Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Independence Visitor Center Corporation Has Spent Almost $147,500.00 in Lobbying With S.R. Wojdak & Associates



















John Estey, Esq., Chairman of the Independence Visitor Center Corporation ("IVCC"), senior partner at Ballard Spahr, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's former Chief of Staff, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the IVCC is "not a public entity", in spite of the fact that the IVCC is a taxpayer supported public charity.

However, the IVCC has spent almost $40,000.00 per year since January 1, 2007 with S.R. Wojdak & Associates, to lobby the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, likely for funding of the taxpayer supported Independence Visitor Center.

According to records obtained from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of State's Web site, the Independence Visitor Center Corp. has spent roughly $10,000.00 per quarter, every quarter, since January 1, 2007, to the present. A total of $147,588.00 and counting.

Pennsylvania only required lobbying registration after January 1, 2007. Based on a review of publicly available emails that Wodjak's John Hawkins sent on behalf of the IVCC, Wojdak has been representing the IVCC for many more years (at least dating back to 2005). Additionally, Wojdak may have also done lobbying for the IVCC with the City of Philadelphia. Unfortunately the City of Philadelphia has not yet required lobbying disclosure forms to be filed, and as such, the IVCC's expensive quarterly lobbying habit may in fact be much more than $10,000.00 per quarter.

Note: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's lobbying disclosures only include lobbying done at the Commonwealth level. Therefore, it does not cover lobbying done to municipal governments, such as to the City of Philadelphia. While Philadelphia has passed a Lobbying Disclosure Act, it will not go into effect until mid-2011, meaning that no records are available showing the lobbying that has been directed towards City of Philadelphia officials.

Monday, November 29, 2010

A Growing Chorus for Transparency at the Independence Visitor Center Corporation

Calls for openness at the publicly funded Independence Visitor Center Corporation ("IVCC") are increasing. In recent months, several elected members of the Pennsylvania Legislature have requested that IVCC adopt and abide by both the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law and Sunshine Act. Pennsylvania State Representative Michael O'Brien, Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony Williams, and Pennsylvania State Senator Lawrence Farnese have all written to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Pennsylvania Governor Rendell, asking them to make the Independence Visitor Center transparent and to heed the Final Determinations of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records by releasing documents related to the IVCC.

On September 21, 2010, Representative O'Brien wrote to both Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell:

"As you know this entity [IVC] is located in my district and I feel it is important that such an entity located in the heart of the historic area should be beholden to the values [...] our country was founded on [...]"

On November 22, 2010, Senator Williams wrote to both Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell, saying:

"I would request your leadership in abiding by the Sunshine Act and the Pennsylvania Right to Know law [...] It is my understanding, the requests under the Right to Know law are being denied. Since the IVC receives funds provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it would be appropriate to have this request fulfilled."

On November 23, 2010, Senator Farnese wrote to both Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell, also issuing a call for open operations:

"Compliance with the Right to Know Law and the Sunshine Act would provide openness and accountability to this publicly-funded entity and its operations [...] I ask for your leadership in following both the letter and spirit of open records laws in dealing both with Mr. Bari and any other citizen requesting information in the future."

Elected public officials are attempting to make the IVCC transparent. These elected officials have acknowledged the need of the IVCC to become accountable to the public which funds it.

It is time for Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell to relent in their protection of the secretive business practices at the IVCC. It is time for Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell to release the requested records as ordered by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records and to demand transparency and accountability at the Independence Visitor Center Corporation.

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Exhibits:
Letter from Representative Michael H. O'Brien to Governor Rendell, 9-21-2010

Letter from Representative Michael H. O'Brien to Mayor Nutter, 9-21-2010

Letter from Senator Anthony Williams to Governor Rendell, 11-22-2010

Letter from Senator Anthony Williams to Mayor Nutter, 11-22-2010

Letter from Senator Lawrence Farnese to Governor Rendell, 11-23-2010

Letter from Senator Lawrence Farnese to Mayor Nutter, 11-23-2010

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Liberty 360: Stupidity All Around

Liberty 360 is a waste of taxpayer money in that it is a dreadful show - while the design of the space is terrible and the technology is awful, the content manages to be the worst part of Liberty 360.


