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Tag: Cherelle L. Parker

  • Inside the Philly Police Department’s plan to act like a ‘modern business’: Quality-of-life officers, AI, and video calls

    Inside the Philly Police Department’s plan to act like a ‘modern business’: Quality-of-life officers, AI, and video calls

    Until last year, Philadelphia police detectives wrote search warrants on typewriters. Officers still take incident reports with pen and paper, and hand deliver them to detective bureaus. And when someone reports a minor crime, it can take hours for police to respond — if they do at all.

    To Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, those details capture something bigger: a department in need of a systems upgrade.

    In a new five-year strategic plan released Thursday, Bethel broke from the tradition of his predecessors by treating the police department and its nearly $900 million budget as a business in need of modernizing — with an eye toward better “customer service” for residents — rather than centering on crime-fighting tactics like commanders of the past.

    “If we’re going to be a modern police department,” he said in an interview this week, “we have to take on some of the structures of a modern business.”

    To him, that involves tackling many of the less glamorous parts of police work: upgrading internal records systems, streamlining police report forms, and expanding training for officers.

    But there are also some flashy — if not eyebrow-raising — initiatives within the 73-page plan: integrating artificial intelligence into 911 calls, allowing residents to report nonemergency crimes via video chat, and creating an internal diversion program for officers who violate low-level department policies.

    Some parts of the plan — built on conversations with more than 200 people in the department, city leadership, and community — would be funded through grants, the department said, while others would need to be approved and funded by City Council, which has been largely amenable to Bethel’s budget requests in recent years.

    The department said the long-term view “allows future needs to be considered through the normal budget process well before they arise.”

    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel speak at a press conference in 2024.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    It has been one of Bethel’s signature undertakings since Mayor Cherelle L. Parker appointed him as Philly’s top cop in January 2024, part of a long history of police commissioners and mayors working together to craft long-term public safety plans to guide their administrative goals.

    In 2012, then-Mayor Michael Nutter said the department would focus on confiscating illegal guns, and ramp up overtime to put more cops on the street. And in 2020, amid an unprecedented spike in gun violence, then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw outlined goals to increase the clearance rate for homicides and shootings.

    Bethel’s plan, by contrast, is light on specifics for traditional crime fighting. While it broadly describes strategies like increasing foot patrols on SEPTA and expanding the use of digital forensic evidence in investigations, it does not set targeted reductions in homicides, shootings, or traffic deaths.

    That, he said, was intentional.

    “This plan is really not a crime plan. We have a crime plan. We’ve been covering it for a long time. We know that space of it,” he said. “But we’ve never done anything as an organization with, how do we move into being a modern and forward-thinking, always-evolving organization?”

    Bethel’s plans come as Philadelphia faces a more positive outlook. The city is on track to record the fewest homicides in more than half a century. The homicide and shooting clearance rates have hovered around 98% and 40%, respectively, the highest in decades. And Philadelphia is no longer the poorest big city in America.

    That has likely given Bethel the rare breathing room to look past the crime stats that have defined past administrations and focus instead on the machinery behind them.

    Here are some standout parts of the plan:

    Illegally dumped trash piles up at South 56th and Hoffman Streets in Kingsessing in this 2024 photo. Residents would now have officers in their police district to specifically help address quality-of-life issues. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    New quality-of-life officers

    Quality-of-life concerns have long dominated community police meetings, Bethel said. So within the next two years, the department plans to install “quality-of-life officers” in every police district to be the point of contact for residents on issues like abandoned cars, illegal dumping, and nuisance businesses.

    Philly’s new unarmed volunteer ‘auxiliary police’ unit could launch in 2026

    Those officers, Bethel said, would be responsible for coordinating calls with other city departments to more quickly resolve problems.

    Report low-level crimes via video call

    One of the biggest issues for the department, Bethel said, is poor “customer service.”

    Officers typically juggle high-priority calls — like shootings and assaults — alongside reports of nonviolent crimes like petty theft, vandalism, or minor car crashes. Because the lower-level offenses are considered less urgent, officer response can sometimes take several hours, leaving residents frustrated.

    Under the new system, he said, people would be able to report low-level crimes online and be provided with a link to a video chat with officers, who could take the report and send a copy to the caller digitally, with no in-person visit needed.

    Filing a report over the phone will still be possible, he said, but for people who want to avoid an emergency call for minor issues, this is a new option.

    The new system could start to roll out within the next year.

    AI-assisted 911 calls

    The department also plans to test 911 call systems that use artificial intelligence to screen calls.

    When people call for help, they will be connected to an emergency dispatcher, with AI listening in the background. Callers who report lower-level crimes, like vandalism or theft, will be transferred to an AI-assisted line and have the option to report the matter online or via video call.

    There will also be a separate, nonemergency phone number that will be answered by an artificial voice. The system will screen for keywords or issues linked to high-priority crimes, like a robbery or shooting, and immediately transfer those calls to a human dispatcher, the department said.

    The hope is this would lead to faster response times and reduce complaints that calls for help have gone unanswered.

    Bethel said the department is still evaluating potential pitfalls, and acknowledged the nuances: “A theft can turn into a robbery, and a robbery can turn into a shooting, a shooting can turn into a murder,” he said.

    Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel inside the radio room at PPD headquarters in 2024.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    An internal diversion program

    When city police officers violate department policy, their disciplinary cases are sent to the Police Board of Inquiry, and reprimands can remain on their record and affect future promotions unless appealed and overturned through union arbitration.

    Under a new initiative, officers accused of lower-level violations could go through an internal diversion program that requires them to undergo training and avoids a mark on their record. Among those offenses are sleeping on duty, dismissive behavior, using derogatory or offensive language, or failing to activate body-worn cameras. In the latter case, Bethel said, the diversionary program would not be available for officers with repeated failures to turn cameras on.

    Despite reforms, 85% of fired Philly cops are reinstated through arbitration

    Officers would not be eligible for diversion if they are found to have committed the same offense within the previous six months, or if the offense happened alongside more serious violations ineligible for the program.

    Bethel said the diversion option was developed in coordination with the Citizens Police Oversight Commission with a goal of giving officers “a second chance, but also train them.”

    Expand communication with the public

    The department intends to develop transition plans when captains or commanders leave neighborhood police districts — something community leaders had requested, Bethel said.

    It will also host quarterly community meetings to review data, and develop publicly available dashboards with additional crime, quality-of-life, and other types of data to measure performance.

    By expanding points of contact with the community, Bethel said, “they’re going to hold us accountable.”

  • The city plans to pay up to $75,000 to help measure the economic impact of Philly’s major events in 2026

    The city plans to pay up to $75,000 to help measure the economic impact of Philly’s major events in 2026

    When Mayor Cherelle L. Parker faced questions about spending on Philadelphia’s Fourth of July concert, she promised a “fiscal impact report” that would help determine how the economic benefits of the concert and other major events in Philadelphia during 2026 compared with their cost to city taxpayers.

    It turns out the city will have to spend a bit more taxpayer money to get to the bottom of that inquiry.

