A JUDGE BECOMES CITY'S BEST PARK ADVOCATE
Burholme Decision Rests On An Earlier, Wise State Law
Given the choice between hundreds of jobs for city residents and a vibrant neighborhood park, even park lovers in or out of city government might hesitate - especially in this economy.
But if yesterday's Orphans' Court decision in the Fox Chase-Burholme Park case stands up on a promised appeal, it's a choice that's not the city's to make.
The decision - a ruling that denies Fox Chase the right to take over a portion of Burholme Park to expand its facilities - is yet another guarantee that parkland won't be sold off by greedy politicians. That was the widely touted fear used against a city charter change, approved Nov. 4, to abolish the Fairmount Park Commission.
And it further undermines the defense of the supposedly apolitical commission as a better protector of parkland than elected officials. The commission supported Fox Chase Cancer Center's request to expand on 19.4 acres of Burholme Park, even though residents of the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood strenuously objected.
In his ruling denying the lease, Judge John W. Herron cited "the public-trust doctrine" enshrined a century ago in Pennsylvania.
Herron wrote in his 61-page opinion, "So long as a community or neighborhood activity uses dedicated park land, the City is required to hold such land in trust for their use."
After nearly five years of controversy and negotiations, it's as simple as that, said the judge.
Apparently beside this central point are the details of the case:
The nationally recognized Fox Chase Cancer Center needs to expand and brings great benefit to the city, and city officials acted responsibly in trying to make the best deal.
Leasing the land would mean breaking the will of Robert W. Ryerss, who bequeathed it to the city in 1905 to be used as parkland "forever."
Attempts to acquire parkland to "swap" for the land in Burholme Park were unsuccessful.
Tenth District Councilman Brian O'Neill maneuvered to have Fox Chase pay millions to the city as part of the agreement, including $ 4.5 million to be used on "capital expenditures" in his district that did not have to be parkland at all.
According to the law, which was cited 100 years ago in a similar decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, if it's dedicated parkland that is still used as a park, it has to stay that way.
We'll leave to others the questions of why neither the city nor the Fairmount Park Commission did not at least raise the question of the "public-trust doctrine" in this long-running issue. We want to focus on the future of Fairmount Park as its governance structure changes.
Herron said the law wouldn't prevent the city from selling or exchanging parkland that no longer was viable. To that end, it's essential that the commission established by the Nov. 4 referendum to advise the new Department of Parks and Recreation establish clear criteria for determining viability and for deciding if and how to pursue divesting land.
Protecting city parkland should be the soul of the city's park policy. The Fox Chase deal, while perhaps well-intentioned, undermined that soul. We're grateful not only for one wise judge, and many active neighbors, but for the commonwealth's foresight 100 years ago that has succeeded in protecting us from ourselves.
Editorial
published Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008
The Philadelphia Daily News
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FIXING THE EPA
Among the many things on President-elect Barack Obama's growing to-do list is overhauling the emasculated Environmental Protection Agency.
Under the Bush administration, the EPA became overly politicized, sided with corporate polluters, and often ignored findings and recommendations by its own scientists.
A four-part series in The Inquirer that concludes today details many of the EPA's failings during the Bush years. Although some of the EPA's troubles have been touched on before, the series connects all the dots in one compelling compendium.
Sadly, a similar exercise could be done examining other government agencies that have also been blatantly politicized by the Bush administration, including the Justice Department, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Interior Department.
In the EPA series, Inquirer reporters John Shiffman and John Sullivan show how the agency charged with safeguarding the nation's health and environment systematically eroded its mission over the years.
In the most glaring example, the EPA backed off a finding that said climate change was a risk to public welfare. The findings would have led to the nation's first mandatory global-warming regulations. Instead, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson watered-down the final report, which delayed action to combat global warming.
More broadly, under Bush the EPA's funding was slashed, scientific findings censored, and enforcement de-emphasized.
Bush's first EPA head, former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, resigned in 2003 after several public clashes with the administration. She later said Vice President Cheney's efforts to ease air-pollution controls caused her to step down.
Johnson took over in 2005. Like too many other Bush appointees, he has been a yes man, more intent on eliminating regulations to benefit business interests than on protecting the environment. Johnson came to the EPA post with the help of a business lobbyist who was close to Bush's political chief, Karl Rove.
Whitman said Johnson, a scientist who advanced through the ranks of EPA, was handicapped even if he wanted to resist Bush, because he did not have the political clout other administrators brought to the job.
Many of the EPA's key decisions have been thrown out by federal courts. Over and over again, even Republican-appointed judges have found the EPA's legal justifications for its decisions to be a joke. In several instances, the courts cited fairy tales as the only way to justify some of the EPA's decisions.
The legal rebukes show how far the EPA has fallen under Bush. The Inquirer series makes clear that Obama must move immediately to resurrect the agency.
Editorial
published Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer