A18 | THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

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Pension
puzzle

hiladelphias ravenous pension

fund will be the
next
mayors
greatest financial challenge. It eats an increasing portion of the city
budget, leaving less money
for police, parks, libraries,
and other services.
The troubled pension
fund is expected to consume 15.5 percent of the
budget this year. The governments contribution has
grown more than 160 percent since 2004, according
to the citys financial plan,
even as the share of obligations covered has dropped
below 50 percent.

| EDITORIAL

The next mayor will have to

effect major shifts in
revenue, spending, and
assets to solve it.

Mayor Nutter offered a

partial solution when he
proposed selling the Philadelphia Gas Works, which
would have yielded a substantial infusion of cash
and significantly reduced
the burden of contributions. But Council killed
the deal, making the next
mayors job even harder.
The bottom line is that
the city and workers have
to dedicate more money to
the fund. Cutting future
benefits and, to a lesser extent, more efficient management could also help.
Former City Councilman
Jim Kenney notes the pivotal reality that getting employees to contribute more
to the fund or alter benefits must be accomplished
through negotiations. Criticized on the campaign
trail for being too close to
organized labor and his
push to distribute more
pension benefits despite
the funds ill health Kenney argues that his relationships with unions
could help him solve the
pension problem. His full
answer to an Editorial
Board
questionnaire,
along with those of the other candidates (except for
Milton Street, who did not
participate), is featured on
todays op-ed page.
Kenney also proposes
dedicating revenues that
exceed projections to the
pension fund, but significant surpluses seem un-

likely in the next four

years unless the city lowballs projections, creating
other financial issues.
State Sen. Anthony Williams proposes a dedicated revenue stream for
the fund, but not from taxes, the usual source of revenue streams. Rather, he
supports public-private
partnerships involving
city assets such as PGW
and the airport. The idea
is vague but could be
worth considering as long
as any deals are transparent and beneficial to the
city.
More straightforwardly,
Former District Attorney
Lynne Abraham says she
would consider selling
city assets such as PGW
and parking facilities. She
also proposes eliminating
the mandatory pension bonuses supported by Kenney, a burden the fund
cant afford.
Melissa Murray Bailey,
the only Republican in the
race, would add cityowned land to the mix of
assets to be considered for
sale.
Former PGW executive
Doug Oliver notes that he
supported a sale of the utility, though his promise to
consider all available options for funding the pension plan is less helpful.
Former Judge Nelson
Diaz, along with Williams
and Kenney, promises to
reevaluate pension fund
management a less discussed facet of the issue
partly because it promises
more marginal gains.
Making real progress on
the citys pension problem
will take major shifts in revenue, spending, and assets.
Who in the race has the political skill and fortitude to
make that happen is the
question facing voters.