    The finance department is looking to hire a consulting firm for up to $75,000 to provide “economic analysis services to better understand the economic and fiscal impact of Philadelphia’s 2026 events and related activity on the local economy,” according to a contract opportunity posted on the city’s website last week. Responses are due Aug. 5.

    Mayor Parker changed things up for this year’s July 4th concert — and it’s costing Philly’s taxpayers millions more

    The contract solicitation calls for an evaluation of “event-related visitation, tourism activity, and associated economic activity” and estimates of “state and local tax revenues generated by event-related economic activity,” among other things. But it does not ask the consultant to produce an accounting of the city’s spending on those events.

    Andrew Richman, a top attorney in the city law department, said the administration will also produce an analysis of the city’s spending related to the major events hosted in Philly during 2026, including the nation’s 250th birthday, FIFA World Cup games, and the MLB All-Star Game.

    Fans celebrate after Mexico scores against South Africa while watching the FIFA World Cup opening match on a giant screen during the opening day of the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    “As a standard operating procedure in the Parker administration, there will be financial accounting that details every dollar and cent spent on 2026-related activities, analysis including all expenses, and economic impact of all activities and investments associated with 2026,” Richman said.

    The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on when that accounting will take place.

    Parker’s administration this year took over management of the July Fourth concert and fireworks show on the Ben Franklin Parkway, which for years had been handled by the nonprofit Welcome America, a public-private partnership created by the city in the 1990s.

    Parker instead hired ESM Productions, a for-profit company led by well-known concert producer Scott Mirkin, and renamed the event the “One Philly: Unity Concert for America,” a version of her slogan, “One Philly: A United City.”

    Mayor Parker changed things up for this year’s July 4th concert — and it’s costing Philly’s taxpayers millions more
    Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Philadlephia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker at the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    The changes resulted in a much more expensive concert than in years past. The city agreed to pay ESM about $15.5 million to put on the show, The Inquirer reported after obtaining the contract. The previous year’s concert cost Welcome America about $3 million, a source with knowledge of the event told The Inquirer.

    Those sums did not include costs related to city employees, such as sanitation workers and overtime for police officers who worked the event.

    Inclement weather, including extreme heat in the afternoon and a thunderstorm that disrupted the concert for hours in the evening, limited attendance at what Parker had hoped would be a major event.

    Philly’s delayed late-night fireworks were prompted by safety and weather concerns, city says

    The city’s coming analyses, however, will include all of 2026’s major events, not just the concert.

    Parker has said her administration will spend $120 million on this year’s celebrations, and she has pledged to ensure communities across Philadelphia, not just Center City, benefit from the investment, which includes beautification projects in neighborhood commercial corridors and funding for block parties and events across the city. The administration has not yet provided details on how much was dedicated to the concert or any other specific event this year.

    “At the end of our celebration, you will be able to see an accounting of how that $120 million was spent,” Parker said at a July 1 news conference.

    Jill Scott takes to the stage for One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Economic impact analyses produced by paid consultants often include rosy estimates that public officials use to justify priorities. Academics who study their work for years have cited issues including inflated assumptions for visitors’ spending and understated or omitted opportunity costs for economic activity displaced by a large project or event.

    “Most economic impact studies are commissioned to legitimize a political position rather than to search for economic truth,” John L. Crompton, a professor at Texas A&M University, wrote in an influential 2006 paper published in the Journal of Travel Research. “Often, this results in the use of mischievous procedures that produce large numbers that study sponsors seek to support a predetermined position.”

    This year’s July Fourth concert was supposed to be headlined by Christina Aguilera, but the pop star ended up not taking the stage after the city paused the event around 9 p.m. due to the storm. The show resumed shortly after midnight, pushing the fireworks to about 2:30 a.m. July 5.

    Parker’s office on Wednesday did not respond to a request for comment on whether the city would receive any refund in light of Aguilera not performing.

    All other scheduled performers went ahead with their sets, including the Roots, Jill Scott, Meek Mill, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Will Smith, who said Parker reached out to him personally to ensure he came back after the weather delay.

  • One of DA Larry Krasner’s top advisers once sent $100 to a man in prison for murder who’s now appealing his conviction. It’s under investigation.

    One of DA Larry Krasner’s top advisers once sent $100 to a man in prison for murder who’s now appealing his conviction. It’s under investigation.

    The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is investigating ties between one of DA Larry Krasner’s top advisers and a man serving life in prison after prosecutors learned that the official sent the man money years ago and did not disclose it.

    G. Lamar Stewart, chief of external engagement and government affairs in the DA’s office, said he sent $100 to Anthony Sutton in January 2021 to support Sutton’s mentorship program, “Mann Up,” for men incarcerated at State Correctional Institute Phoenix.

    Sutton, 61, who is serving life in prison for killing a man in Germantown in 1984, has been appealing his conviction for more than a decade.

    The issue came to light last week, after the prosecutors assigned to Sutton’s appeal were reviewing his prison records and noticed that Stewart was among those who had sent Sutton money in recent years.

    The records showed Stewart did so only once, Krasner said.

    The payment raised concerns, in part because Stewart had organized and participated in meetings between Sutton’s defense attorney, Krasner, and prosecutors about the case, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    Krasner’s office has opposed Sutton’s appeal and said his profession of innocence lacked merit.

    When the prosecutors discovered the payment, it was quickly brought to the attention of Krasner, who then asked his office’s special investigation unit to investigate, according to multiple sources familiar with the case. The inquiry remains ongoing.

    Stewart, who is also senior pastor of Taylor Memorial Baptist Church in Nicetown-Tioga, was working as the head of the office’s community engagement unit at the time of the donation. In an interview, he said he used his own money to support Sutton’s program as part of the faith-based charitable work he does to assist families and community organizations across the region every holiday season.

    “I thought that the work that they were doing was positive, transformative, and it was geared to helping reduce violence in Philadelphia and to make communities and families whole,” he said.

    He said he did not know of any way to reach the organization other than to send it through Sutton directly. “I was very intentional to make sure that my name was listed because when you’re not trying to hide anything, you just do things above the board,” he said.

    District Attorney Larry Krasner (left) and G Lamar Stewart, head of the Community Engagement and Government Affairs at the DA’s Office, outside the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park in February 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    During a brief hearing in Sutton’s case on Monday, Assistant District Attorney David Napiorski, supervisor of the office’s law division, told Common Pleas Court Judge Giovanni O. Campbell that his attorneys needed additional time to investigate Sutton’s case after they found that someone in the office had put “money on the defendant’s books in prison.”

    “That needs to be investigated by the office thoroughly before we can take any further action,” Napiorski told the judge.

    Stewart said he did not try to influence the outcome of the appeal or advocate for Sutton. He acknowledged that he attended at least one meeting about Sutton’s case, but said his job requires him to coordinate and attend meetings with Krasner.

    Krasner said that he saw no issue with Stewart’s donation or subsequent participation in meetings, and that his office’s inquiry and prosecutors’ comment in court Monday “establishes integrity.”

    “G. Lamar Stewart gave a small amount of money for an organization … and then this office decided to oppose Mr. Sutton’s request. Where’s the issue?” he asked.

