by Steve Reinbrecht
[I reported this in August.]
Premise: We want people to come to Berks County.
We want the best workers to work in our businesses.
We want people to visit and spend money and go home and tell friends how much fun they had in Greater Reading.
We want smart young people to come and study here and maybe stay and start businesses and families.
Reality: We have to work hard to attract people here.
At this point, we don’t have the jobs to lure many employees. In fact, more than 40 percent of Berks workers commute to jobs outside the county, according to 2011 statistics.
We don’t have nationally ranked colleges.
We don’t have blockbuster attractions like neighboring counties do, such as the Valley Forge Casino next door in Montgomery County or an amusement park like Dorney Park, with Steel Force, the ninth longest steel roller coaster in the world. Longwood Gardens, in Chester County, had 1.1 million visits in 2013. Valley Forge National Historical Park gets 1.3 million visitors a year.
But maybe Berks doesn’t have to be a regional powerhouse in education or tourism or even employment.
“Be careful what you wish for,” said Berks County Commissioner Mark Scott. Many people like the quiet life here, prefer cornfields to development, and are happy to drive an hour to ride a roller coaster, he said.
“People who live here don’t feel deprived of a Dorney Park.”
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Reading Eagle story demonstrates local lack of interest in health of poor people
By Steve Reinbrecht
Reading needs another health center to serve poor people, so the city housing authority is planning to open one.
That’s right, the Reading Housing Authority, which runs the public housing programs. Not Reading Hospital, of West Reading, whose mission is "to provide compassionate, accessible, high quality, cost effective health care to the community; to promote health; to educate healthcare professionals; and to participate in appropriate clinical research."
Why did the Reading Eagle newspaper bury this story on Page B7? Making sure poor people get good health coverage is important. Ask people in Dallas, where a hospital ER sent home a man with the Ebola virus.
Of course, providing good primary care to everybody is not only an edge against global epidemics. It also makes good business sense, to ensure healthy employees and customers.
Why is the housing authority working on a health-care center and not the Reading Hospital? Why isn’t the hospital system taking more interest in basic health care in Reading?
Reading Hospital has more ER visits than any other hospital in Pennsylvania. It had more than 133,000 visits in 2013, or an average of 15 an hour, around the clock.
But eight hospitals had more admissions. That make it look like the hospital has too many ER visits. The hospital greatly expanded its ER a few years ago. Maybe it should have spent the money on primary care in the city.
Reading Health System employs 7,300 people, has an annual budget closing in on $1 billion, is building a $350 million surgery building, and has purchased most of the physician practices in the area.
Nevertheless, Berks County doesn’t have enough primary-care doctors, according to the federal government, which designated us a “health professional shortage area – primary care” in August 2012.
The hospital’s emergency room has become a de facto 24-hour clinic, but at high cost. Reducing the number of unnecessary emergency-room visits would cut medical expenses for everybody.
Many young parents have told me of nights spent waiting in the ER when their children get sick. They are clueless about how to get a family doctor.
According to the Eagle story, 93 percent of the residents’ visits to the ER were for routine care such as disease management and getting prescriptions.
But Reading Hospital apparently is not acting to fill the need. In 2012, the hospital pulled out of its clinic on Penn Street, turning it over to the Greater Berks Health Center, which had about 6,000 patients in 2013, only 10 percent of whom were on private insurance.
St. Joseph, the other Berks Hospital, does run a “family and women’s care” center downtown.
I sent my questions to Reading Hospital’s media office:
On Oct. 2, a woman in the office said she’d work on them for me, but I hadn’t heard from her again as of Friday Oct. 10.
In my paranoia, I worry the hospital wanted to give the newspaper a chance to spin the story.
It’s more likely that no one with any influence really cares about the health needs of poor people in Reading. No, maybe Dan Luckey, head of the housing authority, does. And if anyone can do this he can.
And I don't know anything about where to put health care centers. But I know these issues should be discussed more publicly.
Reading needs another health center to serve poor people, so the city housing authority is planning to open one.
That’s right, the Reading Housing Authority, which runs the public housing programs. Not Reading Hospital, of West Reading, whose mission is "to provide compassionate, accessible, high quality, cost effective health care to the community; to promote health; to educate healthcare professionals; and to participate in appropriate clinical research."
Why did the Reading Eagle newspaper bury this story on Page B7? Making sure poor people get good health coverage is important. Ask people in Dallas, where a hospital ER sent home a man with the Ebola virus.
Of course, providing good primary care to everybody is not only an edge against global epidemics. It also makes good business sense, to ensure healthy employees and customers.
Why is the housing authority working on a health-care center and not the Reading Hospital? Why isn’t the hospital system taking more interest in basic health care in Reading?
Reading Hospital has more ER visits than any other hospital in Pennsylvania. It had more than 133,000 visits in 2013, or an average of 15 an hour, around the clock.
But eight hospitals had more admissions. That make it look like the hospital has too many ER visits. The hospital greatly expanded its ER a few years ago. Maybe it should have spent the money on primary care in the city.
 |
| From Reading Health System annual report |
Nevertheless, Berks County doesn’t have enough primary-care doctors, according to the federal government, which designated us a “health professional shortage area – primary care” in August 2012.
The hospital’s emergency room has become a de facto 24-hour clinic, but at high cost. Reducing the number of unnecessary emergency-room visits would cut medical expenses for everybody.
Many young parents have told me of nights spent waiting in the ER when their children get sick. They are clueless about how to get a family doctor.
According to the Eagle story, 93 percent of the residents’ visits to the ER were for routine care such as disease management and getting prescriptions.
But Reading Hospital apparently is not acting to fill the need. In 2012, the hospital pulled out of its clinic on Penn Street, turning it over to the Greater Berks Health Center, which had about 6,000 patients in 2013, only 10 percent of whom were on private insurance.
I sent my questions to Reading Hospital’s media office:
- What is Reading Health System’s involvement in plans for a health center to serve poor people in the Oakbrook public-housing development?
- Why was nobody from the Health System mentioned in the story? Was a representative there?
- How much did the Health System provide in 2013 to the Greater Berks Health Center on Penn Street?
