The Next Mayor

Here's your weekly update of upcoming events in the mayor's race!

Check out our calendar of events in the race on our main page -- and thanks to the Fels Civic Exchange for keeping the calendar so well.

If you want this list of events early, sign up for e-mail updates on our main page, top right corner.

Upcoming Events:

JUST ADDED: Monday
Fattah to unveil policy on women's issues
(April 2, 11 a.m., Alliance for Progress Charter School, 1821-39 Cecil B. Moore Ave.)
Mayoral Candidate Chaka Fattah will announce his Women's Agenda at the Alliance for Progress Charter School in North Philadelphia. Fattah will focus on ways to provide Philadelphia's women with greater economic, social and health care opportunities.

Tuesday
APM Mayoral Candidate Forum
(April 3, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., 8th and Berks)
APM (Asociacion Puertorriqueños en Marcha) will be hosting an outdoor mayoral candidate forum in the Eastern North Philadelphia neighborhood of 8th & Berks on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. All candidates have confirmed their participation, and the event will be moderated by the Honorable Nelson Diaz, recently appointed Chair of Elections for Philadelphia.

A major focus of the evening will be housing. APM also directs health and human service programs, providing mental health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and child care services to more than 9,000 each year. Half of all residents in its housing units are Latino, with the other half being African American. While other programs are predominately Latino, approximately 30 percent of those served are African American.

Wednesday
KICKOFF for Voting on the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda
(April 4, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 5th and Arch streets)
Join us on April 4th at 11:00 am at the National Constitution Center with celebrity host Flavia Colgan to kick off the voting phase of R.E.F.O.R.M. Philadephia. Combining the power of Wikipedia with widespread support for reforming Philadelphia, a new ReformBallot.org website was created as an experiment in deliberative democracy. The R.E.F.O.R.M Compact outlines principles for moving Philadelphia in a new direction and offers citizens the opportunity to edit, contribute and vote on specific R.E.F.O.R.M agenda items.

Mayoral Candidate forum on Children's Issues
(April 4, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Free Library of Philadelphia, Main Branch, 1901 Vine Street)
The Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth is hosting a Mayoral Candidate Forum on children's issues on Wednesday, April 4th, starting at 6:30 p.m., at the Free Library. Some of the questions asked were written by the city's young people. For reserve seating, RSVP: info@pccy.org or, by phone, 215-563-5848 x11

Thursday
The Mayor of Philadelphia: A Candidates' Forum for the Latino Community
(April 5, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., 1114 W. Berks Street)
Do you care about Latino business, affordable housing, and education? Come to this candidates' forum and they will hear you. This forum is in Anderson Hall at Temple University and will feature Bob Brady, Dwight Evans, Chaka Fattah, Tom Knox, Michael Nutter, and Al Taubenberger. It will be moderated by Ken Trujillo. Habra servicio de interpretacion en espanol. Please RSVP to 215.763.8870 ext. 1511 or 215.790.3723 or GPHCC@greaterphiladelphiachamber.com.

The Rustin Forum for Philadelphia’s Future
(April 5, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Foerderer Auditorium, Jefferson Medical College, 1025 Walnut Street)
Mayoral Race 2007: “The Rustin Forum for Philadelphia’s Future” is intended to engage Mayoral candidates in a discussion with a diversified group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals. The format for the community forum will include a skilled moderator who will field a minimum of two prepared questions from the event organizers to each of the candidates followed by fielded questions from the audience. It is not our intention for this forum to be a debate and the moderator will moderate the discussion away from debates between the candidates and/or audience participants.

Great Expectations: The Philadelphia Schools- Progress and Problems- A Citizen’s Expert Dialogue
(April 5, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm, 400 North Broad Street)
Registration and refreshments will begin at 5:45 p.m. This program is being co-sponsored by the Philadelphia Cross City Campaign for School Reform. It is intended as a preparatory session for the mayoral candidates forum to be co-sponsored by Great Expectations and the Cross City Campaign on April 12.
An expert panel will lay out the facts about what’s gone on in the Philadelphia schools since the state takeover. Michael Casserly of the Council of the Great City Schools will put the Philly reforms in national context. Jolley Christman of the Graduate School of Education at Penn and Research for Action will report on test scores, and what they indicate about how various school management models are working. Sharmain Matlock-Turner of the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition will talk about charters and school choice. Michael Masch, state budget secretary and a former member of the School Reform Commission, will talk about finances and state aid. Darlene Callands Curry of the Black Alliance for Educational Options will talk about the parents’ perspective.
Citizens will then gather in small groups to discuss what they heard, how it compares with their impressions coming in, what questions they still have and what steps they’d like to see taken next to improve education in Philadelphia. James Nevels, chair of the SRC, and other SRC members will respond to what they’ve heard from the experts and the citizens.
Space is limited so REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
Register by going to the project Web site at go.philly.com/greatexpectations and clicking on the registration link or by calling the project hotline at 215-854-5956.

Bob Brady has a spiffy new look for his site over at www.bobbradyworks.com (www.bobbrady.com, BTW, is a car dealership in Decatur, Ill.).

The Congressman is striking a Kennedy-ish pose in the first picture, and he's really loaded up the video.

However, I really wish the "My Philadelphia" link were working; I want to see it. It may be the video from his previous site...

(Also, check out Angry ErnieBert in the background of the picture with the kids. Crumbs in the bed, I would expect.)

Today, we're launching something new:

We're going to begin directly comparing the candidates on the issues that matter, one issue at a time. We're calling it, "If he were mayor." And it's designed to help you make up your mind as May 15 nears.

First of all, and with no cynicism, I have to note that it is a credit to the five guys running for the Democratic nomination that we can do this. They have run -- so far -- on the issues, which makes it possible to set their proposals side by side, and let you pick the guy you like.

Second of all, I have to note that, as you read these proposals, you must keep in mind the budget constraints that the next mayor will have to deal with. (Read one of our repeated warnings about that here.)

For our first entry, we are not taking on crime -- though we will -- or schools. We are taking on something that several candidates just released new position papers on: How the candidates would support Philadelphia's arts community.

As an industry, arts and culture is significant -- but surprisingly vulnerable -- in Philadelphia. Our city's arts and cultural organizations get by not on city money, nor on corporate money, as do competitors in many cities. No, they do it the hard way: scraping up funds through fund-raisers and grants and wooing people in the door. Not that there's anything wrong with audience support. But let's face it: Do we really want the Charlotte Symphony to be better funded, and get more civic attention, than our own? Do we really want to relinquish the gains that our city has made in the last 10 years to become a mecca of emerging arts?

We certainly don't.

So, we climbed through the arts plans of four candidates who have them -- sorry, Tom Knox, we'll update if you release one -- and offer brief synposes on each.

And we'd sure like to know what you think about them.

One thing that's clear: If any of the other four candidates become mayor, the city's Office of Arts and Culture is coming back...

Ed Barkowitz is Liveblogging the Phillies Opening Day game against the Braves.

Check it out during the game!

From Catherine Lucey at the Daily News, here is the decision from Commonwealth Court, upholding the city's right to enact its own campaign finance laws.

I know... It's 50 pages long. I'll see if I can pull out the salient points. Check back in a few.

(edited to add)

Ok... I read through and got to the part where the court actually makes its decision (starting on page 27):

With the foregoing principles in mind and having examined powers conferred upon Philadelphia, as a home rule municipality, by constitutional and statutory provisions and the Home Rule Charter, the Court agrees with Nutter and the City that the Ordinance is not preempted by state law. A review of the Election Code demonstrates clearly that it contains no "express preemptive mandate." The Supreme Court has on numerous occasions explained that the Election Code is a lengthy and comprehensive piece of legislation that governs the "holding" of elections in Pennsylvania.
(snip)
With regard to campaign contributions and expenses, the Election Code regulates, inter alia, the organization of political committees; the registration of political committees when they receive more than $250 in contributions; requirements for candidate and political committee reports when they receive $250 or more in contributions or expend $250 or more; filing of annual reports; disbursement of residual funds when a candidate or political committee ceases activity; and restrictions on contributions from banks, corporations or agents of donors or the disbursement of contributions made by anonymous sources (payable to the State Treasurer). Cash contributions that exceed $100 are prohibited.
(snip)
The Election Code contains no language to show express or implied legislative intent to legislate with respect to limits on campaign contributions to candidates for local elective office.
(snip)
Because there is no indication of legislative intent to preempt the field of campaign finance as it relates to campaign contribution limits for local elective office, the Court concludes that the Ordinance is not preempted by state statute. Notably, all references in the Election Code to the dollar amount of campaign contributions received or the amount of expenses incurred relate solely to legislative establishment of threshold limits for public disclosure purposes.

Candidate Fattah released his women's agenda today.

Press release with summary, here. Entire plan, here.

As with any plan that comes along, I remind you that if there's any money to be spent by the city on these initiatives, you have to question how the candidate will do it when it comes time to pay the piper on pensions and health care.

Fattah's release of his "women's agenda" gives me, the distaff member of our blogging team, the chance to pontificate on something that I care about.

One of the things that I find most revealing about political leaders is the people around them, particularly the people who are different from the leader -- different gender, different race, etc. Since most of our political leaders are men, I am interested in the women around them in particular.

Are the women strong, independent people in roles where their voices are heard? Do they get a chance to challenge and question the leader?

Personally, I like leaders who are willing to be challenged, and who see people who are different -- yes, particularly women -- as opportunities to learn something, not threats to power.

And one thing you have to admit about our current mayor -- whether you like his politics and his administration or not -- is that he had no problem surrounding himself with strong women. At one point, Street had more women in his cabinet than men. (This idea isn't original to me; I was highly influenced by Daily News columnist Jill Porter in this belief.)

I'll be watching for who the next mayor surrounds himself with as well -- and yes, I do care how many of them are women, and how many of them are of a different ethnic background, and if any of them are outsiders to government.

So what does that have to do with Fattah's women's agenda?

The agenda -- which is remarkably broad, ranging from domestic violence to parenting to equal pay -- does make two commitments that concern my point above. One, Fattah commits "to ensuring women are well-represented in his government by appointing women to senior policy-making positions from Cabinet posts to departmental directors and senior aides."

Two, he commits to increasing the percentage of contracts awarded to women-owned businesses from its current level -- around 6 percent -- to 15% by the end of his first term.

The first of these promises speaks to my interest in who would surround Fattah if he becomes mayor. And the second would help grow another level of women leaders throughout the city, which would mean that later male leaders would have the chance to also hire impressive women as well.

[Edited to add Tom Knox comment - Wendy]

...to the Campaign Finance ruling.

