Vento seeks sit-down with mayor over sign controversy

Bolstered by his victory in the dispute over the "please speak English" sign at Geno's Steaks, the eatery's owner is demanding a one-on-one meeting with Mayor Nutter and a revision of the city Human Relations Commission's fair-practices ordinance.

Joey Vento's lawyers said today that if those conditions were not met, they would sue the city on his behalf.

Last month, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations dismissed a discrimination complaint against the South Philadelphia cheesesteak shop over a sign there that reads: "This is America. When ordering, please speak English."

Vento said he felt disrespected that Mayor Nutter's electoral campaign returned a $1,000 donation from him and that Nutter said the case against him "was good for the city."

"At this point, I can't have respect for the mayor," Vento told reporters gathered at his shop at Ninth Street and Passyunk Avenue. Vento said he wants an apology from Nutter.

Shannon Goessling, excutive director of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a public-interest law firm in Atlanta that championed Vento's case, said that Vento "wants a panel appointed to review the fair practices ordinance and revise it so that it follows Consitutional equal protection and due process and First Amendment rights."