- Does the hospital have counselors in the emergency room to meet people while they are waiting for care to explain about getting primary care instead of using the emergency room?
- How does the hospital try to reduce unnecessary ER visits?
- What percent of ER visits are non-emergency?
On Oct. 2, a woman in the office said she’d work on them for me, but I hadn’t heard from her again as of Friday Oct. 10.
In my paranoia, I worry the hospital wanted to give the newspaper a chance to spin the story.
It’s more likely that no one with any influence really cares about the health needs of poor people in Reading. No, maybe Dan Luckey, head of the housing authority, does. And if anyone can do this he can.
And I don't know anything about where to put health care centers. But I know these issues should be discussed more publicly.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Latest Reading schools chief says he is different than predecessors; replaces Citadel principal
by Steve Reinbrecht
The new Reading School District superintendent told me the reasons he thinks he will succeed when his predecessors have failed to improve student achievement, manage finances or keep the public informed.
Mumin has three advantages – a truly different school board, a finance department rebuilt by independent professionals, and, he says, the knowledge of how to change uninspired students’ attitudes because he made the change himself.
The district serves about 17,600 students, employs about 2,000 people and has a budget approaching a quarter of a billion dollars.
It has had a string of ineffective leaders. The latest, Carlinda Purcell, was hired in March 2012 for five years with a starting salary of $175,000 and was fired in November, with never a clear explanation of the reasons or how her contract was resolved. Mumin’s salary has not been set, at least that I could find publicly.
Of course, all the recent superintendents also said they had their board’s support. But there is a difference with this board. Of the nine members who hired Carlinda Purcell as superintendent in March 2012, six have been replaced. The school board is rid of its biggest troublemakers. Yvonne Stroman, newly elected in November, resigned at the beginning of the year. Karen McCree ended her 14-year tenure on the board when she submitted her resignation. I wonder if Stroman and McCree were “counseled out,” to use the term educators use when ineffective teachers are pressured to leave.
For the first time in decades, perhaps, sensible technocrats such as BCIU leader John George and small-government guru John Kramer, now on the school board, are calling some shots at Berks County’s most important institution.
Mumin acknowledges that the district has been closed off to the public and vows to change that. He wants to connect better with families, despite the cost such face-to-face efforts to help city students require. Perhaps public-service organizations can add bodies to the job, he said. In Syracuse, N.Y., he noted, administrators hand-deliver disciplinary notices to students’ homes after school. They quickly become known in the community.
Mumin knows many parents are uncomfortable or even intimidated entering district buildings.
“800 Washington is a scary place.”
He wants to set up tables during the annual Salsa Fest and at events at places like the Hispanic Center, the YMCA, and the Olivet buildings, to help get his message out.
Mumin said he can relate to the students and parents in Reading because he grew up in Philadelphia. Mumin told me he was often truant, missing 75 days in high school. He turned himself around, began his higher education at a junior college and finished with a doctorate at the highly selective University of Pennsylvania.
And he comes in after the Berks County Intermediate Unit, an education service, spent months transforming the district’s organizational nightmare, which included stacks of unopened mail in the finance office, which oversees the budget of $227 million.
The BCIU identified all the district’s important operations and fixed them, especially finances, which now has state-of-the-art software, he said. The IU also began work on curriculum and also hired him as a superintendent.
I have to say, you can’t beat Mumin for charisma, which has to help in a job like his. He seems about eight feet tall and is lanky and animated, with a bow tie and cuff links and an English teacher’s tendency to elaborate. He complimented me on my hat, pegging it as a Bailey with a glance at it across the room. He’s the type of man who gripped my hand a little longer than I like, but when I let go, he didn’t keep holding it as some Masters of the Universe are wont. He’s young, 42, and handsome, and I’d swear his big brown eyes got a bit moist once or twice when he discussed topics that move him.
Mumin said he’ll measure students’ academic progress by their performance on standardized tests, of course. But he mentioned some other metrics – how many children are taking tests, such as SATS, that are necessary for higher education. How many advanced placement (AP) scholars the district has. Attendance and truancy. The raw number of graduates. This year, 753 graduated. A short-term goal is 1,000.
Unlike at other poor urban districts, Reading has good attendance, Mumin said, but the achievement scores are still low. That shows him the teachers need more support in how to reach the children, he said.
Mumin has put Alex Brown, who was principal of Southwest Middle School, in the Intermediate High School, also known as the Citadel. Mumin called the school the “hot spot” of the district. Dennis Campbell, who had been Citadel principal, will be principal of Southwest.
Mumin is also looking for a principal for 13th and Green Elementary School to replace Chasity Cooper, who recently resigned.
With a week until school starts Aug. 25, he needs to fill other important positions, listed on a whiteboard in his office. Two positions oversee the district’s principals: the chief instructional services officer and the literacy and humanities director.
The district needs to find a director of equity, concerned with diversity and race relations, a position required by the state Human Relations Commission.
And he needs a director of English as a second language, in a city where a third of the residents lives in homes where no one speaks English very well.
He wants to set realistic goals for students. He knows many are likely to go to 2-year schools and certificate programs. Reading High School could be a prime source for future technicians that manufacturing and health sciences will need around here.
Mumin confirmed that county educators and leaders have had trouble working with the district on projects such as a “career in two years” and Reading Area Community College’s technical academy.
“There’s been a perception that we close our doors on our partners. … Our partners want to help.”
Mumin said he has met with leaders of RACC, Greater Reading Economic Partnership [a development agency], Penn State Berks, the YMCA, Olivets children’s clubs, Berks Women in Crisis, and other groups who have also pledged support. He said he hopes to use their energy to address problems in the districts that need direct human attention.
Those leaders said, Mumin reported, “We’re here to help, but for years we haven’t been able to get into this building.”
Mumin said every hire goes through his office or the office of Assistant Superintendent Juliette Pennyman.
He said he hired a nurse just before he talked to me, and read some notes about why she got the job:
She was born and raised in Reading. She had worked in a hospice setting. Her mother had been a nurse. She sees her job as more than being a nurse but helping students “holistically.” She’s not afraid of different people. She is student centered. “These kids need us.”
