Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Welcome to Shackamaxon, a weekly politics column<\/a> focused on what\u2019s happening at City Hall and in Harrisburg. It is named for the place where the Lenape chiefs would meet to conduct the people\u2019s business, which is now known as Penn Treaty Park.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s edition questions a plea deal, looks at Center City<\/a>\u2019s efforts to bring back daytime foot traffic, and examines the legacy of the Philadelphia wage tax.<\/p>\n Deterrence desired<\/p>\n On Oct. 26, 2023, Bernard Gribbin became the first city transit operator to die by gunfire<\/a> while on the job. Family members called him \u201cthe best of the best,\u201d and described the 48-year-old Army veteran as a man who loved Philadelphia, who proudly took out-of-town relatives on tours of the city when they came to visit, and who served the public by working as a bus operator \u2014 a demanding, underpaid, and utterly essential job.<\/p>\n Gribbin\u2019s murder sent shock waves through the city\u2019s transit agency. His colleagues were left angry and afraid.<\/p>\n Around that time, reporting from Mensah Dean at the Trace identified a spate of attacks<\/a> against public employees. During the next contract negotiations, the Transport Workers Union demanded SEPTA install bulletproof glass<\/a> to protect drivers. Operators report that management, which has long emphasized de-escalation, became even more strict about the kinds of interactions bus drivers and train conductors are permitted to have with unruly passengers. For many, this undermined their sense of stewardship of their vehicles.<\/p>\n The death of Gribbin seemed like a case in which prosecutors could send a message that violence against SEPTA workers will be met with serious consequences. Instead, District Attorney Larry Krasner<\/a> opted to accept a plea bargain<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gribbin\u2019s killer, Zhontay Capers, was able to secure a conviction for third-degree murder this week, rather than first, which was her original charge. Pennsylvania law<\/a> defines first-degree murder as a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing. Given Capers shot six times and that surveillance video showed her with a firearm shortly before the shooting, there would seem to be a strong case.<\/p>\n Of course, there could be complications I don\u2019t know about. Perhaps another passenger was armed, a witness recanted, or Capers stood a good chance of being declared incompetent to stand trial. Prosecutors often accept plea deals in cases in which going to court presents too much risk.<\/p>\n Yet, Krasner\u2019s office refused to comment on any of these possibilities when asked. Instead, they called it an example of individual justice. Capers now faces up to 40 years in prison, rather than a life sentence. Unlike Gribbin, she may one day again enjoy the unfettered company of friends and family.<\/p>\n Of course, individual justice is important. And if the circumstances of a particular case merit a third-degree charge, then so be it. But Krasner has not provided any additional information or shed any light on his office\u2019s decision-making.<\/p>\n Every killing is a tragedy that deserves justice, but Gribbin\u2019s death had a magnified impact. Capers\u2019 actions also caused public servants to be fearful of coming into work, and resulted in millions of dollars\u2019 worth of unplanned spending in installing the protective glass.<\/p>\n The public deserves a fuller account of why the plea deal happened.<\/p>\n Eventful days<\/p>\n Like most big city downtowns, Center City is a major employment hub. More than 300,000 people work there, representing around 42% of jobs in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n According to Clint Randall, the vice president for economic development at the Center City District, the amount of downtown office space has remained relatively stable for decades. That\u2019s despite the rise of residential conversions and remote and hybrid work arrangements. Still, people are coming to the office less often, and momentum on bringing workers downtown on a more regular basis has stalled.<\/p>\n Thankfully, Randall and his colleagues have a plan to ensure the city\u2019s commercial core remains as essential as it can be by leveraging its status as a regional host, with events seen as both a short- and long-term way to make Center City more vibrant.<\/p>\n Randall cited Center City Sips<\/a> as a way to bring more people into town on Wednesday evenings during the summer. Philadelphia Open Streets, the FIFA World Cup<\/a>, festivities around the MLB All-Star Game<\/a>, and other smaller events have proved a major boon. They\u2019ve brought out not just those who live and work in Center City, but also people from around the region and the world who may not otherwise have had a reason to come.<\/p>\n I asked Randall about the potential for event fatigue among locals. With Center City adding thousands of new residents each year, would this create pressure to draw down on hosting? Randall said that vibrancy is what brings many people to live downtown in the first place. As inconvenient as it can be to live next to major festivals, it is also a major amenity.<\/p>\n My own experience bears this out. I may not have made it to the Eagles\u2019 Super Bowl<\/a> parades if they hadn\u2019t marched down Broad Street, not far from my South Philly home. Our friends and family also enjoyed the convenience of having a place to sit down and use a nonportable restroom.<\/p>\n Tax switch<\/p>\n When Philadelphia became the first American city to institute a wage tax all the way back in 1940, the idea seemed like a no-brainer. After all, where else were people supposed to work? Suburban rail stations were packed to the brim with commuters, the Interstate Highway System did not yet exist, and anyone who wanted access to skilled workers had little choice but to open offices in Center City.<\/p>\n Today, however, the region looks different.<\/p>\n While Center City remains a major regional hub, Philadelphia has lost tens of thousands of jobs to suburban office parks. Most Delaware Valley residents drive themselves to work, and hundreds of thousands of people have moved to the suburbs. This has left us with an important policy question: How much of this shift is simply due to national cultural trends, and how much of it was caused by public policy?<\/p>\n A new study from Ren\u00e9 Livas and Matthew Jacob at Harvard University, working with the Progress and Poverty Institute, attempts to answer this question. They say there is a clear link.<\/p>\n As the wage tax rate rose between 1940 and 1976, jobs fled to the suburbs. Since City Hall began decreasing the tax in 1995, jobs have started to flow back into Philadelphia. In fact, the city recently overtook Montgomery County<\/a> as the top host for office jobs<\/a> in the region.<\/p>\n The researchers\u2019 proposal for replacing the wage tax is based around switching to a land value tax, an idea that is popular among economists. Separate tax rates for land and property are already legal in Pennsylvania, and the city already splits the two in its own property assessments.<\/p>\n The idea, however, may be politically fraught. Homeowners already resent the chaos of the city\u2019s regular assessments. Additionally, determining how much of a property\u2019s value is inherent to its location may be easier said than done. While an 80\/20 split between structural and land value is often cited as standard, levying the two individually would require significantly more research from the city\u2019s Office of Property Assessment.<\/p>\n