Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 5

Benefactor demands silence from Chestnut Hill Local

By Tom Ferrick Jr.
Inquirer Columnist

Richard is not pleased.

In Chestnut Hill, when Richard is not pleased, people sit up and take notice.

Richard is Richard Wood Snowden, the well-known benefactor, socialite and businessman who owns more than three dozen commercial properties in the neighborhood, most of them on Germantown Avenue.

The object of his ire is the weekly Chestnut Hill Local, which has covered Snowden, his family and his business, Bowman Properties, in ways that have displeased them in recent years.

There is, for instance, the Local's reporting about Snowden's various bouts with tax delinquency. At one point, he owed the City of Philadelphia $772,000 in back property taxes.

The Local has covered complaints about Snowden as a landlord. It has printed letters to the editor from people who are not fans of Snowden and Bowman Properties.

How could the Local engage in such "unethical" behavior against such "private, tolerant and generous people" as the Snowdens?

That was the question posed by Snowden in an August letter to a friend, Christopher Lane, an owner of the Philadelphia Print Shop in Chestnut Hill.

"We have put up with far more flak than would many," Snowden lamented. "Folks believe... that our love for Chestnut Hill would keep the dollars, contributions and subsidies rolling along despite all the bad behavior... But good nature can be taken advantage of for only so long. Time's up."

Atonement now...

With that pithy -- and ominous? -- phrase, Snowden launched into a list of demands about what the Local must do. To summarize:

It must publish a front-page, above-the-fold "atonement piece," apologizing for various and sundry articles that Snowden considers unfair, erroneous or spiteful.

It must remove said articles from its online archives.

Finally, Snowden added: "In order to have real meaning, this apology must be the last word on these subjects. Other than an op-ed piece by me, nothing more will be said on this matter by the paper, in editorials, through letters to the editor or reporting the inevitable howls by the 10 or so people in this community that have caused all this anguish."

Talk about a scorched-earth policy.

I mentioned that the letter was written to Chris Lane, but for whatever reason, it didn't stay private for long. Copies have been circulating in the neighborhood for weeks.

I tried to reach Lane about the dispute, but he was out of town. I called Snowden, as well, but had not received a call back as of yesterday afternoon. This desk remains open to any comments from them.

Taking a page from the Mafia, Chestnut Hill practices omerta. I must have talked to a half-dozen people, and all of them were chatty but they would not go on the record.

... Or else

One person who did talk was George Parry, a lawyer, Chestnut Hill resident and chair of the Local's Publications Committee. Just my luck, he said he hadn't seen the letter.

Parry said he has suggested that the Chestnut Hill Civic Association, which owns the Local, should sell the paper to avoid such imbroglios in the future.

Let it be independent and independently owned, Parry said in an op-ed piece that ran in the Local last month.

The Snowden letter is a big topic in the neighborhood, partly because everyone thinks there is another shoe to drop. Implicit is the promise? threat? insinuation? (insert your favorite synonym here) that if the Local's atonement is not forthcoming, Snowden will take action.

Presumably, that does not include a libel suit. Some of these stories are several years old. He's had plenty of opportunity to sue and hasn't yet.

Rather than speculate - a plague of locusts? a seven-year drought? - why not let's just wait and see.

One additional note: My check of Revenue Department records shows that Bowman Properties is again delinquent on real estate taxes - to the tune of $143,700 owed on 22 properties. Most date from this year.