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Reading group opens bicycling center to promote riding
from Redesign Reading
The public is invited to visit an open house to introduce the Reading Bike Hub on Friday, Aug. 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the former Franklin Street train station at 720 Cherry St.
“This is a great day for Reading,” said Eron Lloyd, a city administrator. “Bicycle infrastructure and amenities are a critical component of a 21st-century city. We are excited to see the different bike communities in the city galvanize around this bike hub.”
Organizers want to make bicycling safer and more enjoyable while building an active bike culture in the city.
The hub will offer affordable bike maintenance and repair services and training, bike recycling and refurbishing, bike safety training, and organized group rides.
“I'm pumped. I wish there was something like that when I was growing up in the city. Biking is what kept me out of a lot of trouble,” said resident and hub volunteer Jason Orth.
The hub is accepting donations of bikes, bike parts, and bike accessories. These will be refurbished and sold at cost. If people are interested in donating, please contact Jason at 610-750-6401 to coordinate.
The Reading Bike Hub will develop bike educational programming.
“I still remember the sense of freedom that I felt the first time I took my bike apart and put it all back together. This bike hub is about giving that opportunity to a new generation of kids,” added Gary Spalding, another bike enthusiast and committed bike hub supporter.
The Reading Police Department bike patrol will assist with public safety and bike education training, and AAA Reading-Berks will provide bike helmets at bike safety events and safety inspections.
This initiative grows out of the Bike Advocates of Reading team, a sub-task force of the Reading Trails Initiative coordinated through the Berks County Conservancy.
Interested Reading residents and commuters joined together to assess the bike needs inside the city. The group outlined these focus areas:
The public is invited to visit an open house to introduce the Reading Bike Hub on Friday, Aug. 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the former Franklin Street train station at 720 Cherry St.
Organizers want to make bicycling safer and more enjoyable while building an active bike culture in the city.
The hub will offer affordable bike maintenance and repair services and training, bike recycling and refurbishing, bike safety training, and organized group rides.
“I'm pumped. I wish there was something like that when I was growing up in the city. Biking is what kept me out of a lot of trouble,” said resident and hub volunteer Jason Orth.
The hub is accepting donations of bikes, bike parts, and bike accessories. These will be refurbished and sold at cost. If people are interested in donating, please contact Jason at 610-750-6401 to coordinate.
The Reading Bike Hub will develop bike educational programming.
“I still remember the sense of freedom that I felt the first time I took my bike apart and put it all back together. This bike hub is about giving that opportunity to a new generation of kids,” added Gary Spalding, another bike enthusiast and committed bike hub supporter.
The Reading Police Department bike patrol will assist with public safety and bike education training, and AAA Reading-Berks will provide bike helmets at bike safety events and safety inspections.
This initiative grows out of the Bike Advocates of Reading team, a sub-task force of the Reading Trails Initiative coordinated through the Berks County Conservancy.
Interested Reading residents and commuters joined together to assess the bike needs inside the city. The group outlined these focus areas:
- Promote increased bike access, education, and services in Reading to all riders.
- Connect city residents to the extensive trail system, and promote trail system visitors to come into the city by improving urban bike infrastructure.
- Investigate a Reading bike-share initiative.
- Create a committee to support bike-related comprehensive plan efforts.
Friday, August 8, 2014
New Berks County housing project needs some publicity
by Steve Reinbrecht
Giant machines are tearing up ground around an old stone house as work starts on a 107-home development in Lower Heidelberg Township near Wilson West Middle School.
Even though I live a mile away, I almost never drive on Gaul Road and hadn’t noticed the work, just north of the Toyota place on Route 422. To me, a new housing development is big news. A whole new neighborhood. Dust and noise. Road, water and sewer construction.
Will the taxes the new residents will pay cover the costs of the new services they’ll require – road maintenance, mail service, police and fire protection, and seats in Wilson schools?
Housing starts are a closely watched metric of the economy. Builders pay workers pretty well. When people move in, they buy a lot of expensive stuff.
By building on open space in the suburbs, Grande Development Corp. is bucking the housing trend in America and the world toward refitting urban spaces so people can drive less and meet more people.
To me, the images of the “development” are ugly, green fields churned to mud, giant trees ground up, wetlands disturbed, woods and cropland turned into uninspired housing units where residents will likely douse their yards with pesticides and petroleum salts and ensure no pollinators nor amphibians will ever live there again.
The property’s stone farmhouse looks naked and slightly obscene, stripped of its landscaping and surrounded by debris and porto-potties.
Many people share my impulse – halt the bulldozing [as soon as we move in]! Preservation is a top concern for many voters. The state and county pay landowners to give up their rights to develop. Strict laws control new construction on steep slopes and in swamps and places with rare organisms. A zoning map shows about 90 percent of Lower Heidelberg is zoned “agricultural preservation.” Grande’s project is in “suburban residential.”
But land rights are also a strong passion for Americans. How far should the state go in telling us where to build and live? Preserving land drives its value up, making it harder for poor people to move out of cities and instead benefitting more-likely-to-be-rich owners. Just the idea of owning land astonished native Americans.
Grande bought the 49-acre property for $1.35 million from another developer, Greth Development Group, which has been selling land.
County records show Greth owns 85 acres north and west of Wilson Middle School.
The new houses will be on both sides of Gaul Road. Most of the houses -- 77 -- will be single homes on lots. The remaining 30 or so will be semis. The township waived a requirement to build sidewalks on Gaul Road.
The farmhouse will be preserved. The remains of huge trees are stacked at the site. The property is just south of the Little Cacoosing Creek. A bit more than 8 acres will be preserved, including about three acres of wetland.
The plans, filed in late May, show Grande will plant more than 300 shade trees, evergreens and trees for drainage basins.
The names of the streets: Regina, Stella, Merganser and Goldeneye.
Giant machines are tearing up ground around an old stone house as work starts on a 107-home development in Lower Heidelberg Township near Wilson West Middle School.
Even though I live a mile away, I almost never drive on Gaul Road and hadn’t noticed the work, just north of the Toyota place on Route 422. To me, a new housing development is big news. A whole new neighborhood. Dust and noise. Road, water and sewer construction. Will the taxes the new residents will pay cover the costs of the new services they’ll require – road maintenance, mail service, police and fire protection, and seats in Wilson schools?
