By Ariel Ben-Amos
For PlanPhilly
As riverward residents debate the impact two 5,000-slot casino operations will have on the quality of life in their neighborhoods, remember that Foxwoods and SugarHouse are not the first large entertainment venues that Philadelphians have experienced.
Back in 2002, with two new stadiums well along in construction, the Sports Complex Special Services District (SCSSD) opened with a mission to: “1) Protect community interests, 2) Improve neighborhood quality of life, and 3) Promote the efficient operation of adjacent sports venues” in the South Philadelphia neighborhoods around the stadiums.
Along with the Center City District, which is largely responsible for the downtown renaissance, the SCSSD can offer the best lessons and best practices not only for the casinos' neighbors, but for the casinos themselves.
Those lessons are particularly relevant now that legislation calling for a neighborhood management association designed to mitigate the impact of gaming in the 1st Councilmanic District has been introduced by state representative Michael O’Brien.
O’Brien’s Special Services District would manage any Community Benefits Agreement proposed by the casinos. House Bill 1620 would ensure that any organization serving the communities affected by the casinos would not be a 501-C3, but a Special Services District (SSD), which means that it is technically a municipal authority and not a charitable organization. This means a SSD has the right to float bonds and to levy taxes to pay off those bonds, a right which enabled the Center City District to raise $21 million in 1995.
Philadelphia has a rich history of nongovernmental organizations stepping up to bat for their communities’ best interests. They offer good examples from which we can learn how these special services districts can be formed and how they should function.
Seven Best Practices for Effective SSDs
1. Make sure businesses take the lead
In his July 30th testimony before the House Urban Affairs Committee about O’Brien’s bill, Paul Levy, President of the Center City District, made sure to emphasize that it was business leadership that made Special Services Districts work. Levy noted that:
“In every city in North America where special services or business improvement districts have organized (and there are more than 800), they succeed only when the
property owners who will pay the charges of the special district themselves take the lead in forming the district, rather than having it imposed by local government.”
Levy says that business leadership also means that businesses “view the self-imposed special assessment as an investment in their future, not as a redistributive tax imposed by others.” Shawn Jalosinski, the executive director of the SCSSD, says the businesses’ buy-in ensures that they view community cooperation as a “measure of [their] success.” John Page, the Chief Operating Officer of Global Spectrum, the company which manages the Wachovia Center and Spectrum and 72 such venues across the U.S. and Canada, says that "in many communities, sports teams are perceived as just taking." Participation in intermediary organizations ensures that by contributing to the “trust factor” and becoming active in a community a corporation can prove that it is part of “the fabric of the community.”
However, there is a more important reason to have businesses take the lead, and it is one that has important ramifications. When businesses are at the forefront of a special services district, they hold the district accountable to make sure that they, as Levy puts it, “get the value they are paying for … that the services are well delivered.”
2. Establish clear goals and manage expectations
Paul Levy remembers that the Center City District was established directly out of “a perception that the downtown wasn’t [clean and safe].” For Levy, at the heart of any Special Service District there must lay “a clarity of reason for existence” and a “clear focus of initial services.” In 1991, at their founding, the CCD focused on cleaning and safety services. It was by building upon their core competencies that they were later able to expand, not only their service boundaries (by enabling adjacent neighborhoods to hire their maintenance staff) but the scope of their work.
Setting clear goals is critical not simply from the perspective of performance management. It is important because there are some problems, as Levy notes that “cannot be able to be solved” by a special services district. Special Services Districts, which are set up to mitigate the effects of a large institutional neighbor, are often expected to take care of all problems, with neighbors thinking that “mitigate” means “solve.” When the Sports Complex SSD was first built there was the expectation on the part of some neighbors that the district would be able to re-pave the alleyways behind their homes. However 501-C3s cannot spend money on private property and much of the Sport Complex Special Services District’s work throughout the first year was managing people’s expectations. Jalosinski suggests that in speaking with neighbors one should “not run with a pre-determined solution, but further define the problem” and use that as a template for a more holistic approach to an issue.
3. Local leadership is key
The Sports Complex Special Services District was not created overnight. Charles McPherson of Council President Anna Verna’s office was intimately involved with the district’s creation. He remembers it as a “very painstaking process, the mayor was the lead person on it, meeting with representatives from four immediate groups [such as the Stadium Community Council Inc., Veterans Stadium Neighbors, Packer Park Civic Association and others] for many days till three in the morning.” Executive leadership steers the process through the mine field of a highly politicized environment. If a future Special Services District touches upon (or includes) Penn’s Landing and the rest of the Delaware waterfront, mayoral leadership becomes even more critical in bringing together a diverse set of leaders and the competing interests of the communities that they represent.
