>> philadelphia city council president darrell clarke is our newsmaker this morning. let's get the inside story. good morning, and welcome to "inside story." i'm tamala edwards. and good morning to darrell clarke, head of city council. a lot to talk about. i know you're focused on the budget, doing hearings right now. big issue -- education funding. the mayor's asked for $103 million. will he get it? >> well, it's the annual school-district crisis. the reality is the mayor wants $103 million, the school district needs $300 million in total. we're working with the state to determine whether or not there's gonna be an appropriate split. we've obviously, over the last several years, put more than $375 million into schools. it's for a good cause. there could potentially be a combination of revenue streams. because the challenge with this particular budget, that we won't know what the state does until after we have to pass our budget. so we're looking at various options. >> various options have come up.

the mayor says, "why don't you try a 9% property-tax increase?" you've talked about selling commercial tax liens. there are other ideas out there. if you had to guess what the makeup is come june, what's in there? >> i think there'll be a combination. the reality is, is that the commercial lien is a one-time revenue stream. but we're basically dealing with a one-term issue, because if the governor is successful in some aspects of this budget, there's gonna be significant revenue coming from the state to the philadelphia schools and schools across the sate. we're not sure where that's gonna play out, which is why we have this one-year scenario. so, we have to figure out a way to segue into next year, but make sure that the school district does have the appropriate revenue to operate in a reasonable way this year. >> what do you say to council members, to voters who say "darrell, every year there's a hole and we're looking for money to fill it. when does it end?" >> well, the good thing is that, for the first time in recent history, everybody acknowledged that there needs to be more revenue. even on both sides of the aisle in the state, there's an

acknowledgment that there should be more money for schools. that's a blessing. the common conversation centers around where the money comes from, will governor wolf... >> will wolf get the fair funding? >> ...get the fair funding, or will we get charter-school reimbursement, marcellus shale? which looks like it's gonna happen, more revenue coming from that particular issue. and then we, on a local level, have to figure out what revenue we're gonna be in a position to put in this fiscal year to allow us to move until next year's budget, that will be more reflective of what happens on the state level. >> there's word now the republicans may be looking to tie what they call the achievement school district to fair funding, where they'd want to take the poor schools and put them into a special system pushing them towards charters, outside help. if governor wolf wants to get his funding, maybe he has to do that. how do you feel about that? it would be a lot of philadelphia schools. >> well, the reality is, is that one side of the aisle has been pushing charter schools. and i think, ultimately, the approach would be to privatize

and to do school vouchers, which i do not support. i'm concerned, but it's early in the conversation. there are a number of issues being put out there. we -- our issue here in the city of philadelphia is having local control with the appropriate revenue. so, it's early in the process. we'll see how this all plays out. >> you went to camden this week to look at something called shotspotter, where they've got microphones up so even if they don't see what's going on, the mikes say, "something's happening right here. get over here." >> right. >> and you liked it for philadelphia, but it costs $50,000 per square mile. can we afford it? >> if we decided that's a priority, we could afford it. the simple reality is, is that that particular program, that's used in other states, allows you to deal with crime in real time. i think that it can actually reduce the level of crime, particularly as it relates to gunshots. based on statistics that we've seen, i think it's an appropriate investment. >> controller butkovitz came out this week and said we've got 250 police cameras out there, a third of them don't work, and a lot of them, nobody's watching.

you've talked about wanting to invest in fire stations, police stations. what's going to happen there? >> well, it's all about priorities. i mean, this particular year, we got a request for $22 million for voting machines. and the voting machines are only 9, 10 years old. i'm not sure if that's the appropriate use of money. i talked about the 22nd police district, where we've had two police officers killed in the last year. and the simple reality is, if you go to that facility, it is not fair to ask our first responders to work in conditions like that. so, i like to think that we would re-think our priorities as it relates to capital investments in our municipal facilities. >> now, of course, we're all looking at the mayoral election. this week was big because we saw some black and latino leaders throw their support towards councilman kenney, who is white. and many people saying they've never seen a landscape like this before. people always talk about racial math when it comes to elections in philadelphia. has that changed, and has it changed permanently, that conversation? >> i don't think it is. i think the conversation coming