Housing starts are a closely watched metric of the economy. Builders pay workers pretty well. When people move in, they buy a lot of expensive stuff.
By building on open space in the suburbs, Grande Development Corp. is bucking the housing trend in America and the world toward refitting urban spaces so people can drive less and meet more people.
The property’s stone farmhouse looks naked and slightly obscene, stripped of its landscaping and surrounded by debris and porto-potties.
But land rights are also a strong passion for Americans. How far should the state go in telling us where to build and live? Preserving land drives its value up, making it harder for poor people to move out of cities and instead benefitting more-likely-to-be-rich owners. Just the idea of owning land astonished native Americans.
Grande bought the 49-acre property for $1.35 million from another developer, Greth Development Group, which has been selling land.
County records show Greth owns 85 acres north and west of Wilson Middle School.The new houses will be on both sides of Gaul Road. Most of the houses -- 77 -- will be single homes on lots. The remaining 30 or so will be semis. The township waived a requirement to build sidewalks on Gaul Road.
The plans, filed in late May, show Grande will plant more than 300 shade trees, evergreens and trees for drainage basins.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Vigilantes open strategic bridge in Lower Heidelberg Township
by Steve Reinbrecht
Vigilantes have moved barriers to open a bridge in Lower Heidelberg Township.
The bridge, across the Little Cacoosing Creek in Lower Heidelberg, has been crossable for years, but Establishment forces have used concrete barriers to block passage for cars and trucks.
[Disclosure: it’s practically in my back yard.]
Recently, the length of Connecticut Avenue in the Green Valley development that crosses the creek has been paved, and the concrete barriers replaced with plastic barrels and saw-horses.
Desperate drivers, eager to save precious minutes on their commutes, have shoved the stuff aside to open a lane.
Establishment forces, either township police or Grande Construction workers, replace them. When that happens, before someone gets out and takes matters into his or her own hands, a steady stream of vehicles drive to the bridge, pause, and do three-point turns. Many drive down our cul-de-sac, looking for an alternate escape. GPS services have long directed vehicles across the dead-end bridge. Friends have been duped.
Major construction started in September 2011, almost three years ago. The township wants the bridge open for better emergency-response access.
The hundreds of families in the development want the bridge open because it shaves minutes off every trip east and lets us avoid The Worst Traffic in Berks County, on Route 422 through Sinking Spring. It saves me at least three minutes a trip from my errands and chauffeuring to Wilson High School and Wyomissing. It saves me driving through a mile of residential streets full of tots, old people, bikes, dogs and school buses.
Grande must have spent $1 million on the bridge. It certainly isn’t among Pennsylvania’s structurally deficient bridges. It has two spans. Grande created acres of wetlands to remediate disturbing the existing wetlands. The company planted dozens of native trees and shrubs and cattails etc.
How many new bridges have been built in Berks lately, especially by a private developer?
I know Establishment forces can’t let us vulnerable citizens drive across unsafe bridges.
But this bridge is safe. What’s the holdup preventing the public from using this high-cost infrastructure? It’s obviously some bureaucratic holdup with state approval or insurance or waiting for a quorum at a summer municipal meeting.
In any case, I’m glad the rules have been broken to let common sense prevail.
Vigilantes have moved barriers to open a bridge in Lower Heidelberg Township.
The bridge, across the Little Cacoosing Creek in Lower Heidelberg, has been crossable for years, but Establishment forces have used concrete barriers to block passage for cars and trucks.
[Disclosure: it’s practically in my back yard.]
Recently, the length of Connecticut Avenue in the Green Valley development that crosses the creek has been paved, and the concrete barriers replaced with plastic barrels and saw-horses.
Desperate drivers, eager to save precious minutes on their commutes, have shoved the stuff aside to open a lane.
Establishment forces, either township police or Grande Construction workers, replace them. When that happens, before someone gets out and takes matters into his or her own hands, a steady stream of vehicles drive to the bridge, pause, and do three-point turns. Many drive down our cul-de-sac, looking for an alternate escape. GPS services have long directed vehicles across the dead-end bridge. Friends have been duped.
Major construction started in September 2011, almost three years ago. The township wants the bridge open for better emergency-response access.The hundreds of families in the development want the bridge open because it shaves minutes off every trip east and lets us avoid The Worst Traffic in Berks County, on Route 422 through Sinking Spring. It saves me at least three minutes a trip from my errands and chauffeuring to Wilson High School and Wyomissing. It saves me driving through a mile of residential streets full of tots, old people, bikes, dogs and school buses.
Grande must have spent $1 million on the bridge. It certainly isn’t among Pennsylvania’s structurally deficient bridges. It has two spans. Grande created acres of wetlands to remediate disturbing the existing wetlands. The company planted dozens of native trees and shrubs and cattails etc.
How many new bridges have been built in Berks lately, especially by a private developer?
I know Establishment forces can’t let us vulnerable citizens drive across unsafe bridges.
But this bridge is safe. What’s the holdup preventing the public from using this high-cost infrastructure? It’s obviously some bureaucratic holdup with state approval or insurance or waiting for a quorum at a summer municipal meeting.
In any case, I’m glad the rules have been broken to let common sense prevail.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Boscov should finish other projects before starting in Reading’s Penn Square
by Steve Reinbrecht
Al Boscov wants to develop a row of major buildings in downtown Reading.
But he hasn’t finished other projects, leaving parts of the city ugly and raising questions about his ability to attract tenants and see projects through.
For example, Boscov’s non-profit group Our City Reading owns dozens of properties all over the city. Many in the Buttonwood Street- Schuylkill Avenue area appear to be in limbo.
Our City Reading uses public money to buy and renovate blighted homes. The strategy has been criticized as scatter-shot. [I think it would be better to use Reading’s community-development funds to concentrate on fixing up an entire borderline neighborhood next to a stable neighborhood.]
How many properties does Our City Reading own? They are listed in Berks County records, but you have to look carefully.
