Kenney: PPA could aid L&I

Give some of L&I's work to - the Parking Authority?

Democratic mayoral nominee Jim Kenney's idea of having the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) assume some lesser duties of the much-maligned Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Streets Department is being mostly met with encouragement or approval.

"This falls in the category of 'Novel idea with a lot of tire-kicking to do,' " said David Thornburgh, head of the watchdog group Committee of Seventy.

"A very preliminary idea" is how Kenney campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt described it Friday. She said Kenney "has had rough conversations with the PPA and other stakeholders to see if this was even possible."

As a city councilman, Kenney looked into whether the PPA could enforce portions of the City Code, PPA executive director Vince Fenerty said. But he said those talks never went far.

"The councilman was pushing it a few months before he resigned," Fenerty said. "Then he ran for mayor, and that was it."

The idea resurfaced last week when a reporter asked Kenney how, if elected, he would better enforce littering laws. Kenney said the PPA could issue tickets for littering but also for illegal Dumpsters or lack of building permits, both L&I functions.

"Jim's thinking was, why not ask PPA workers - who appear to be everywhere, and hypervigilant when it comes to parking violations - to help with the issue," Hitt said. "Give them an app on their handheld or some other tool that allows them to report the necessary information to the necessary department when there's a clear violation or something simply looks off."

She added that the idea "could ultimately mean expanding PPA's ticketing powers."

That may not sit well with critics who see the PPA as a haven for political patronage - Fenerty himself is a Republican ward leader. And Kenney's GOP rival in the mayor's race, Melissa Murray Bailey, was a bit skeptical.

"If there's too many PPA officers that have time on their hands . . . we should be giving them a litter bag and poker stick," Bailey said. "Let's clean the streets, not ticket."

Mayor Nutter, for his part, said through spokesman Mark McDonald that issuing tickets and reporting code violations were "very different activities. If and when a candidate offers a plan and wants to discuss it with the mayor, he has expressed an interest in further discussions . . . [and] he's excited to know that folks are thinking creatively."

L&I Chief of Staff Beth Grossman said that "hypothetically," PPA employees could check construction sites' permits, insurance certificates, and the like. With proper training, she said, that could "make things more efficient."

Workload has been an issue at L&I. A blue-ribbon panel created by Nutter found the agency's 300-plus employees were underpaid and overworked. The panel's chief of staff, Ned Dunham, said Friday, "I think anything that takes the burden off L&I but with trained people . . . is probably a plus."

If the idea gains steam, Dunham, who also is on the city's Building Safety Oversight Board, said he would like to see assurances of follow-up at building sites and coordination between the two agencies.

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