    He added: “Any rock we haven’t flipped yet, we will flip. Preliminarily, it seems quite clear that this was a donation given for a completely legitimate purpose.”

    Sutton did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through a messaging app for people in prison. His attorney, Jason Javie, said Tuesday that he did not know anything about Stewart’s payment to Sutton and declined to discuss the matter further.

    “My focus is 110% on the exoneration of Mr. Sutton,” he said.

    The revelation comes amid mounting scrutiny over Krasner’s office’s handling of post-conviction matters. In a forceful ruling last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Krasner’s office had a pattern of misleading judges when seeking to overturn old murder convictions.

    Last week, in a separate, controversial federal appellate case, a former assistant district attorney in Krasner’s office said prosecutors were “colluding” with defense attorneys to find the most effective way to have the murder conviction thrown out. And then, on Monday, in a striking court filing in that same contentious case, two supervisors in the law division said Krasner had instructed them to litigate the matter in a way that would “protect the office.”

    And now, the office is investigating a case connected to Stewart, who has worked in the DA’s office since 2019 and is one of Krasner’s most trusted advisers.

    District Attorney Larry Krasner at a press conference in May, denouncing criticism of his office leveled by Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Stewart, who is paid $154,500 annually, oversees the office’s community engagement, public affairs, and communications strategies, and acts as a conduit between Krasner and other public officials. Since Robert Listenbee retired as first assistant district attorney in January, Krasner has not named a successor — and several prosecutors say Stewart, who is not a lawyer, has effectively absorbed parts of that job. He often helps coordinate sensitive matters in cases, including relocating victims and witnesses.

    He is respected by many in city government and across the community. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, speaking at Krasner’s inauguration ceremony in January, mentioned Stewart as one of the office’s most essential staffers.

    “District Attorney Krasner, as a moment of personal privilege, I want you to know that G. Lamar Stewart is one of the most committed, committed, committed members of your team in engaging in community outreach, and he represents you well, sir,” she said to applause.

    Stewart, born and raised in Germantown and North Philadelphia, served in the U.S. Army and worked for the Philadelphia Police Department before joining Krasner’s team in 2019. At his church, he runs a nonprofit called Taylor Made Opportunities that offers job support and mentorship to young men in the neighborhood, and supports families of homicide victims.

    Stewart said he donates to community organizations, and provides meals, Christmas gifts, and other means of support to crime victims’ families each year, using his personal money.

    He does not typically disclose those donations to the DA’s office, he said, and it has never been a problem.

    “My Christian faith is rooted in giving, in love, in showing up for the least of these, showing up for those who have been harmed, for showing up for those who are trying to rehabilitate and be accountable for the harm they caused to bring healing to our community,” he said. “For anyone to suggest that me giving through a faith lens, in the interest of good for community, is problematic for me, that is an infringement upon my faith tradition and my religious rights.”

    Krasner said he did not think it was necessary for Stewart — or other employees in the office — to disclose donations.

    “I don’t know that it makes sense to require 700 employees, especially if they’re doing so on a faith basis, to disclose everyone they give donations to,” he said. “It’s certainly something we could think about.”

    In Stewart’s case, his money went to support a program run by Sutton, better known as Benny Doo, who was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Richard Berry in the Pelham section of Germantown in December 1984. In the early 1980s, prosecutors said, Berry hired Sutton and other members of his crew, called the “Ghostbusters,” to retrieve jewelry that had been stolen from him, and agreed to pay with “a few ounces of blow and a couple thousand dollars.”

    Berry never paid up, and after he started avoiding Sutton and his crew, Sutton killed him, prosecutors said.

    But Sutton said prosecutors violated his right to a fair trial when they failed to turn over police documents — including polygraph results and police interviews with several witnesses — to his defense attorney. One man who testified at trial has also since come forward to recant his testimony.

    Prosecutors, in a court filing in May, said Sutton failed to show how those issues could have changed the outcome of his trial. His appeal, prosecutors wrote, was untimely and lacked merit.

  • Philadelphia to take over sexual assault response center after years of funding uncertainty

    Philadelphia to take over sexual assault response center after years of funding uncertainty

    The city government will assume control of the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center, the only program in the city that offers free sexual assault exams, after years of uncertainty over how the center would be managed and financed.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration announced Wednesday that the Philadelphia Department of Public Health will take over PSARC, a nonprofit program that is currently operated by Drexel University and serves about 300 patients a year.

    The center is staffed 24-7 by nurses trained to conduct sexual assault exams that are performed to collect DNA and other evidence, sometimes known as “rape kits.” The center is located at 300 E. Hunting Park Ave., in the same building as the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit; patients are not required to report sexual assault to police, however.

    PSARC was founded in 2011 and contracts with hospitals that do not have staff specially trained in handling sexual assault response. It was previously managed by Hahnemann University Hospital, the historic Center City facility that shuttered in 2019 after filing for bankruptcy.

    Philly’s only dedicated center for treating adult sexual assault never has enough funding, its leader says

    Since then, Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions has managed the center.

    But PSARC has struggled to survive amid years of funding challenges. Prior to last year, it did not receive dedicated funding from the city — it was funded entirely by Drexel, and the state reimbursed the center $1,000 for each patient treated there.

    Drexel officials told members of Parker’s administration last year that the university could not continue managing the program, according to two sources involved in the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Last fall, Drexel was in the midst of cutting staff and benefits university-wide amid a massive operating deficit and low enrollment.

    The Parker administration explored transitioning the program to the control of another crisis center, the sources said.

    But other nonprofits were facing their own funding-related disruptions last year. For example, in October, Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center, the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence, paused some of its services and laid off staff amid the monthslong state budget impasse.

    Ultimately, Drexel continued operating PSARC, with the city allocating $250,000 in emergency funding last year to support the program.

    This year’s city budget, which took effect on July 1, includes $300,000 in funding for PSARC. That money was allocated to the health department.

    Amid record-low violence, Mayor Parker’s policing budget invests in more technology, funds sexual assault center

    In a statement, Crystal Yates-Gale, the city’s deputy managing director for health and human services, thanked Drexel “for supporting PSARC since its founding and for making this transition seamless so there is no pause in operations.”

    Emily Roper, the dean of Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, said in a statement that the transition “has been thoughtfully planned in close collaboration with the City of Philadelphia to ensure continuity of services for survivors.”

    “For more than a decade, PSARC has provided compassionate, expert care to survivors of sexual assault,” she said, “and we are deeply grateful to the dedicated clinicians and staff whose unwavering commitment has made that possible.”

  • Philly City Council members probe Parker administration on rising property assessments: ‘Owners deserve answers now’

    Philly City Council members probe Parker administration on rising property assessments: ‘Owners deserve answers now’

    Members of Philadelphia City Council say they are concerned that the city’s recently released property reassessments will mean tax hikes for thousands of residents, and they are demanding to know more about the methodology used to determine property values.

    Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Democrat who represents the Lower Northeast, authored a letter sent Monday to Chief Assessment Officer James Aros Jr. and other top officials in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, expressing concerns on behalf of a half dozen Council members.

