The election is tomorrow.
Taubenberger said the city was wrong to demand that the Boy Scouts of America's Cradle of Liberty Council pay $200,000 a year "fair market" rent for the city-owned land on Logan Square where its headquarters building sits because of scouting's national ban on homosexual members.
The city has rented the land to the scouts for $1 a year since 1928 but has been reevaluating that break because the ban against openly gay scouts runs afoul of the city's antidiscrimination ordinance.
"They do too much good," Taubenberger said of the scouts, adding that the organization "keeps kids safe and off the streets" during a time of rampant gun violence.
"This is something that can be worked out," he said.
Nutter, however, said that it was a matter of principle and that the council must pay a market-rate rent.
"We either believe in civil rights and human rights and respect the dignity of every person in the city, or we don't," he said. "In my administration, we will not subsidize discrimination."
He said the council could keep its token rent by changing its policy, noting that some local scouting organizations have broken with the national leadership on the issue. The council has said it cannot buck the policy without losing its official charter.
At another point, Taubenberger said he would "take a serious look" at scrapping the city's residency requirement for public employees. "People ought to be here of their own free will," he said. "Why have a Berlin Wall?"
Nutter said he would keep the residency requirement for those who are hired by the city but would allow outside residents to take the tests to qualify for city jobs without moving into Philadelphia. Currently, people must live for one year in the city before becoming eligible to compete for municipal jobs.
