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The consensus seems that April 22’s 2nd District councilmanic debate at Chester A. Arthur School, 2000 Catharine St., was the most heated and animated of several since the new year. Incumbent Kenyatta Johnson and developer Ori Feibush squared off on a number of issues: schools, crime, taxes and, most importantly, gentrification.
“On gentrification, the first thing that comes to mind is development and how do we balance development that is taking place throughout the district,” Johnson, the first to speak, began. “I’m a strong advocate of focusing on affordable, workforce, and market-rate housing while supporting development but not at the displacement of long-term residents.”
Feibush countered “I’ve spent the last decade building businesses, building homes, cleaning up vacant lots and installing trash cans and cameras. The word gentrification comes up almost daily with residents new and old; the word is a positive word to nearly all residents. Every resident wants cleaner streets, safer communities, better schools. They just want to have an opportunity to be a part of the conversation and more importantly to be a part of the plan.”
He concluded “for me, gentrification is a positive word and displacement is a negative word.”
A heated race that’s been decidedly contentious, it will be decided on May 19 at primary polls when registered democrats choose between the two. On Feibush’s website, there’s a countdown ticker and at press there are 19 days of campaigning left.
The debate got much more animated and louder about 25 minutes in, with the moderator begging audience members to cease applause and to withhold from shouting. Johnson’s followers were the more vocal, shouting at Feibush “that’s not true!” when he accused Johnson of using councilmanic privilege to sell land to his friends for “pennies on the dollar.”
“Having a plan with the resources at your disposal, not relying on others, that’s being a leader,” Feibush argued, attempting to dispute the notion that he’s a businessman with little political experience. “I was the largest buyer of city-owned lots in the second district because I’ve bought seven lots at auction at the highest bid,” he added, offering that the system is crooked and needs more transparency.
Feibush is clearly more development-minded and wants to sell lots of vacant lots that the City of Philadelphia maintains. Johnson has far more reservations and believes development will push out residents, especially in the neighborhood he grew up in – Point Breeze.
On selling land to generate income and tax resources, Johnson disagrees with Feibush’s ideas. “I don’t advocate selling all the land in the district, I don’t think that gets to the root cause. Fireselling the land, depending on who receives the land may result, also again, in the increase in superdevelopment, which will result in the displacement of new and long-term residents,” the Councilman said. “I’m not an advocate for selling off all my land in the second district. I cannot do that.”
Earlier in the debate, Feibush took Johnson to task for his regular use of the notion of advocacy and how he advocates for his constituents.
“The councilman is talking about advocating. The individuals in the communities of Eastwick and Southwest and Point Breeze, they don’t need an advocate; they need someone who can come up with real solutions that put dollars and resources in their hands,” Feibush said.
“A ribbon-cutting ceremony is great for the press, but building 20 [affordable housing] houses in a neighborhood that has thousands if not tens of thousands of people in need doesn’t get it done,” Feibush argued, suggesting that affordable housing projects benefit a small population.
On City Council, he said he’ll “[come] up with policies and solutions that could benefit the whole community, not just a few.”
On the 2000 block of Federal Street, there are many Kenyatta Johnson for City Council signs. Kyann Brooks, a resident of the 1000 block of South 20th Street, doesn’t think Feibush has his neighborhood’s needs on his radar.
“He’ll do more for the kids and old folks,” Brooks said of Johnson, pointing to Chew Playground, 1800 Washington Ave., saying Johnson’s done much for those populations. “Ori ain’t gonna do none of that – he ain’t worried about people barely making it.”
Feibush has built a presence in South Philadelphia mainly through his real estate business but also with his three coffee shops: the largest and newest in Fairmount, but the two at 1745 South St. and 2001 Federal St. have been local fixtures for years. And across the street from the Federal location, he’s housed a privately-funded nonprofit, Point Breeze Community Development Corporation, 1155 S. 20th St.
PBCDC’s executive director, Steve Sabo, a resident of the 1900 block of Federal Street, says “the goals of the CDC are to promote growth and development on the Point Breeze Avenue commercial corridor and that could range from enticing new businesses to come onto the corridor as well as helping existing businesses.” They’ve installed solar-powered garbage cans along the avenue, but in its current state, the strip doesn’t entice bold developers with empty lots and shuddered businesses.
Tangentially, there have been multiple reports of vandalism and intimidation against Feibush with bricks through windows, graffiti that reads “Don’t vote for Ori,” and a fresh incident this week involving bricks through construction property windows, glued-shut locks and a note.
“We wrecked the doors, locks and windows of these OCF-controlled properties, because we are tired of living in a system that constructs houses for the rich, while poor and working class people get nothing but more police, more jails, more budget-cuts and more misery,” the note reads. “This is one of the many ways of fighting back: causing economic damage to the property and capital of the rich.” The note includes a hashtag, #PickUpTheBrick, and is signed by the Radical Action Network.
Feibush is trying an intriguing tactic of his own within the district, which along with Point Breeze, covers parts of Center City, Southwest Philly, the stadium area, the Philadelphia International Airport, The Philadelphia Navy Yard, Grays Ferry and Hawthorne. He is encouraging independent and republican-registered voters to convert to the Democratic Party just to vote in the primary, noting that without a republican candidate, the winner of May’s primary election will run unopposed.
“Four years ago this office was decided by lest than 40 votes, so EVERY vote matters,” the note reads, referring to Johnson’s defeat of Packer Park realtor Barbara Capozzi in 2011. “Please know that you have the legal right to change your party registration as often as you like, so if you want to change your registration to Democrat to have a voice in the upcoming election, you may change your party registration again immediately after the May 19th primary.”
Capozzi, a Feibush supporter, is worried that this perceived intimidation will affect voting day, too.
“This type of ugly vandalism and threatening behavior makes it very, very difficult to recruit election day volunteers, and it will disturb older voters enough that they may stay home. It’s wrong in every respect,” she said.
Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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