out of certain portions of the candidates is making it that. but the simple reality is, i think that people want to have the same thing. people want to have good schools. they want to have quality neighborhoods. they want to have the opportunities that are presented as a result of a strong economic climate. that's what people are focused on. i think this whole issue around race is somewhat a side issue, from my perspective. i'm a little biased because i'm an elected official, but i really think we should focus on the issues. >> and because of that, you've run a lot of campaigns. it looks in the polls as though abraham, kenney, williams running neck and neck. as you assess the campaign at this moment, we're still about a month out, who's looking the strongest out there to you? >> it's a strange election, as you said. i've never seen, this late in the game, there's a potential for three people to win the election. i think it's gonna be about organization on election day. i think it's gonna be about turnout in specific areas. we will see over the next couple of weeks which way this will start to trend. and it's gonna be quite interesting to watch.

>> that was an answer with great finesse. >> absolutely. >> you have put out a bill trying to get organizations that are putting money into the campaign -- we've seen $3 million come into this race so far -- to say who they are and what they're about. but i notice that these organizations, they're not shy about saying, "yeah, that's me. i put that money in." how would this bill change anything? >> well, you have to report it. you can say that, "we're participating in it," but i don't know where all of that money is coming from and who funds those organizations. the simple reality is that we did extensive campaign reform to have some level of participation in terms of who's actually showing that money. there's an extreme lack of transparency in what's going on. that was not the intention. i think this is going around the spirit of what we have done in the past. i think it needs to be changed. we cannot limit those contributions, but we can in fact ask for people to be transparent in terms of who's actually funding these campaigns. >> okay. councilman, always a pleasure when you're here. thank you for being with us. >> thank you so much. >> and we'll take a short break and come back to our panel on "inside story."

>> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge.

trading-in or selling your car, truck or suv? webuyanycar.com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, drive to your local car buying center. and three, walk out with your check in as little as 30 minutes. buying used cars is all we do... all makes and models... no dealership pressure. we'll even settle your loan or lease. so don't wait. get your free online valuation now at webuyanycar.com >> welcome back. i'm tamala edwards. this is "inside story." let's introduce you to the panel. first up, attorney ajay raju. good morning. >> morning.

>> columnist and attorney christine flowers. >> good morning. >> good morning. attorney jim eisenhower. >> good morning, tam. >> if i need to lawyer up, i am good. [ laughter ] and communications executive -- do you have a law degree jeff jubelirer? >> i don't, but i play one on tv. >> [ laughs ] okay. >> if you have a problem with them, you come to me. >> all right. so, we just saw darrell clarke here talking about a number of things, starting with the budget, the hearings going into may. of course, funding for education, number one. do they get the $103 million that the mayor has asked for and who wins out on how they get there? >> well, you know, historically, mayor nutter has not been very successful at getting budgets passed. i chaired the pica board for the first five years of his term and i don't think he got a single budget passed. so, i think what the mayor has proposed is unlikely to be the final result, based on history. >> and, now, what the councilman likes -- the selling of property liens -- that would only get them $50 million. they still -- that's only half the money. do we have thoughts on what else they're gonna probably end up doing? >> i think it's a complicated

topic with nuanced solutions. it can't just be one panacea that cures this problem. it won't just be the property-tax increase. it won't just be the -- as the council president said, it won't just be the sale of tax liens. it would be finding efficiencies in different governance and allocating some of the efficiency dollars back to education. it will be doing something with the vacant lots. you know, you have seven or eight different ways to solve that problem. everybody's looking for just one pill to cure it. it's not going to be. it's going to be a complicated answer to a complicated question. >> now, one of the things about councilman clarke is he is a very careful person in terms of what he assumes. but you could tell from his answers, he really thinks that governor wolf is going to get the change in funding he wants for the schools. is that a smart assumption? >> maybe it's hopeful and optimistic, but remember who controls the legislature in harrisburg. it's the republicans. and that's where you see -- and

you talked with councilman clarke about this proposal for this achievement school district. whether or not that passes, what it signals is you're not going to get the money without accountability. there is no way that the leadership, the republican leadership, that doesn't frankly, represent -- they represent the state, they represent their district, but not the city of philadelphia -- is going to pass anything that's just "here's money. good luck. you're in control." >> what was interesting about that, christine, is it wasn't as though they floated the bill and everybody said, "you're not gonna get it." they floated it, and it sounds like people on both sides of the aisle are open to it, the idea that there would be this district, bottom 5% of schools go into it, turn around. "we, you know, want you to probably look at outside contractors or charters. and if you don't, we're pretty much gonna force you into a charter." >> yeah, basically. i mean, and the src exists because of problems that the state had with the school district of philadelphia. and, so, i think philadelphia has always been a huge concern for the commonwealth. and, you know, in order to make sure that philadelphia's going