Neil Nandi
November 4, 2010

Overview
George Washington began the second term in the history of the Presidency of the United States in a plain red brick building called Congress Hall, located on the southeast corner of 6th and Chestnut Streets. The simplicity of this modest building - the precursor to the magnificent U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. - underlies the humble dignity of this nation’s fundamental goal: a government of the people, by the people, for the people. A little more than two hundred years later, Congress Hall has been marred by garish lights from across 6th Street, lights whose tackiness, pointlessness and blindness to good sense underlie those same qualities in its source: Liberty 360, the new show at the Historic Philadelphia Center, located at the southwest corner of 6th and Chestnut Streets. The show runs 15 minutes and costs $6.00, yet somehow manages to be a remarkable waste of time and money.

Historic Philadelphia Incorporated (HPI) suggests something marvelous from its Liberty 360 show, heralding,
“This amazing, emotional, visual and audio film adventure celebrates the iconic symbols which have shaped the history of America... This brand new attraction, a 360-degree, 3-D show designed by David Niles escorts the audience on a journey of discovery and exploration of America...” 
What a wonderful concept: a spectacle that will use cutting-edge entertainment technology to infuse America’s incredible past with an energy capable of powerfully conveying to 21st Century audiences the inspirational story of our freedom. At its core, this is truly a great idea. So was the Edsel.

Instead of delivering a compelling product that merges history with modernity, HPI has produced a boring and disjointed waste of money that, remarkably, may leave audience members less knowledgeable than when they entered.[1]

Monday, October 18, 2010

What is Governor Ed Rendell Hiding?




Mr. Nutter, meet Mr. Rendell. He is now joining you in blocking the public's access to information, protecting corporate interests, and denying our Right to Know.

Governor Rendell appoints a "Governor's Representative" to serve on the Board of Directors of the Independence Visitor Center Corporation (IVCC), a 501(c)(3) taxpayer supported public charity, which runs the visitor centers at Independence National Historical Park, as well as visitor centers at Philadelphia City Hall, Fairmount Park, Free Library of Philadelphia (Central Branch) and Pennsylvania Convention Center.

This "Governor's Representative" is William A. Graham, IV.

Under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law, The Constitutional Walking Tour requested records regarding the Governor's role on the Board of Directors of the Independence Visitor Center Corporation.

The Office of the Governor denied the release of the records.

The Constitutional appealed, and the PA Office of Open Records issued a legally binding Final Determination for the Governor to release the records (Jonathan Bari v. Office of the Governor, OOR Dkt. AP 2010-0733, September 13, 2010).

The Office of the Governor refused to release any records! Instead, on October 12, 2010, the Office of the Governor filed suit in a Petition for Review in Commonwealth Court to overturn the Final Determination.

On October 13, 2010, the Independence Visitor Center Corporation (represented by Ballard Spahr) filed suit in a Petition for Review in Commonwealth Court to overturn the same Final Determination.

Governor Rendell is going to great lengths to protect the IVCC, whose Board of Directors is chaired by John Estey, Governor Rendell's former Chief of Staff. Mr. Estey is also a senior partner at Ballard Spahr which serves as legal counsel to the IVCC; Ballard Spahr is also Governor Rendell's former employer.

What is Governor Rendell hiding?

Now I have to allocate my small business's scarce resources to defend myself in this matter. This is an absurd use of taxpayer dollars to ensure that the IVCC can continue operating in the dark, especially in light of the fact that the Independence Visitor Center Corporation just was allocated $5 Million in Commonwealth funds.


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Exhibits:

Petition for Review, Office of the Governor (Petitioner) vs. Jonathan Bari (Respondent), seeking to overturn Final Determination issued in Jonathan Bari v. Office of the Governor, OOR Dkt. AP 2010-0733, September 13, 2010; No. 2123 CD 2010, October 12, 2010.


Petition for Review, Independence Visitor Center Corporation (Petitioner) vs. Jonathan Bari (Respondent), seeking to overturn Final Determination issued in Jonathan Bari v. Office of the Governor, OOR Dkt. AP 2010-0733, September 13, 2010; No. 2123 CD 2010, October 13, 2010.


Final Determination, Jonathan Bari v. Office of the Governor, OOR Dkt. AP 2010-0733, September 13, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

What Do Gambling and Secrecy Have to Do with a Public Charity that Operates on Federal Land?

