Disparity study that was done says that those individuals are available female, disadvantaged. Minority participation can, in fact, be achieved, so weve established a very Robust Program that will put in place mechanisms that will allow us to reach those numbers, so im pretty optimistic. We heard a number of your councilmembers express doubt on changes and whether or not and, you know, weve heard, weve seen, weve been told. We need to see it. You talk about the figures 99 male, 75 white. Even with rebuild, which is a Small Program in the scope of whats being done in the city, 10 years from now, will i go to a Building Trades site and itll look different than what i see now . Well, we hope so. I mean, and its not just rebuild. We hope to use this as a template for how we apply our participation goals and standards for every municipal project. We also look at a larger scope of projects. As an example, we actually passed out at committee the proposal to deal with the inquirer, to turn it into police headquarters. Were going to attach several of the guidelines and goals for that building, so, given the level of construction in the city, we think that we can make real strides. The union has participated in the conversation and laid out memorandums of understanding that will allow us to take advantage of these programs, and i think that were gonna get it done. So, you think rebuild has put down a marker . Things are gonna be done differently . If we cant get it done now, with employment in construction 110 , municipally owned facilities, taxpayers dollars, then it will never happen, so this is our optimum time to get this done. Lets talk about the money that goes into rebuild. The soda tax made it through commonwealth court, the Beverage Industry saying they intend to go to the supreme court. What are you anticipating happening there . Well, we always anticipated that, regardless of who won what level of the appellate process, that it would ultimately end up in the supreme court. We obviously are excited. In fact, if we pass those two hurdles successfully, we think that that it laid out clearly that it is not infringing on the uniformity clause. That was a key component with respect to the challenge, so i think well be successful. Looking forward to getting that money so we can spend it. Theyre not gonna make the projections. Theyll get about maybe 2 3 of it this year, maybe less. But they continue to keep the same projections over the 5year program. Do you think theyre right . Will they get the money, and what do you do if they dont . Well, thats why you have annual budgets, because the simple reality is, every now and then, you have to adjust your budget, but the reality is that we look at worstcase scenario at having a significant amount of revenue to implement this program. Lets talk about the teachers contract. Mmhmm. I want you to tell me as much as you can, cause i know youre involved in lots of things. They are signaling that, after four years of arguing, they might be on the cusp of something. Does cusp mean its going to happen, or i wouldnt put money on it . I mean, obviously, i cant talk about that, but the simple reality is that theyve made significant strides as it relates to getting more changes, putting additional dollars on the table to make sure that the teachers get a fair and equitable contract. I anticipate that well get there. Im gonna try you again on this. All right. The Sticking Point last time was no retroactive pay, no costofliving increase. Has there been movement on those two things . I think theres been movement on all aspects of it. They started out here, and theyve moved together, and theyre very close to concluding a contract. How soon do you think i might hear something . Uh, that i dont know. All right. [ chuckles ] you have said shortly after councilman oh being targeted and assaulted that city council is going to take up the issue of gun control, a gun commission. What can we do . Many people might look at that in a year in which 480 people have been shot. 100 of them have died. Were just midway through the year. What can city council do . Well, were limited in terms of limiting the number of weapons on the street. The proliferation is primarily the issue too many guns on the street in the wrong hands. The simple reality is that we can do several preventive measures, which were gonna do. Were gonna do outreach. Were gonna do more training, more education as it relates to young people, cause the reality is that poverty is driving a lot of the challenges in some of these neighborhoods as it relates to violence. But if a lot of kids feel, or a lot of people feel, like, im not safe out here, i need this gun, can you get it out of their hands . Well, you know, we hope. Ive had a very strong conversation with the attorney general, josh shapiro, who is a good friend of mine. I supported him vigorously. Were gonna Work Together on some things. We have some legislators, in spite of the fact that the republican side of the General Assembly has not allowed us to do anything, but i think we have to do something. Its clear that, locally, were somewhat limited, but you cant just sit back on your hands and say, were not gonna do anything. We put together a select committee in council to deal with gun violence. We met with the mayor. Were talking about pulling together some additional resources, and i think youll see some changes in the next several weeks. You know, were talking in a week in which a congressmans been shot, a number of people were shot, at a baseball game, or a baseball practice, in virginia, and so thats got people talking about the tone and about civility. On july 2nd in philadelphia, there will be an impeachment march. Weve seen a lot of marches saying, pretty much, we just dont like this president and were calling for his impeachment. Do you think its a good idea for things like this to continue on . People had their moment after the election. Is this continued sort of resistance a good idea . Absolutely. I think that, you know, it is clear that people are not satisfied. Weve seen recent polling numbers. Even in