Tempers flare
at Parkwood meeting

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

Parkwood Civic Association’s first meeting of the season covered a lot of tame topics, but it grew tense when some politically charged issues stole the show.
The usually even-tempered group discussed a host of items ranging from riverfront development to dedicated members of the community at its Thursday gathering. But an hour into the assembly, members took to hurling insults at City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.), who was not in attendance.
The bashing began when the councilman’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 6 election, Sean McAleer, discussed filing a joint appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) for Northeast residents who are unhappy with their property tax reassessments.
McAleer, fielding a question about the city’s 10-year tax abatement, said O’Neill was "the only City Council member who benefited" from the alleviation on new construction by putting an addition on his home, and added that the politician supported the tax reassessment. Two of O’Neill’s legislative aides who attended the meeting denied both charges, adding that the BRT requires appeals to be filed individually, not in bulk.
After a few more agenda items were discussed, civic group president Mike Hatala turned to the state of Benjamin Rush State Park.
Referring to its transformation into a passive park, he said, "our city councilman is blocking it at every turn."
Hatala was referring to O’Neill’s refusal to strike a street from the city map that would have allowed the state to move forward with plans to make the property — a 275-acre parcel on the northbound side of Roosevelt Boulevard between Southampton Road and the Poquessing Creek — a passive park. The park issue has persisted since the 1970s.
O’Neill has stated that his inaction stems from a fear that the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) really intends to make the park an active one. He is working with state Rep. George Kenney (R-170th dist.) and state Sen. Michael Stack (D-5th dist.), who are pursuing the issue at a state level. On Friday, O’Neill said legislation had been signed the day before that establishes Rush as being in a "passive recreation" zone instead of a general recreational one.
After O’Neill’s legislative aide Bob Barrilli spoke briefly on the topic, civic board members and residents chimed in with various comments about the park and other matters on which they feel that the councilman has shafted them. One even used a four-letter expletive to describe the veteran councilman.
Lou Farinella, the group’s recording secretary who works for the Democratic City Committee, said Monday that the ire aimed at O’Neill had little to do with the politician’s political party. The civic board is comprised mostly of Democratic committee people, whose posts, Farinella said, do not fall under the section of the group’s bylaws that say, "to avoid conflict of interest, no officer may run for or hold an elected political office."
Farinella said the group would still have issues with O’Neill’s approach to the park issue even if he were a Democrat.
"It’s not that we’re playing a political game," he said.
Hatala said it’s not the first time the group has griped vehemently about the park and other issues, and it probably won’t be the last.
"Any time you have a civic group, you’re bound to have things like that happen once in a while," he said.
O’Neill said Hatala is the only Parkwood civic member that has asked him about the park in recent months, and he wondered how the issue came to a head at the meeting, which he says he wasn’t invited to. He was more bothered by McAleer’s statements that he supported the tax assessment and had benefited from the tax abatement.
"You can’t have any credibility when you make two major mistakes," O’Neill said. "They were basically false statements."
In other news from the Sept. 20 meeting:
o Sarah Thorp, executive director of the Delaware River City Corp., gave an update on the riverfront’s greenway plan, which stretches from Allegheny Avenue to the Glen Foerd estate in East Torresdale. The plans include opening up some residential streets, creating bike and pedestrian trails and revamping parks.
• The civic group gave flowers to two women who have helped improve the community.
The first was Margaret Philippi, a resident who cleans up trash, takes down illegal commercial signs and logs the locations of misplaced shopping carts at Franklin Mills mall. The other was Jan Fisher, who helps clean up Fitzpatrick Playground.
• Torrey Woods will get some improvements by year’s end thanks to grant money donated to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society by Citizens Bank.
The civic group is also looking for block captains. Visit the group’s Web site at www.parkwoodcivic.com for more information. ••
The Parkwood Civic Association next meets on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m., in the basement of St. Anselm Roman Catholic Church, 12670 Dunks Ferry Road. Speakers will include Mary Tracy, head of the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB), and Leon A. King II, commissioner of Philadelphia Prison System.
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com