Michael Nutter, who filed the lawsuit to uphold the limits exactly one year ago today, said in a statement, “This decision is great for the City of Philadelphia and especially great for this election. The people of Philadelphia are tired of the corrupting influence of money contributed by big donors overwhelming the intensity of our elections."

Dwight Evans' statement said, "today’s ruling finally brings added clarity to the legal morass that was first created by the original legislation."

And he pointed out that he twice authored, and shepherded through the state House, a state bill that would allow Philly to regulate its own elections, including setting campaign finance rules.

ETA: Knox's camp, through Campaign spokesman Brad Katz, had this to say: "“This is a great first step to ending pay-to-play politics in Philadelphia.”

I was curious about the impact of the ruling on the race, so I asked Zack Stalberg, president of the Committee of Seventy and our partner in this project, what he thought. He said the limits have had a big impact: Keeping the cost of the race low, at $3 million or $4 million per candidate, when, given past elections, it could easily have been a $15 million-per-candidate race.

Obviously, the less candidates have to raise, the less indebted they are to donors or special interests.

"I think it's made it a much more competitive race," Zack said. "There would not be five people capable of winning today if not for the campaign finance limits. But here it is, 40-some days out, and anybody could win."

With one notable exception, the candidates have not been able to buy unlimited ad time either, and that's meant they have had to "actually campaign," Zack said.

We just received this from Chaka Fattah's campaign, from spokesman Solomon Jones:

On behalf of those touched by Chaka Fattah’s 25 year record on violence prevention, education and housing, the Fattah for Mayor campaign will appeal today’s ruling.

We cannot allow one candidate to buy the election while others toil under limits that curtail our ability to share our record of service to Philadelphians. Our decision to appeal goes beyond legalities.

It is about providing Philadelphians with a fair opportunity to hear from each candidate, and make a decision based on their record, their ideas, and their vision for our city's future.

As Clout said on Friday, Sam Katz is writing a mayoral blog for Philadelphia Magazine. Today's post is about his discomfort with the sidelines...but what caught my eye was this at the bottom:

I don’t see anyone this time getting above 30 or below 10 (percent of the vote) — this is an election that will likely be decided by a few thousand votes, or fewer. It could end up in court, just where it began.

Hmm. Courts have been a theme, haven't they? Good Lord, could it really end before a judge instead of in the voting booth?

Not surprising, the Committee of Seventy is very pleased with the decision of the Commonwealth Court regarding campaign contribution limits.

And they're getting their lawyering abilities sharpened up, pledging to get involved with the case if candidate Fattah's appeal is heard by the state Supreme Court:

Congressman Chaka Fattah, a Democratic mayoral candidate who seeks to eliminate all contribution limits, has announced his intent to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Zack Stalberg, Seventy’s President and CEO, expressed the organization’s hope that Pennsylvania’s highest court would not agree to hear the case. If they do, Stalberg said that Seventy will file an amicus brief in support of the Commonwealth Court’s decision.

I'm a little concerned about candidate Fattah's intentions here, as is Dan U-A at Young Philly Politics.

Can we all agree that it's good that no one is able to write a $100,000 check to a candidate? Let's just get used to that reality for a while, then we can figure out what to do about the self-funders. Maybe we can figure out a way to keep candidates from "loaning" themselves money, thereby avoiding this particularly sticky situation.

Catherine Lucey just got back from the announcement of Michael Nutter's transportation plan. We'll post the plan as soon as we get the electronic version, but thought it was worth noting that Nutter has made one important promise:

To make SEPTA smell better.

"The smell ... literally prevents people from using this network," he said.

It's funny because it's true.

You know, Fattah's ethics policy paper discusses campaign finance limits. And this is what it says:

Uphold the Law Regarding the City's Campaign Finance Limits. As Mayor, Chaka Fattah will enforce whatever the courts decide regarding the city's campaign finance limits. Mayor Fattah will work to establish a clear set of guidelines for all candidates for city offices to follow, ensuring a level playing field for everyone. Fattah will also strongly back efforts by Gov. Rendell to enact statewide campaign finance reform.

I am sure that Fattah's point is that there isn't a level playing field (hey, here's another opportunity to point out that even self-funded candidates can indeed be beholden to special interests!), and he wants the highest court possible to weigh in on this matter so that he has every opportunity to argue for a level playing field ... but this does seem like a relevant time to point that quote out.

Wendy promised it earlier and here it is - Michael Nutter's transportation plan. You can read the whole plan here or the press release, which sums it up, here.

I'm kinda psyched to see that someone finally took on the regional aspect of mass transit. Solving SEPTA's problems and building a mass transit system that works for Philadelphia is not something that the city can do alone. His ideas, especially the regionalism section, are huge.

This paper also is a first in that it is the first policy paper to take on another candidate's proposal and try to explain why it's not a good idea. In the regional solutions section we get this:

Another candidate has proposed leasing the Airport as a funding mechanism to fight poverty in Philadelphia. This proposal is flawed in both theory and practice. In practical terms, the experimental leasing program authorized by the FAA is slow (the only lease obtained took 34 months to approve and it was for the airport in Newburgh, New York!) and uncertain (if Midway Airport in Chicago receives its expected lease approval, then federal legislation will be needed to allow a second “major hub” lease, which is now prohibited.) But beyond the practical limitations, generations of experience has shown that confronting social challenges like poverty requires the resources of the state and federal governments. It is simply misguided public policy to use limited local resources to meet the responsibilities of higher governments. Democrats since FDR and LBJ have understood that it is wrong to ask orphans to build their own orphanages, and that it is just as wrong for cities to spend down their limited assets to provide limited help for the nation’s poor.

But now I'm torn. I always thought that Fattah's opportunity agenda was a little risky or "pie-in-the-sky" since it depends so heavily on his plan to lease the airport. What's Plan B if the city is unable to do that for the reasons Nutter cites above? A candidate who promises the moon but makes it conditional on an uncertain funding source can always punt down the line if the funding doesn't come through.

However, that goes the same for Nutter. Given recent performance, getting funding from the state and local levels seems to be just as uncertain as getting funding from leasing the airport. For far too long, candidates have promised to "be the guy that can get the city what's coming to it from Harrisburg and Washington D.C." only to become mayors who blame cuts in funding from Harrisburg and D.C. for why the city is unable to provide for its least fortunate or, when it comes to education and the schools, its middle class.

What's the answer? I don't know. But I refuse to fall for the "we'll get the funding from the state and federal governments" line from candidates until I start to see evidence that such a thing can actually be pulled off. By talking about regionalism, Nutter is at least heading in that direction. It will only be by the combined efforts of elected officials in every town and county in Southeastern PA that this area will have the leverage needed to pry that funding loose.

While the Francisville NDC can't endorse any candidate, they sure as heck can "dis-endorse" one:

(edited to add) Full disclosure, this was passed along to me by someone on one of the other campaigns.

Josh at the Metro's Fight For Room 215 talked to Chaka Fattah about his attempts to start a fundraising free-for-all appeal of the Commonwealth Court ruling on campaign finance.

There's the usual line about whether it's fair for Knox to be able to spend so much of his own money while the other candidates are so limited.

Fattah also diagnoses a pretty common rhetorical malady in our partners at the Committee of Seventy:

“I don’t remember a release from the Committee of 70 that if Ed Rendell could take unlimited contributions [in his campaign for governor] it would be chaos and pay-to-play politics,” Fattah said. “It’s like selective amnesia here.”

Since we are all talking about who raises what from whom today...

Late today, Chaka Fattah released his fund-raising totals since January. There was no need for the candidate to do that today, but hey, the journalists of Philly'll take it -- personally, I would rather them tell me often how much they've raised.

Fattah, who raised $1.6 million in his three committees in 2006, raised an additional $748,614 between Jan 1 and March 26. He now has nearly $600,000 cash on hand in his Fattah for Mayor account, the statement said.

"I have seen impressive support from Philadelphians from diverse social and economic backgrounds, and donations ranging from thousands of dollars to just a few," Fattah said in the statement. "But at the end of the day, this is an election, not an auction, and the biggest contribution Philadelphians can make is to support my bid for the Democratic nomination for Mayor on May 15th."

Again, he didn't have to announce his fund-rasing totals -- there is a deadline today for campaign disclosure, but it's only for candidates for statewide office and PACs that give to them. His spokesman later said the campaign "jumped the gun" in the release, but added, "we are proud of the support we've received and we look forward to receiving even more support going forward."

That "more support" may be important. $600,000 is not a ton of money, certainly when stacked up against Knox's seemingly endless ad budget -- and when you consider that Nutter, Brady, Knox and Evans all have ads on the air now.

(edited to add) Here's a reprint of the final version of the press release that was mailed out yesterday.

Match the candidate to what they want to be when they grow up:

Bob Brady
Dwight Evans
Chaka Fattah
Kerry Foster (G)
Tom Knox
Michael Nutter
Al Taubenberger (R)

"Race car driver"
"Professional football player"
"A martial artist"
"A businessman"
"Police officer, like my dad"
"American History teacher"
"Oceanographer"

To promote tonight's Candidate forum on children's issues -- 6:30 to 7:30, Free Library's main branch, RSVP at info@pccy.org -- Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth has interviewed the candidates as if they were 12.

(ETA: The profiles are darling ... on the importance of stickball, "booties up" and parks in their lives. Read the full profiles here; read the PCCY press release here.)

I'll post the answers later today.

Never let it be said that I don't seek out and in many cases welcome opinions that are different from my own. Ben over at YPP shared his thoughts about the municipal pension issue, disagreeing that there is, in fact, a "crisis" as I and others have been saying.

He cites the same PICA report that I've been waving around when he says:

Let’s look at the numbers. According to a report from PICA, employee benefits are going to grow by 25% over the next three years (FY 06=FY 09) and debt service is going to increase by 30% and other spending obligations will increase by 5.7 % whereas is only expected to increase by 7.9 %. So, the city is obviously going to spending a bit more on pensions.

I think there might be a word missing in there but I'm not sure what it is. His point is, that while the increase in pension costs is real, it's also manageable and shouldn't be used as an excuse for cutting programs.

Join their discussion about this and please share your thoughts here as well.

In case you missed this forum on March 5th, I've uploaded the video to our Google Video site.

Or just sit back for an hour and twenty minutes and watch it here:

I encourage you to take a look. This one is pretty entertaining and has a little more back-and-forth among the candidates. It's a nice preview of what the televised debates will be like.

Sorry it's so dark. You should be able to tell who's who.

Antics, baby! Gotta love the antics! From Josh at FFR215:

The attacks against Tom Knox's former role as owner of a bank that gave out payday loans now includes costumes.

