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helen gym
Billionaire Spent Over $1 Million Trying to Defeat Public School Champion in Philly Mayoral Race
Helen Gym's campaign manager has said charter school advocate Jeffrey Yass is "bankrolling a false smear campaign against the only candidate in the race with a real vision to invest in Philly's public schools."
May 16, 2023
Jeffrey Yass—Pennsylvania's richest man, a registered libertarian, and a charter school advocate—has given over $1 million to a group trying to convince Philadelphians not to vote for progressive mayoral candidate Helen Gym, a former teacher and public school supporter, in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Gym is one of nine candidates appearing on the Democratic ballot, though based on polling she is considered a top contender alongside two fellow former Philadelphia City Council members—Allan Domb and Cherelle Parker—as well as Jeff Brown, a supermarket chain founder, and Rebecca Rhynhart, Philly's ex-comptroller.
Brendan McPhillips, Gym's campaign manager, said in a statement to The Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month that the billionaire is "bankrolling a false smear campaign against the only candidate in the race with a real vision to invest in Philly's public schools."
"This is how billionaires keep their own taxes low while killing public education funding."
Gym co-founded the citywide group Parents United for Public Education in 2006 and her campaign website details her plans for Philadelphia schools, pledging that "as mayor, Helen will lead an education-first agenda that recognizes the future of our city relies on the health and well-being of our young people."
\u201cBillionaire Jeff Yass has spent $1 million+ on the Philadelphia mayoral race.\n\nHe was also the fourth biggest political spender on federal races in the 2022 elections.\n\nThis is how billionaires keep their own taxes low while killing public education funding.\u201d— Americans For Tax Fairness (@Americans For Tax Fairness) 1684245702
The Inquirer reported that Yass—who has primarily funded Pennsylvania Republicans but also given money to groups backing Democrats who support expanding charter schools—couldn't be reached for comment, but Coalition for Safety and Equitable Growth treasurer Mo Rushdy said the super PAC's donors believe "our next mayor needs to have a commonsense approach to solving the problems facing Philadelphia" and "Helen Gym is the wrong person to confront these challenges."
Inquirer columnist Will Bunch wrote Sunday that "Yass doesn't really explain his donations—perhaps because this billionaire makes so many of them—but you don't need Sherlock Holmes or even Inspector Clouseau to get to the bottom of this political caper. Yass—at least in terms of dollars invested—is Pennsylvania's biggest advocate for charter schools or tax-funded vouchers to encourage parents to reject traditional public schools."
Bunch continued:
It's not that the $1.1 million is a lot of dough—it is for you and me but not so much for Yass. He reportedly has a net worth of $28.5 billion, and is said to have spent at least $18 million on politics ahead of last year's primary, some on the Pennsylvania governor's race but a lot on candidates, both Republican and Democrat, who support what he calls "school choice." (The anti-Gym PAC has other backers including Josh Kopelman, The Inquirer's board chairman, who gave $50,000.) But why is Yass so committed to his vision of an America where mostly nonunionized charter schools or religious schools thrive while what his crowd insists on calling "government schools" wither?
It matters because Yass and his giant wad of cash are just one major point of attack on what's becoming an all-out assault on U.S. public schools in the 2020s—one that combines billionaires like Yass and their free market voodoo economics with the uglier, in-the-trenches culture wars of doctrinaire conservatives convinced that "woke," pink-haired teachers are indoctrinating kids about race or LGBTQ rights.
On Tuesday in Pennsylvania, voters will be making choices about the future of public schools not just in Philadelphia—where several buildings are closed due to asbestos, amid a broader crisis of disrepair—but in school board elections in smaller communities like Kutztown, torn asunder by campaigns to ban books from Gender Queer to Two Degrees, or Central Bucks, riven by months of conflict over issues such as LGBTQ-friendly books or stickers. It's part of a national climate in which school board meetings resemble hockey games, while teachers are increasingly demoralized.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten shared Bunch's column on social media and joined unionized Philly educators and Gym for a Monday night campaign event.
"It’s been a decadeslong journey to get here. Standing alongside educators again and again to stop school closures, end a state takeover, and demand fair funding," Gym tweeted of the event. "Now it's time to finish the job we started all those years ago. We will fulfill the promise of our public schools."
\u201c(3/3) And of course a very special thank you to @rweingarten for coming to town for this special evening. #helenformayor #unionsforhelen #phled\u201d— PFT (@PFT) 1684203546
Although her campaign follows recent progressive mayoral victories is Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles, "Gym is loath to discuss the national implications of her race," CNN reported Monday. She told the network that "I'm running for office to change the way people actually live in this city," pushing for change "that has to be felt by the people themselves, not by an ideology, not by a quote-unquote abstract movement."
However, progressives across the country have their eyes on Gym. The American Prospect managing editor Ryan Cooper wrote last week that "if she can pull out a victory, it could provide a lesson for how progressives can win in crime-wracked big cities."
In a Sunday viewpoint for In These Times, David I. Backer, an associate professor of education policy at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, highlighted how Gym's "unbelievably long list of her accomplishments" as a city council member shows what she could do as mayor.