    He wrote that his office has received “numerous” calls from constituents whose homes will see sharp increases in valuation, the measure that is used to calculate property tax bills.

    Property values in Kensington went up more than any other Philly neighborhood this year

    “Many residents are struggling to grasp how their assessments were calculated. Others are worried about what these increases will mean for their property tax bills,” Driscoll wrote. “At a time when families are already facing higher costs for housing, utilities, groceries, and other daily expenses, these concerns need clear answers.”

    He outlined six questions for the Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment related to its process and methodology, and set an Aug. 15 deadline for the administration to reply, saying “property owners deserve answers now as they review their assessments and consider whether to file an appeal.”

    The 3100 block of C Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Property values sharply increased on this Kensington block.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    The letter — which was signed by six Council members who are cosponsors of previously introduced legislation to probe the city’s property assessment process — is one of the first formal steps that lawmakers have taken to challenge the citywide revaluation since last month, when property owners received notices of their new assessments.

    Citywide, there was a 3% median change in valuations from the 2025 tax year, the last time there was a mass reassessment, according to an Inquirer analysis of assessments of single-family homes.

    But some neighborhoods saw much steeper increases. The biggest jump was in Kensington, where median values increased 15.3%. Driscoll represents part of the neighborhood, which has been long beleaguered by the open-air drug market there and where the city has made a concerted effort to improve the quality of life.

    There was also a 15% median increase in property assessments in Mantua and a 12% rise in Kingsessing, both of which are in West Philadelphia and border University City.

    Parker administration officials have said that the city offers a variety of property tax relief programs, including the popular homestead exemption, which erases the first $100,000 in valuation from being taxed for owners who live in their home as their primary residence. Property owners must sign up for the free program.

    Confused by Philly’s property tax relief programs? Use this new tool to see which you’re eligible for.

    But for years, dating back long before Parker took office in 2024, Council members have criticized the city’s property reassessment process, saying its methodology is opaque and its results have a disproportionate impact on low-income homeowners.

    Multiple reviews are already underway.

    In addition to a yet-to-be-scheduled Council hearing, the city controller is conducting a performance audit of the property assessment office and the city’s appeal process, according to Driscoll’s letter. Controller Christy Brady’s office has sought feedback from residents and left flyers in neighborhoods where property values are rising.

    The Parker administration convened a task force in 2024 to develop recommendations for how the city can improve its appraisal practices.

    And the city is in the process of hiring an outside consultant to examine the fairness of its reassessments. According to city records, that analyst will be expected to draft a report by the end of this year.

    Data reporters Yaelle Tang and Lizzie Mulvey contributed to this article.

  • Philly schools will get $157 million more in this year’s state budget. Gov. Josh Shapiro came to South Philly to tout the plan.

    Philly schools will get $157 million more in this year’s state budget. Gov. Josh Shapiro came to South Philly to tout the plan.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday visited Vare-Washington Elementary School in South Philadelphia to tout the $678 million in new education funding included in the state budget deal finalized over the weekend.

    The new education funding — including $565 million in “adequacy funding” to aid poorer districts — represented one of the most significant victories the first-term Democratic governor took home from the $50.8 billion state budget deal, which did not address lingering issues such as taxing so-called skill games and long-term funding for SEPTA and other public transit agencies.

    Here’s what’s in — and not in — Pennsylvania’s $50.8 billion state budget

    The Philadelphia School District will receive $137 million in adequacy funding and $20 million in other new funding. The district will also be able to compete for a share of $125 million set aside for school facilities projects.

    Philadelphia’s cash-strapped district, which entered this year with a $300 million structural budget deficit, still faces deep challenges. The school board this year approved a facilities plan to close 17 school buildings and renovate 169 more.

    “We’re driving this money out to the schools that need it most — school districts like Philadelphia, Norristown, Pottstown, and Allentown, and others in our region,” Shapiro said. “They were getting shortchanged, and now they’re getting the lion’s share of this new funding.”

    While it broke little new ground, this year’s state budget deal helped avoid another prolonged impasse involving Shapiro, the Democratic House, and the Republican Senate. Last year, lawmakers failed to reach a compromise until 135 days after the July 1 budget deadline, leaving school districts and local governments across the state in limbo for months.

    Lawmakers approved this year’s deal 12 days late.

    “I‘m one of the only governors in the country with a divided legislature, one of the only legislatures that has to negotiate with people on the other side who really have a very different view, who don’t think the way we do about investing in public education,” said Shapiro, who was joined by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and numerous Philadelphia Democratic lawmakers. “We have all been clear that we would not get up from the table in Harrisburg until we fully funded public education, and we’ve done that.”

    Students applaud speakers at Vare-Washington Elementary School during an assembly highlighting the education investments included in the 2026-27 state budget in Philadelphia, Pa. on July 14, 2026.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    The new adequacy funding is the third infusion of money resulting from a formula lawmakers adopted in the wake of a 2023 Commonwealth Court ruling that said Pennsylvania’s former method of funding schools, which relied heavily on local property taxes, was unconstitutional.

    The formula calculated that a majority of Pennsylvania schools were underfunded, by a total of $4.5 billion. For the last three years, the state has given those schools an extra $565 million a year, filling about one-third of the gap. The state plans to fully address the shortfall by 2032.

    Advocates for underfunded districts, like Philadelphia’s, have credited the state for sticking with the plan, but have also said the money is flowing too slowly for struggling districts. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have challenged the increased funding for poorer districts, saying others are getting shortchanged by the new system.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks at Vare-Washington Elementary School to highlight the historic education investments included in the 2026-27 state budget, in Philadelphia, Pa. on July 14, 2026.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    Philadelphia’s school district, the only one in the state prohibited from raising its own revenue, relies on city and state lawmakers for its funding.

    Parker this year clashed with City Council over how to deliver roughly $50 million to the district to help close a budget gap that threatened to eliminate 340 classroom positions. Council ultimately rejected Parker’s proposal — to levy a $1-per-ride tax on rideshare services like Uber and Lyft — and instead pulled from one-time funding elsewhere in the budget while promising to find a new recurring revenue source for the district.

    “We have limited revenue-generating capacity in the city of Philadelphia,” Parker said Tuesday. “I wish I could tell you, as mayor, that we had all of the money that we needed to address problems, but that is not the case. Our city can’t be successful without a strong partnership from Harrisburg.”

    Mayor Parker and City Council now have one year to figure out a way to bring in $216 million after reversing Philly school cuts, officials say

    Parker thanked Shapiro and the city’s delegation to Harrisburg for “keeping your word” and delivering more education funding to Philadelphia from the state.

    Vare-Washington is one of 40 Philly schools included in Parker’s Extended Day/Extended Year initiative, which provides additional programming for students outside normal school hours.

    During her remarks, Parker led the students assembled at the event in several call-and-response chants, including, “Excellence matters — at Vare-Washington!”

    “I want to hear you say, ‘Thank you — Gov. Shapiro!’” Parker said in another chant. “‘Thank you — Harrisburg legislators!’”

