Audit faults Philadelphia effort to boost minority-owned businesses 

Philadelphia-AP -- An audit has found that a city agency with the power to give Philadelphia businesses an edge in bidding for government contracts by certifying them as "disadvantaged" failed to ensure that everyone entering the program was eligible to participate.City Controller Jonathan Saidel is criticizing the performance of the Minority Business Enterprise Council.
The council was created in 1983 in an attempt to increase the number of city contracts that go to companies owned by women, minorities or people who are physically handicapped.
The audit, released yesterday, says investigators who examined the credentials of 91 companies certified by the council found that the council wasn't keeping records on one-quarter of them. Of the remaining firms, the auditors concluded that 65 percent were either certified improperly or certified on unsubstantiated grounds.
 

Southwest Airlines expanding in Philadelphia again

Southwest Airlines is on the move again in Philadelphia, poised today to announce 13 more daily flights from Philadelphia International Airport. Southwest's rapid buildup means that by the end of the year the discount airline will likely be the airport's second largest carrier in passengers, trailing only US Airways while surpassing American, Delta and United Airlines. Southwest's new service includes nonstop flights starting Oct. 31 to three cities it doesn't serve now from Philadelphia: Oakland, Calif.; Bradley Airport near Hartford, Conn.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

Philadelphia mayor speaks to NAACP about appointing blacks

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As Mayor John F. Street welcomed delegates to the NAACP convention in his city, he reminded them of a controversial remark he made in 2002.

"I said in the city of Philadelphia the brothers and sisters are in charge," Street said Monday. "They never let me forget it."

Street, who is black, apologized shortly after the remark became public. But he got a standing ovation Monday when he said, "I will never apologize for (appointing) a black chief of staff, a black police commissioner, a black fire commissioner..." and went on to cite other city posts to which he has named minority officials.

"If I can't provide opportunity for African-Americans in this government, who will?" Street asked the 8,000 delegates to the convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Street made no mention of last month's 150-page federal indictment alleging municipal corruption. One of the most prominent defendants has said he was singled out because he is black. But the mayor did say, "We recognize responsible economic empowerment for African-Americans in this city." He said his administration makes sure "minorities do business with the city of Philadelphia."

Also Monday, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume made a fiery speech in which he described President Bush's black supporters as "ventriloquist's dummies" and said Bush's decision not to speak at the convention was an insult that would not be forgotten on Election Day.

"We will be there in every polling place and every battleground state," Mfume said.

The NAACP will reach out to people who haven't voted before and to those who are eligible to cast absentee ballots, he said.