Reason No. 1: The Phillies, who are thankfully on the road, finally, but unfortunately will come "home" to Citizens Bank Park, eventually...unless there's a flood of Biblical proportions.
Reason No. 2: As Brendan Skwire -- one of our "liberal replacement" for John Yoo finalists -- points out in Philadelphia Weekly, it's likely to be a long hot summer here with so many pools remaining closed:
The math is pretty easy: To keep all those pools open, our city needs to raise a little over $3 million dollars. So why is the administration only seeking less than half that amount? I have no idea. So I called the United Way, who handles the fund, and left a message. No answer yet. Then I called the mayor's office, and was instead connected to 311, where I stayed on hold for at least 10 minutes, listening to bad light jazz alternating with Mayor Nutter's pre-recorded voice telling me that this was my source for information about city government. When someone finally answered the phone, he told me to call the mayor's office. And around and around we go!
So people began holding rallies. Betty Buford, who lives in Point Breeze and stands to lose TWO pools, organized to save the Chew Pool. About 50 residents showed up, and a lot of more were attracted right off the street. Another rally took place just this past week to save the Stinger Pool: Again, turnout and emotions were high.
"People are (expletive deleted) PISSED," Zach told me. "Most of them didn't even know their pool is getting closed, because the city hadn't told anyone. The neighborhoods are beginning to feel like they're being strung along, and who can blame them?"
I believe it was Public Enemy who once said that "311 is a joke," but I digress. I'm old to remember the big drive to place more pools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in the 1960s and 1970s, and it was a direct response to the urban unrest of that era. Interestingly, the amount needed to keep the pools open this summer is almost exactly the amount of money that the Eagles are forking over to the city. Wouldn't that be some dollars well spent for a change?
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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