Witnesses (see anonymously sent photo) said the costumed shark had "400 percent interest" written on one side and "Tommy the Loan Shark" on the other. .

Josh has a picture and everything. It's not particularly menacing-looking shark. More like a character from Shark Tale or Finding Nemo.

Early word is that it comes from Brady folks.
(edited to add) It was a protest organized by Rev. Shine, the former head of the Black Clergy. This KYW 1060 piece identifies him as "William Shine" but a Google search turns up more hits for "Robert Shine" as the former head of the Black Clergy. The Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity endorsed Dwight Evans but Brady got the backing of a smaller group of black ministers. It's hard to tell if this group, "Economic Justice Coalition for Truth," and Shine are linked with either of those candidates but I'm pretty certain he doesn't like Knox all that much.

Some of you might think that this kind of activity sullies an election. Knox's record as a businessman is as fair game as any of the other candidates' records in public service. I have no problem with someone using a funny costume to draw attention to it just as I'd have no problem with someone dressing as a baby seal outside of Brady's headquarters to highlight his poor environmental record (and yes, for a Democrat, <90% is a poor environmental record) or as a dejected Joe Camel at Michael Nutter's HQ.

As long as the issue being highlighted can be verified in the public record and is not a baseless attack on the personal lives of the candidate or his family, I say the more costumes the merrier.

Where have I heard this (the April 4th entry) before?

Oh yeah. That's right. When I wrote about it as part of this post.

Sam's predictions for turnout and numbers are bit more dire than mine but it's the same basic point - the next mayor could be chosen by the amount of people that can fit into Lincoln Financial Field for an Eagles playoff game.

Get out and vote, people!

Check that... get out and register, people! Then register other people. Then vote.

Every morning I go through a number of other blogs and look for interesting stories about other cities or mayors so I can pass them along to the readers of this blog. I open the links and set them aside as tabs in my Firefox browser with the intention of getting back to them later in the day to post and possibly talk about them.

Then the day happens. I end up in meetings or updating the website or editing video or distracted by searching the internet for pictures of some local person or minor celebirty who, according to Dan Gross's Daily News column, appears sans clothing.

And the links sit there... day after day...

So here they are:

Detroit's hip-hop mayor grows into his job
This one is an interesting article about Kwame Kilpatrick, the guy who was originally elected mayor in 2002 at the ripe old age of 31 - making me wonder what I've been doing with my life. He had a rough go of it through his first term (think Allen Iverson early in his career) but has grown and matured into a pretty effective leader (think Allen Iverson later in his career). Detroit still has a long way to go to recover from some pretty devastating circumstances but it appears that, at least now, they mayor will be aiding, rather than impeding that progress. It's a good profile of the leader of a city that faces many of the same problems that Philadelphia is dealing with.

Simple visions for new City Hall
Boston is getting a new City Hall. No. That's not some metaphor for a shake-up in the way they do government. They're literally getting a new building for their government offices. If you've every been to Beantown and seen "Gov. Center", you can take comfort that while they have a better ballpark, basketball floor, and really-expensive-public-works-project, our City Hall whoops their Gov Center's butt. However, that may be changing soon:

Ordered to imagine the City Hall of the future, about a dozen Boston officials are putting together a wish list that includes things like exotically powered heating and cooling systems and automated services.

Building a new seat of government for the city also allows Boston the chance to take into account changes in the way people conduct transactions:

A major focus of the effort is also examining how and why people use city hall, and how that is changing with new technology. Online transactions have skyrocketed in recent years as residents have grown more comfortable using the Internet to pay their taxes and parking tickets.

I know our City Hall is pretty much sacrosanct and I'd never suggest that we should tear it down (like Ed Bacon is said to have done), but maybe, down the line if city finances stabilize, we can consider changing its role and moving the functions of government to a more efficient, modern, and less imposing building. Just throwing it out there.

D.C. Schools Takeover Gets Initial Approval
Finally, the trend of big city mayors getting control of their city's schools continues. This time in Washington DC. Another young guy (he's 36), Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, is on his way to joining Michael Bloomberg and Richard Daley in making sure that when it comes to the schools, the buck stops with him. As more cities go this route, we'll have more evidence of whether it works or not and whether it's worth trying here.

Good luck with that, Mr. Fenty.

So...a source tells us that Dwight Evans' announcement today regarding youth jobs will be this:

The state Rep. has secured $800,000 for the Philadelphia Youth Network and the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition to create 600 jobs for youth this summer.

I've argued that employment is the number-one way we can make this city safer (and more prosperous, but that's another post for another day. These programs ALWAYS have waiting lists, by the way, so there is a desire among the city's youth to not be so idle.

You knew this was going to happen, folks: Tom Knox is leading the race for mayor, according to a new Daily News Keystone Poll, which we're bringing to you first (and if you are up at this hour, we want to know why).

The reason that Knox is in the lead? It's not that his percentages grew -- they did, but by a small amount -- it's that Chaka Fattah's fell, from 26 percent in January to 17 percent now.

Meanwhile, Fattah's "favorables" (the percentage of people surveyed who have a favorable opinion of him) fell, and his unfavorables grew. The opposite happened to Knox.

Now, I realize what this says. Advertising works, especially if you can afford to pour it onto TV like so much gravy. Suddenly, Knox's name recognition problem has gone away.

John Baer, in today's Daily News, also points out that Knox has benefited from remarkable luck in this election, with lots of things going his way lately.

But I believe the results of this poll really reflect the candidates' ad strategy at this point in the race. Brady, who has also been advertising heavily and was barely in the race at the last poll, did well too: the percentage of voters who said they would be likely to vote for him jumped from 8 percent to 16 percent.

And on the issues? It's still all about crime, with voters expressing their approval of stop and frisk and, by the way, of the return of John Timoney.

We also asked for voters' opinion of casinos in Philadelphia, and got a classic Philly response. Opinions were divided on whether or not they would be good for the city, but respondents sure didn't like the locations that had been approved.

Read our full coverage of the poll here.

Kudos to D-Mac at Philly Will Do for pointing out this little cherry from the poll before I could get to it:

The follow-up question asks whose ads are most memorable? Not surprisingly, Knox is in the lead with 53%, followed by Bob Brady at 18%, Michael Nutter at 8% and Dwight Evans at 7%.

Fattah has, of course, yet to run a single television advertisement. Maybe they were thinking of one of those NBC 10 promos with Renee Chenault-Fattah.

Those of you who are West Wing junkies like me may recognize the quote from the title. It comes from an episode about a foreign aid vote that's in jeopardy because of a poll saying that 68% of Americans think we give too much foreign aid and 59% think it should be cut. Here's the dialogue that follows (via this site):

Will: You like that stat.
Josh: I do.
Will: Why?
Josh: Because 9% think it's too high and shouldn't be cut. 9% of respondents could not fully get their arms around the question. There should be another box you can check for "I have utterly no idea what you're talking about. Please, God, don't ask for my input."

My reaction was similar when I read the poll late yesterday afternoon. 4% of respondents remember seeing ads that were NEVER ON THE AIR. Now, I know it's close enough to 0% to be considered within the margin error, but I don't doubt that it translates to at least a few thousand people who fall into the "I can't get my arms around the question" category.

I wish, really wish, there had been a question on the poll that asked, "What is your primary source of information about this mayor's race?" And if "primary source of information" is too difficult to understand, how about, "Where do you get most of the stuff you know about the mayor's race?" I'd have offered these choices: television advertisements ("tv commercial"), television news ("Action News," since that's what everyone seems to watch), newspapers, internet, direct mail (or just plain "mail" to make it simple), word of mouth, or the internet.

I guarantee the tv commercial number would have been in the 80s.

I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say this but:

TURN OFF THE DAMN TV. Yes, I know - ironic advice coming from someone who quotes television shows on an almost daily basis but that's not the point.

Read a book. Open a newspaper - to the front part.

Figure out a way to learn as much as you can about each candidate and where they stand on each issue. Go to one of the 8 million mayoral forums that have been and will continue to occur between now and Election Day.

The candidates have actually been doing a fairly admirable job of talking about issues and the newspapers (and, at the risk of sounding too self-promotional) this project have been doing a decent job reporting on what they've been saying. Granted, we still indulge in giving the headlines to ballot challenges, poll numbers and fundraising totals, but the more important stuff is there.

People who claim to be "turned off by politics" or "not interested" (thanks to FFR215 for the video), need to realize that politics affects everything they do in their lives.

Student loan interest rates too high? Politics.
Street marred by potholes? Politics.
The war in Iraq? Politics.
Having to send your kid to private school because you'd never consider the local public high school? Politics.
Can't remember if your recycling day was today or next week? Politics.

I could go on and on.

Early on in this project I found a quote from Plato that's been taped to my computer ever since:

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."

You don't have to run for office to "engage in politics" but you do have to give, at the very least, a rat's ass about the process.

I also realize the futility of expressing these opinions in a blog which is most likely read by people who already do give a rat's ass and more (a hippo's ass?). Guess I just wanted to vent a little. Feel free to join me or defend our fellow Philadelphians.

Ok... my ire has abated... for now.

Philebrity.com, one of the sites out there with a real shot at reaching a segment of the population who don't usually pay a lot of attention to politics, is taking on the challenge of getting their readers involved.

Here's the latest from their "New Rules," of which we are a proud partner:

Visit us at any of the following locations over the next 10 days and we’ll have form and pen ready for you so we can finally topple Philly’s lame machine once and for all. Or something.

Friday 4/6: First Friday, 2nd street north of Market. 5-7pm
Monday 4/9: Clothes Pin in Center City 12-2pm
Tuesday 4/10: UPenn - location TBD 12-2pm
Wednesday 4/11: 7 - 9pm Trocadero Theatre - Shame of the City Screening
Thursday 4/12: Temple University - location TBD 12-2pm
Friday 4/13: Clothes Pin in Center City 12 -2pm
Saturday 4/14: Popped! Show at 1021 N. Hancock St. 2 -7pm

snip

P.S. We still need volunteers. Can you spare a few hours for the sake of Democracy? You can? Get in touch: tips[at]philebrity[dot]com.

Everything you need to know about "New Rules" can be found at PHILEBRITY.COM/NEWRULES.

Today's Clout contains something that everyone who likes those Tom Knox ads needs to know.

It reveals that, back in 1998, Tom Knox was briefly considered as a candidate for mayor...

By Sen. Vince Fumo -- the master political planner and ultimate insider.

It didn't work, because Knox hadn't lived in the city long enough. But, when Fumo settled on Marty Weinberg, Knox was happy to help Fumo back the new candidate: "Knox held a $10,000-a-couple fundraiser for Weinberg and donated 4,000 square feet of office space for his campaign headquarters," Clout reports.

