As tame as yesterday's focus group was, today's was that wild. First, without naming names (that'll happen when we put these on tv), here's a quick rundown of the bios of the folks who joined us this morning:
- An artist and teacher at Drexel, this 30-something lived in the Grad Hospital area for ten years before moving out to Bucks County.
- A director with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, who formerly led Penn's West Philadelphia Initiative.
- An environmental activist from Germantown whose group, the Monoshone Watershed Association, seeks to raise awareness about watershed management and water pollution issues.
- A consultant and former city planner who also worked at the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. This participant now consults developers who are trying to navigate city government
- A developer who is largely credited with transforming Manayunk from where it was in the 80s to the thriving restaurant and retail center it is now.
- A small businessman who owns a North Philadelphia-based automotive recycler and is a board member of the Empowerment Group.
- An author and founder of a unique non-profit lecture and performance series that brings black thinkers and artists to speak at a church in North Philadelphia.
For the first 20-25 minutes, the group focused on the need for improved education at all levels. One participant suggested that the next mayor needs to take a more "holistic approach" (no, it wasn't Sylvester Johnson) to education, thinking about every level from pre-school to grad school and creating initiatives that enlist every sector of society - business, universities, public, sports. Another participant, a developer who has had many tenants who leave the city in search of better educational opportunities for their children, agreed. However, for at least the second time since we've been doing these groups, a couple of participants pushed for a mayor who would foster some sort of "entrepreneurial spirit" in the city, including in the schools.
The former city planner pointed out that the next mayor must realize that Philadelphia isn't just competing locally or even nationally for jobs but that several, formerly white collar, jobs that require schooling and education are now being done far cheaper in foreign countries. Later on during the session, a participant would bring this up again when she suggested that the next mayor push for a school curriculum that required all students, from pre-K on up, to learn a second language. "Imagine how attractive this city would be to business if half of our kids speak a second language," she said.
Time and again, the group came back to the idea of fostering a more entrepreneurial spirit in the city. People spoke from experience about what it's like to start a small business in the city and deal with Licenses and Inspection, pay business privilege taxes, pay wage taxes, and deal with zoning. They said that the next mayor, while he or she doesn't necessarily have to be a businessman, should develop a more responsive organization. One participant went so far as to suggest that each of the candidates for mayor should apply for a zoning variance or building permit just to have to go through the experience. Another one related how he called L&I four times with the same question and got four different answers.
A participant who didn't come from a business background said that while she agreed that the next mayor should believe in business, she also wants one who believes in government and can actually instill that belief in everyone who works for the government. She said that there seems to be a distrust of government on the national level and that if the bureaucrats (a word she said with a completely neutral, if not positive, tone), don't believe in the process then the whole system can get ossified (a great word - you could tell she's a writer).
The last several minutes were spent on a discussion about regionalism and the need for cooperation between the city and the surrounding region and between the city and the state. This topic had been brought before by members of the group in response to our watershed activist who was definitely on his message about the pollution of the Monoshone Creek in Germantown.
While a good ten minute chunk of the session was spent on the specific problem of the Monoshone Creek, which none of the other participants had heard of, the rest of it was a very useful discussion.
Other highlights included:
- The second mention of Jane Golden, director of the Mural Arts Program, as a wonderful example of a good leader. Potential dark horse candidate?
- The importance of entrepreneurship and small business creation for job opportunities throughout the city.
- Education, education, education
- Aside from a brief mention in the context of small business creation, not much mention of the city's tax burdens. Small business people seemed more concerned with burdensome regulations and the difficulty with which one navigates "the system."
- Strengthening of cultural areas and the fostering of "gallery districts" similar to what they have in New York
- Having an open minded leader and a system that is comfortable with disagreement, discussion and risk taking
I'll let you know when these groups will be going on tv.
Comments (2)
Something to think about: if you perceived that the mere mention of taxes would make you lose all credibility with a very large portion of your audience, would you do so?
I agree that the city's cumbersome regulations and inefficient agencies are at least as large a problem as the high tax rate, but I wouldn't ignore taxes, either.
Posted by Dave | October 11, 2006 2:20 PM
You also have to keep in mind the complexity of the BPT, which appears to rival that of the city's zoning and building codes.
Check out this thread on Phillyblog.com for a glimpse (see response #9).
Posted by Dave | October 14, 2006 3:48 PM