A recent look at Berks County records shows that “Our City Reading” owns 16 properties, mostly in the Buttonwood Gateway project, where Boscov had proposed new housing.
But wait! There are more. Search “Our City-Reading” – with the oddly placed hyphen -- and 43 more properties show up, some co-owned by Carrie Miller, whoever she is. It has owned some of them for seven years.
A drive around a block in the neighborhood off Buttonwood Street shows vacant lots, many with weeds and trash. Houses range from boarded up to dilapidated to well-kept and cheery.
Then there are the vacant storefronts across Washington Street from the GoggleWorks arts center. The strip of stores has been empty for years. What a sight to see next to the city’s premier attraction, which, to be fair, would not exist if it were not for Boscov’s major financial support.
I asked Adam Mukerji, executive director of the Reading Redevelopment Authority, why it’s so hard to find tenants for the strip, along the bottom of a parking garage. County records show that the authority owns the building.
He replied:
"Steve:
I have forwarded your email to Al Boscov for his response.
The retail space is owned by Our City Reading the not for profit headed by Al."
Boscov didn’t get back to me. He also didn’t get back to me when I asked him why he thinks he could find tenants for the giant buildings along the 400 block of Penn Street.
Rival developer Alan Shuman, who has also submitted plans for the city-owned buildings, did answer my questions.
“The downtown, and city, are filled with underused buildings for two main reasons,” Shuman wrote. “First, many owners are unwilling to make the investment into properly maintaining or renovating their buildings and would rather cut lease rates than make the improvements.
“Second, most owners are unwilling to make the investment of giving tenants (businesses) what they want.
“I talked to dozens of businesses and asked them what I should do for them to be willing to sign leases [for the downtown project] and move their businesses into the completed project.”
Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer supports Boscov’s plans over Shuman’s.
Al Boscov wants to develop a row of major buildings in downtown Reading.
 |
| City-owned empty buildings on Penn Street. |
For example, Boscov’s non-profit group Our City Reading owns dozens of properties all over the city. Many in the Buttonwood Street- Schuylkill Avenue area appear to be in limbo.
 |
| 431 Gordon St., owned by Our City Reading. |
How many properties does Our City Reading own? They are listed in Berks County records, but you have to look carefully.
A recent look at Berks County records shows that “Our City Reading” owns 16 properties, mostly in the Buttonwood Gateway project, where Boscov had proposed new housing.
But wait! There are more. Search “Our City-Reading” – with the oddly placed hyphen -- and 43 more properties show up, some co-owned by Carrie Miller, whoever she is. It has owned some of them for seven years.
 |
| 419 Tulpehocken St. Our City Reading owns the empty lot. |
 |
| The Reading Redevelopment Authority owns 461 Gordon St., left. Our City Reading owns the lot at 459 Gordon St. |
Then there are the vacant storefronts across Washington Street from the GoggleWorks arts center. The strip of stores has been empty for years. What a sight to see next to the city’s premier attraction, which, to be fair, would not exist if it were not for Boscov’s major financial support.
I asked Adam Mukerji, executive director of the Reading Redevelopment Authority, why it’s so hard to find tenants for the strip, along the bottom of a parking garage. County records show that the authority owns the building.
He replied:
 |
| Empty space across from the GoggleWorks. |
I have forwarded your email to Al Boscov for his response.
The retail space is owned by Our City Reading the not for profit headed by Al."
Boscov didn’t get back to me. He also didn’t get back to me when I asked him why he thinks he could find tenants for the giant buildings along the 400 block of Penn Street.
Rival developer Alan Shuman, who has also submitted plans for the city-owned buildings, did answer my questions.
“The downtown, and city, are filled with underused buildings for two main reasons,” Shuman wrote. “First, many owners are unwilling to make the investment into properly maintaining or renovating their buildings and would rather cut lease rates than make the improvements.
“Second, most owners are unwilling to make the investment of giving tenants (businesses) what they want.
“I talked to dozens of businesses and asked them what I should do for them to be willing to sign leases [for the downtown project] and move their businesses into the completed project.”
Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer supports Boscov’s plans over Shuman’s.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Reading planners reject cost cutting proposal at Boscov's hotel
Thanks to the Reading City Planners, Our City Reading’s hotel, under the affiliated name “Reading Hospitality,” won’t be able cut corners on the make-or-break hotel-convention center project in the 700 block of Penn Street.
At the very end of a story Saturday all the way back on B4 is a paragraph:
“Planners also denied a request by Reading Hospitality LLC to eliminate some landscape and streetscape plans for the Double Tree [sic] Hotel and garage project in the 700 block of Penn Street. Developers had asked to remove some patterned brick along the curb and landscaping due to costs and maintenance.”
The city needs all the patterned brick and landscaping along Penn Street it can get.
 |
| It's going to be big. |
At the very end of a story Saturday all the way back on B4 is a paragraph:
“Planners also denied a request by Reading Hospitality LLC to eliminate some landscape and streetscape plans for the Double Tree [sic] Hotel and garage project in the 700 block of Penn Street. Developers had asked to remove some patterned brick along the curb and landscaping due to costs and maintenance.”
The city needs all the patterned brick and landscaping along Penn Street it can get.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Berks County deserves real-world answers from new Reading school chief
by Steve Reinbrecht
Berks County Television [BCTV] scooped the Reading Eagle, landing a 30-minute interview with Reading’s new public school superintendent.
If you had one question for the new city school chief, what would it be?
Maybe: “There’s been like 13 superintendents in the last 8 years, and none could wrangle the board or pull the district out of about the bottom 2 percent or so of Pennsylvania’s districts.
“Why are you going to succeed when they all failed?”
Reading School District Superintendent Khalid Mumin's background and achievements are impressive. I truly, sincerely wish him well and hope he turns the essential institution around.
I was less impressed by his interview because I wanted at least a few concrete and measurable goals.
I wasn't really expecting BCTV producer and School Board Director Robin Costenbader-Jacobson to ask serious questions. So I can’t wait for the Reading Eagle, Greater Reading’s pinnacle newsgathering operation, to cop an interview and to pin Mumin down on things like:
• When will he release class-size information?
• Are all the teachers qualified in their subjects?
• Will he replace any principals?
