The Boy Scouts Lost Their Lease, But Gays Still Can’t Join
Philadelphia’s city council tried to force the BSA to accept gays, or lose their $1.00/year lease on a building. The Supreme Court ruled that they are under no obligation to do so. Philidelphia decided to kick them out. At the end of the day, is this something that the city council should be proud of:
“With an epidemic of gun violence taking the lives of children almost daily in this city, it’s ironic that this administration chose to destroy programming that services thousands of children in the city,” Mr. Jubelirer said. He added that the organization serves more than 69,000 young people, mostly from the inner city, and that its programming focuses on mentoring and after-school programs instead of camping trips.
To get an understanding of what this building represents, look at the names of benefactors to the construction:
Flipping through an aged book of fund-raising encouragement for construction of the building ” from dignitaries like Helen Keller, Babe Ruth and Winston Churchill ” Chuck Eaton, director of field service for the local chapter, noted how the past contrasted with the present.
In front of the building, the wording on a statue of a boy standing sentinel also marks the passage of time. “The past is our heritage,” it reads. “The present our opportunity. The future our hope.”
One thing that might yet complicate things is that while the city does, indeed, own the land, the building itself was built and paid for by the Scouts. From a cost standpoint, the impact of the city’s demand for $200,000 annual rent would result in some big negative impact on local programs
That is an important point. The land is worth more because it is developed. It was the BSA and not the city that improved the property.
In the end, the BSA will need to relocate, but gays are no closer to getting in than when this started. The BSA will get a new building. You can count on some big money coming to the rescue. It did nothing to further the gay cause by going after an organization that actually has a history of making positive changes in communities in spite of the fact that gays are not members.
H/T to Memeorandum
From the comments below:
Charlie on the PA Turnpike Says:
According to an article in NY Times, the Philadelphia Cradle of Liberty Council is now totaling all of the improvements to the building they’ve made in nearly 70 years. At last check it was upwards of $5M.
So lets see:. $5/200000 is 25 years. In 1928 the BSA and Philly signed a 100 year lease: which means Philly will owe BSA +/- $800K when the original lease is up. That ought to be a good down payment for the Scouts to find a new building.
December 6, 2007 - 12:12 PM on December 6th, 2007
The Boy Scouts ought to sue Philthydelphia for deprivation of their property and force the city to buy their building and pay punitive damages. A bill of $10 or 20 Million might make the votes of Philthydelphia clean house.
December 6, 2007 - 01:58 PM on December 6th, 2007
That mayor of PHIDELPHIA should be voted out of office and voted out of america let him go live in another country
December 6, 2007 - 02:12 PM on December 6th, 2007
According to an article in NY Times, the Philadelphia Cradle of Liberty Council is now totaling all of the improvements to the building they’ve made in nearly 70 years. At last check it was upwards of $5M.
So lets see…. $5/200000 is 25 years. In 1928 the BSA and Philly signed a 100 year lease… which means Philly will owe BSA +/- $800K when the original lease is up. That ought to be a good down payment for the Scouts to find a new building.
December 6, 2007 - 10:46 PM on December 6th, 2007
Were I a Philadelphia attorney, I’d start looking for the parents of all of the now displaced youths. The class action suit for loss of services should cost the city more than enough to buy the land that the building stands on.
Perhaps that should be the BSA’s next move, sue for the dollar value of the improvements to the lot and then settle with the city for ownership of the lot and possibly a few adjacent ones if the city owns any.
December 7, 2007 - 07:22 AM on December 7th, 2007
4, FAO, I think we are in quite agreement.
December 7, 2007 - 04:09 PM on December 7th, 2007
[...] Via Right Voices: [...]
December 7, 2007 - 07:42 PM on December 7th, 2007
The city needs to understand a simple fact. There are more former Boy Scouts and scout supporters as attornies and high level politicians than there are gays. I would bet that there are also far more former Scouts who are CEOs than there are gay CEOs. Perhaps if the city gets raked over the coals for this action it might lead other cities to stop being such bastions of political correctness.