by KYW's Steve Tawa
Philadelphia city officials have served notice to the local chapter of the Boy Scouts -- the Cradle of Liberty Council -- that it has to reject scouting's policy on homosexuals, or start paying rent.
While the Scouts have been paying a dollar a year since the late 1920's for its headquarters on city-owned property at 22nd and Winter Streets, city solicitor Romy Diaz says they've determined that the market value rent should be $200,000 a year. And his letter to the organization states the city's offer to lease the property expires on December 3rd:
"It must sign a lease and commit to payment of fair-market rent for continued use of its headquarters building."
A spokesman for the Cradle of Liberty Council, Jeff Jubelirer, says they're disappointed because that kind of money could be better spent on programs for thousands of kids:
"We don't think we have a discriminatory policy. We adopted language two-years ago which was a non-discrimination statement, and have abided by that."
Diaz says that policy is "ambiguous," and the Boy Scouts have not clarified the language. Under US Supreme Court case law, the high court ruled the Boy Scouts could prohibit gays, because it's a private organization.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