his party, the numbers are going down. We need to keep it up, but, more importantly, we need to prepare for 2018. I mean, you can march. You can advocate. At the end of the day, its all about the vote. Too many people had decided that Hillary Clinton wasnt the ideal candidate or bernies not running, so im not gonna vote. Look where we are. So, i think we need to make sure that everybodys registered and make sure that we get people out to vote to put people in so we can put the country back to work. All right. Thank you for joining us, and, again, happy fathers day. Thank you so much. All right. Well take a short break and come back to our inside story panel. Inside story is presented by temple university. Remarkable change isnt easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. Explore temples impact. Visit temple. Edu impact. And welcome back to inside story. Lets introduce you to the panel. First up, weve got nonprofit exec george burrell. Good to see you. Morning, tamala. We also have documentarian sam katz. Good morning. Attorney ajay raju. Morning. And Communications Expert jeff jubelirer. Morning, tamala. Happy fathers day to all of you. Thank you very much. Lets get going talking about Darrell Clarke and rebuild. I mean, he suggests this is a turning point for the city in terms of what work crews look like. Theyve complained about this issue for years that minorities and women were not really able to get a toehold in the Building Trades. Is he right that this makes a difference, or not really . Hes right, and i think the most exciting part of what theyre talking about is hiring philadelphians, and philadelphias assets and resources are being deployed to build for philadelphians and more extensively by philadelphians than ive ever seen, so kudos to them for that. And, secondly, to me, these investments in recreation, in better public facilities, in libraries are the Legacy Investments that make philadelphia better for quality of life and will help resuscitate neighborhoods and will bring back the city in a most significant way, and its one of the things that government actually does well, which is Capital Improvements to government assets, so i say hats off to mayor kenney and to the city council. I think its too early to tell. I think it will have a positive effect with respect to rebuild, but its not gonna affect the renaissance of construction thats going on the city is going on today. Those jobsites are already filled with people who are not minorities, who are not women, and thats not gonna impact that, so if rebuild if the template works, will there be a construction boom thats going on after this . And i think it does, though, improve the quality of life in neighborhoods. I think the Council President and city council and the mayor are to be commended for it. But there are things, you know there are some other things that have to do to change the quality of life for people in those neighborhoods. You know, if you look at america today, they say there are 250,000 to 300,000 jobs that go unfilled because there are not people qualified to do them. The question is, how do we get those people ready in our city . Because the questions gonna be whether there are people in the city ready to do those jobs. Ajay and jeff, Something Else they got was a lot more councilmanic input you know, final call on what the list looks like. It was nonprofits at the start. Now its back to sitting in council, councilmembers on the board, everything. Is that a good thing, or is that going to be an anchor in terms of whats able to get done . Its how its done in philly. Thats the only were sitting here today talking about the agreement that was put into place this past week. Its just the way things are done, and its to be seen, but it certainly is not something that, in the past, this councilmanic prerogative of jobs and sites that get chosen its not always done for the right reasons, the sites that are chosen, so we will have to see, because but it would not have been done. I think the council would have held up the deal with the mayor otherwise. Lets talk a little bit about the soda tax. Weve talked on this panel before when they were getting in numbers that they thought it exceeded expectations. We now have a drop in revenue. Theyre having to readjust expectations. Do you think its a momentary blip, that theyre right when they say, next year, when we have a full year, starting now in june to next june, well get the revenue we expect, or have peoples habits changed . Should they anticipate less money . I dont think peoples habits have changed, but, like with all of these projects, to jeffs point, sometimes in philadelphia its not really the idea that matters as much as who has control over the idea that matters even more, as long as the political jostling over the soda tax, the rebuild. I mean, rebuild think about it. Its an over halfabilliondollar project, a chance for us to completely revitalize essential community resources, add diversity to the union labor force. Soda tax potentially has the impact of at least lowering our Health Effects and, at the same time, helping education. All of these ideas are good. The question is, who administers it, whether they watch the dollars, and whether or not the actual dollars collected go to improving half of these things. Im actually more optimistic now, especially with the rebuild project that sam pointed out, this is a great moment looking forward. And i understand we dont have to sort of claim victory yet, but really smart, longterm visioning process for our city. The sodatax issue is a twoedged sword. You know, every action prompts a reaction. And senators Anthony Williams and scott wagner, who are the respective chairs of the Senate Local Government committee, are planning on bringing a hearing to philadelphia to give grocerystore owners, bodegas, and conveniencestore owners an opportunity to express the effects of the soda tax on their business, which has been pronounced. And the possibility of a Senate Legislative initiative to reclaim the right to the state to control the soda tax is a possibility now. But