to make good use of whatever monies are made available to it, there has to be accountability. you know, it just -- it, to me i do think that people are finally coming to the realization that philadelphia requires something above and beyond the treatment that everyone statewide gets. but there has to be some accountability, and they haven't seen that. >> let's talk a little bit about the mayor's race. and i'll start with you, jim 'cause you were about to say something. we talked about what we saw this week. we saw black leaders come out and say, actually, "we're for kenney," some of them. we saw hispanic leaders come out and say, "we're actually going to go with kenney." you know, this is a place where people always talk about racial math. is this a one-off particular to these candidates, or is this a change in the landscape in philadelphia? >> i think it is. i disagree with the idea that racial politics are as dominant as they were, say, in the '80s. i think we might actually be getting beyond that. however, money really determines what's gonna happen in the closing weeks of this election. and the only candidates that have enough money to be on

television are the two leading candidates -- jim kenney and tony williams. >> well, i mean, look, i don't know if it's racial math, but if you are serving the communities where the communities exist and if you have a large majority of the city happens to be african-american and if you're in there day in and day out, as tony williams has been -- serving the community, lives in the neighborhood -- you may have one or two who don't agree with him on politics, may have endorsed him. but overwhelming majority of the black leaders have endorsed tony williams. so, i don't know if it was an avalanche as you suggest. i think it's still -- i don't know if it's because he's african-american. why they support him is because of his record and what he has done for the community. and that, to me, is not racial math as much as we vote for people that we like and because they have done something to benefit us or have served us in some capacity, and that's why we like them. >> and i would say our own insider george burrell was the first person who said this is coming, and he clearly was somewhat shocked by it. you know, we don't usually see this, any black leaders on the level that came out, to go for somebody other than a black

leader. so, he seemed to suggest, and a lot of people seemed to think it was something unusual. >> well, let's remember, you know, the black political community is no different from any other political community. there are factions. it's not monolithic. there are --- there's the chaka fattah group. there's the dwight evans group. there's the darrell clarke group. >> exactly. and that's why there was that support for jim kenney. i don't think -- i really -- i agree with ajay. i don't think it's the racial math any longer. identity politics still play a role. but it's more, you now, "what has this person done for my constituency?" and, you know, kenney has a natural constituency. so does anthony williams. so does lynne abraham. she has the name recognition. >> but, christine, if you look at the latino leadership, they have, in the past, endorsed danny savage, but councilman sanchez beat him two to one. they have now endorsed manny morales, you know, with real problems. and, by the way, unfortunately linked also, now, to the kenney endorsement since they received

it. >> right. and they haven't endorsed our former table mate. >> but i'll say to you councilman sanchez will beat him two to one easily. so, i don't know if these endorsements mean much. it's endorsement by few who have a political agenda, but i don't think they represent the entire community of constituents. >> i think that's the point. you know, what is the value, still, of endorsements? >> and, jeff, let's talk about something else that was brought up, which is these changes that people are talking about making about independent expenditures. $3 million that we've seen from these outside groups. and now they're trying to make it where anybody putting money into the race, we start to know at least a little bit about who they are. would that really change what we would see here in terms of money? or not really, we would just know who they are? >> well, it's changed dramatically because of the campaign finance law in the city of philadelphia. without that money, we would have hardly seen dribs and drabs at this point, less than one month out, these candidates up on television. it seems -- there's been many forums, many debates. no one seems to be watching or paying attention. we are 'cause this is what we do. but, in a way, it's informing the electorate. today, if you still think about

