veterans and war heroes,” he said. “And, I am doubly proud that the Center is named for my late father who proudly served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific.”

The center was dedicated Friday at the HELP Philadelphia Homes, in Southwest Philadelphia.

It is named after the congressman’s late father, a WWII veteran. The multi-service center building will provide office space for a wide range of supportive services for veterans and their families, community meeting rooms and a patio area.

The HELP townhouse development is a 63-unit affordable rental community for families and disabled veterans at risk of homelessness. The housing development opened this summer and is 100 percent occupied.

Brady, joined by Maria Cuomo Cole, HELP USA’s chairman of the board, said.

HELP USA is one of the country’s largest providers of housing jobs and services to America’s homeless. The opening of the Philadelphia facility was a part of HELP’s national Operation Home initiative for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and coincides with the opening of another such facility located on the Walter Reed campus.

“The struggles faced by veterans at home are often just as challenging as those they faced while at war,” Cole said. “The appealing aesthetics of the homes along with the services provided by HELP USA are essential to empowering homeless and low-income veterans to become self-reliant, and take control of their lives again.”

The federal trial of ousted housing director Carl Greene has again been halted – with testimony expected to resume Friday.

Greene was expected to take the stand Wednesday in a second day of testimony, this time under cross examination. However, shortly before 10 a.m., U.S. Judge Ronald Buckwalter announced that the court would recess until Friday.

The reason for the recess was unclear.

Greene’s attorney, Clifford Haines, when approached by reporters Wednesday morning, declined to discuss the reasons for the recess and would only say that he was “leaving the building.” The trial, which started last week, was expected to conclude Friday. It was unclear Wednesday whether that timeline still held firm.

In an earlier recess, called Monday, an attorney connected to the case said both sides were trying to reach a settlement. However, the case resumed as scheduled.

Greene is seeking more than $1 million from the Philadelphia Housing Authority, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated in 2010 after news broke of a series of sexual harassment suits against him had been kept from the board. He was fired in September 2010 for allegedly “abandoning his duties” as executive director. He has sought $743,000 in back pay and additional damages.

Much of the trial has centered on the bad blood between Greene and former Mayor John F. Street.

In testimony Tuesday, Greene spoke out for the first time about the board members who voted to fire him.

“It was really an absentee board,” Greene said. “Each board member had their own interests.”

The board, which at the time was made up of Street, who served as chairman, and members Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell; Debra Brady, wife of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady; Patrick Eiding, head of the local AFL-CIO and Philadelphia Housing Authority resident Nellie Reynolds, fired Greene on Sept. 23, 2010.

Aside from interviews shortly after his dismissal, it was the first time Greene has spoken publicly about the circumstances surrounding his firing in August 2010.

“I haven’t had the chance to talk about this before,” he told the judge, adding that he had been “sitting on the sofa watching everyone else talk about me” for the last two years.

And, it was the first time he’s given his perspective of the people who dismissed him.

In an interview at the time, Greene denied allegations of sexual harassment and financial misconduct in his operation of the housing authority.

In lengthy, sometimes rambling testimony, Greene gave Buckwalter thumbnail sketches of each of the board members.

His depiction of Street was the most scathing, portraying the former mayor as a man who tried to use his position to secure a job for his son, attorney Sharif Street, and as a platform to maintain a position in city politics after he left the mayor’s office.

“I never trusted him,” Greene said, testifying that he and Street had an “unhealthy” relationship.

Greene said Street was looking for a position that would allow him to maintain his political influence.

“It created a certain dynamic that wasn’t helpful for me,” Greene said.

In addition, Street pressed Greene to force PHA to hire an board assistant. Greene said he didn’t approve of hiring the assistant because Street spent a maximum of six hours a month on agency business.

“I felt it was a violation of my duty to protect the assets of PHA,” Greene said.

Greene felt trapped between Street and Nutter, telling the judge that Street often “degraded and berated the role of Mayor Nutter.”