EDITORIAL BOARD
Harold Jackson

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

Josh Gohlke
DEPUTY EDITORIAL
PAGE EDITOR

Kevin Ferris

ASSISTANT EDITORIAL
PAGE EDITOR

Russell Cooke

SENIOR EDITORIAL WRITER

Cynthia Burton

EDITORIAL WRITER

Trudy Rubin

COLUMNIST

COMMENTARY

The fight against free trade

t was another one of those ral- cratic crowd. One of the United
lies on Capitol Hill where law- Steelworkers officials described
makers line up to take shots Obama as a shadow over the
at the Obama administration. event, and he accused Obama of
But this time the lawmakers splitting the Democrats.
were all Democrats.
But Obama hasnt really split the
A quartet of senators and a dozen Democrats. They are almost unanimembers of the House took the stage mously opposed to him on trade.
in a park across from the Capitol mid- The upcoming battle over fast-trackday Wednesday to join hundreds of ing and the Trans-Pacific Partnersteelworkers, union faithful, and envi- ship shows how dramatically the
ronmentalists in denouncing Presi- center of gravity in the Democratic
dent Obamas bid for fast-track ap- Party has shifted.
proval of the Trans-Pacific PartnerTwenty years ago, half of Senate
ship trade deal.
Democrats and 40 percent
Ive never seen a trade
of House Democrats votagreement that is more seed for the North Americretive than this one,
can Free Trade AgreeSen. Sherrod Brown of
ment. This time, even if
Ohio told the crowd.
Sen. Ron Wyden of OreWhat are they hiding?
gon, the top Democrat on
What theyre hiding is a
the Senate Finance Comhuge shift from democratimittee, signs off on a fastcally elected governments
track deal, proponents
DANA MILBANK
to corporations all over
say a best-case scenario
"@Milbank
the world, and thats why
has them winning only 10
were fighting.
of the 46 Democrats
The administration is engaged in and an even smaller percentage of
new transparency with this agree- House Democrats, despite aggresment transparency so I sive lobbying by the usually passive
brought a copy, Rep. Peter De- White House.
Fazio of Oregon said, holding up
Part of the change reflects the loss
nothing. Oh. Its transparent. You of moderates in Congress, and part
cant see it.
is because of empirical experience
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro with NAFTA. But the shift also is an
protested that we are headed for indication of the ascendancy of the
the madhouse with this agreement. populist wing of the party in numPoking the air with her index finger, bers and, particularly, energy. Obashe added, I did not come to Con- ma, not up for reelection, can afford
gress to give up my constitutional to defy the populists, but future
authority to any administration, Democratic leaders, including HillDemocrat or Republican.
ary Clinton, dont have that luxury.
There were cheers in the decidedThe populist muscle was on disly Democratic crowd.
play Wednesday at the rally, hosted
Rep. Alan Grayson, the firebrand by United Steelworkers president
Florida Democrat, said that weve Leo Gerard, who sprinkled foul lanhad, I hate to say this, a sellout guage in his introductions of the
government, and that it doesnt various speakers. Privately, lawmakmuch matter whos in charge, Dem- ers expressed doubts that they
ocrats or Republicans.
could block passage, but publicly,
Grayson told me after the event they were full of fight.
that the speakers would have been
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massaharsher in their words about the chusetts, the Democrats populist
Democratic president they re- star, pumped her fist and shouted
frained from criticizing Obama by into the microphone: No more sename but that would have caused cret trade deals! Are you ready to
cognitive dissonance in the Demo- fight? No more special deals for

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) AP

multinational corporations! Are you

ready to fight?
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont
independent who is planning a symbolic challenge to Clinton for the
Democratic presidential nomination, warned of a Congress totally
owned by billionaires and their lobbyists. American Federation of
Government Employees chief J.
David Cox proposed they open up
one gigantic can of whoop-ass on
legislators who support the deal.
Cox didnt propose using whoopass on Obama, if only because its a
lost battle with him. But it stung that
a Democratic president was siding
with Republicans on trade and
against the Democratic base. Fred
Rolando, head of the letter carriers
union, addressed U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the
rest of you at USTR and in the White
House: We dont trust you on this.
And Grayson demanded they
take back our government from
the political acrobats and the corporate aristocrats.
Grayson, after the rally, called Obamas position unfortunate and demoralizing. Weve done this experiment where we try to drift over to the
other side and see whether we can
win Republican votes, he said.
Weve done that experiment just like
weve done the NAFTA experiment,
and both of them have failed.
Dana Milbank is a Washington Post
columnist. "@Milbank

Earth Day challenge: Green city or energy hub?