  • Michelle Widgins-Lewis, singer-songwriter and founder and CEO of Northwest Counseling Service, has died at 69

    Michelle Widgins-Lewis, singer-songwriter and founder and CEO of Northwest Counseling Service, has died at 69

    Michelle Widgins-Lewis, 69, of Philadelphia, singer-songwriter, founder, president, and executive director of Northwest Counseling Service Inc., longtime community housing and education advocate, lecturer, and mentor, died Monday, June 29, of endometrial cancer at Jefferson Abington Hospital.

    Inspired to educate and counsel underserved potential homebuyers about predatory mortgage lending, foreclosure, and other important real estate and housing issues, Ms. Widgins-Lewis founded Northwest Counseling Service on North Broad Street in 1982. For the next 44 years, until recently, she interviewed nearly 5,000 people each year seeking mortgage prequalification and, funded by the Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development, advised them about insurance, eviction, credit rating, grants, conflict mediation, and inspections.

    “She helped transform homeownership in Philadelphia,” her family said in a tribute.

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis was appointed to the Pennsylvania Housing Advisory Committee in the 1990s by then-Gov. Ed Rendell and served as a technical adviser on real estate matters for the Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development. She worked closely with the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and continually lobbied local, state, and federal government officials for better borrowing and foreclosure laws.

    This photo and article about Ms. Widgins-Lewis appeared in The Inquirer in 2007.Newpapers.com

    She examined property disputes as a forensic real estate specialist, scrutinized scams as a fraud examiner, testified in federal court as a qualified expert, and was licensed as a real estate broker and appraiser. She monitored local landlord-tenant mediation cases closely and told The Inquirer in 1996 that many tenants “end up with an agreement they can’t live up to.”

    People, she said often, are rarely ready to buy their first house. “Instead of considering whether they are prepared to buy a home, people are being propelled into the market by economic pressure that says they should buy because it’s cheaper than renting,” she told The Inquirer in 1995. “That’s not always true.”

    Surviving spouses always remember how they met their mate. Here are the meet-cute stories told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    She also founded and chaired the Philadelphia Predatory Lending Task Force, which collected and publicized data about unfair lending practices. “This gives us a picture of the type of problems going on in our neighborhoods,” she told the Daily News in 2001.

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis was an instructor for the National Real Estate Institute and a leader for the American Society of Certified Housing Executives, the Real Estate Educators Association, and other groups. She wrote articles for journals and forged educational partnerships with colleges and universities.

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis performed in several bands and with her sister Dionne.Courtesy of the family

    She spoke on panels and at conferences and workshops about homeownership, and was quoted often in The Inquirer and Daily News. Friends called her “truly inspiring” and “a true champion in the mortgage industry” in online tributes. One friend said: “She was a beast in the housing world.”

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis sang often as a young girl, got rave reviews on karaoke night when she was older, and went on to perform in several bands and with her sister Dionne at local clubs and festivals. She sang rhythm and blues, pop, standards, and jazz, and wrote at least one song that was recorded and released.

    When parents die, even the mundane memories comfort their children. Here are their tales, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky wrote about her dual career as a singer-songwriter and executive in 1995 and said: “She still has trouble calling herself an artist but feels, at the very least, she’ll always be able to get up and sing at fundraisers for her agency.”

    Her family said: “From childhood, Michelle drew people in with her light and her voice.” Her daughter Tracey Thomas said: “She would light up the room.” Her son Mike said: “Everybody loved her.”

    Her family said Ms. Widgins-Lewis had “an unwavering commitment to education, integrity, and service.”Courtesy of the family

    Michelle Widgins was born May 29, 1957, in Philadelphia. She graduated from Martin Luther King High School and earned a bachelor’s degree at La Salle University and a master’s degree in human services at Lincoln University.

    She married Michael Brown, and they had a daughter, Anji, and a son, Mike. After a divorce, she married Tyrone Lewis, and they had a daughter, Tracey, and a son, Richard. They divorced later.

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis enjoyed reading and writing. She belonged to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society, was close with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and former Mayor Wilson Goode, and was guided, her family said, by “an unwavering commitment to education, integrity, and service.”

    Her family is hoping to rename a Northwest Philadelphia street in her honor.

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis lived with cancer for 10 years.Courtesy of the family

    “She was humble but had drive and determination,” her son Mike said. Her daughter Tracey said: “The world was her stage. I can only imagine how her light will shine in heaven.”

    In addition to her children and former husbands, Ms. Widgins-Lewis is survived by eight grandchildren, a sister, two brothers, and other relatives. A sister and a brother died earlier.

    Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

    Services are to be at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 16, at Verity Church, 2017 W. Diamond St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19121.

    Donations in her name may be made to Northwest Counseling Service Inc., 6521 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19126.

    Ms. Widgins-Lewis “was humble but had drive and determination,” her son Mike said. Courtesy of the Family
  • Three Philly City Council districts emerge as key battlegrounds in the 2027 election

    Three Philly City Council districts emerge as key battlegrounds in the 2027 election

    Philadelphia City Council is already looking to 2027. And with all 17 seats on the ballot next spring, the elections are shaping up to be a pivotal test of whether the city’s established politicians can withstand a rising tide of frustration with the party among Democratic voters.

    All of the incumbents have said they intend to run for reelection, and several are likely to face serious challenges from new candidates focused on grassroots organizing and progressive groups — hoping to seize the opportunity presented by a nationwide leftward shift amid President Donald Trump’s second term.

    Three districts have emerged as key battlegrounds.

    In the North Philadelphia-based 5th District, at least four people are considering challenging Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., a freshman lawmaker who has championed controversial legislation and at times publicly clashed with constituents.

    All 17 City Council members may be running for reelection. That would be the first time in at least 75 years.

    And the city’s progressive organizations, emboldened by a series of wins locally and nationally, are targeting two other districts: the 1st, which stretches from South Philadelphia to Fishtown and is represented by Councilmember Mark Squilla, and the 8th, which includes parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia and is represented by Councilmember Cindy Bass.

    “We’re definitely feeling confident,” said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Straight Ahead. “Anyone who is going to be running under a progressive banner or a progressive movement is going to have to be running against the establishment, not toward it.”

    A competitive race also appears to be taking shape for the seven Council seats that represent the city at-large.

    Five of those seats are all but certain to be won by Democrats, making the May 2027 primary the key election in deep-blue Philadelphia.

    The other two at-large seats — set aside for Council members outside the majority party under the city’s Home Rule Charter — will be decided in the November 2027 general election. Currently, the two minority party seats are held by Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke of the left-leaning Working Families Party.

    Several insiders said one bold-faced name is considering a run for a Democratic seat: Jane Golden, the well-known founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, who is stepping down from her full-time role later this month.

    No Philly mayor has lost reelection in modern history. So does Mayor Parker have anything to worry about?
    Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, takes the stage during the dedication of the Super Bowl LIX mural at Spike’s Trophies on June 17, 2025 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Golden, 73, said last week that she is not currently running for Council, but acknowledged she has thought about it for years.

    “It’s always something that is tempting to me, because I just love the city so much,” she said. “I feel honored that people even think of me.”