Even a SSD that is limited in scope requires municipal involvement and buy-in. As Levy puts it, “you have to understand what exactly the city is going to commit.” Brian Abernathy, chief aide to councilman Frank DiCicco, in whose 1st District both casinos are situated, says, “the city has to sit down and say what they are willing to provide ... it’s hard to know [what a SSD will look like] without knowing … what the city is hoping to offer, [in terms of] policing, waste removal, etc.”
However, it is not only City Hall’s involvement at the front end which helps provide the clarity of focus that puts the pieces into play, it also the city’s ongoing participation which ensures a successful organization. A representative of the Managing Director’s office meets once a month with the rest of SCSSD board to discuss parking, and as Jalosinski notes, “you would be surprised” by how long and involved those conversations are. It is executive leadership which brings together the various different neighbors and leaders and knits them into a cohesive group that makes sure the deal works and keeps on working as the Sports Complex Special Services District continues to face new and ongoing challenges.
4. It’s all in the deal
It is not enough to have enthusiastic business participation in any given special services district, nor is it enough to have executive leadership guiding the processes. Ultimately the deal that is struck must be right. In the case of the Sports Complex Special Services District it means not only that the city linked the stadiums’ 30-year lease to a 30-year contribution towards the SCSSD, but that the SCSSD targets four separate sub-districts within the area served by the district and treats each one differently according to its needs. The right deal is one that is sensitive to the specific needs of specific neighborhoods and understands not simply how to force institutions to contribute to the community, but how to do so in a way that involves and benefits them.
5. Get the board right
The board of the Sports Complex Special Services District is a mix of voting members representing the four districts, the Eagles, the Phillies and Comcast-Spectacor, and is filled out with ex-officio members representing the city, council and state legislature. The voting board is weighted in favor of the community with four of the seven voting directors being directly elected by the neighbors. Two city council members, two state representatives, a state senator and the city managing director also sit on the board, but do not vote.
Future SSDs would do well to learn from the SCSSD, whose only change to its by-laws in four years of existence has been to lengthen the term of service directors dedicate to the board, from two to four years. It is not simply about finding the right people to serve on the board; it is about ensuring ongoing board leadership. However, it is important to understand what board leadership actually means. Levy notes that “there is always anxiety about who is on the board, clearly it must represent diverse interests.”
6. Community input makes it work
Any SSD attempting to mitigate the effects of a large entertainment venue on a community will only succeed if the community itself has a voice. The Center City District surveys its clients to measure their satisfaction and needs. Each of the four districts in the SCSSD has one director and one alternate serving on its board, directly elected by neighborhood residents. Jalosinski speaks to neighbors on a daily basis, and he notes that “[its] the intimate relationship [that makes] it work.” Stadiums themselves benefit because as John Page puts it, community participation actually "streamlines the process.” While far too often there can be combative relations between large institutional neighbors and the community, Jalosinski notes that “neighbors are very reasonable when fully informed.”
7. Think outside the box
It may appear at first glance that SSDs charged with tempering the effect of large entertainment venues in their neighborhood should do just that, dealing with the parking and trash generated by those institutions. Successful Special Services Districts add value to the neighborhood. The upcoming installation of street lights by the SCSSD in a specific section of their service area called “District 1” is a fine example. Additional funds which are distributed to schools, for rock climbing and guitar lessons, and to community sports teams, are all ways of ensuring that the stadiums are good neighbors impacting their community in areas other than parking. When neighbors complained to the SCSSD about the noise generated by banner-tow planes used to carry advertising over the stadiums during games, Shawn Jalosinski not only worked individually with the Federal Aviation Administration and the advertisers to have mufflers installed on the planes, he also involved stadium officials and community leaders in the negotiations and started a process which enabled the community to feel some sense of control in the process.
For the head of the Center City District, thinking outside the box means “finding ways to fund new initiatives, being creative in raising revenue and finding multiple revenue streams.” Paul Levy notes that although the CCD “started with clean and safe, we have not stood still.” Beginning with marketing efforts in the mid 1990s, the CCD has now become a long term implementer of capital projects. With a $17 million operating budget, the district has since its inception spent, through a combination of bond and matching financing, over $45 million to improve the physical environment of Center City.
In summation, special services districts create a forum for businesses and communities to come together to work towards mutually beneficial approaches to neighborhood growth. The creation of a special services district requires legislative and business leaders to understand the issues affecting a specific community and it requires civic leaders to understand the limitations of their new partners. For instance, the SCSSD cannot solve all the parking problems of the neighborhoods it serves. The District does not have any enforcement powers and might not be able to prevent traffic jams in the neighborhood on game days, but it will soon be installing signage that will help fans efficiently enter and exit the stadium lots. Jalosinski notes that by “catering to the patrons” you actually end up serving the neighborhood.
Ariel Ben-Amos is a graduate student for City and Regional Planning in the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design, and is a former writer for the Philadelphia Independent.
