Christmas came early for me. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) issued its final determination in my appeal of SEPTA’s denial of my Right-To-Know Law request for records of SEPTA officials’ communications related to the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build a new arena atop Jefferson Station, aka #76Place. The public transit agency denied my request claiming that it was insufficiently specific and “burdensome.”
The OOR found that the request was partially specific and named names, including billionaire David Adelman, Sixers co-owner and 76 Place hype man, and City Councilmember Mark Squilla.
SEPTA was ordered to conduct a good faith search and turn over responsive records to me by January 20, 2024.
All three of my appeals have been granted in part. Pennsylvania’s Right-To-Know Law sure has been good to me. Merry Christmas, baby.
Civic Design Review (CDR), a committee of the Philadelphia Planning Commission, is holding a special meeting to evaluate the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build an arena adjacent to Chinatown. CDR is triggered by building projects of a certain size and/or location as outlined in the Philadelphia Code.
The Planning Commission is an agency within the Department of Planning and Development (DPD). Eleanor Sharpe, DPD interim director, said in a press release:
Whenever a major private development project is proposed, the City looks closely at the proposal to understand the complications, challenges, and potential positive and negative impacts. It is the City’s responsibility to make sure that the people of Philadelphia will benefit as much as possible if the project—in this case, an arena—becomes a reality. Figuring this out is what we mean by “due diligence.”
The public forum was preceded by 15 months of closed door meetings between Planning Commission officials and representatives of the Sixers – the same people who will appear before the CDR Committee.
An investigation by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics found that Sharpe, then-director of the Planning Commission, diligently met with Sixers’ lobbyists beginning in April 2022 – three months before the public announcement of 76 Place.
Records obtained in response to my Right-To-Know Law (RTKL) request show that Sharpe and Martine Decamp regularly communicated about 76 Place. Decamp, interim director of the Planning Commission, is a member of the CDR Committee.
After the Board of Ethics released its report, I submitted a new RTKL request to the Planning Commission, specifically requesting records related to Sharpe’s and Decamp’s communications about the proposed arena. The agency did not respond so I filed an appeal with the Office of Open Records (OOR).
The OOR issued its final determination on November 20, 2023. My appeal was granted in part and denied in part. The OOR found that portions of my request are sufficiently specific, and that the request is not disruptive or repetitive. The OOR ordered the City to search for responsive records and turn them over to me by December 20, 2023. Instead, the City appealed the OOR’s decision to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas to block release of the records.
Paula Knudsen Burke, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Local Legal Initiative attorney for Pennsylvania, is representing me in this matter.
Journalist @andersonatlarge, represented by @rcfp’s @Paula_RCFP, is seeking to obtain records related to the Philadelphia 76ers’ plan to build a new arena. But the city is now taking her to court to keep the records hidden from the public. https://t.co/pRKW6lGYDZ
— Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (@rcfp) December 16, 2023
Knudsen Burke’s due diligence will eventually disclose what Sharpe, Decamp and other Planning Commission officials said behind closed doors.
What’s done behind closed doors can be undone with transparency. The Philadelphia Housing Authority’s plan to transfer ownership of 2125 Ridge Avenue to an undercapitalized, political insider was undone after I asked questions and filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General.
A developer’s plan to demolish the building with which the John Coltrane House shares a party wall was undone after I sounded the alarm.
The Philadelphia Historical Commission did the “Philly Shrug.” They said they did not have the authority to require the owner to stabilize or brace the historic landmark. A fly-by-night LLC that is here today and gone tomorrow could have whacked away at the John Coltrane House and let the bricks fall where they may. City Council amended the Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code and provided safeguards for “work impacting historic structures.” Mayor Jim Kenney signed the bill on July 15, 2021.
Mayor Kenney and the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) said their decision to award a $500,000 no-bid commission for a permanent Harriet Tubman statue was made after four million people “positively reacted” to the temporary statue that was installed at City Hall for three months during the dead of winter. Philadelphia’s population is 1.5 million.
Records obtained in response to my Right-To-Know Law request show OACCE was negotiating a no-bid contract with the artist within days of the unveiling of the temporary statue. The City took a “new direction” and issued an Open Call for Artists.
From the day the Philadelphia 76ers announced their proposal to build a basketball arena on the site of the bankrupt Fashion District, the team’s billionaire owners have tried to present the project as “a done deal.”
An investigation by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics found that Sixers’ lobbyists met with Mayor Kenney and other City officials as early as April 2022 – three months before the public announcement.
The proposed arena is one of the most controversial and consequential issues facing Philadelphia, the poorest big city in the country. I submitted open records requests to city and state agencies that have jurisdiction over the project, commonly known as 76 Place. The Transportation Impact Study that I obtained via a RTKL request to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is the only substantive document disclosed to date.
I appealed the denial of my RTKL requests to City agencies and SEPTA for records related to 76 Place. Let the sunshine in.
PHL Watchdog 