Councilwoman Wants To Limit City Bills For Ethnic Parades
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Councilwoman Wants To Limit City Bills For Ethnic Parades
Catherine Lucey
Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez wants to take on the issue of parade funding once and for all this week.
Quiñones-Sánchez plans to introduce legislation tomorrow that would put limits on the amount the city could charge ethnic parades and festivals* for police and sanitation costs. Read a letter she sent to Council members about the legislation here.
Quiñones-Sánchez said she was frustrated that ethnic parades were handed bills last year without warning.
"My biggest frustration is that we took groups to 100 percent [payments] without giving them any value for the work that they do," Quiñones-Sánchez said. She noted that the city’s six ethnic parades cost the city roughly $200,000 each year.
The Nutter administration’s decision to start charging parades and special events last year for city services like police and sanitation has been controversial, especially with the city’s ethnic parades.
Six ethnic parades march through Center City each year: Puerto Rican Day, Columbus Day, St. Patrick's Day, Greek Independence Day, Steuben Day and Pulaski Day. Last year, several ethnic parades shortened their routes to cut costs. The St. Patrick's Day parade went on last year after last-minute funds were provided by, among others, Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., owner of the Daily News the Inquirer and Philly.com.
NOTE: This story was updated to reflect that the legislation would also apply to festivals.
Comments (49)
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
Isn't there a Kwanza parade?— FJG JR- how about no funding for parades and pick up the trash for free?— ultimatedboy
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- CleanupPhilly What about Odunde? That is also an "ethnic parade." Can you read? "Six ethnic parades march through Center City each year: Puerto Rican Day, Columbus Day, St. Patrick's Day, Greek Independence Day, Steuben Day and Pulaski Day." Odunde is not a moving parade so it does not belong on this list. Why didn't you mention the Mummers parade? I guess because the participants are not of the same ethnicity.— PennGrad
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- Why is Quinones-Sanchez surprised? I believe the city said they could no longer pay for these parades.— The_Unknown-Poster
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- The legislation should also include ethnic festivals. The only difference between a festival and a parade is the movement. The purpose and goal of each kind of celebration is the same -- to honor a cultural tradition. The City is also charging festivals for police and sanitation. Also, there are smaller ethnic parades throughout the City (e.g., Lunar New Year parades through Chinatown), will the legislation also cover those smaller parades. Any legislation should be all encompassing, and if the legislation does not cover festivals and smaller parades then this "solution" isn't really any better than the City's current practice.— dafla67
How about the cost of police overtime for the greek and the P.R. Parade thats not going through center city!!!— R.P.B.- Comment removed.
- This serves as a great example of a councilwoman more concerned with getting her name in the public eye via the media then solving the current budget crisis facing this great city of Philadelphia. City Hall should try to recoup reasonable charges for celebratory parades in order to fund basic civil services. Maybe the councilwoman should track where the Federal Stimulus Funds are going or try to fulfill her commitments to appear at neighborhood association events as promised. Maria: please properly represent your constituents and ease their economic woes instead of worrying about publicity for reelection, especially by taking even more $ away from City Hall.— BWatkins
- Unless each group can pay for the whole thing temselves (no city money) it should be cancelled. The city should not be held hostage to pay for parades when times are tough right now.— R.P.B.
One Parade 4th of July, all others get bent.- Ahhhh, diversity: the division of a nation based upon the idividual priorites of the masses!— STEPHEN1988
- Hey PennGrad Odunde does a parade. Sure most of it is just vendors lined up on South Street but at the end of the day they have a parade march to the South Street Bridge where they then throw flowers and food into the river. So yeah it does qualify as a parade. Tonka has the right idea - just raise the parade fee permit to $50K and the problem will be solved.— F. Harry Stowe
- Is she f'ing kidding!? So we should foot part of the bill for every ethnic parade. But, I would imagine the primarily white, established Mummers Parade would be be billed in full?— PotteryPete
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- that's funny, I think we should INCREASE the amount we charge for parades.— Bud Fox
How about no parades? City shouldn't be spending a dime on them. Can't afford parades.
in this economy, you gotta do what you gotta do...