one thing offsetting that i mentioned this to george before the program is the city is now collecting so much more in realestate taxes because of actual value initiative, and particularly on Center City Commercial properties, the citys doing financially better as a result of both of these things, and if they were to lose one, there are resources there to kind of close that gap. I think its important, too i mean, ive been at this, in the public life in philadelphia, for a very long time. Were always celebrating intent. [ laughter ]. As opposed to measuring outcomes, and so i dont think any of us knows what the result of this is going to be until we get down the road and see what the outcomes are and whose lives are actually changed. Speaking of not knowing the outcome, as we tape at this moment, the bill cosby sexassault trial is still going on, the jury back for its fifth day, asking its seventh question, but we still want to talk a little bit, cause this has been a blockbuster moment. I kind of want to know your big takeaways in that we had days of Opening Statements and prosecution and seven minutes of defense, and yet they have said to the judge, were deadlocked. What does this tell us in this moment with this trial . That theyre theyre stuck. And all signs and well see if it comes true that it could be a mistrial or a hung jury and that they cannot as a jury, there could be three or four who knows . Members who just will not come to the other side, whatever that majority opinion is. So, i think if were just looking at the tea leaves, that it appears that there will not be a conviction and that the prosecutor, then, will have four months to decide whether or not to bring this back up again. They seem to keep going back into what was in his head and what was in her head the moment when he gives her the pills and then the moment when the alleged assault is occurring, and they keep wanting to hear his explanation that, you know, she had the option, i gave them to her, and i thought we were in agreement here. It seems as though they keep focused on that section of the testimony. Yeah. I think they do. I think there is seven minutes of defense. There is no defense for bill cosbys behavior, whether he is convicted of this crime or not. You know, theres just theres no defense for that, and theres no way for him to reclaim his reputation or his identity in america as it moves through this, and so i really think the outcome of the trial will certainly impact the victim and those who think theyve been victimized before, but bill cosbys image has been destroyed, and what hes done is wrong. Ajay, youre the attorney here. What happens . Lets say he beats this one. There are many civil cases out there. Does it have an impact, or two totally Different Things . Oh, theyre separate things. I mean, i think one would be an issue of criminal prosecution. If he beats this, the civil lawsuits can go on forever, and theyre not linked together. Lets turn and move on and talk about another topic. Im glad. [ laughter ] the league of women voters theyve come out, just yesterday, with a lawsuit up in harrisburg saying, on the behalf of democrats, even though democrats and republicans agreed to this map, we have to sue. The way things are set up, the voters intent just is not being seen in changing the makeup. Does this lawsuit have any sort of chance . I dont really know, cause its a civil lawsuit thats gonna be adjudicated in a court system thats elected, and so its a little complicated to think about, but, you know, theres 800,000 more democrats in pennsylvania i dont know if i have the exact right number today than republicans, and 36 out of 50 members of the state senate are republican. 121 out of 203 members of the state house are republican. So, how could the math work that way, other than from a totally gerrymandered legislative district mapping process that comes every 10 years after the census . And its not just pennsylvania. Its across the board. But pennsylvanias been cited as being one of the worst. Were the best. Were the best. Were not the worst, were the best. Where a line has been drawn around one building on a street. Nobody runs for reelection in pennsylvania in a competitive district. By the way, im not trying to defend republicans, except to say when democrats were in charge, they had similar things, and if you look at other states, its that way, as well. You have to go state by state to see, like, there are problems everywhere, and what courts have decided and it depends on which court, of course is that, oftentimes, its the legislatures function to actually create the districts, and thats been adjudicated at the highest level of the United States supreme court, whether its right or wrong. This is one of those moments where people like the sexy lets go march, lets go yell. I know, but nothing gets done. This is the stuff that matters, like, the more we see people actually come out and say, we want districts that are squares or rectangles or circles but something obvious. Has to happen. But i think youre going to see these type of litigations all over the country. Remember, North Carolina just decided one recently, where they struck down the redistricting platform. Eric holder has, i think, started a program thats really focused on nationally redistricting of sites all over the country, so i think youll see this type of litigation be part of the strategy going forward. Lets jump over into new jersey chris christie. Where . New jersey. [ laughter ] Chris Christies saying he wants to tie the Pension System to the lottery system pretty much what pennsylvania does, trying to put some of the money into things for seniors and he thinks that this could solve their pension problem. Is he right . No. [ laughing ] okay. But hes right that itll move towards the size of unfunded pension liabilities in america philadelphia, 5 million plus by overstating the return rate, pennsylvania, 65 billion. Did i say, 5 million . 5 billion plus, 65 billion, new jersey somewhere in that vicinity. Illinois is like imploding. There is no solution to this problem short of infusin