Now, that's one thing. Who doesn't loan out spare office space to help the cause?

But the other thing is this: When Clout first approached the Knox camp with this, they denied any political relationship between the two pols, saying they were "enemies."

After confirming the facts the campaign's response become somewhat softened: "Tom did know Vince when he was exploring his run for mayor in 1999, but that became a non-issue because of the residency requirement. Vince is the epitome of what Tom is running against this time around.”

You know, I had friendships like that in high school. They can get ugly.

Other good stuff in Clout today:

*The guy NEXT to the shark Wednesday? (Confused? We mean this shark.) He's attorney Alex Talmadge. Who is Talmadge close to, when he's not close to a shark? U.S. Rep. Bob Brady.

*Fattah compares his candidacy to both the Easter story and the "Rumble in the Jungle" Ali-Foreman fight in 1974.

Have a great Friday!

Here's the promo copy for Monday's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane:

Update on Philadelphia's mayoral race. We are heading into the final weeks as the five major democratic candidates head for the May 15th Primary. In this heavily democratic city, next month's winner is favored to win the November general election. We talk with CATHERINE LUCEY, a political reporter for The Philadelphia Daily News, and we'll hear from SAM KATZ, a former Philadelphia mayoral candidate, and DAN POHLIG the blogger for The Next Mayor's Project, which is a joint project between WHYY, The Daily News, & The Committee of Seventy.

Feel free to call in and grill Catherine and me (or Sam).

That's 10am on Monday, April 9th on 91 FM, which you listen to on the internet here.

Can't get enough face time with candidates? Well, several of them will be conducting "meet and greet," "grip and grin," "shake and show" events today and tomorrow.

Just got this one from Fattah who will be at the Gallery today at 5:30pm. My advice: stand by the Cinnabon. No one can resist the smell of a freshly-baked cinnamon bun. If voters associate you with pleasant smells, maybe that'll carry over in the voting booth.

(Wendy added) And on Saturday, Fattah will visit North Philadelphia's 22nd Street commercial corridor, chatting up shoppers, store owners, and supporters at 22nd and Somerset at about 2:30 p.m.

Michael Nutter, who most recently associated himself with the lovely "Essence de Broad Street Subway", will be visiting the Quartermaster Plaza in South Philadelphia, tomorrow at 3:30pm.

(Wendy edited to add more...)

Dwight Evans will be meeting and greeting shoppers in Southwest Philadelphia beginning at 1:15 PM on Saturday, April 7th. Where, you ask? Starting at 1:15 p.m., he'll be between 52nd and 60th Streets on Woodland Avenue; starting at 2 p.m., he'll be at the Island Avenue Shoprite, 2910 Island Avenue.

And Bob Brady will be Takin' it to the Streets this weekend, as he does every weekend, in the Northeast; catch up with him at 12:30 p.m. on Cottman Ave., headed to Roosevelt Blvd., or at 1 p.m. from the boulevard to Adams Ave.

Then, at 1:20, Brady will open a Latino Outreach office at 2753 N. 5th St.

Anyone who reads the Philadelphia Gay News, which has comparisons of the candidates today, may be quite surprised by one candidate's answer to this question:

Do you support extending all the rights that exist for heterosexual married couples to same-sex couples?"

In the print edition, Michael Nutter's response reads, "no." Which would be quite a reversal for the man who wrote the bill that became the city's domestic partnership law.

Obviously, it's wrong -- a typo, the publisher has told the Nutter campaign. It's correct on the Web, and PGN also promised to "print a very clear correction in the following week's issue," the campaign says.

On Monday, Michael Nutter will roll out his plan to create jobs. Details can be found here.

I'm sure many people will be paying close attention to see what he has to say about wage and business tax cuts - either because they really agree with him or because they REALLY disagree. I'm betting tax cuts won't get much play in his plan. They'll be mentioned, but the emphasis will most likely be on other efforts the city can make to enhance commercial corridors, train workers, etc.

We'll have to wait and see.

Busy week next week, folks -- I had to hide almost all of it behind the jump.

Still, here's your weekly update of upcoming events in the mayor's race!

Upcoming Events:

MONDAY
“Design for Community and Quality of Life” Mayoral candidates forum
(April 9, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm, The Montgomery Auditorium of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Branch, 1901 Vine Street)

This event is a mayoral candidates forum focusing on issues affecting the look and feel of neighborhoods. An emphasis will be put on the physical design of Philadelphia. The event is free and open to the public, and no registration is required.
The forum will be moderated by Chris Satullo, Editorial Page Editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Audience members will also be allowed to submit questions.
Hosted by the Design Advocacy Group, American Institute for Architects Philadelphia, Local Host Committee of the 2007 American Planning Association Conference, the Community Design Collaborative, the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Inquirer/University of Pennsylvania's "Great Expectations: Citizen Voices on Philadelphia's Future."
For more information, visit www.designadvocacy.org

Urban Professional Forum
(April 9, 7 pm - 8:30 pm, The National Constitution Center's Kirby Auditorium)

The Urban League's "Urban Professionals: Philly Under 40" candidates forum will be hosted by Sheinelle Jones, FOX TV 29 and Colby Colb, Radio-One 100.3 The Beat. RSVP: ulyp@urbanleaguephila.org; the event is free but parking is $7 Open to public.

Phila. Forward April Tax Reform Meetup - Meet The Next Mayor
(April 9, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm, 2229 Grays Ferry Ave)

Candidate Chaka Fattah will discuss tax reform at Grace Tavern. RSVP: brett@philadelphiaforward.org. For more information, visit: http://www.philadelphiaforward.org/content/view/191/37/

NOTE: Monday, the Philebrity/The Next Mayor New Rules voter registration drive will be at the Clothespin statue near City Hall from noon to 2 p.m.

Several weeks ago, two smart someones said to me (in separate conversations) that in this campaign it's essential that candidates define themselves.

Knox is the outsider (though maybe not as outsider as we think.) Fattah is the front-running policy wonk (though not as front-running as he used to be). Brady, for good or ill, is the old-style pol with a populist touch. Evans is the mayor of West Oak Lane, with hopes to bring his experience to the rest of the city.

Nutter's rep was "reformer with a record of success."

Apparently, he'd like to sharpen that a bit.

He's got a new ad set to hit the airwaves, and, again, it's message is:

MICHAEL NUTTER: NOT JOHN STREET.

"John Street says I shouldn't be running against him for Mayor," says Nutter, talking directly to the camera, as the ad begins. "But in a way, I am. I am running against the things he's done wrong."

Later, he says, ""If that makes some of you uncomfortable, I'm sorry. You can vote for one of my opponents. But if you want to move us in a better direction, and manage the city the right way, I'm your man."

Yet a third smart someone and I have been talking for weeks about whether this is a savvy political move. He thinks not, arguing that it's a little silly to run against someone who isn't in the race. I think so. It certainly won't hurt Nutter's base, and it might woo a few of those disgruntled-with-the-way-things-are-going voters that Knox has snapped up.

Check out the ad here, and tell me what you think.

Bob Brady will collect a "major endorsement" tomorrow morning, the campaign says. They didn't say who.

But they did say where -- 1900 Cottman Ave.

And what's at 1900 Cottman? A Philadelphia Fire Department station, housing Engine 71 and Ladder 28, to be exact. So, whatever's coming, could it involve the firefighters?

As usual, it's John Baer who crystallizes a key question of this race in today's Daily News: Why did the poll numbers for Nutter and Evans move so little in the last Keystone Poll? And what's going on with the Fattah campaign?

"...Mysteries.

"Evans first. Why, given his experience, what he knows, what he's done for schools and law enforcement, how his North Philly House district is a mini-town of economic, social and public safety gains he could maybe bring the whole city, is he last in the latest Daily News poll?

"Why, given the story he has to tell and his work on every important issue in the last two decades, especially gun violence, does he run a TV ad about a kid getting on a SEPTA bus with a table?

"...I feel the same about Nutter. Smart, experienced, capable. He, too, let's be honest, would make a fine mayor. Yet I keep hearing he can't win because he's "not black enough," because issues he's most identified with (smoking ban, ethics, campaign finance) are non-issues in the neighborhoods.

"...Evans and Nutter are the long-time, hands-on laborers most familiar with city problems. Yet they trail the field and (worse, for them) face growing perceptions they can't win.

"...Fattah? The mystery to me is what's going on.

"Regarded by many as frontrunner since `05 when he started serious campaign planning, his recent minor missteps (tax returns and finance reports) strike me as surprising.

"...He has a dream team of advisors, including David Axelrod (who advises Barack Obama), Greg Naylor, Herb Vederman and Tony Podesta, all veteran pros of Philly, state and national politics.

"His run should run as smoothly as a five-figure Rolex watch.

"But it seems slightly off, like someone forgot to spring forward.

"Over confident? Waiting too long to go on TV?

"I just don't know."

So let's discuss. I'll start with a small idea: the candidates' ads. I think we're paying too much attention to their presence -- to the fact that Knox's ads are everywhere -- and not quite enough to what's working. Take Brady, for example. He's bought plenty of time, to be sure, and labor support will never hurt in Philly.

But I think the reason he moved so much in the poll is that the ads he aired really hit home. They were clear, law-and-order and protect-our-kids messages. Likewise, Knox's ads are everywhere, but they are also good ads -- they, too are resonant messages that give you an unmistakeable image of the candidate.

Fattah has done well because he has one of the most recognizeable names in Philadelphia, thanks to his role as Congressman and his wife's role as TV news anchor. Now, he'll have to give the masses more to work on -- to pony up some of his resources and start advertising that's as clear as Knox and Brady's.

Nutter has started an ad campaign -- barely begun when the Daily News did the latest Keystone poll -- that has a clear message too: He's not John Street. It will be interesting to see if that message resonates as well.

Personally, I liked Evans' "Table" ad, but perhaps it is possible to overthink political advertising.

The Brady endorsement we mentioned earlier is indeed the Philadelphia firefighters union, IAFF Local 22.

With the glut of mayoral events happening right now, we'll occasionally take a minute to point out some particularly good ones. (Don't forget to watch the calendar on our main site for continuing updates.)

Here's a great one: Today, Philebrity and The Next Mayor will be registering voters at the Clothespin near City Hall from noon to 2 p.m. Come say hi -- or come register.

Second, there's an excellent forum tonight: The Urban League of Philadelphia will host its "Philly under 40" candidates forum at the National Constitution Center's Kirby Auditorium, starting at 7 p.m. It's free and likely to be one of the more engaging events of the forum frenzy.

Third, those of you with an interest in planning can go out a little earlier to check out the "Design for Community and Quality of Life" candidates forum from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Free Library's Central Branch.