\u201cToday Philadelphia votes for the city's next mayor.\n\nHelen Gym, a former public school teacher, community organizer, and city council member, has surged into the lead as an unabashed progressive fighting for working people and public schools.\nhttps://t.co/0x71aBvrbg\u201d— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union) 1684248448
"Helen really represents the coming of age of the progressive movement," Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told CNN. "She emerged as a community activist and organizer, she then sought political power, sought to bring movement politics into the political realm… Helen's trajectory reflects the trajectory of the progressive movement."
Our Revolution is among dozens of progressive advocacy groups, unions, and politicians who have endorsed Gym—including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson along with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez rallied with Gym at Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia over the weekend.
"They've got money, but we've got the people," Ocasio-Cortez reportedly told the crowd. "I always say to my team back home, progressives win in a street fight, and that's what we've got here in Philly today, a street fight. We need to be knocking on every door, texting all our friends. We talk about youth organizing up, which means people need to call their tías, their tíos, their uncles, their cousins, todo, everybody."
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Toxic Fears, Confusion After Chemical Leak Hits Philadelphia Drinking Water Supply
"There is no circumstance under which the city should announce that tap water may be unsafe two full days after they learned of possible contamination and without a plan to provide safe water to every resident," said Democratic mayoral candidate Helen Gym.
Mar 27, 2023
Residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding area demanded clarity about the safety of their drinking water from city officials on Monday, three days after chemicals leaked from a plant into a tributary of the Delaware River, which provides water for about 14 million people in four states.
About 8,100 gallons of acrylic polymer solution leaked from a burst pipe at the chemical plant Trinseo PLC in Bucks County, Pennsylvania late Friday, entering Otter Creek, which flows into the Delaware.
The solution contained butyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and methyl methacrylate, which are used in paints and adhesives.
Exposure to butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate is associated with breathing difficulties, and the latter is listed as a "potential occupational carcinogen" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Despite the leak of the chemicals, city officials did not alert residents until Sunday morning, when they said people in Philadelphia should use bottled water to prevent exposure and warned that although contamination had not yet been detected in the drinking supply, water from Otter Creek could have traces of chemicals.
Hours later, Michael Carroll, the city's deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure, and sustainability said residents no longer needed to buy bottled water—which had rapidly sold out at stores across Philadelphia following the earlier warning—and that the chance of contamination was diminishing over time.
"In a matter of days, the water in the Delaware should be okay," Carroll said, noting that tap water which had gone through the city's Baxter Water Treatment Plant had been determined to be free of contaminants as of Sunday.
Carroll said the city's drinking water had been confirmed to be safe to consume until at least Monday at 11:59 pm; the Baxter treatment facility took in new water overnight, which still has to be tested, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Democratic mayoral candidate and former city council member Helen Gym accused officials of "haphazardly" communicating with residents about the safety of their drinking water.
"There is no circumstance under which the city should announce that tap water may be unsafe two full days after they learned of possible contamination and without a plan to provide safe water to every resident," said Gym. "The mayor must guarantee access to safe drinking water... Should future water samples at the treatment plant show contamination, the city must provide clear guidance to residents on how to access safe water, and when to expect safe water access to return."
She added that Trinseo PLC must be held accountable for the pipe rupture.
Business owners and residents echoed Gym's concern about being forced to wait for information about whether the water will be safe to drink after Monday night.
Scott Coudriet, a co-owner of Lloyd Whiskey Bar, closed his restaurant temporarily on Sunday, telling the Inquirer that the cocktail-focused business relies heavily on ice and that he didn't want to risk serving contaminated drinks.
"We didn't feel equipped to make any other choice than to close," Coudriet told the newspaper Monday. "But if anything, today I'm still confused about the language that 'You're safe through 11:59 p.m'... I don't know what happens at midnight."
Helicopter surveillance on Sunday did not show visual evidence of a chemical contaminant plume in Otter Creek or the Delaware River, and a water quality expert at Drexel University, Charles Haas, told the Inquirer that his concern level about contamination was "fairly low" based on the information provided by Carroll and other city officials.
The chemicals would be highly diluted in the river, Haas told the newspaper, and a reservoir at the Baxter plant could close off intake of new water from the river if necessary.
A map released by the city, however, showed more than two dozen zip codes in Philadelphia listed as ultimately being "potentially impacted" by the spill.
Consumer rights and environmental justice advocate Erin Brockovich denounced officials' assurances of the safety of the water as "bullshit... from the 'stay calm and carry on' folks."
"I honestly don't know what to make of this latest update," said journalist Kim Kelly, a Philadelphia resident. "After everyone ran out and bought up all the bottled water, the tap water is now safe until 11:59 pm Monday night? What happens after that?"
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Union Leaders, Healthcare Workers Protest Private Equity Sale of Philadelphia Hospital
"People will get hurt, and they will die as a direct result of this one man's action."
Jul 11, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders joined hundreds of union workers and Philadelphia community members on Thursday in decrying the planned closure of Hahnemann University Hospital, whose assets were recently put up for sale by Joel Freedman, the private equity executive who bought it last year.