• Who was in charge of the finance office when unopened mail piled up?
• Why should the public trust his financial figures now?
• Are all key positions, like director of special education, properly filled?
• Will policies and curricula be available online?
• Why was former Superintendent Carlinda Purcell fired? What are the financial details of her termination?
• What are the priorities? Finance, IT, staffing, curriculum, fixing buildings?
• How will the 80,000 people in the city learn about progress?
Mumin did say, in no particular order and according to my distracted notetaking [all quotes severely out of context]:
• He is a classic-car fanatic, with two Cadillacs.
• The first year will be a year of assessment.
• He found out at the district’s administrative retreat that he has a dedicated administrative staff.
• The fact that most of his staff have 10 or more years with the district shows that the administration has stayed consistent – “They’re in – they’re just looking for leadership and guidance.”
• He wants “to meet everyone and anyone.”
• “I truly believe we’re on the pathway to excellence.”
• “I believe that appreciation and being humble is part of my experience.”
• “Building relationships is key."
Costenbader-Jacobson showed complete support.
• "We did attract the best of the best."
• “He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk, he runs the walk.”
Berks County Television [BCTV] scooped the Reading Eagle, landing a 30-minute interview with Reading’s new public school superintendent.
Maybe: “There’s been like 13 superintendents in the last 8 years, and none could wrangle the board or pull the district out of about the bottom 2 percent or so of Pennsylvania’s districts.
“Why are you going to succeed when they all failed?”
Reading School District Superintendent Khalid Mumin's background and achievements are impressive. I truly, sincerely wish him well and hope he turns the essential institution around.
I was less impressed by his interview because I wanted at least a few concrete and measurable goals.
I wasn't really expecting BCTV producer and School Board Director Robin Costenbader-Jacobson to ask serious questions. So I can’t wait for the Reading Eagle, Greater Reading’s pinnacle newsgathering operation, to cop an interview and to pin Mumin down on things like:
• When will he release class-size information?
• Are all the teachers qualified in their subjects?
• Will he replace any principals?
• Who was in charge of the finance office when unopened mail piled up?
• Why should the public trust his financial figures now?
• Are all key positions, like director of special education, properly filled?
• Will policies and curricula be available online?
• Why was former Superintendent Carlinda Purcell fired? What are the financial details of her termination?
• What are the priorities? Finance, IT, staffing, curriculum, fixing buildings?
• How will the 80,000 people in the city learn about progress?
Mumin did say, in no particular order and according to my distracted notetaking [all quotes severely out of context]:
• He is a classic-car fanatic, with two Cadillacs.
• The first year will be a year of assessment.
• He found out at the district’s administrative retreat that he has a dedicated administrative staff.
• The fact that most of his staff have 10 or more years with the district shows that the administration has stayed consistent – “They’re in – they’re just looking for leadership and guidance.”
• He wants “to meet everyone and anyone.”
• “I truly believe we’re on the pathway to excellence.”
• “I believe that appreciation and being humble is part of my experience.”
• “Building relationships is key."
Costenbader-Jacobson showed complete support.
• "We did attract the best of the best."
• “He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk, he runs the walk.”
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Perceptions or misperceptions about crime in Reading
by Steve Reinbrecht
For years I have heard people say that fear of crime discourages people from entering Reading to visit the GoggleWorks and other places and events in Berks County’s only city.
[Sometimes I think, and messages at the county orphanage last weekend support this idea, that “fear of crime” is really code for “fear of people who are so different from us.”
Reading, as the county seat and a city with public transportation and the centers of many social services, draws the sorts of people that others might not want to share the street with.
West Reading’s and Hamburg’s downtowns don’t have that problem, said Downtown Improvement District Boss Chuck Broad, a former Reading police chief.
Yet crime is so much easier to blame than prejudice for Reading’s problems. Do you think the governor would show up at a Xenophobia Summit?]
In any case, whizzing bullets and random thuggery are sort of the urban mythology of Reading.
“We need to take away the things that make it attractive for them [criminals] to come here to play with guns, steal what they need, sell drugs to schoolchildren and make so many fear to cross the Penn Street Bridge into the city,” F. Alan Shirk wrote in a letter to the Reading Eagle editor last week.
The Downtown Improvement District recognizes the perception that Reading is dangerous and is concerned about it, Broad said.
It’s tough to change that idea once people have it in their minds, he said, and he believes the local media reinforce – but don’t sensationalize – the idea by reporting crimes.
Even when police statistics show a significant, long-term decline in serious crime, it likely won’t change the public perception of a crime-drenched city, Barry J. Harvey, assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Alvernia University, told the Reading Eagle in January.
"It isn't so much about crime statistics as it is about perception," Harvey said. "The bottom line is if you look at statistics, Reading is really no more violent and no more crime-ridden than many of the cities in Pennsylvania.”
Some people say only non-city Berks residents think the city is too dangerous to visit. Broad said people who come from outside of Berks don’t mention a fear of crime when he chats with them at events.
There is less crime in the downtown area than in some other parts of town, but when a crime occurs in any part of Reading it often gets wrongly associated with downtown, Broad said.
Over the summer, the police officers who work in Reading public schools as resource officers have been reassigned downtown. DID asked for a dedicated police officer to patrol downtown, but the city declined. Police Chief William Heim wrote me that it was a matter of “a matter of cost and resource allocation.” My interpretation: Other parts of the city need police coverage more than downtown.
Some question the idea that many people think the city is too dangerous to enter.
There is no evidence that fear of crime is a significant issue, Kevin Murphy, head of the Berks County Community Foundation, in Reading, told me in an e-mail.
He said events have good attendance and shops have enough customers.
“A couple of years ago, I took my boys to see ‘Larry The Cable Guy.’ It was a packed house of people who, to my eye, appeared to be residents of our rural areas.”
State Sen. Judy Schwank, a Democrat who represents Reading, said many people harbor fears about going downtown in any city – but that people will visit when there is something fun to do.
“We have had concerts and other events at the Sovereign Center that are sold out. Royals games regularly draw thousands of spectators. And the Goggleworks is lively on the weekends.”