AND then you can end your evening by breaking bread with Chaka Fattah at Philadelphia Forward's Tax Reform Meetup at Grace Tavern, 2229 Grays Ferry Ave., from 7:30 to 9:30.

Whew.

The same anonymous bard who sent us mayoral poetry has now sent in...

FUMO POETRY!

It's not nearly as bad as the genre might suggest. Our anonymous bard has a sense of humor.

"Lament of a Fumo Ex"

The Vince of Darkness
was my guy
And while it lasted
I lived high

Free tiki lamps
imported paint
Helped me forget
he was no saint

I loved the power
I loved the thrill
I loved the dinners
at Capital Grille

If you haven't made this one of your weekly rituals, I suggest that you take a few minutes every Thursday to check out the Letters to the Editor in The Northeast Times. In addition to the usual rants about the weather, daylight savings time, trash on the sidewalk (um... isn't it easier just to pick up the trash rather than write a letter complaining about it?) and the latent racism (scroll down to "A new idea for Section 8 recipients") found in many of the letters, you also get wonderful examples about why the level of civic engagement in this town isn't as high as we might like it to be:

Isn’t it bad enough that we have to hear about this voting crap on our T.V.s, billboards and newspapers, etc.? But now I can’t even drive to work without seeing miles of these signs.

Emphasis is mine. You can read the whole letter if you scroll down to "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign . . ." Thanks to Mr. Wagner for his commentary on one of our pretty useless rights - the right to vote. Ok, to be fair, he never says he's opposed to voting just opposed to attempts by campaigns to educate people about who he might be voting for. Makes it so much easier to choose when you don't know nuthin' 'bout nobody.

In fact, I want to encourage the readers of this blog to check in every week with their favorite gems.

Here's a fantastic piece by Dan McQuade (D-Mac) at Philly Will Do in which he responds to an angry comment by the Philly blogosphere's newest resident, Sam Katz.

It's must read for all of you fans of the style of David Foster Wallace out there.

We have actual news regarding He Who This Blog Does Not Name, T-is-for-tough Milton Street.

Commonwealth Court kept him on the ballot today.

That would be three challenges he's faced down. It really makes you feel for Sharif.

So, after hearing a bit of the candidates' talk at the Urban League forum tonight, I spent a little time reading Michael Nutter's newly released economic development plan. Seemed like a fitting combination.

It's another large plan that has the feeling of something that he's thought about for a long time.

Nutter emphasizes job training and additional education as paths to prosperity for Philadelphians. Which is good. We do have a two-tier educational system in the city -- we have some of the finest educational institutions in the world, yet 40 percent of our public school kids never make it through 12th grade. What we need is the middle. We need people with good skills, who are trained in union apprenticeships, or have high school diplomas, or have associate's degrees. These are the people who build a workforce -- not the double-doctorates, and certainly not the dropouts.

To build that middle, among other things, Nutter vows to restore funding to the Community College of Philadelphia and to encourage portable, employer-matched saving accounts for continuing education.

Nutter also spends time rightfully blasting the city's shameful performance on hiring firms led by ethnic minorities, women or disabled people for city contracts. MBEC was a disaster, and its eventual collapse thanks to poor results and the investigation into the bugging of John Street's office was almost a blessing in disguise. Nutter offers a plan to start over with a new "Economic Opportunity Cabinet." And he sets specific goals.

He also suggests offering $10,000 tax credits to businesses that hire ex-offenders. In City Council, Wilson Goode has pushed a bill to offer $5,000 credits to businesses that hire people with a record.

And Nutter's neighborhood development plans -- use tax-increment financing to get needed projects off the ground, develop commercial corridors and retail development near transit systems -- are the kind of well-thought-out proposals you'd expect from someone who had been in Council for so long.

However, there were a few things in the plan that I had questions about. Such as:

He commits to "establish an Office of Business Services to work with any business or prospective business, in order to provide technical assistance and eliminate obstacles that businesses encounter in the City. Every business that comes through the door will have a Business Assistance Representative assigned to it."

Wow, that would be nice -- though it seems 1) a workaround to broken city systems -- wouldn't Philly be great if everything didn't have to be expedited just to get it done? and 2) almost insanely hard to do. I would really rather us just fix what's broken, be it cumbersome licensing practices or burdensome tax structures.

Speaking of which, no, taxes aren't mentioned in this plan.

I was also struck by the idea to "move all workforce development systems under the oversight of the new Office of Small Business Services." Is that possible, with the amount of federal money in them and the (admittedly, cumbersome) federal structure that came with it?

As to the idea to "require that at least fifty percent of all construction hours on large projects that are funded with governmental funds be performed by Philadelphia residents" -- again, do we want to make that a mandatory requirement or a goal that would get you, say, better incentives?

You should read the plan for yourself and see what you think. For comparison's sake, Chaka Fattah and Dwight Evans have also published policy papers on job creation.

Now that all five major Democratic candidates are on the air with TV commercials -- welcome to the fray, Chaka Fattah! -- seems like it's time to critique them en masse.

Which ones work? Which ones bend the truth? Which ones are just annoying?

And how do you like Knox's "Don't hate me for being the frontrunner!" strategy, or Nutter's "I AM NOT JOHN STREET" message?

We're gonna do a little blog-based survey of sorts. Just watch the five ads below (or turn on your TV during the local news; before you see the latest horror-story Phillies score you'll see them all, probably twice). Then leave a comment with your thoughts.

We'll report out the results later today.

Remember, the campaigns are all still fliming, so now is the time to tell them what you think.

Chaka Fattah's "Transform" ad

Tom Knox's "Five Candidates" ad

Michael Nutter's latest ad

Dwight Evans' "Table" ad

Bob Brady's "Son" ad
(This ad is a little dated. If you'd rather, comment on any ad from Brady's Web site.)

Pensions... boom boom... healthcare... boom boom... prison costs... boom boom...

The budgetary pressures facing the next mayor are starting to get more play throughout the media. Metro reporter and proprietor of the blog FFR215, Josh Cornfield, has a piece today called "Creeping budget concerns will be felt by next mayor." His accompanying piece on his blog includes a great conversation with Tom Cronin, the head of the city's white collar union.

Cronin's quote in the Metro gives me a lot more hope that something can be worked out about this problem:

"If they want to come to the bargaining table ... and it’s a good give-and-take, I think problems could be resolved,” said Tom Cronin, president of AFSCME District Council 47, which represents the city’s white-collar workers. “If one comes with a predisposition to punish or to take away wages and benefits, then any union worth its salt will go to war.”

That's a lot more encouraging than his quote in Mark McDonald's Daily News piece from a few weeks ago, regarding skyrocketing healthcare and pension costs:

Cronin said the health-care system in the United States is broken and a solution must come from the state and federal governments. Until then, the city should just "pay the increased costs, plain and simple," he said.

Although you should read Josh's blog to find out how he feels about Tom Knox.

Here's a synopsis of what you're saying so far about the candidates ads. Click here to share your thoughts in our head-to-head comparison.

Knox: "Stretching the truth;" "targeting other candidates supporters" "better come up with some more details soon"

Fattah: "Nice music, but not much else" "successful in establishing to a guy who doesn't read the papers that they have accomplished things" "very entertaining- with the hip hop and the great visuals -- people will watch this one"

Evans: "clever ad, nice message .. I don't know that it'll connect too well with the average, drooling TV watcher" like an "asthma medicine" ad; come across as really caring about the people of this city

Brady: "Come across as really caring"

Nutter:"tangible baseline to compare him against, but still sounds fairly introductory" "not very effective" "needs to get more emotional, and personal"

Oh, my, if you guys feel this strongly about the ads now, you are gonna HATE the rest of April.

Our "rate the ads" effort has raised much critique of the Nutter ad -- among his fans, I must say -- and relatively positive things to say about Brady's efforts. Here's a sampling of what you are saying about each candidate's messages to date.

Click here to see them all and jump into the fray:

Nutter: "one of the worse political ads I've ever seen" "a good tack to take" "needs to follow these ads with some more details about his ideas and track record" "the message will resonate" "has a slightly strange voice" "left me a little cold"

Brady: "painted him as the "Bob from the Block" kind of guy"

Finally, this anon. critique is so good I'll just post the whole thing:

Knox - good message, but the spots look cheesy, and the more he talks the less likable he is.

Nutter - good concept, really bad execution, and he shouldn't talk either.

Fattah - nice, I thought it gave him context, though I would have thought he would do well talking in his ad

Brady - surprisingly good, I thought he was a hack union guy, but he comes across as so human and warm, you can't help but like him. I really like the one where he and Abraham are talking.

C'mon, you should sound off too...

So John Baer was there in Commonwealth Court (or is it Cat Court? Because felines played a significant role in the case before the one we care about. Just read his column.) as another court heard Knox-funded arguments to kick the Congressman off the ballot.

I am so not taking sides here. However, this in John's column stuck in my craw:

"Brady’s camp says the payments aren’t “income” since Brady didn’t get anything. It’s not income and it’s not pension, argued [Brady lawyer Steve] Cozen, so it doesn’t have to be divulged."

I call it deferred compensation, and gee, it sure seems like something of value that voters should know about. Or maybe Brady plans to donate that pension to hiring inner-city apprentices come his retirement?

Whether that means he should be kicked off the ballot, however ...

What say you?

I hope you read this in time before April 18th.

Today is the last day a good day to register for a great event that is taking place on Wednesday, April 18th. At 5:30pm, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia is hosting Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper for a frank discussion about what it takes to be a great mayor. More information (including a flashy picture of "Mayor Hick") is available here (edited to add) - ignore the registration deadline.

Hickenlooper was named one of America's top five "big-city" mayors by Time Magazine in 2005. He's a native of the Philadelphia area and he's enjoying job approval ratings in Denver and the surrounding suburbs that are so high, you'd think his name was John Elway.

You can RSVP at the Economy League's website, by email or by calling 215-563-3640.

The Economy League will be bringing more mayor's in for this "Profiles in Leadership: America's Great Mayors" series, but this is the only one that will occur before the primary.

(Edited to add) The Economy League has done away with the registration deadline (originally scheduled for today. Registration is still required and the costs are the same but you can register anytime up to the date of the event.

Answer: we will!

We get letters. This one comes from Melissa Weiler Gerber, Executive Director of WOMEN'S WAY. She says it best so I'll just share her words with everyone:

As a member of the Mayor's Children's Commission, and as the Executive Director of an organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of women, girls and families in our region, I urge you to add children to your priority list for our next mayor. Investing in the hope, education, health and future of our children is surely the best tactic for countering crime, ensuring a quality work force and facilitating steady growth in our community. It would send a powerful message to candidates and citizens, and to those watching from other cities around the country, that we are taking a proactive approach to our city's issues by prioritizing our most precious commodity - our kids.