The 171-year-old hospital, which has served low-income residents since before the Civil War and which tens of thousands of people rely on for their primary care, will not simply be sold to another healthcare company, but will rather go to the highest bidder, with its real estate likely being taken over to develop luxury condos and hotels in a neighborhood that's considered a "gateway location" for gentrification.
Sanders denounced the planned closing in an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer, while hundreds of people rallied outside the hospital.
"Since before the Civil War, Hahnemann has been an integral part of the social fabric of Philadelphia, treating underserved populations and training generation after generation of healthcare professionals," wrote Sanders and City Council member Helen Gym. "Shuttering it would result in an economic shock to the city unlike any in recent history."
Private equity firms are well-known for buying companies and selling of their assets, but the industry's entry into the healthcare sector troubles critics, especially as Freedman appears to be embarking on one of the first deals in the U.S. in which a hospital is being sold off to make way for real estate developments.
"This is pretty clearly a pure real estate deal," Eileen Appelbaum, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), told The American Prospect. "It's very common for private equity to do this in retail, but it's not common in hospitals."
Outside the hospital, groups including PASNAP, Pennsylvania's statewide nurses union; the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America; and the AFL-CIO rallied demonstrators. Former U.S. House candidate Randy Bryce, Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner, and Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson were among the hundreds who chanted, "Keep it open!"
\u201cHuge crowd assembled at the @PennaNurses rally to save Hahnemann Hospital from private equity vultures. #NN19\u201d— Fred (@Fred) 1562859724
\u201cPatients over Profits #savehahnemann with @PennaNurses @PhillyDSA @reclaimphila @APPSphilly @PhillyAFLCIO\u201d— Helen Gym (@Helen Gym) 1562859842
\u201c\ud83d\udce2 Patients over profits! \ud83d\udce2\n\nNNU RNs stand in solidarity with nurses and community members in Philadelphia fighting to #SaveHahnemann Hospital.\n\n#NN19\u201d— NationalNursesUnited (@NationalNursesUnited) 1562864228
Nelson insisted that Freedman would not succeed in closing the hospital.
"Hahnemann will stay open because of the people in the unions and the people who work here," Nelson told the crowd. "You want to know why? Because those greedy bastard investors who split off the hospital for the property of the hospital only think in dollars, and you think in hearts...When you look in the eyes of the people who are here, who are worried about their loved ones, and you know that they would do everything. Money is no object to save them."
"These investors have to know that that's who you are," she added.
\u201c.@FlyingWithSara, who is reportedly running for @aflcio president, lights into \u201cgreedy bastard investors.\u201d\u201d— Daniel Marans (@Daniel Marans) 1562859352
"Power concedes nothing without a demand," Turner said, quoting Frederick Douglass. "We bring a demand: keep Hahnemann open!"
Freedman's firm, Paladin Healthcare, bought Hahnemann last year. Announcing the planned sale two weeks ago, Freedman claimed Hahnemann was not "profitable."
The sale represents a deep fundamental flaw in the United States' healthcare system, Sanders said.
"The business model of America's current healthcare system is not about healing people or providing access to medical care--it is about making as much money as possible for insurance companies, drug companies, and wealthy investors." --Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)"The business model of America's current healthcare system is not about healing people or providing access to medical care--it is about making as much money as possible for insurance companies, drug companies, and wealthy investors," the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate told Politico on Sunday.
"The situation in Philadelphia illustrates the entire problem," he added. "In a city with one of the highest poverty rates in the country, a major hospital serving low-income communities is on the verge of laying off 2,500 people, abandoning 500 medical residents, and closing its operations thanks to an investment firm looking to make as much money as possible in a corporate fire sale."
In the short term, said Sanders, local and state lawmakers must engage with all stakeholders to ensure Hahnemann's doors stay open.
In the long term, "we must create a Medicare for All system that would guarantee health coverage to all people," the senator wrote, to ensure that no more public hospitals are snatched up by for-profit entities and replaced by real estate developments.
Nearly two-thirds of Hahnemann's patients are black and Latino, and about 50,000 people visit its emergency room annually, using the hospital as their primary care provider. One nurse told The American Prospect that about 800 pregnant patients would soon need to find another hospital to deliver their babies. About half of the hospital's patients rely on Medicaid.
Hahnemann's closure, fueled by "corporate greed" represents "nothing short of a public-health emergency," PASNAP told The American Prospect.
"People will get hurt, and they will die as a direct result of this one man's action," union member and oncology nurse Dylan Toolajian told
"When you are having a stroke or a heart attack, minutes matter and having to drive another 10 minutes to get help can be a matter of life and death," added Sue Bowes, a veteran nurse at the hospital.
Union members and lawmakers are fighting the closing, fearing that if Freedman's buyers successfully develop luxury condos and hotels to replace Hahnemann, other private equity firms--or Paladin itself, which owns other hospitals--will follow by selling other public hospitals that serve low-income communities.
"If Joel Freedman wants to sell out this hospital to fill his pockets, he has to go through us first," tweeted Gym. "We're stopping that sham deal in its tracks."
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