For years I have heard people say that fear of crime discourages people from entering Reading to visit the GoggleWorks and other places and events in Berks County’s only city.
Reading, as the county seat and a city with public transportation and the centers of many social services, draws the sorts of people that others might not want to share the street with.
West Reading’s and Hamburg’s downtowns don’t have that problem, said Downtown Improvement District Boss Chuck Broad, a former Reading police chief.
Yet crime is so much easier to blame than prejudice for Reading’s problems. Do you think the governor would show up at a Xenophobia Summit?]
In any case, whizzing bullets and random thuggery are sort of the urban mythology of Reading.
“We need to take away the things that make it attractive for them [criminals] to come here to play with guns, steal what they need, sell drugs to schoolchildren and make so many fear to cross the Penn Street Bridge into the city,” F. Alan Shirk wrote in a letter to the Reading Eagle editor last week.
The Downtown Improvement District recognizes the perception that Reading is dangerous and is concerned about it, Broad said.
It’s tough to change that idea once people have it in their minds, he said, and he believes the local media reinforce – but don’t sensationalize – the idea by reporting crimes.
Even when police statistics show a significant, long-term decline in serious crime, it likely won’t change the public perception of a crime-drenched city, Barry J. Harvey, assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Alvernia University, told the Reading Eagle in January.
"It isn't so much about crime statistics as it is about perception," Harvey said. "The bottom line is if you look at statistics, Reading is really no more violent and no more crime-ridden than many of the cities in Pennsylvania.”
Some people say only non-city Berks residents think the city is too dangerous to visit. Broad said people who come from outside of Berks don’t mention a fear of crime when he chats with them at events.
There is less crime in the downtown area than in some other parts of town, but when a crime occurs in any part of Reading it often gets wrongly associated with downtown, Broad said.
Over the summer, the police officers who work in Reading public schools as resource officers have been reassigned downtown. DID asked for a dedicated police officer to patrol downtown, but the city declined. Police Chief William Heim wrote me that it was a matter of “a matter of cost and resource allocation.” My interpretation: Other parts of the city need police coverage more than downtown.
Some question the idea that many people think the city is too dangerous to enter.
There is no evidence that fear of crime is a significant issue, Kevin Murphy, head of the Berks County Community Foundation, in Reading, told me in an e-mail.
He said events have good attendance and shops have enough customers.“A couple of years ago, I took my boys to see ‘Larry The Cable Guy.’ It was a packed house of people who, to my eye, appeared to be residents of our rural areas.”
State Sen. Judy Schwank, a Democrat who represents Reading, said many people harbor fears about going downtown in any city – but that people will visit when there is something fun to do.
“We have had concerts and other events at the Sovereign Center that are sold out. Royals games regularly draw thousands of spectators. And the Goggleworks is lively on the weekends.”
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Aging Reading Democratic Committee is dying for younger members
By Steve Reinbrecht
Reading’s Democratic Committee has to figure out how to get younger people to join, according to Larry Miccicke, voted president last month.
Perhaps that’s a vacuum for a new generation of city leaders to fill. And raising political awareness in Reading could affect county races.
The committee should have 88 members but has only 39, and that’s the highest membership level for a long time, Miccicke said.
All over, even older people have become disenchanted with politics, but the young are least involved, he said.
Having a robust political party in Reading is important. The University of Southern California has a good list of some of the reasons that parties matter.
The city committee is inclusive, Miccicke said, and has members of all races and ethnicities.
“What you don’t see is young people.”
Miccicke wants to have more events – rallies and parties in neighborhoods – to spark interest.
Voters need more opportunities to talk with local politicians who represent Reading – state Reps. Tom Caltagirone and Mark Rozzi, and state Sen Judy Schwank. The three are very approachable, which helps engage newcomers, he said.
Miccicke will need more members to work during elections and call prospective voters. In a world of social media, robocalls and caller ID, nothing is more effective than personal calls from a neighbor, Miccicke said.
With a higher turnout in the city, Berks Democrats could control more county elections, Miccicke pointed out. Interest among city voters is high in city races for Reading School Board and City Council, Miccicke said, but there’s less interest in state offices. Democrats’ clout is dilute in Berks County, which has been gerrymandered to dispose of Democrats into conservative Republican districts.
In the primary election in May, 44, 932 people were registered to vote in Reading – 32,003 Democrats, 6,056 Republicans and 6,873 “other.”
The Berks County Democratic Committee’s website lists seven races with no Democratic challenger -- those for U.S. Congress in the 15th District, and for state representatives in the 124th, 128th, 129th, 130th, 134th, and 187th.
The committee doesn’t have the same percentage of Latinos as the city does, but the proportion is rising, Miccicke said.
There will be some discrimination and close-mindedness as people who differ from traditional Berksians get more power, he said. And there isn’t a grand alliance among Latinos, many of whom identify most closely with their homelands than their language. Maybe they could rally around being Democrats if they could see how that could pay off.
Reading’s Democratic Committee has to figure out how to get younger people to join, according to Larry Miccicke, voted president last month.
Perhaps that’s a vacuum for a new generation of city leaders to fill. And raising political awareness in Reading could affect county races.
All over, even older people have become disenchanted with politics, but the young are least involved, he said.
Having a robust political party in Reading is important. The University of Southern California has a good list of some of the reasons that parties matter.
- In a political system where well-funded special-interest groups have the most influence, parties give political clout to everyone. Rich people have money; poor people have votes.
- Parties promote compromise and moderation. “Leaders work hard to forge compromises on issues to keep as many people in the party as happy as possible. That usually requires that extreme ideas get turned into more moderate ideas.”
- Parties make it easier for voters to vote by lining up candidates with similar views and policies, and anything to make it less onerous to vote is welcome. “Voting research strongly supports the hypothesis that party identification makes voting easier. The stronger the party identification a person has, the more likely they are to vote.”
- Parties play a role in organizing political campaigns, especially on the local level. They recruit and screen candidates, recruit volunteers, raise money, plan strategy, work to get people out to vote, and provide campaign advice.
- And they recruit new groups of voters.
The city committee is inclusive, Miccicke said, and has members of all races and ethnicities.
“What you don’t see is young people.”