By Cherie Eichholz
and Teresa Mndez-Quigley

orty-five years ago, largely

in response to a massive
oil spill in Santa Barbara,
Calif., 20 million Americans united to call for protection of the
environment and public health
on the first Earth Day.
Since then, we have observed
Earth Day on April 22 as a reminder of the importance of protecting the environment in which
we all live and thrive. But Earth
Day is more than a call to protect
our air, water, and land on one
day of the year. It is about a
broad and sustained commitment to protect our environment. Without clean air, water,
and land, our bodies are compromised and health is put at risk.
In the Philadelphia region, the
need to protect our health from
environmental threats is no less
important than it was 45 years
ago. With the goal of making Philadelphia the greenest city in
America, Mayor Nutter established the Office of Sustainability
during his first year as mayor.
Now, near the end of his second
term, and on the eve of the primary to select the next mayoral
nominees, we face a proposed retreat that seeks to turn Philadelphia back to the 1950s, making it
a city built around a fossil-fuels-

based manufacturing economy.

The proposal to turn Philadelphia into an energy hub, with
its attendant ventures, has been
highly touted by industry and several City Council members. The
aim is to transform Philadelphia
into the Houston of the Northeast, importing and exporting
natural gas and oil, ramping up
petrochemical manufacturing,
and further poisoning what is already some of the dirtiest air in
the country. Unfortunately, these
same fossil fuels, with their continuously increasing emission of
greenhouse gases, are exacerbating climate change as they
change habitats, pollute our environment, and ultimately threaten
our health.
Until recently, many of the issues and challenges posed by
Pennsylvanias alleged energy
boom (including the discovery of
petroleum; the mining, processing, and firing of coal; and now
the drilling, extraction, and transportation of natural gas) have bypassed our community. Only
from secondhand accounts do
we know what its like to sacrifice
ones home and property, live in
a place without drinkable water,
and jeopardize ones health in exchange for income from a fracking well.
However, with the proposed
development of this energy hub,

The PGW plant in Port Richmond, where liquified natural gas is stored.
CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

we are seeing an increase in related activities here in our community: New pipelines are being
built from Pittsburgh and northeastern Pennsylvania to Southwest Philly and Marcus Hook;
liquefied natural gas export facilities are being considered to
ship Marcellus Shale gas to other countries; and the development of fossil-fuel-based refineries is being marketed to international investors.
Already, trains are transporting
oil through the region in decaying
railroad cars, risking derailments
and explosions in communities
throughout the suburbs and city.
To date, two derailments have occurred near the Schuylkill, endangering tens of thousands of Philadelphia residents and workers, including the staffs and patients of
Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylva-

nia Medical Center, and two major universities.

Explosions in West Virginia,
Qubec (in which 47 people died),
and very recently in Northern Illinois remind us of the grave danger a train derailment poses, including not only the immediate
threat of an explosion itself, but
also the prolonged threat of exposure to harmful chemicals, air
and water pollution, and contamination of land.
Our region is lauded because
of its incredible natural beauty,
tremendous academic potential,
and sustainable opportunities
that come with vibrant cities
and a world-class populace. Nutters extraordinary promise to
make Philadelphia the greenest
city in the United States demands that our leaders especially on Council cease bowing to the baseless promises of

the oil and gas industry. The

mayors pledge necessitates that
mayoral and Council candidates
consider first and foremost the
health and well-being of residents and the environment as
they consider ventures like the
fossil-fuel energy hub.
As health professionals, we remember the catastrophe that
prompted the creation of the
first Earth Day, and while its a
good time to remind ourselves of
the fact that we want a healthier
and more sustainable environment, the rubber meets the road
on the other 364 days of the year.
Lest Earth Day and all it
embodies become an exercise
in futility, it is time for this city
and region to decide what kind
of future we will forge. Together,
we can make Philadelphia a
model of clean air, water, and
land, and a region filled with
healthy people and productive
workers. But its up to voters, as
well as the next Council and
mayor, to lead this charge.
Cherie Eichholz is executive director
of Physicians for Social Responsibility
in Philadelphia (www.psrphila.org).
+cherie@psrphila.org
Teresa Mndez-Quigley is PSRs
environmental health program
director. +teresa@psrphila.org
This piece originally appeared at
www.philly.com/thinktank.