With thanks for your consideration and for all the great work you are doing.

Trust me, we're doing all we can to make sure that people know about forums that are based on education or children's issues and we just added a new page comparing all of the candidates on their positions regarding education.

We'll do our best to share video of this coming Friday's forum at the National Constitution Center so stay tuned!

I would just like to point out that the political ads doing the best in our highly unscientific and survey come from...

Bob Brady. Many people say his ads are relevant and moving.

If you haven't expressed your opinion of the ads -- and we've posted them all in case they haven't been drilled fully into your brain yet -- just click here.

What do a U.S. Congressman and a guy with a Mohawk running a write-in campaign for mayor of Philadelphia have in common?

That’s what Chaka Fattah and Larry West looked like they were wondering when they wound up on stage together at the Trocadero Wednesday night after a free screening to celebrate the DVD release of Tigre Hill’s “Shame of a City,” a documentary examining the controversial 2003 mayoral election.

Fattah was clearly in unfriendly territory in front of a crowd that had just watched him on film help boost John Street to re-election while attacking a federal investigation into City Hall’s “pay-to-play” political culture.

Fattah arrived after the screening so he must have missed the guffaws at some of Street’s on-film 2003 campaign pronouncements. His continued attacks on the U.S. Department of Justice of the investigation seemed to have little impact.

West, his Mohawk at its most upright, turned to Fattah to shake hands on stage and announced, “I can honestly say after seeing that film that I remember why I’m running against you.”

Yet Fattah gamely pressed forward, suggesting someone should do a documentary about poverty in Philadelphia, drawing groans by saying he thinks Street is an honest mayor, and asserting that anyone upset with what happened in 2003 and after should try to change the city’s pay-to-play political culture.

“If you’ve got a hang-up on John Street, you need to get over it,” Fattah told the crowd. “We’re getting ready to move on.”

(Thanks to Chris Brennan of the Daily News for this report -- Wendy)

First, Chaka Fattah had his women's agenda. And Thursday, Michael Nutter will lead a discussion on woman's issues. (It's at 1:30 p.m. at his campaign office, 42 S. 15th Street, Suite 625.)

There's certainly nothing amiss with Fattah's plan (yes, more women-owned businesses please). And Nutter has lined up a great group: Cynthia Figuero, executive director of Women Against Abuse; Cassandra Hayes, who led her business, Bodacious Promotions, Inc., to success; and Kistine Carolan, community engagement coordinator of the excellent Maternity Care Coalition.

I've got the obvious beef. Why are we gender-separating local issues? I feel the same way about "women's issues" as I did about the "women's section" of the newspaper. So the rest of the stuff is the men's issues?

Now, I know that both of these candidates would never say that. I also know they are surrounded by smart women, which tells me more about their respect for women than any agenda could.

I just hate the political realities that force them to package their message in this way.

I hate to see Paul Vallas go.

I know, he is not a miracle worker. I know, any successes of the school district in the last five years may have had more to do with the fact that the district had $300 million in additional funding to play with after the state takeover than with the guy at the top. I know, there are people in town who think that he played fast and loose with the schools budget.

But he brought an enormous amount of energy to a job that is known for sapping it right out of your bone marrow. A job that really may be impossible for one person to do.

Really. You put one person in charge of feeding, counseling, protecting and, yes, educating 280,000 kids? Then you give him less per-pupil spending -- and more impoverished, frequently relocating, struggling young people -- than the districts in the 'burbs? Saddle him with a complicated school governance structure that involves for-profit businesses running some schools, community organizations running others, squabbles on the School Reform Commission and you expect -- what?

We expect everything, of course. And we did actually get some of it. We got an increase in test scores, and we got it not at privately managed schools but at the schools that the district poured extra money into. We got the School of the Future in West Philly, which really is a massive and exciting achievement.

And we got some things that people might not have noticed, such as breaking up Kensington High School into three small schools. I remember when Kensington was a constant source of headlines -- who's heard anything from it lately? Students there are suddenly focused on culinary arts and creative performance; it's quiet and successful.

That's just one example. The fact is, there has been energy, activity and effort in the district in the past five years. That's an important improvement.

Filling his shoes will be very difficult. Mensah Dean of the Daily News quoted Vallas saying this yesterday:

"I think the next mayor should play a critical role in the selection of the next superintendent," Vallas said before getting into his chauffeur-driven school district car.

Vallas was one of the biggest names in big-city education. If not him, who?

And so I am sorry to see Paul Vallas have to fall on his budgetary sword, hand over a deficit-burdened, doomsday budget to the SRC and City Council, and go. Without overstating his acheivements or underplaying concerns that some may have about him, it will be very hard to fill this job with someone of comparable energy and stature.

Yet another incredibly tough choice that the SRC faces -- and that the next mayor faces, just as soon as he walks in the door.

The Vallas news is pretty big. In fact, I'd say that for those of us closely following the mayor's race, the announcement that Vallas is leaving at the end of the school year should be an "Imus moment" if not an "Anna Nicole" moment for the coverage of the race. And who knows? Maybe it will be. (edit to add) And it happens to come on a day when there seems to be no news about the candidates at all!

But I wonder, how much of an influence will the next mayor have on the selection of Vallas' replacement? We've already seen one case in which the next mayor's hands were essentially tied when the board of PHA re-upped Carl Greene for another five years. Each of the candidates had a different response to this, mostly aimed at Mayor Street's decision making, since he chairs the board, rather than at the job Greene has done.

But now, a new replacement will have to be named, sooner rather than later. If Vallas is sticking it out until the end of the school year, it seems like his replacement would need to be lined up pretty early in summer, if not before. We've all been going on the assumption that the winner of the Democratic primary would be the "presumptive mayor" but statutorily, he'd have no more of a standing to make that choice than they guy who sells me my pretzel at 6th and Chestnut. Actually, come to think of it, considering how the SRC functions, the current mayor probably has only slightly more of a standing.

Regardless, the next mayor should have some say and very well may get it behind the scenes by influencing the members of the SRC. Before we can see how this plays out, it's right to wonder if the next mayor will be stuck with a school's chief that they had absolutely no influence - even just be talking to the SRC - in choosing.

Maybe they'd consider an interim CEO? Who knows?

It's also possible that some of the candidates would actually be relieved that it's not their decision to make.

A handful of gay activists descended on Tom Knox’s headquarters this afternoon to question him about his positions on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

In an email press release this morning, the group called themselves an ad-hoc coalition of concerned gay voters. No one took credit for being the leader and it wasn’t clear who the driving force behind the effort was.

And only five people seemed concerned enough to actually protest. They met in LOVE Park and – accompanied by four reporters – made their way to Knox’s office on 17th and Arch streets where several Knox staffers agreed to meet with them.

The attendees said they were concerned that Knox had not attended two forums on LGBT issues and said they didn’t like his answers to a series of questions posed to all the candidates by the Philadelphia Gay News last week.

“He doesn’t sound like he’s as well versed as he might be,” said Ryan Bunch, 31, a member of Liberty City Democrats, who said he will likely support U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah for mayor.

In the interview, Knox said he didn’t need an advisor on gay issues and said he couldn’t speak about the real estate transfer tax because he didn’t understand it. He also said he had gay staffers and that “gays tend to be studious workers.

A Knox spokesman said yesterday that Knox would be an inclusive mayor and that he planned to continue to educate himself on LGBT issues.

Noticed by the Daily News' Chris Brennan:

The Public Record, Jimmy Tayoun’s weekly politics-laden newspaper, takes some shots at “this city’s main print media” today with an unsigned front page story complaining that the papers have “targeted” Tom Knox, Bob Brady or Chaka Fattah while leaving Michael Nutter and Dwight Evans “relatively unscathed.”

The story points to a recent Daily News story about Knox’s previous political relationship with state Sen. Vince Fumo, a recent Inquirer story about the jobs held by Brady’s family and a Daily News story about Fattah’s Gear-Up education program.

Astute Public Record readers might wonder if it has the chops to play media critic. Next to its front page story is another article with a big smiling picture of Bob Brady, lauding his work teaching a course at the University of Pennsylvania. The headline: “Will our next mayor be a Penn Professor?”

We asked all the mayoral candidates today for their response to Paul Vallas' departure - and what role they felt the next mayor should play in choosing a successor.

One thing is clear: no matter which man wins in May (and becomes the likely next mayor), that man will not sit on the sidelines as the new schools CEO is chosen, despite the fact that the school district is under the state control of the School Reform Commission.

They want their own say in the choice, and they want the city to have its say.

Dwight Evans said in an interview that "there should be a task force put together - of public and private people - that's broader than just the SRC" to discuss not only who the CEO should be but also what the city wants from ongoing school improvement.

He wants the conversation to focus on "not just the personality that we select, but what our expectations are in terms of a five-year vision for school reform."

Evans, who has a long history of encouraging options beyond traditional public school - including charter schools - pushed for the state takeover as a state representative. Yet he believes the city has a good shot at affecting the choice of a new CEO, thanks in part to who is running the state right now. "There is a Democrat in the Governor's mansion," Evans said with a bit of a chuckle. "And the last time I checked, he lived in East Falls. He is from Philadelphia, and you can talk to him."

Evans compared Vallas to John Timoney, another outsider who shook up a Philadelphia institution, and had a not-long, if memorable, tenure, and who Evans backed. Changing things in Philly is not easy, he implied, and reformers often have a limited life span.

But reforms can stick. Chaka Fattah -- who has been a strong backer of Paul Vallas -- took a moment from our interview to praise Vallas' tenure: "Philadelphia, its children, and the city as a whole have benefitted greatly from ... the significant progress of and public interest in our schools," he said. "I credit Paul Vallas and the SRC for five years of very hard, difficult work."

And, he said, "we have to work to get the focus on the future now," making it clear that he'd be involved in the conversation about the new CEO.

"I would expect if I am the nominee for mayor -- or as a Congressman -- that I am going to be involved substantially in discussions about the future of the district and the leadership of the district," Fattah said. He added that he'd already "reached out to the governor and the SRC" about the replacement of Vallas and the need "to think about school reform."

Fattah said there's plenty of reason to believe the city will have its say, including the history of the district. "The mayor and the former Governor, Mark Schweiker, had substantial involvement in the selection of Paul Vallas," he said. "The original [state] plan was to have Chris Whittle and Edison Schools run the whole district." But the city protested, Edison was given a limited number of schools, and Vallas was hired.

"It's through the efforts of Philadelphians that there was the involvement of the mayor and others," he said, adding that sharing power was one reason the state-city partnership on the SRC "has worked as well as it has worked."