Miccicke wants to have more events – rallies and parties in neighborhoods – to spark interest.
Voters need more opportunities to talk with local politicians who represent Reading – state Reps. Tom Caltagirone and Mark Rozzi, and state Sen Judy Schwank. The three are very approachable, which helps engage newcomers, he said.
Miccicke will need more members to work during elections and call prospective voters. In a world of social media, robocalls and caller ID, nothing is more effective than personal calls from a neighbor, Miccicke said.
With a higher turnout in the city, Berks Democrats could control more county elections, Miccicke pointed out. Interest among city voters is high in city races for Reading School Board and City Council, Miccicke said, but there’s less interest in state offices. Democrats’ clout is dilute in Berks County, which has been gerrymandered to dispose of Democrats into conservative Republican districts.
In the primary election in May, 44, 932 people were registered to vote in Reading – 32,003 Democrats, 6,056 Republicans and 6,873 “other.”
The Berks County Democratic Committee’s website lists seven races with no Democratic challenger -- those for U.S. Congress in the 15th District, and for state representatives in the 124th, 128th, 129th, 130th, 134th, and 187th.
The committee doesn’t have the same percentage of Latinos as the city does, but the proportion is rising, Miccicke said.
There will be some discrimination and close-mindedness as people who differ from traditional Berksians get more power, he said. And there isn’t a grand alliance among Latinos, many of whom identify most closely with their homelands than their language. Maybe they could rally around being Democrats if they could see how that could pay off.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Local media show that Berks County’s racists seem proud to spew hate
All of the comments on WFMZ’s story about immigrant children coming to Berks County were negative, many showing the type of ignorance that fuel knucklehead politicians who pander to populist, nationalist fear to get votes, and then arrange policy to keep people ignorant.
Comments at Reading Eagle were mixed. I’m glad the Eagle has resumed accepting comments on its website to publicize reader reaction – although it’s clearly not a valid survey of people in Berks.
Perhaps the comments show that people with vicious attitudes look for venues to get their message out. Others commenters are suffering and accept the propaganda by so many of our leaders that our problems are caused by undocumented immigrants.
The facts are that the vast majority of Latinos in Berks County are here legally. Many are citizens! Many speak English better than many Berks residents speak English, and certainly better than most Berks Countians will ever speak a second language.
Even most of those without proper visas are here to improve themselves, learn English, work hard, and send large parts of their earnings home. They do not cost American jobs or reduce wages, and on the whole contribute more to our economy than they take.
As readers pointed out, so many commenters have such un-Christian views. An almost prehistoric sectarian hate. That’s the same mindset the Nazis channeled. Blame the Jews! Shiites, blame the Sunnis! Hutus, blame the Tutsis! Hindus, blame the Muslims! Buddhists, blame the Hindus!
“More than half of Reading residents are illegal as well so they don't deserve any saving either.”
-- Virginia Houseman
“As long as one veteran goes without proper care we should not spend one red cent taking care of someone else's kids.”
-- Rochelle-Brian Foreman
“There are sooo many illegals ALREADY living in Berks collecting benefits attending schools using up resources not speaking English. How come no one has a plan to get rid of them?”
-- Kim Bak
“Berks schools are struggling to make their numbers now what do you think will happen when you bring all these uneducated none English speaking kids into your schools. All of the money will be spent on them and what they need and to hell with your kids. Face it you are going to get screwed.”
-- Virginia Houseman
“I would rather support the animals in our humane society over these kids. Until every child, adult, ederly and heck even our american pets have homes ship these kids back.”
-- Tamarya Heminitz
“How about we house a few of them next door to you. You'll be singing another tune after the first backyard cock fights.”
-- Andrew Price
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." -Jesus
-- David Delozier
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
-- Joan Baker
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Berks County is two years behind on $67 million emergency-communications project
By Steve Reinbrecht
Berks County was supposed to have complied with federal radio requirements by the end of 2012 but has asked for an extension until the end of this year.
But county leaders will not tell me why Berks is two years behind on the $67 million tax-payer funded public-safety project.
And the Reading Eagle doesn’t seem to publish uncomfortable news about Berks government.
Brian Gottschall, county emergency services director, told me that all media requests go to Chief Operating Officer Carl Geffken, who didn’t respond to my inquiry.
The Reading Eagle followed the county’s battles with NIMBY opponents of the system in Cumru and Bethel townships but has had no recent stories [at least that I could find with its clumsy search engine] explaining why the project is so far behind.
In April, now-retired Eagle reporter and trusted county spokeswoman Mary Young wrote a story quoting county officials about how well they were doing their jobs to be prepared for disasters – but the story did not mention the radio system.
Tom Bausher, West Side Regional Emergency Management Agency’s emergency management coordinator, told me that the delay has not affected his operations. The agency serves Sinking Spring, West Reading, Wyomissing and Spring Township.
His bigger concern is how it will work. He’s heard it will be up in November.
He’s read mixed reviews of similar systems.
"It doesn’t get all good reviews, I’ll tell you."
Bausher also isn’t happy that he’s spent money to purchase new equipment required by the upgrade but the county will own it.
He’s paid for six units. Some large fire and police departments have had to acquire many more.
“The cost of this is outrageous.”
An FCC spokeswoman told me this week that the county is in compliance, having received extensions as needed.
The federal agency required emergency communications systems to change the frequencies they use by Jan. 1, 2013, and the county decided to restructure its system.
The goals were to improve radio coverage in hard-to-reach areas and allow all emergency responders to communicate with each other.
It called for building 21 new transmission towers and requiring local municipalities to chip in for equipment.
In a June 24 letter to the FCC asking for the extension, Gottschall wrote:
“We have made significant progress in the build out of the new system. The remaining sites have been built, but now we are in the process of optimizing the new VHF system that will replace the legacy systems. This will take some time to complete as we have to wait until cutover is completed.
“The reason for this is because 3 of the channels on the new systems are also in use today in wideband operation. The legacy channels cannot be vacated until the users are cutover and using the new 700 MHz trunking system. This is schedule to be completed by mid-November, 2014. Once the cutover is completed, we will need time to then get the new VHF system optimized and fully operational.”
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