While the purpose of this blog entry is not to weigh in on the casino debate in Philadelphia, it is nonetheless important to learn what back room deals may have been made in Harrisburg to leverage casino operations to fund the Independence Visitor Center Corporation, a public taxpayer supported charity, that runs the Independence Visitor Center. (The land on which the Independence Visitor Center (IVC) is built, as well as the building itself, are owned by the federal government and administered by Independence National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service.)

William W. Moore, former President and CEO of the Independence Visitor Center Corporation (IVCC), wrote to Governor Edward Rendell about the IVCC and legalized gambling and casino operators. In the July 9, 2004 letter, Mr. Moore wrote the following,
"Congratulations on the historic legislation allowing slot machine installation in Pennsylvania. That was a long and difficult battle, but in the end residents and visitors to the Commonwealth all come out as winners. You may recall in a meeting in late 2003 discussing ways that we could leverage casino operations to help support the Independence Visitor Center operations. With the legislation successfully passed, I would like to renew those discussions...To secure our long-term future and provide sustainable, consistent funding I would like you to consider taking a renewed look at how we might achieve financial support for the Visitor Center operations either directly or indirectly from the licensing, permitting or operations of our new casino operators."
Casino operations are predicated upon having winners and losers, and as such, Mr. Moore's argument that "in the end residents and visitors to the Commonwealth all come out as winners" is absurd.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Statement on the DRPA and Independence Visitor Center Corp.

We applaud Governor Rendell, Governor Christie, John Estey, Chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), and the rest of the members of the Board of Commissioners of the DRPA in adopting resolutions for improvement, including abiding by both the Sunshine Act and Pennsylvania Right to Know Law.

Reform is a journey and not a destination. As such, reform has to continue going forward, and reform must include changes to the culture of the DRPA. The DRPA must prove to the taxpayers that the reforms adopted are not merely superficial concessions designed to quell a brief media uproar, enabling self-serving business interests to permeate its operations. Moreover, similar changes must occur at other taxpayer supported public trusts with commonalities to the DRPA.

For example, if Mr. Estey believes that the DRPA should adopt the Sunshine Act, abide by the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law, and conduct business in a transparent and fair manner, then the Independence Visitor Center Corporation (IVCC) should as well.

The Boards of Directors of DRPA and IVCC are both chaired by John Estey, Esq., senior partner at Ballard Spahr and Governor Rendell's former chief of staff. Both the DRPA and IVCC use Ballard Spahr as outside counsel; Ballard has billed DRPA almost $3.1 million in legal fees from 2000-2010.

Both DRPA and IVCC operate essential public facilities. Both the DRPA and IVCC have an insular culture that does the public’s business in private. Both the DRPA and IVCC are taxpayer supported public trusts that are rife with patronage. Both the DRPA and IVCC are stuck in a time warp because both the DRPA and IVCC have been quite clandestine in terms of their operations and corporate governance. Both the DRPA and IVCC are heavily influenced by Governor Rendell (Rendell personally appointed most of the Pennsylvania commissioners to DRPA and he appointed the "Governor's Representative" to the IVCC).

On information and belief, the DRPA gave the IVCC $1.8 million in 2010 in an economic development grant, although there is no information available as to the details of those funds from either the DRPA and IVCC.

Nonetheless, as reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer on August 20, 2010, Mr. Estey claims, "It's [IVCC] not a public entity [...]"

To the contrary, the IVCC is absolutely a public entity given the massive public funding which the IVCC receives, the federal land on which the Visitor Center stands, the federal employees stationed within, and the federal legislation that authorized its creation.

Both the DRPA and IVCC maintain a sense of entitlement, an attitude that they can do no wrong, that they answer to no one and are certainly in no way accountable to the public which funds them. Unless Mr. Estey and Governor Rendell (Mayor Nutter also serves on the Board of Directors of the Independence Visitor Center Corporation), extend the resolutions for the DRPA to other secretive public organizations, like the IVCC, the proposals for change will be exposed as political smoke screens, enabling business as usual to continue without restriction or public oversight.