    Progressives eye Bass’ North Philly seat

    Philadelphia’s progressive activists this year see two key opportunities to expand the loosely organized left-leaning bloc on Council, which currently consists of four members. Winning additional seats could also grow their influence by enticing more moderate members to vote alongside them if they believe primary voters are moving left.

    Progressives have in the last year authored some of the most high-profile legislation to come out of Council, including one package of bills by Brooks and Councilmember Rue Landau meant to set limits on federal immigration enforcement in the city and another by O’Rourke that codified new rights for renters.

    Leftists have notched high-profile wins in Democratic primaries across the country this year, including in Philadelphia, where democratic socialist State Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia) bested more moderate candidates for a seat in Congress representing about half of the city. The district is one of the most Democratic in the nation.

    Chris Rabb’s election marked a big night for Philly progressives — and a rebuke of the Democratic establishment

    Next on progressives’ wish list: ousting Bass and Squilla, two more centrist Democrats who have both been on Council since 2012.

    In Bass’ 8th District, longtime labor organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman may challenge Bass for a second time after losing to her in 2023 by just 423 votes.

    Anderson-Oberman, 55, the executive director of the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, said last week that he is “leaning” toward taking another swing.

    “We’re in a moment in this country and this city where people have had enough,” he said. “People are looking for new answers. … Cindy represents the old way of doing things.”

    Union organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman, running for 8th District City Council, joins in a small rally with community and Happy Hollow Advisory Board members along Wayne Avenue at Happy Hollow Playground in Philadelphia on April 2, 2023.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Another Council run by Anderson-Oberman may test how far progressive momentum can go in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Communist Party USA in his 20s, and has said he is proud of that experience.

    Bass, 58, said she is ready for the race no matter who her opponent is.

    In June, she survived a contentious fight for another four-year term as Democratic leader of Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward. She was criticized for her handling of the process, and the party ordered a redo of the election.

    She and her progressive opponent, Octavius Price, tied, then struck a power-sharing agreement. Through it all, Bass said, longtime residents stuck by her — and she is confident voters will do the same next year.

    “My voters are people who are based in this community, committed to this community, intend to stay in the communities that they are in,” she said.

    City Councilmember Cindy Bass (center) attends the watch party for Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle L. Parker at Laborers 332 in Philadelphia on May 16, 2023.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

    Jeff Jones, a community leader and social justice advocate from Germantown, has also said he intends to run in the 8th District.

    “I want to bring that new vision and a new voice to the 8th District, where residents and children and families can know that their voice matters, their concerns will be heard, and their challenges will be met,” said Jones, 61, a first-time political candidate.

    Squilla could see a lefty challenger

    Leftists are also eying Squilla’s seat, which represents the area along the Delaware River from Pennsport to Kensington. Since Squilla took office in 2012, the district has transformed from a bastion of working-class white voters to one of the most progressive swaths of the city.

    Squilla, 63, who has strong labor ties and is one of the most pro-development district Council members, said being a centrist has likely put a target on his back in the 2027 election.

    Another contributing factor may be Squilla’s support for controversial legislation in 2024 to approve the 76ers’ since-abandoned plan to build a new arena in Center City. The project, which would have been in Squilla’s 1st District, was opposed by advocates for Chinatown, which the arena would have bordered.

    Councilmember Mark Squilla arrives in Council chambers on Nov. 12, 2024, before the start of a public hearing on a proposed Sixers arena.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Despite the fierce objections, Council approved the project with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s support in December 2024. Weeks later, the basketball team announced it was abandoning its Center City plan and would instead build its next arena in South Philly.

    Squilla said he is prepared to defend his actions, noting that he worked to ensure any arena deal would benefit his district and that many of those promises are moving forward despite the 76ers withdrawing their proposal.

    “The goal as an elected official, and also as a leader, is not always to make the popular decision,” he said. “The goal is to have a process to make the decision that would be best for the people around it.”

    One prominent opponent of the Center City arena plan was Will Gross, the owner of Ox Coffee in Queen Village and a progressive who is the Democratic leader of the 2nd Ward. He is seen by political insiders and progressive organizations as the most likely candidate to take on Squilla.

    Gross declined to comment.

    In this 2023 file photo, Will Gross and Kay Yoon, of the No Arena in Chinatown group, deliver petitions to Councilmember Mark Squilla. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    A progressive challenger may also emerge in the North Philly and Kensington-based 7th District, which is represented by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada.

    In 2023, Lozada, Council’s only Latina member, won decisively over social worker Andres Celin, who argued for a more social services-driven response to address longstanding issues in the beleaguered district.

    Some insiders have speculated that Celin may run again. He declined to comment.

    Lozada, 55, said she “can’t focus” on potential challengers.

    “If I spend my time listening to the buzz about who is running,” she said, “we won’t get any work done.”

    A battle takes shape in the 5th District

    In the 5th District, a seat that represents parts of North Philadelphia and Center City, a handful of Democratic challengers are lining up to take on Young, 40, who is seen as one of Council’s most vulnerable members.

    That is in part because of the unusual way in which he was elected in 2023. He ended up being the only Democrat on the ballot after several others, including party officials’ preferred candidates, were removed amid legal challenges.

    Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. in chambers as City Council meets Dec. 11, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    One of those candidates was Curtis Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. Two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign dynamics, said Wilkerson is considering running for the seat again next year. He did not respond to a request for comment.

    Also likely to run is Jalon Alexander, an attorney who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on Council in 2023. Alexander, 33, formed an exploratory committee last year and is expected to formally declare his candidacy later this summer.

    Two others are also considering running.

    Dustin Dove, a lawyer and the president of the Fairmount Civic Association, said neighbors and community leaders have encouraged him to get in the Council race, and he is “taking the possibility of running seriously.”

    “I think our city government should work for everyone by keeping our neighborhoods safe and streets walkable, making housing affordable, and ensuring fairness and access in public services,” Dove, 38, said last week.

    Jalon Alexander, an attorney and community advocate, speaks to attendees at a meeting about potential SEPTA budget cuts hosted at Garden of Prayer Church in Strawberry Mansion on June 9, 2025.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer

    And Max Tuttleman, 37, a philanthropist who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat in 2023, said he “cares deeply about the 5th District and would never close the door to serving Philadelphia.”

    He added that “Center City and the neighborhoods around it should be growing faster than they are.”

    That was a subtle dig at Young, who critics say has been too hostile to development in his district by opposing some residential projects.

    Young said in an interview last week that he intends to run for reelection, but that challengers are not his focus.

    “I‘m focused on serving my constituency, serving my community,” he said. “The work that we’ve been doing will hopefully earn the support of the residents of the 5th District.”

    A smaller, but competitive, at-large field

    Over the last several election cycles, dozens of candidates lined up to run for at-large seats during a time of immense turnover in Council.

    But with seven incumbents all looking toward reelection in 2027, there may be fewer challengers who line up to take them on. So far, only Golden and a handful of others have emerged as possible contenders.

    David Alexander Jenkins, a cultural strategist known for delivering impassioned speeches during Council’s public comment section, said he is considering a run, encouraged by fellow community members.