it, in philadelphia, the people that are going to vote, the likely voters, are watching television. they're 55-plus. they're not 24- to 29-year-olds. these folks still get their information -- yes, they may be on facebook -- from television. and what you're going to see in the coming weeks is a barrage. whether they're from the independent expenditure groups absolutely, and i think they'll be negative in many ways to their candidates. but also the candidates themselves, because this is it. there's nothing left. >> but if they had to do a better job of saying, "yes, this is me putting this money out there," would that change who was part of that? >> absolutely. there are some folks who won't contribute to these independent groups with -- by being known. they don't want to upset anyone, or if they've got business with someone, they don't want to be out there. but, you know, i think anything -- sunlight's the best disinfectant. but we're not there yet. >> you know, to what jeff says and it's sort of, like, a corollary, but he was talking about the over 55, the 45 to 55 group being the ones paying attention. there was an article on philly.com about how the millennials, so many of the

millennials are just not involved in this race. they don't care. they're not paying attention. >> it's disappointing. >> it's very disappointing. and you have to figure out what constituency are you focusing on and targeting here? >> let's turn a little bit and talk about something that came out this week. septa -- news about a contract they had with a concern called fti, looking at legal issues how to cut down on all of the lawsuits. now, on one hand, they cut the number of lawsuits, and they seem to have saved them money -- about $15 million if you compare to two years ago. but, boy, it was a $2.8 million contract. no bid. and there were people getting -- billing as much as almost $650 an hour. how do we look at this? "they got their money's worth" or, "boy, this was not a good idea"? >> i love the way the media likes to pick up on these things. they don't like lawyers. they don't like consultants. >> no! >> $600 an hour? i mean, it's ridiculous. >> that's more than the septa in-house lawyers would make. >> it's an exaggeration. >> but she ended up only getting $35,000 for the 22 hours of work. >> but, ajay, should they have done it through bids? they said, "look, we just wanted to get it done. we just wanted to start saving the money." >> let me put it this way -- they spent $2.8 million.

i think it's more than $15 million. it's around $25 million that they saved. that's a 10-times return. in our business, in any business environment, that's a home run. so, if you're a homeowner and somebody says, "why did you fix all the windows?" "before, air was coming in, our utility bill was $10,000 a month and now it's only $100 a month." if you're complaining about $200 you spent to make sure the windows are not leaking air inside, that's what this story's about. they spent $2.8 million to get $25 million in savings. remember, last year, our septa and pat deon's leadership was called number-one transit authority in the entire nation. that's what we're criticizing right now. >> but let me play contrarian. >> why don't you do that? >> i agree, and those are the facts, but here's -- it's perception. and perception is reality. perception is, the board of septa itself did not have to vote. they have rules. and they didn't break any rules. they could no-bid this. there's no sunlight, as i say again, and there are people on the board that didn't even know what happened. i just think that being a little bit more open about it, saying "we're going to do this because

we are committing to you that we are going to save 'x' amount of dollars." >> it's like complaining about the weight watchers bill because you lost 600 pounds. >> openness. openness. it's still public dollars. >> well, one thing that is open, taking a look at a different campaign, is what's going on between joe sestak and pat toomey. if you compare them, sestak raised about $300,000 over the last three months. toomey brought in $2 million. very different amounts of money on hand. what does this mean for sestak? does he keep going? or does he say never mind? >> it means that there are going to be people who are going to challenge him. he'll probably stay in the race. >> ed pawlowski already in. >> no, he -- i mean, i don't see sestak leaving the race. he's a pretty tenacious character. >> pretty? [ laughter ] very. >> yeah, what was it 422-mile walk across pennsylvania? >> right. >> but there are going to be a lot of people seeing his achilles' heels. and toomey has, amazingly, been able to make alliances across

the aisle with a very diverse group of backers. >> including some democrats. >> many prominent democrats. >> absolutely. and sestak has not been able to -- even when he was in the house, he wasn't able to do that. he's seen much more as a partisan figure. >> let's not forget, though, you always have an advantage if you're the incumbent. you're always gonna raise more money. >> but the dscc has said they want this seat. they think it's one they could pick up. what are they doing right now? if you're them, who are you -- you know, we've heard williams -- >> they have josh shapiro on speed dial. >> exactly. >> '16 has the potential -- this is analytical speaking, not necessarily personal -- of being a big democrat year because of hillary clinton. there's gonna be more people coming out. we know what happens in pennsylvania. there hasn't been a republican who's won pennsylvania since george bush sr. hillary -- we don't know who the republican's gonna be -- has the potential to clean clock in the suburbs. >> we have the convention here in philly. >> and the convention. josh shapiro's from here. he has a strong record on fiscal issues, not just social issues. i think he's probably thinking about it pretty hard.

