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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
City Fires First Head Of Office of Economic Opportunity

Mayor Nutter's staff, while announcing changes over at the Department of Commerce yesterday, left out one interesting detail:  Michael Bell, executive director of the city's Office of Economic Opportunity, just got fired.  We tracked down Bell at home a few minutes ago and he confirmed that he was fired yesterday.  “I prefer not to comment," Bell added. "It’s just a whole lot of mixed emotions right now.”

Bell worked for the city for 17 years and was earning a $86,553 annual salary, according to city payroll records.  He was director of compliance for the city's Office of Housing and Community Development until Oct. 1, when Mayor Nutter announced that he was dissolving the city's Minority Business Enterprise Council [MBEC] and creating the Office of Economic Opportunity.  Bell was installed as the new agency's first executive director.  Nutter, in announcing the moves on Oct. 1, said the new agency "sets the tone" that said he was serious about improving business opportunities in the for companies owned by minorities, women and the physically disabled.

In yesterday's announcement, Nutter's staff said Kevin Dow, Deputy Director of Commerce for Neighborhood and Business Services, will assume the new role of acting chief operating officer for the Commerce Department. Dow’s duties will continue to involve small business development, minority participation and neighborhood revitalization, PhillyClout was told.

UPDATE, 2:50 pm:  Nutter's press office just put out a statement, saying Bell's firing wasn't part of yesterday's announcement because the two events were "separate unrelated issues." 

Here's the administration's explanation on why Bell was let go:  "While we appreciate Mr. Bell's years of service to the City of Philadelphia, for a number of reasons there wasn't as much progress made in his portfolio as we would have liked. Given the importance of increasing minority business participation and ensuring that economic opportunity is available to all, we felt that now was a good time to make a change."

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 1:28 PM  Permalink | 25 comments
Comments   
Posted 03:49 PM, 07/06/2009
GraceyM
I wish that the OEO would do more to make sure the minority contractors they list as being certified had at the very least, working phones and working fax lines. Pay to play? I think it'd be wiser to pay your bills on time so your utilities aren't shut off every other week. And before pointing fingers this way or that for the Convention Center, what minority companys out there, save for a select few, would have been able to complete the qualifications in order to participate in the OCIP program? We all saw how well the City did with OCIP coverage and the NTI program...
Posted 09:36 AM, 07/06/2009
Valley Twin
Cleanup: The compliance department at OHCD is responsible for monitoring all subcontractors at the three housing agencies to make sure they "comply" with all requirements for things like licensure, insurance and MBE / WBE participation. It's not a waste of money. And FYI, the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation does issue an annual report. It can be found on PHDC's website: www.phdchousing.org
Posted 08:28 AM, 07/02/2009
shawqi
There is a lot of smoke screen going on as well as "pay to play". Yeah, its being done. I agree with Being Real. You gotta read between the lines people...don't believe the hype that Dow's "made-up promotion", and Bell's firing were not connected. I think I will re-watch "The Wire", the early episodes, the ones dealing with the Mayor in Baltimore...lol
Posted 08:24 AM, 07/02/2009
shawqi
There is a lot of smoke screen going on as well as "pay to play". Yeah, its being done. I agree with Being Real. You gotta read between the lines people...don't believe the hype that Dow's "made-up promotion", and Bell's firing were not connected. I think I will re-watch "The Wire", the early episodes, the ones dealing with the Mayor in Baltimore...lol
Posted 08:41 PM, 07/01/2009
Malcolm65
The bottom line here is that African Americans represent the largest group in Philadelphia. Yet due to racism, unions, and old boys networks they get less than 10% of the city business. His job was to turn that around and he didn't get it done. Good job Mayor Nutter - that is accountability! Next the city should stop giving $250,000 to the African American Chamber of Commerce to do nothing.
Comment removed.
Posted 06:42 PM, 07/01/2009
Tartan69
"Those union boys" down at the convention center that don't let in minorities (let alone polish or brown people) should be sent to federal prison for racketeering, plain and simple. That has NOTHING to do with whether CleanupPhilly's point about city government waste is valid or not.
Posted 06:38 PM, 07/01/2009
Tartan69
CleanupPhilly is one of the bright spots in these comments. His/her posts are intelligent and thoughtful, and more importantly PRACTICAL. Unlike so many other underinformed posters that don't understand the big picture or how the world works. This city needs more people like CleanupPhilly.
Posted 05:53 PM, 07/01/2009
js5180
I second the nomination, CleanUp. If you're elected, you can go after the $522 million in unpaid taxes. But please, remember: Tax the poor first. They leave, get rich, or pay. Tax the rich, they just leave.
Comment removed.
Comment removed.
Posted 04:34 PM, 07/01/2009
Being Real
That excuse they provided using his portfolio? I don't believe it.
Posted 04:31 PM, 07/01/2009
Being Real
I know this man and he worked very hard to help many people. Its a sad day.
Posted 04:30 PM, 07/01/2009
snjgwmc
Cleanup does complain, and I'm glad! The comments are intelligent, and focused on making change when the city pretends it wants change but not at the leaders' expense. I'd love to see Cleanup run for mayor, and try to clean up. You've got a fan here!
Posted 04:23 PM, 07/01/2009
Copper34
It's actually not informative. If you happen to actually know anything about one of Cleanup's topics, you realize that he is full of poop ...
Posted 03:49 PM, 07/01/2009
Wassup!
Leave CleanupPhilly alone....I like reading his stuff. Its very informative.
Posted 03:27 PM, 07/01/2009
junethe4th
He was fired because there was not much progress made in his portfolio. This a euphemism for not setting aside business for blacks? Look at the Philly Convention Center, minority and union driven cost overrides. When are you people going to stop putting the weasels in charge of the henhouse?
Posted 03:16 PM, 07/01/2009
allforprogressandprogressforall
Cleanup, I'm glad you at least acknowledge that you do complain a lot.
Posted 03:13 PM, 07/01/2009
wadekeyfanclub1
How are they separate and unrelated?? They both involve commerce?...No? Nice attempt at spin by the mayors office.
Posted 02:24 PM, 07/01/2009
CleanupPhilly
Nope, I don't trust myself. I'd be on it all the time, complaining, Try this instead, to protest the needless PA state income tax hike: http://www.stoppataxhike.com/
Comment removed.
Posted 02:02 PM, 07/01/2009
give me liberty or death
nutter is one big disappointment almost sort of like barry o will be for some people.
Posted 01:53 PM, 07/01/2009
CleanupPhilly
Follow the money.
Posted 01:52 PM, 07/01/2009
CleanupPhilly
What does the director of "compliance" of OHCD even do? What must be complied with? Here's the big sources of waste in the city budget. There are all these agencies with the word "housing" or "development" or "community" in them that simply overlap and have no benchmarks, no annual report, no stats, no evidence that they are delivering per dollar spent. There's no objective evaluation of their work product. That's a red flag of waste. We can't run a city like this anymore. Even tiny counties don't do this, just throw money at a problem and make wifty statements about "opportunity." Come on.
Posted 01:47 PM, 07/01/2009
CleanupPhilly
The city doesn't need to fund an office to "do" what the market does naturally, the city just needs to get out of the way of the market working for everyone of all races. The city has to collect overdue property taxes at sheriff sale to put this property into the hands of renovators, many who are minority. These guys don't want handouts, they want cheap property to fix up. When is the city going to stop pretending that it can do what the market does as well as the market does?
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About Chris Brennan and Catherine Lucey
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002. Since then she has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. For the past two years, she covered the 2007 mayoral election. Now that the battle is over, she has moved down to the City Hall bureau where she will report on the Nutter administration.

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