    “When the community that is around you constantly pushes you to intercede on their behalf, then it’s because they have trusted you to do what it is that you do best,” Jenkins, 39, said. “I think it would be incredibly unwise to ignore that.”

    And Jude Husein, 28, a Palestinian-born community activist who was raised in North Philly, has already launched her campaign. If her bid is successful, Husein, a former staffer for State Sen. Art Haywood, would be the first member of Gen Z on Council.

    In this 2023 file photo, Jude Husein, of North Philadelphia, speaks at a rally for a Day of Solidarity event at the Art Museum steps.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Leaders of progressive organizations said they are closely watching her candidacy. However, Husein is not exactly running as a leftist. She said that her policy positions are varied and that she will seek endorsements from any institution that is “values-aligned.”

    “I’m running because I think government should work for the people who pay for it, and should make neighborhoods affordable and safer,” she said.

    Also in the running for Council at-large seats are Billy McCann, 46, a former teacher who lives in Port Richmond, and Isaiah T. Martin, 26, who lives in West Philly and leads a community development nonprofit. The pair, who both said they are progressive, have established something of a slate with Jones, who is challenging Bass in the 8th District.

    They said they would prioritize public education, affordability, housing assistance, and government accountability, and they argued that establishment Democrats are failing to connect with voters.

    “A new day is coming,” said Martin, another member of Gen Z who would make history on Council if elected. “It’s time we get people who are going to do the actual work and not just sit here and talk about it.”

  • Philly’s e-bike and e-scooter boom comes with a more dangerous price than traditional cycling

    Philly’s e-bike and e-scooter boom comes with a more dangerous price than traditional cycling

    It was the first weekend of summer break. Abigail Gillon, an honor student, had just finished sixth grade. She was free.

    “My last text to her was at 2:14” on June 14 last year, said Abby’s mom, Lori Kralle.

    An hour later, Kralle received a call from an emergency room nurse about her 12-year-old daughter.

    Abby had been riding an electric scooter with her best friend, Isabelle, in Aston Township. The girls were sharing the scooter when they drove off the curb and fell into the street. They were struck by an oncoming car at 2:22 p.m. Emergency responders found them holding each other in fetal position, Kralle said. Abigail died two days later. Her friend was severely injured.

    “It didn’t just tear away and take away Abigail’s life, it took apart everybody’s life, her friends and family,” Kralle said.

    Lori Kralle with her daughter, Abby Gillon.Lori Kralle

    Last year, more traffic crashes causing injury and death in Philadelphia involved electric bikes and scooters than manual ones, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation data. The finding highlights a new reality in which e-bikes and e-scooters present a major safety problem, the state confirmed.

    The high numbers of injuries and deaths point to the need for legal clarity, statewide safety regulations, and new infrastructure to protect users of e-bikes, e-scooters, and bicycle riders from cars and trucks, traffic safety advocates contend.

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    “There’s a lot of technology out there and there is no real enforcement and regulation,” said Nicole Brunet, president of PA Safe Roads PAC. “It’s causing devices to be on the road that are unsafe.”

    In 2025, e-bikes and e-scooters were involved in 197 crashes on city streets, excluding interstates — a 40% increase over 2024. Four riders were killed and 193 were injured in those collisions, PennDot figures show.

    Meanwhile, 193 reported crashes involved standard bikes, more numerous in the city than their electric cousins, as well as traditional foot-propelled scooters, the state figures indicate.

    E-bikes and scooters are poorly defined in Pennsylvania law. The ambiguity makes it hard for governments to identify problems; PennDot did not analyze separate crash data for the electric devices until 2024, for instance, due in part to uneven reporting.

    A delivery driver riding an e-bike drives past an intersection on Walnut Street in West Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer

    State law authorizes the use of low-speed electric bikes — those that weigh less than 100 pounds, have engines that generate no more than 750 watts, and travel below 20 mph — on public roadways. E-scooters are not street legal in Pennsylvania.

    This narrow definition, however, does not differentiate among the many new types of electric bikes or e-scooters for sale, which can reach speeds of 60 mph or even 100 mph.

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    Two states, two speeds

    Governmental response has been uneven, with neighboring states moving in opposite directions and local jurisdictions sometimes banning e-bikes and e-scooters or enacting bespoke rules.

    “What we’re seeing right now is sort of a wild, wild west,” said State Sen. Tim Kearney, a Delaware County Democrat.

    Kearney wrote and introduced “Abby’s Law” — SB 1008 — in September last year.

    The bill says no person under 16 could operate a privately owned “low-speed electric scooter” on public roads; a helmet would be required until age 18. The bill would set a uniform 20 mph speed limit and prohibit tandem riding on e-scooters.

    Local police would issue summonses for those and other traffic violations by riders. Municipalities could increase penalties for second and third violations, as long as the fine is no more than $250.

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    In New Jersey, former Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the most restrictive electric cycling law in the nation on his last day in office earlier this year. The law, which takes effect later this month, requires all e-bike users to obtain a license and register their devices with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, even if they do not go over 20 mph.

    Models that can travel between 21 and 28 mph or have a throttle are classified as “motorized bicycles” and must also have liability insurance. The lower-powered e-bikes provide “pedal assist,” which cuts off at 20 mph.

    Enforcement could be tricky, especially at the Shore. The MVC says out-of-state visitors can ride legally, but language in the law appears to grant the exemption just to people who have registered devices in their home states. That is not an option in Pennsylvania.

    The MVC is now taking reservations for appointments; officials have acknowledged the deadline might need to be extended.

    E-scooters with a top speed of 19 mph are legal.

    In Pennsylvania, more than a year after Abby Gillon’s death, Kearney’s bill has not had a public hearing or a vote in the Senate.

    “We need to get people to acknowledge what’s actually happening on the road, and then stop sticking our heads in the sand about the various bureaucratic reasons not to move forward with it,” Kearney said.

    Wide use, thin information

    Government officials face challenges identifying and classifying the many varieties of electric bikes and scooters — also known as micromobility vehicles — transportation activists and state officials said. That makes information, including about crashes, hard to come by.

    PennDot, for instance, began counting electric bikes and scooters separately from pedal cycles, unmotorized scooters, and pedestrians for its annual tally of crashes only in 2024.

    A man gets ready to leave on his electric shooter in Center City.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer

    After a vehicular crash, law enforcement is required to report to PennDot details of crashes that involve injuries, fatalities, or significant damage to vehicles.

    Regarding the data prior to 2024, Robert A. Ranieri, crash-analysis manager at PennDot, said via email: “I don’t find that fully reliable since we didn’t look at all the narratives and the police may not have reported them properly at the time.”

    While his office works to verify the data, “not all reports are touched by my staff,” Ranieri said.

    Similarly, the crash data on electric bikes likely include vehicles known as e-motos, which look like pedal bikes but go faster than 20 mph, said John Boyle, research director at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

    In general, e-motos being lumped in with e-bikes is causing a lot of issues as communities and states try to regulate the higher-speed micromobility devices, Brunet said.

    E-scooter law is ‘basically ignored’

    The recently released PennDot data include at least 92 crashes in Philly involving e-scooters, which are technically illegal to ride on public streets in Pennsylvania.

