From the Wall Street Journal:

Philly’s War on the Boy Scouts

By KEVIN FERRIS
February 16, 2008; Page A10

Philadelphia

As Michael Nutter was sworn in as the city’s 98th mayor last month, he called for a new wave of public service to clean up drug-infested neighborhoods. If he is serious about renewing volunteerism, he’ll start by putting an end to the city’s campaign against the Boy Scouts.

On May 31, the Cradle of Liberty Council, the local Boy Scout chapter, will be evicted from its headquarters on 22nd and Winter Streets — a space it has occupied since 1928.

The eviction isn’t for a breach of contract. It comes at the behest of the City Council, which voted 16 to one last year to kick the boy scouts out unless they reverse the national Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gays serving in the ranks or as scoutmasters or start paying “market rent” — about $200,000 a year. Local chapters can’t reverse national scouting policies. So it’s a matter of paying up or moving out.

Throughout the city, there are about 56,000 Boy Scouts who spend countless hours cleaning parks, running food drives, and organizing meals for the needy. And, of course, helping young boys, many without strong male figures in their lives, develop skills that will serve them well in life.

“You think we’d be embraced by city officials,” Scoutmaster J.R. Brockman told me recently. He’s a human-relations consultant and father of twin 14-year-olds who volunteers to lead a troop of about 20 scouts and a dozen Cub Scouts out of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in west Philadelphia. On Fridays he can be found with his scouts at the church as the boys eat pizza and play Xbox. “It’s an activity that keeps them off the streets and lets them spend time with their friends,” he says.

But it’s not all fun and games. Mostly Mr. Brockman focuses on steering kids clear of drugs and violence, which leads many of the city’s youth to a stint in jail. “[T]he kids who have stayed in the program,” he told me, “have stayed out of trouble.” On weekends, his scouts go for hikes or campouts at local parks. In town, they renovate sections of the city’s Fairmount Park, run food drives, and feed the homeless.

Irving Anglin, 16, is leading a renovation project in Fairmount Park. His aim is to become an Eagle Scout, an honor only a handful of scouts ever achieve. He joined the scouts as a first grader and admits he did so reluctantly. Today, however, he can’t imagine life without scouting: “You get to know your limits and your strengths. You get to do different things, like swimming and sports that you otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to do.”

Mr. Brockman says that all of his scouting activities are made possible because he receives administrative support and help with recruitment from the of the Cradle of Liberty headquarters. Take away the scout building and Mr. Brockman loses the professional staff he relies on. As it is, he can’t field all the calls he receives from single mothers looking to place their sons in his troop. . . .