Jon Bari
The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia

Exhibits
*Article published in The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Now, [John] Estey should get the Visitor Center to open up," 8/20/2010

*Letter from John Estey to Governors Christie and Rendell discussing proposed changes at the DRPA, 8/4/2010

*Letter from Jon Bari to Mayor Michael Nutter calling for transparency at the IVCC, 8/13/2010

*Letter from Jon Bari to Governor Rendell calling for transparency at the IVCC, 8/17/2010

Monday, July 19, 2010

National Park Service Concessions - Independence National Historical Park



The above video outlines the main challenges The Constitutional encounters at Independence National Historical Park due to the unfair regulatory practices in place there. The Constitutional is seeking equitable treatment from the National Park Service and Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia, in terms of visibility and accessibility for the operations of its guided historical tour business, as compared with other tour operators.

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The exhibits below illustrate the landscape and floor plan of the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia, both inside and outside, and how the Independence Visitor Center Corporation and National Park Service have forced The Constitutional Walking Tour to be completely marginalized both and inside and outside of this 50,000+ square foot complex.

EXTERIOR:

INTERIOR:

Ride the Ducks Photo Concessions on National Park Service Property



The above video clearly shows concession sales occurring on sidewalks around the Independence Visitor Center, on National Park Service property. Despite awareness by involved parties, despite the fact that the opportunity to sell concessions has been denied to The Constitutional, Ride the Ducks regularly violates their Commercial Use Authorizations and engages in these prohibited activities with no consequences. This demonstrates the inconsistent, random and arbitrary standards in place at Independence National Historical Park.

What is Mayor Michael Nutter Hiding?


Mayor Nutter serves on the Board of Directors of the Independence Visitor Center Corporation, a private company, which runs the visitor centers at Independence Park, City Hall and Fairmount Park.

Under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law, The Constitutional Walking Tour requested records regarding Mayor Nutter's role on the Board of Directors of the Independence Visitor Center.

The City of Philadelphia denied the release of the records.

The Constitutional appealed, and the PA Office of Open Records issued a legally binding Final Determination for the City to release the records stating, "If a public official [Mayor Nutter] serves on a private board in an official capacity, the public has a right to know the extent of that service and see records associated with it."

The City refused to release any records! Instead, the City is spending taxpayer dollars to sue The Constitutional to block the release of public documents despite the City hemorrhaging cash, raising taxes and cutting services.

The City is requiring my small business to allocate our scarce resources to fight the appeal. Mayor Nutter promised that transparency and accountability would govern his Administration. Now it looks like Mayor Nutter has something to hide.

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Exhibit:
PA Office of Open Records, Final Determination, Jonathan Bari and The Constitutional Walking Tour vs. City of Philadelphia, Docket No.: AP 2010-0157, 4/7/10;
"Minutes of a non profit organization on which the mayor sits in his official capacity as the mayor, record of the agency"

Rendell's Pork-Laden Politics at the Independence Visitor Center

In response to the Harrisburg Patriot-News July 13, 2010, editorial titled, "Pork barrel rolls right to Philadelphia":

Governor Rendell's new Pennsylvania State budget is packed with so much pork for Rendell's pet appropriations under the guise of the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. For example, when Pennsylvania is hemorrhaging cash, raising taxes and cutting services, Rendell has appropriated $5 million for the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia. This appropriation seems particularly bizarre given that this building, which is federally owned and funded, just opened in 2001.

Cronyism is commonplace with the Independence Visitor Center Corporation (IVCC), which operates the Independence Visitor Center in a clandestine manner better suited to the CIA than to a visitor center. In addition to the IVCC Board being chaired by Rendell’s former chief of staff, Rendell appoints a “Governor’s Representative” to the IVCC Board. However, the Governor’s office has denied Right to Know Law requests for further information on Rendell's role with the IVCC's Board. Additionally, Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter himself serves on the IVCC’s Board. The City of Philadelphia has denied similar record requests for Mayor Nutter's involvement with the IVCC Board, and now both the City and IVCC have actually sued to block the release of information as ordered in a legally binding Final Determination by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.

Governor Rendell must insist that in exchange for $5 million to the Independence Visitor Center, the IVCC's Board must change to abide by both the Sunshine Act and the Right to Know Law. Alternatively, Rendell should compel his representative's resignation from the IVCC Board and yank the $5 million in funding.