City Council stands firm on PGW stance

IN A rare move, City Council President Darrell Clarke skipped caucus yesterday and dodged the press all morning, anticipating the third degree on PGW.

There had been murmurings that a Council member would introduce the mayor's bill to sell PGW to UIL Holdings of Connecticut.

But that proved only rumor.

"I don't have any second thoughts," Clarke later said of his decision to nix Nutter's bill on the sale of PGW.

"Not only did we say that that particular proposal was very narrowly tailored and not sufficient for passage by this particular Council, but we also outlined a path for creating a true energy hub."

Despite intense lobbying from interests on behalf of the Nutter administration and various stakeholders in PGW, no one was willing to go against the Council president and introduce a bill.

Rather, Councilwoman Marian Tasco introduced a resolution calling for hearings on the "highest and best use" of PGW - a move signaling Council has not totally shut the door on selling to a private company.

"This is a very, very exciting opportunity for us to grow this region as it relates to energy," Clarke said. "We can't do this alone. PGW, if it continues to be municipally owned, must work in conjunction with the private sector."

Like every Thursday, the Gas Workers' Local 686 bus circled City Hall with its bullhorn, warning of impending doom if PGW is sold. When Council adjourned with no bill introduced, about two dozen gas workers cheered and applauded in Council chambers.

Clarke said the public hearings will be the first opportunity for Council to hear testimony on various scenarios outlined by both Council's advisers - Concentric Energy Solutions, and the mayor's advisors - Lazard Freres & Co. LLC.

"We understand what a valuable asset PGW is and found that divesting ourselves of it permanently to throw off a little bit of short-term cash would not be a wise decision in the long run," Tasco said.

Yet, privatization has many supporters. The good-government watchdog group Committee of Seventy is for the sale, and called Council's decision not to introduce the mayor's bill "stonewalling" and "reprehensible." The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce wants to see the matter put to a vote.

Clarke and Tasco did not announce a date for the hearings, but Clarke said he was willing to adjust the Council calendar so that the hearings could be scheduled.

"We want to get on this because we want to send a signal, unfiltered, that in fact, we are open for business as it relates to energy opportunities," he said.

Meanwhile, Council unanimously passed Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's hate-crimes bill and Councilman Dennis O'Brien's vacant-property bill.

Brown's bill adds extra protections for members of the LGBT community.

"This is a measure not only to capture the attention of bullies, but the parents, too, because no child arrives in the world with hate in their heart," she said.

O'Brien's bill bolsters the Philadelphia fire code to establish a protocol for dealing with large, vacant commercial and industrial properties left to squander.