After the news broke that Greene owed back taxes and was behind on his mortgage payments, Street and Greene stopped speaking.

“I never spoke to John Street after Aug. 23,” Greene said.

As for the other board members, Greene said he had the most cordial relationship with Blackwell, though her primary concerns as a board members revolved around her personal efforts to help individuals in terms of housing or jobs, or her advocacy for the homeless. She had little influence on the day to day operations of the PHA.

“She was the chief person who was there for me,” Greene said, adding that the two still talk from time to time.

Brady was largely unconcerned about agency business, he said, except where it affected contracts with her employer, who had a contract with the PHA.

“It was a Philadelphia-style deal. It wasn’t something that was written down anywhere,” said Greene. “It was part of the political process here in Philadelphia.”

Otherwise, she rarely attended meetings, he said, estimating maybe once a year.

Eiding’s only concern was PHA’s interactions with the unions, Greene said, noting, “He was not keeping two hats.”

Reynolds was typically concerned only with conditions in the development that she lived in, or if matters affected her son or daughter, both of whom worked for the authority.

“She was very narrow in her interests,” Greene said. “Her interests were her car, her driver, her development and her family.”

The 56 year-old Greene also revealed a great deal about himself, telling Buckwalter about his childhood, raised by a single mother in Washington D.C.’s public housing projects where he was the seventh of eight children, the first in his family to graduate from college. Greene’s left arm was paralyzed while playing high school football.

Since then he’s been on painkillers and anti-depressants. Greene now lives in Decatur, Ga. He continues to be unemployed, and said his termination and the circumstances surrounding it left him feeling “abandoned and isolated.”

As the scandal at PHA unfolded, Greene went into seclusion – checking into a mental health facility in August 2010.

“Things were catching up with me and I didn’t have any support,” he said. “I felt a personal sense of collapse.”

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at 215-893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Philabundance and elected officials announced last week that they have raised enough funds to purchase a building to house a food center in Chester.

The proposed food center, essentially a non-profit 21,000-square foot grocery store, will be located at 3103 W. Ninth St. The total cost for the project is $4.5 million. About $2.2 million has been raised, which includes the cost to purchase the building. The project will create at least 30 jobs to Chester residents. Chester has been without a supermarket for more than a decade.

“Today much of this site is a vacant building but in the near future it will become an oasis – transforming Chester from a food desert to a community no longer threatened by food insecurity,” said Bob Brady, U.S. Rep, D-1.

The food center, named Fare & Square, will provide reduced price and donated food. The center will also accept SNAP benefits and offer SNAP outreach as a resource to the residents of Chester.  This model promotes food equality by offering a full range of food products at one convenient location on a regular basis while allowing people to maximize their purchasing power.  

“Today marks a new day for Philabundance, and a new day for Chester—as we prepare to create a new gateway to the City with the Fare & Square initiative,” said Bill Clark, executive director of Philabundance. “We could not be more excited to stand here today, to lead this partnership to build a community food center for Chester. With the realization of this initiative, the residents of Chester will have access to affordable and nutritious food right around the corner in a setting that provides the dignity and respect that they deserve.”  

In November 2011, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded Philabundance with a $1 million grant; the majority of the grant will support the community food center model.  The grant will help Philabundance address food access equality and improve hunger relief in the Delaware Valley. 

“All Americans deserve the right to healthy, affordable food. It is vital to the health and well-being of all people,” said Fred Mann, vice president, communications at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “We are happy to be able to assist Philabundance in its effort to serve the needs of the people of Chester. Breaking up a food desert is always a win for everyone.” 

Chester Mayor John Linder said he was excited about the project because it will enhance food access to residents unable to leave the city to buy groceries.

“Accessibility is high on the priority list,” he said. “It not only will provide jobs for Chester residents, but it avails resources to those people who can’t get out. It’s a place for them to go now.”