    Last year, there were four reported fatalities involving e-scooters, though they made up only 14% of micromobility devices, according to the Bicycle Coalition’s 2025 bike count data.

    Standard bikes, in comparison, resulted in the same number, a total of four deaths, last year.

    “Some of the e-scooters have a top speed of 60 mph, which is crazy fast,” Boyle said, but “the law is basically ignored.”

    There is a gray market of electric scooters and bikes available for purchase, transportation experts told The Inquirer.

    “You can purchase electric bikes or scooters for $800 on Amazon and they have 1,000 to 2,000 watts,” Boyle said.

    The bikes are sometimes marketed as “Class 2,” meaning their motor tops out at 20 mph, but with a few basic adjustments can easily go faster, Boyle said.

    A man rides an electric scooter down a bike lane near Drexel University’s campus.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer

    Motorcycles, unlike e-motos, have quality standards and regulations. When it comes to selling a motorcycle in Pennsylvania, dealerships are required to handle legal requirements, title transfers, and state registrations.

    Reining in the manufacturers and dealers of electric bikes, motos, and scooters is an important step, Boyle said, but the state first needs to better define in the law what electric bikes and scooters are.

    Brunet, president of PA Safe Roads PAC, said her organization supports the Safe System approach to transportation safety, which involves education, enforcement, and infrastructure.

    “Philly just needs to keep building better bike infrastructure. … There is definitely a lot to do to make roads safer so that the people choosing these devices get home safe,” Brunet said.

    Several bills to regulate e-scooters have been proposed in the state legislature, but none have been passed.

    Pittsburgh embraced e-scooters

    At the same time, State Rep. Emily Kinkead (D., Allegheny) is pushing a proposal to bring a shared e-scooter program back to Pittsburgh and give the option to 53 smaller cities.

    Special legislation gave Pittsburgh the right to test a shared e-scooter rental program in partnership with Spin, a private company, from 2021 to 2023, when the trial expired.

    Kinkead called it a success, noting her north Pittsburgh district has steep hills and limited transit links.

    “What I saw … was not college kids goofing around, it was people who were trying to get around the North Side with grocery bags,” Kinkead said at a recent public hearing on the bill.

    The city had 230,000 unique e-scooter users during the test, said Ryan Seiferet, who managed the program for the Pittsburgh Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

    A survey of about 1,000 participants showed 44% of e-scooter riders used them to get to work and one-third to travel between transit stops and home. Regular users tended to have low incomes.

    While rules are needed in the state, especially for privately owned scooters, “We want to make sure we aren’t penalizing or disincentivizing a valuable micromobility travel option” for people, said Jessie Amadio, an organizer for Philly Bike Action.

    The electric scooter program was relatively safe, with one reported injury per 17,000 rides, according to a DOMI report.

    Electric scooters going against directed traffic flow at Market Street at 15th in Center City.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    News site Next Pittsburgh found, however, that a handful of the injuries were serious and, in some cases, life-threatening. Spin planned to deploy scooters with larger tires for stability, the site reported.

    Kinkead said shared e-scooters can be tightly controlled in agreements between a city and an e-scooter firm; in Pittsburgh, the scooters could not exceed 15 mph, enforced by software. E-scooters stopped working if the rider strayed into a town that did not allow them.

    Philadelphia, however, is opting out. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration asked that the city not be included in the shared e-scooter bill, said State Rep. Ed Neilson, a Democrat who represents a Northeast district and chairs the House Transportation Committee.

    “Because of the historic nature of the city and the millions of people that come every year, we just don’t want to block or impede that,” Neilson told colleagues in the hearing.

    Most agree that the state needs to take some sort of legislative action soon.

    “Getting as far as we have gotten [with Abby’s Law] on the Senate’s desk and to still not have anything signed or put into order is very frustrating,” Lori Kralle said.

    “What does it take? For another mother to get that phone call?” she added. “I don’t wish that on anybody.”

  • Mayor Parker moves to renew Philadelphia’s contract with controversial Chester incinerator

    Mayor Parker moves to renew Philadelphia’s contract with controversial Chester incinerator

    Philadelphia last week took a step toward renewing its contract with a controversial Chester trash incinerator after a high-profile bill to ban the city from doing so failed to garner enough support in City Council.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration issued a notice on Friday that it intends to enter into a new four-year contract for waste processing and disposal with Reworld, which operates a waste-to-energy facility in Chester. The city sends about a third of its garbage to the incinerator, the Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility.

    Carlton Williams, who leads Parker’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said in a statement that the city’s contracting process resulted in a deal that is “financially sound, environmentally safe, and includes the best option for the city to explore alternative methods for disposal.”

    But advocates, local officials in Chester, and some City Council members have accused the company of severe pollution and environmental racism, saying it releases toxic chemicals into the air that cause adverse health effects in the majority-Black city that’s about 15 miles south of Philadelphia.

    The amount of money the city intends to pay Reworld was not immediately clear on Monday. Parker administration officials issued a notice that they intend to renew the city’s existing contract with the company, but did not publish the contract itself.

    Reworld was one of three companies selected to process and dispose of the city’s waste. The other two, Republic Services and Waste Management, operate landfills.

    Council will need to approve legislation to greenlight the new contract with Reworld. The next scheduled meeting is in September.

    It’s unclear what fate the bill might meet in Council. Last year, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, a Democrat who represents parts of West Philadelphia, introduced the Stop Trashing Our Air act, which would have banned the city from entering into contracts with companies that burn trash or recyclables.

    Chester resident Zulene Mayfield (left), Philadelphia Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (right), and Chester Mayor Stefan Roots meet to discuss Gauthier’s “Stop Trashing Our Air Act,” which would ban the city from incinerating waste, during a visit with lawmakers and staff in Chester on Nov. 7, 2025.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    But she never called the bill up for a vote, and ultimately put it on hold after it failed to garner support from a majority of the 17-member body.

    Gauthier said in a statement Monday that dirty air causes asthma and cancer, and that Parker’s administration is “condemning Philly and Chester to at least four more years of toxic air and ash.”

    “This is a choice. A choice that breaks Mayor Parker’s own campaign promise,” Gauthier said. “A choice that disproportionately harms Black and brown communities. A choice that makes every Philadelphian and Chester resident sicker.”

    The incinerator became something of a flashpoint when Parker ran for mayor in 2023. During a debate, one of her rivals, businessman Jeff Brown, made comments dismissive of complaints about the environmental impact of burning trash in Chester.

    Parker, who ran on a platform of making the city “safer, cleaner, and greener” seized on it and told Brown: “That response is the same way you treat the Black and brown community.”

    But Parker’s administration opposed Gauthier’s legislation, saying it would hamstring the city from being able to choose the best value waste disposal contractor through its typical competitive bidding process.

    That process, city officials said in a news release Friday, included considerations of cost, as well as impacts on transportation in the region and the environment. The administration hired two independent firms to conduct environmental impact analyses.

    The city previously held a seven-year contract with Reworld, which expired in June. Parker’s administration extended it for six months, ahead of selecting the company for a four-year renewal with the potential for three additional one-year extensions.