Don't worry, Obama will pay for it. Who cares!— Mr. Underhill- how about this - limit the size of the parades to what the ethnic groups can afford— gogglespaisano
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- The Councilwoman is a political hack trying to get more freebies for her constituents.— Bob1
- I swear I think I'm reading The Onion when I read about Philly's politics.— philsoutthecomment
- So then either charge for all parades or charge for none of them. This just screams of reverse discrimination.— buttermilk67
- Do parades generate much money for city businesses? As much as I would love to hate the idea of tax dollars funding parades, I am reminded of Regatta Gate. I wonder if we'd be worse off in the long run if parades left the city.— MrsDamian
- PennGrad You like to split hairs huh? So people don't 'march' at the Odunde festival. That makes it NOT a messy palce when it's over? It doesn't need police presence? Did you really go to Penn?— snorkle
- Simple solution...if you can't as a group pay for the parade then you don't have it. That includes ethnic groups, charities, sports teams, mummers, etc. NO ONE is exempt therefore this is EQUAL treatment. Costs covered include all trash removal, police and security, and anything else that is directly associated with the parade or event (notice this applies to any event). Tax dollars need to be spent on true needs, not social events, etc. For that matter, cancel all cars for officials other than the head of each agency or necessary needs - no more free rides - tough economy and we are cutting back. Other expenses only should be covered to a certain level, not hap hazard and all encompassing as they are today. Lastly, if you owe back taxes (property or other), fines, tickets or any other obligation, YOU CAN NO LONGER HOLD A PUBLIC OFFICE until that debt is cleared! BOOM - we just changed most of the government job holders!— jmbjmb
- Lets get the cost of having the parade accurate and not try to pad it .The Mummers were billed $300,000.00 and when they ask for a breakdown of the additional costs to the city than the bill dropped to $149,000.00.— DennisR
- Why just ethnic parades?— brentinator56
- We need the opposite- no funding for ethnic parades. If you want to celebrate on city streets for a country other than the United States you can, but you need to pay for it.— cbcbcb
- Why is the police worrying about parades , when there is all that illegal beer to confiscate?— bake
Nutter has no ethnic or ethical profile...he is a snake. The limit should be on the amount of Revenue it generates for the City. Parades are not just about ethnic:::it is about healthy economics- Comment removed.
- If these 6 parades are funded than Council also needs to include the annual gay pride parade.— Philly_Avenger
- You want the City not to charge for parades, yet you want us to pay for trash pick-up. There is enough garbarge to go around, and we can start by cutting the excess staffs in City Council, paying them for the ten months of work that they are legally paid for, reducing Mayor Nutter's security detail (former Mayor Street had much less security), making the city council members and their ilk pay for their cars, and collecting unpaid property taxes etc... If the City can afford to pick up the cost of these parades, then their should be no talk of tax increases elsewhere.— transitactivistfromthepast
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- Odunde day is not a parade...it is a festival...It brings in Revenue to the city...The same with the Greek Picnic... Festivals— pyle70
- She's acting as if the city wasn't in any financial straits. So to clean up after parades the city is imposing a tax on everyone else. Hmm. Doesn't seem fair to me.— p.e.poole
- The taxpayers, the city, should absorb none of the costs associated with an ethnic parade, particularly during these dire budgetary times. If a particular group feels the need for a parade let them absorb the cost. Quinones-Sanchez has quickly established herself as another member of the comedy cast we call City Council.— MCC
- Maria, fix the out dated zoneing laws and maybe just maybe a new business can open up under budget and on time in your city instead of waiting for zoning over rides.— herewego
- Possiblt Soda Tax will help fund these activities.— beemer
- aNUTTERINDGUTTER I love your song.— LindaL
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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