Michael Nutter said in an interview that he believes the schools should be under city control, not state control. But even before that happens, he said the next mayor "should have an enhanced role in choosing who the next CEO should be."

Tom Knox and Bob Brady issued statements: “Tom believes Paul Vallas did an admirable job under the circumstances and wishes him well," the Knox statement read. "But Philadelphia schools still have many problems and there’s obviously room for improvement. Tom would like to conduct a nationwide search for a CEO to find the most qualified candidate possible, because Philadelphia deserves nothing but the best.”

Brady's statement expressed similar thoughts: “Over the years Paul Vallas significantly impacted the Philadelphia School District and its students. We still have a long way to go towards decreasing class sizes, increasing student achievement levels and improving safety in our schools.

"That is why we need to conduct a nation-wide search for a new School District chief executive officer to manage the needs of our 174,000 students. The new CEO should share the same passion for educating our students as Dr. Vallas, along with a clear vision for addressing the district’s finances and pressing safety concerns in our schools."

“Paul Vallas always served with the best interests of our children at heart, and he can be proud of his exemplary record here in Philadelphia," the Brady statement concluded. "I wish him the best of luck, and I hope he will continue to bring his success and energy to his next destination.”

You can read more about education's odd role in this race -- including a comparison of the candidates' plans to date -- on our education page. And don't forget tonight's big candidates forum on education, which got a lot more interesting with Vallas' news today.

More coverage of last night's "New Rules" event from Josh at the Metro and FFR215.

Here's a minute-by-minute summary from a blog I visited for the first time today... complete with pictures. Good stuff.

I was poking around in our vast video library and found this video from an early March event sponsored by Congreso. My hope is that over the next couple weeks, I'll have more of this to share. Anyone with a video camera and a desire to let the candidates know what they're thinking is encouraged to email me and let me know so I can arrange to get your video on the interweb tubes. Enjoy.

(If you can't see it yet, be patient. Youtube is processing it as we speak!)

Although the pending departure of schools CEO Paul Vallas dominated news headlines today, it wasn't the main focus of a mayoral forum on education tonight.

Democratic mayoral candidates U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, Tom Knox and former councilman Michael Nutter were questioned about education funding, class sizes and teacher training by students and educators. The event was sponsored by the Philadelphia Cross City Campaign for School Reform, a coalition of progressive and education groups.

In general, all the candidates said they would push for better funding and higher quality schools.

Nutter noted that his daughter attends public schools. Fattah stressed that education has been the focus of his legislative career. Brady said he would push Harrisburg to provide more funding. And Knox said he wanted more career training in schools.

A few comments were made regarding Vallas. Nutter spoke about the need for Philadelphia to regain control the schools and said the departure of Vallas was an opportunity to look at the governance of the schools.
And Knox said he hopes Mayor Street seeks input from the winner of the primary election regarding the next CEO.

Once several years ago, while walking on Chestnut Street, I passed a somewhat shabbily dressed guy soliciting business with a sign:

"URBAN PLANNER," it read. "WILL PLAN YOUR CITY FOR FOOD."

This is a honest-to-God true story. I did see this, and I have forever wished that I had a picture of it.

It was funny, of course, which was the point, but I think about it not unfrequently for a different reason. Philadelphia is an epicenter of thought on cities and how to develop them intelligently. From Jane Jacobs to Penn Praxis to the Center City District, we inspire anger, thought and action all aimed at making cities more useful, enjoyable places to be.

If you can joke about how many urban planners your city spawns, you're in the middle of a movement.

And now we're getting recognized for it.

Starting Saturday, Philadelphia will plan host to the National Planning Conference of the American Planning Association. Yes, we have lots of conferences here. Yes, this one is special. This is the largest conference devoted to thought about how cities work and how policies can shape them, and it's here.

(That's no isolated event. Starting May 17, the city will host the Congress for New Urbanism, the gathering of an influential movement that promotes walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl. Starting May 30, we'll host real estate journalists from throughout the nation. And from April 12 through 22, DesignPhiladelphia will point out just how creative we are with exhibitions, parties and more on design fields in the city, including urban design and architecture.)

Fortunately, the smart people at the Center City District have seized this opportunity to get the mayoral candidates to think about city planning. They are hosting two events:

Sunday, at 1 p.m., at the Convention Center Roon 202, they will present a new publication, "Center City: Planning for Growth, 2007-2012" as part of an APA session.

Then, Monday at 4 p.m. at the Four Seasons, they're going to ask the Democratic candidates to respond to it.

The candidates are busy guys, worried about crime and education, rushing from event to event. It would be a great achievement of this race if we could force them to stop and think for just a moment about how our city could prepare not just for the next mayor's term, or the next two terms, but about how smart planning can build a city for the next century.

Our reviewers had some concerns about Michael Nutter's I AM NOT JOHN STREET advertising messages, but the Nutter campaign says they're working.

They have a new internal poll that shows Nutter surging ahead of Chaka Fattah, behind only Tom Knox. The numbers show:

Tom Knox: 27
Michael Nutter: 18
Chaka Fattah: 15
Bob Brady: 11
Dwight Evans: 6
Undecided: 23

This poll was taken after Nutter's most recent ad started airing. The Daily News' most recent Keystone Poll was taken earlier in that ad buy.

Now, it's an internal poll. But, the accompanying memo says, Nutter has buffed up his image with voters as well. Nutters's "positive-to-negative ratio at nearly four to one; more important, Mr. Nutter’s standing among the critical undecided bloc is better than seven to one (positive to negative)," reads the internal memo about the poll, calling that "a strong indication that he has considerable room to grow in the coming weeks."

The survey was of 403 likely Democratic primary voters in Philadelphia. It has a margin of error of ±5.0 percentage points.

PS: I asked the Nutter campaign where the candidate was at the Shame of A City screening -- and they said he flat ran out of time that night, thanks to a series of public events and a private meeting that he had to attend. They added that he really wanted to be there.

So, now the pundits weigh in on the ads. Check out Catherine Lucey's story in today's Daily News.

Also -- this is most cool -- Catherine will offer her analysis of the CBS 3 debate as it airs Saturday. Make sure to come back Saturday for coverage of the first televised debate!

One of Philly's local tv legends, Ron Burgundy Larry Kane, has his own blog and used it last Friday to question whether the local media is titling things in Tom Knox's favor by failing to give any mention to the part of Knox's career that includes high-interest, payday lending:

Sources tell us that other reporters have the goods, but have decided not to go with the story which deals with charges that Knox presided over predatory lending in Philadelphia, charges that have not yet been proven, or addressed. The question is - if the story is real, why are these publications holding off? The big “if” here is the question of whether the accusations ARE real. The names of the reporters will be withheld to protect my sources and the reporter’s reputations.

That got me wondering. If even I know about Knox and payday lending, where must I have learned about it? Did Knox include it in one of his many and ubiquitous television ads? Did one of his rivals bring it up at one of the many forums that I've attended? Was it on an episode of 24? I never miss that show.

The answer, of course, is no. I learned about it the same way everyone else already knows about it. From reading the newspaper, where responsible and hardworking journalists have been writing about it pretty much from the get go. And if they didn't feature it, they at least included references to it when covering other candidates.

So I plugged the word "payday" into thenextmayor.com search bar to see what I could find.

Click on continue reading to see the results.

Don't forget: We're going to be summing up the CBS 3 debate (which is airing now) shortly -- so you can catch it even if you didn't catch it.

The Daily News' Catherine Lucey was there and will bring us the skinny tonight. Thanks, Catherine!

Ok, gang. Sorry we’re a little late with the minute by minute updates. We had a few technical difficulties. But thankfully we watched the debate live earlier, so our comments are ready to go! Welcome to the first mayoral debate on CBS 3, hosted by Larry Mendte. Let’s go….

Also, our buddy Josh at Metro has come up with a drinking game to go along with the debate. If you’re of legal age to imbibe and want to make the viewing process more lively, check it out!

And we’re off. Mendte says the debate will focus on three areas – crime, the city budget and schools. The candidates stand in a row at podiums in alphabetical order. The camera zooms in on each one and shows some biographical info. Brady looks irked, Evans too, Fattah beams, Knox looks stern and then flashes an awkward half smile, Nutter seems composed.

First question: Should the next mayor go outside the police department to pick the next commissioner? Any names in mind?

Playing it safe, Knox, Brady and Fattah all say they’ll try to look within the department first. Nutter says he’ll look “locally, regionally and nationally” to get the best candidate. None of them name names except for Evans, who repeats his campaign promise that he’ll try to bring back former commissioner John Timoney.

Mendte asks if before hiring more cops, the candidates will try to change work rules so more officers are on the street.

Brady says yes, and unsurprisingly notes that he got endorsements from the FOP and DA Lynn Abraham. “We don’t need someone with a gun and a badge sitting behind a desk,” he says. The others follow suit. Knox – who seems strained and nervous – says he wants miniature criminal justice centers around the city.

Bit of a zinger here, Mendte asks Fattah about his support for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal getting a new trial. He notes that the FOP has condemned the position and asks how Fattah could work with police if elected.

“He may very well be guilty but there should be a trial that determines that,” says Fattah, who says he’ll be able to work with the FOP. (Note: When the DN broke this story months ago, the FOP said they would actively work to defeat Fattah. )

Nutter, Brady and Evans all dodge the bullet, saying the mayor doesn’t get a say in whether Abu-Jamal shuld get a new trial. Brady even manages to work in the fact that his dad was a cop – he leaves out that he was a Port Authority cop.

Knox says he shouldn’t get a new trial. (Man, DN columnist John Baer’s comparison of Knox to an undertaker seems even more true right now.)

Next on the hot seat is Nutter, who is asked about his crime plan, which features aggressive police tactics like stopping and frisking people for illegal guns. Mendte asks if this could infringe on residents’ civil rights.

Nutter comes back strong: “I believe everyone has a civil right not to be shot. Anyone carrying a legal weapon, I plan to take that weapon away from them.”

No one else backs stop and frisk tactics, but unsurprisingly they all think they can make the city safer.

Evans talks about his work to improve safety in West Oak Lane. Fattah talks about a gun buy back program he set up. And Brady tells an anecdote about senior citizens who fear crime.

Only Knox criticizes Nutter, saying he doesn’t want to take away civil rights.

Next question for Evans: If he couldn’t get gun control laws passed while in the house, what would be different if he were elected mayor?

Evans gives a long answer which basically boils down to “the mood is different.”

Knox talks about how last summer he held a petition drive to get signatures asking the governor to give Philadelphia new gun laws. (Of course this effort also conveniently meant that he could run television ads for weeks to raise his profile.) He says the legislature probably threw it in the trash.

