City closer to testing tour guides' street smarts
A trio of Center City tour operators expressed concerns yesterday about legislation to test and certify tour guides so that false information isn't passed on to tourists about the area's history.
A trio of Center City tour operators expressed concerns yesterday about legislation to test and certify tour guides so that false information isn't passed on to tourists about the area's history.
Councilman Curtis Jones surprised them with a pop quiz.
"Who was the Fresh Prince?" Jones asked, focusing on the city's more recent history.
Will Smith, they answered.
"Where did he live?" he asked.
Philadelphia, they answered.
"But where?" Jones demanded before answering his own question. "In the Fourth Councilmanic District, in Overbrook."
Jones pressed on, asking a series of questions about basketball great Wilt Chamberlain, comedian Bill Cosby and poet Sonia Sanchez. Again, he didn't wait long for answers.
Council's Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs then voted to send the legislation to the full Council for a vote.
It requires tour guides to pay $25 to take a written test to be certified for two years and to wear a badge proving they passed. Tour companies could be fined for failing to comply and their business-privilege license could be revoked for repeated violations.
After a two-year test in Center City, the legislation could be expanded for the entire city.
The legislation allows for an exemption for tour companies that have an educational program for their guides.
Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, the committee's chairwoman, said that exemption still needs to be better defined.
She agreed to an amendment requested by Mayor Nutter's staff to remove language making the city's Office of Arts and Culture responsible for the tour-guide tests. That office, closed under Mayor Street, will be reopened. It hasn't been determined who will administer the tests. *