>> almost ready to bet that i'll shave my head off if toomey loses. >> you heard it here. if toomey loses... >> write that down. [ all speaking indistinctly ] >> i said almost. i said almost. but i will tell you this. i will do it because i don't think he's gonna lose. he is now the new senator specter. he has come -- has such support from both sides. >> why did he sign that letter to iran, though? he signed with the wackos in the republican party. >> well, we're gonna remind you about this almost bet. finally, let's jump across the river a little bit and talk about new jersey. governor christie, continuing, it seems, to play out, does he want to run for president? but also having some trouble in stadia. been trying to negotiate with various unions to deal with pensions. the new jersey education association got up from the table and said "never mind" right as the courts are about to take up. does he have to fully fund the pensions, which he doesn't really have the money to do? what happens here for governor christie?

>> well, you know, he's dealing with a democratic state, essentially. he's a republican governor in a democratic state. and that makes it very difficult for him to get his initiatives through, particularly when he's been weakened by bridgegate and other things that hurt his poll ratings. and he's dropping precipitously in the polls in new jersey. so i think he's gonna have no choice but to fund the pensions because it's required by law. >> but you guys are lawyers. we see cases where people are told, "you get these damages," but then the person you're getting it from has no money. you'll get nothing from them. what happens here if, at the end of the day, he doesn't have the money to fund those pensions? >> yeah, you know, i have not been following this topic at all, so, uh... [ laughter ] >> ajay's honest. >> but, tam, okay, i have. i have. you know, you can't take water from a stone, right? but i think the courts -- and i'm not the lawyer on this panel -- could very well rule against him, and money will come from somewhere. but interestingly enough, this could actually help christie. i think everyone, democrats, certainly republicans, realize that something has to be done

about this crisis. not just in new jersey, but the state -- or, excuse me, the country, as it relates to the rising cost of pensions. defined benefits, not 410(k)s, health benefits that are cadillac plans. and i'm not -- nga's representing their members. i respect that. but something needs to be done. >> i think jeff's absolutely right. i think it's gonna blow back. >> she agrees with me. >> i do. >> but something has to be done, also, to pay for this show, so we're gonna take a break and come right back to our insiders inside stories of the week.

>> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge. >> welcome back. time now for inside stories of the week. ajay, we'll start with you. >> tamala, more people in philadelphia die because of drive-throughs than drive-bys. obesity is a major problem. for pennsylvania, heart disease is the number-one killer. so, go on the website for the american heart association which is doing work in trying to

make sure that we're healthier and be healthy. >> christine. >> tam, this week, the supreme court is going to deal with the issue of same-sex marriage for the second time in three years. some thought that it was going to be a slam dunk, that same-sex marriage is gonna be legalized across the board. but then we saw what happened in indiana, with the conscious laws. the justices watch the news, and they understand that it's not as cut and dry as the legalities, and we have to look at, what impact will this have on the religious conscience laws and the protections for americans who are opposed to same-sex marriage. >> jim. >> tamala, embattled attorney general kathleen kane finally caught a break last week when the court continued her hearing for contempt -- which was scheduled for tomorrow monday -- to consider some of her legal arguments and have some more discovery on some of the issues. that gives her some time to try and pull something together and avoid this finding. >> all right. we'll end with you, jeff. >> sure. politics make strange bedfellows. in philadelphia this week, you had union leaders standing up

with business leaders like gerard sweeney from brandywine to say, "tax us more." really? tax us more? what they're calling for is to increase commercial taxes, commercial property taxes like buildings, things that don't move, and lower that wage tax, lower that net income tax for people 'cause that's how you attract jobs. it's got a chance to pass. >> let's see if they get it. thank you for joining us here on "inside story." i'm tamala edwards. we'll see you next week. >> you people nydia han along with eva pilgrim. >> coming up next on "action news," breaking news, two people are killed in a violent wreck on interstate 295 we're live. a death poll is rising in nepal after the massive earthquake. they continue to search for survivors. >> those stories and newer next

on "action news."

>> good afternoon, it is sunday april 26. here's some of the stories we're following on "action news." breaking news, at least two people are killed and several others hurt in a crash on 295 in gloucester county. we're live with the latest. the death