Brady says he supported in congress “every gun control there was.” And Fattah says the city should instead focus locally on reducing crime.

Nutter thinks his crime plan is the answer. He then throws out a dramatic – and presumably rehearsed – phrase. “296 black men were killed in the city last year. If the Ku Klux Klan came in and killed 296 men we’d see a different kind of action going on in Philadelphia right now."

And the crime portion of the debate is over. Now we’re moving on to (yawn) the budget!

Mendte flashes some sexy graphics on the screen showing the city’s projected costs for pension and healthcare for city workers. He asks if the city will have to get tough in renegotiating union contracts and ask for givebacks.

(Note: Talk about a dumb question. Who is going to go on TV and say “Yes, I’m taking all the firefighters’ pensions away.” Jeez.)

Brady says he will be fair with the unions and points out his union support. He also makes it clear he thinks ALL city employees do a great job.

Fattah says he’ll cut the wage tax, cut the business privilege tax, improve workers salaries and control costs. (Great! And everybody gets a car!)

Nutter is cautious also, saying it will be a challenge.

Ha! Mendte just referred to Evans as “Assemblyman Evans.” Bet he LOVES that!

Evans says he’s not Ronald Reagan (well that’s a good thing) and says he won’t make savings on “the backs of the workers.”

Knox doesn’t appear to have heard Evans, because he parrots him, saying “I’m not going to balance the city’s budget on the backs of the hardworking men and women.” Then he says that he’ll balance the budget by getting rid of pay to play politics.

Next question is on Fattah’s proposal to privatize the airport. Who wants to lease it? And why can’t the city run it effectively?

Fattah says he wants to privatize to end the city’s poverty problems. “The way to grow the city’s wealth is to take the people who are in the shadows of prosperity today and give them an opportunity to have productive lives.” He doesn’t say who would lease it.

Watch as the others try to knock him down!

Nutter: “I’m certainly not building the foundation of my economic revitalization of the city based on whether or not we can lease the airport.”

Evans: “I think that’s one of those voodoo economic kind of ideas.”

Knox: notes some federal restrictions on airport privatization and says “I don’t believe we can lease the airport.” (Note: While it’s true that currently only one hub airport can go private, there is a proposal to expand the the number of airports allowed. If that goes through, then Philly might be able to do this.)

Brady mostly talks about how we need to reduce the wage tax and create more vo-tech high schools.

On to property tax. Mendte notes that Nutter supports increasing the amount of property tax revenue going to the schools. He asks if there will be aggressive property reassessment once he’s in office.

Nutter, who has been very collected throughout, says: “Our property owners deserve a fair system that gives them an assessment notice that reflects the true value of their property.” He also says he would want to protect senior citizens.

Evans says he’ll freeze taxes for senior citizens and try to reform the property tax system.

Knox says the taxes are going to go up. He says he wants a safety net for the elderly.

Whoa, Brady switches gears from property tax and asks the other candidates on the stage to join him in asking the governor and the mayor to not pick a new schools CEO until after the primary election, so the winner can have input.

Mendte says he’ll ask that question later anyway.

Fattah also skirts property tax and starts talking again about airport privatization. “Maybe Tom Knox has forgotten, but you told the phil business journal you wanted to sell the airport. The issue for me is we have this poverty that no one who has ever run for mayor has said they wanted to deal with and none of the other candidates in this race has said they wanted to deal with.”

Sadly there are no rebuttals in this debate, so no snappy comeback from Knox – although he probably couldn’t come up with one anyway…

Now everyone’s favorite topic (if you live near the Delaware River anyway) casinos! Mendte directs the question at Evans, who supported gaming in the state house. He cites the ballot question that would ban casinos near homes, schools, parks and rec centers. If it passed, he asks, would you do all you can to support the effort and stop the construction of the current casinos?

Evans doesn’t really say yes. He says the casinos will help reduce the wage tax and help him pay for more cops on the street. ‘The reality is this gaming will bring additional revenue to the city. I voted for it and I stand by my vote.”

Knox says “I belive there are other locations in Philadelphia that are very good for the casinos.” Then he haltingly tries out a joke, saying the casino should be located at the naval base. “there’s lots of water there, I’m sure of it.”

Brady then gives a shout out to NJ. Gov. Corzine, who was injured in a car accident last week. Fattah says there will probably be casinos and Nutter says he’ll be voting for the ballot question.

Ah, Mendte brings up Knox’s $5 million loan to his campaign and asks if he can make assurances that he won’t fundraise to repay himself when in office.

“That 5 million loan has been forgiven and I’m not going to get it back,” Knox says.

Moving on to Brady, who says “I don’t have any millions of dollars to loan myself.” (Tell us about it, Bob.) Mendte rephrases the question to ask if donors have undue influence. Brady says his name has never been associated with pay to play.

Fattah says he’s concerned about the millions Knox says he will cut from the city budget – if it will affect people’s lives.

By the time we hit Nutter he goes “What’s the question at this point?” Mendte says it’s about pay to play and whether any donors will have unfair influence.

Nutter notes his ethics reforms in City Hall and calls himself the true reformer in the race.

Yikes, Mendte calls Evans Assemblyman again! How does he not know his title?

Schools! Mendte asks the candidates if they think the next mayor should get some say in Vallas’ replacement.

Basically all say they think they should get input into the decision.

Brady calls it a victory, saying he has four votes to ask the mayor and governor to wait until after May 15.

On to school safety. Should there be armed police officer in schools? What schools and how many?

No one names a particular school or a number of officers. All say they want safer schools.

Last Question. Should the state takeover of the schools continue?

Knox says no.
Fattah says yes, but would like to get the city another seat on the commission.
Evans says yes.
Brady: same as Fattah.
Nutter says no.

Closing statements.

First up Knox, who talks about growing up in public housing and becoming a successful businessman as an adult. He stumbles on his words a lot. Says he’s running for his mother and his brother

Apparently reverting to his childhood role of defending others, Brady tells Knox to stop beating up on Michael Nutter and Chaka Fattah. (Note: his people later say this is a joke.) Then he gives his standard stump about how families should have decent homes, jobs and be able to walk their kids to school in safety.

Fattah hits the opportunity note hard again, talking about how he wants to invest in Philadelphians.

Nutter talks about his record in City Council of passing ethics reform and getting more cops on the street.

Evans starts by saying “Fateem Childs Thomas” (he means murdered youth Faheem Thomas Childs) and talks about how Faheem can never run for mayor because of the violence gripping the city.This leads into how he will make the city safer.

Ok, that's a wrap, I think. If I come up with any more analysis, I'll throw it up later.

So much went on in the race this weekend, let's do a recap today. I'll be adding any news you need through the afternoon.

Such as: Friday, Josh at Fight for Room 215 has broken the news that Brady will stay on the ballot. Or read the Daily News story.

Also: We had the first televised debate of the race (if you are reading this post, you've already seen our coverage of it) and news was made. I found most interesting the fact that Knox has turned the loan of $5 million of his personal money into a gift -- which means that, if he wins, we would not face the unpleasant spectre of a sitting mayor holding fund-raisers to recoup money already spent on the race. This is good.

Also -- as we told you days ago -- the candidates said they want a say in picking a new schools CEO. That came out in the debate as well.

Meanwhile, looking forward to next week: Michael Nutter will present his budget plan Tuesday.

PS: And Brady took it to the streets this weekend -- of course!

Such as this idea:

Every candidate for mayor of Philadelphia must take the pledge to fire everyone above the level of Assistant Manager at the Philadelphia airport.

A haven of political corruption and patronage, the situation is actually worse than most Philadelphians believe. Every person who passes through the Philadelphia airport becomes an ambassador to the world, describing in gory detail the vast incompetence, ignorance and arrogance that is the Philadelphia Airport experience.

It is time to hold all those in management accountable for their failings to motivate, educate and inspire the front line workers. This cannot be a "slap-on-the-wrist" warning to do a better job. We all know that approach won't last beyond the election. This must be a purge of epic proportions. The kind of vast sweeping change that the victims will lament to their grandchildren. The innocent must be swept up with the guilty as a lesson to their replacements that all are responsible for the actions - or inaction - of their coworkers.

You may laugh at me. You may even suggest that it would be throwing out the baby with the bath water. My response would then be that you can continue to enjoy the current level of "service" provided by the angry, incompetent and overworked employees.

It's worth pointing out that Chaka Fattah has recommended that we sell lease the airport in his Opportunity Agenda...

(PS: Thanks for the commenter who corrected my error in this post -- Wendy)

Ok, bear with this. There's a quiz at the end, and a point to be made.

I will now present for you a news release I just received, about how much people know about public affairs, with my internal monologue in parentheses.

From: The Pew Research Center, April 15, 2007

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF CURRENT AFFAIRS LITTLE CHANGED BY NEWS AND INFORMATION REVOLUTIONS

Since the late 1980s, the emergence of 24-hour cable news as a dominant news source and the explosive growth of the internet have led to major changes in the American public’s news habits. (W: Yeah, no kidding, and in the work hours of newspaper editors.) But a new nationwide survey finds that the coaxial and digital revolutions and attendant changes in news audience behaviors have had little impact on how much Americans know about national and international affairs. (W: Uh, oh.)

Americans are no more or less likely now than in 1989 to be able to identify political leaders or know key details about major events in the news, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. (W: I hate this! So why am I blogging on a Sunday afternoon? We work too hard for people to be ignorant, darnit!) The new poll includes nine questions that are either identical or roughly comparable to questions asked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007, somewhat fewer were able to name their governor, the vice president, and the president of Russia, but more respondents than in the earlier era gave correct answers to questions pertaining to national politics. (W: I can't imagine they do any better on local politics.)

The survey of 1,502 adults between Feb.1-13, 2007 also finds that while the average American is better educated today than two decades ago, these gains do not mean that the public knows more today about domestic politics or foreign affairs. In fact, the average college or high-school graduate knows less about current events today than in 1989. (W: *Is annoyed, goes to quiz daughter, who does OK for a second-grader. Knows president and, thanks to a trip to the Constitution Center this weekend, the difference between the White House and Capitol. Also knows some men running for Mayor. Good girl.*)

Substantial differences exist in the knowledge levels of the audiences for different news outlets. Audiences for cable shows like the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, people who regularly visit major newspaper websites, as well as regular viewers of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the O’Reilly Factor, on average, know more than regular watchers of the morning news shows, the Fox News Channel or local TV news programs. (W: HOORAY! We knew it -- reading this site -- which is supported by my employer, the Philadelphia Daily News, DOES make you smarter! Now, I love this press release.)

As part of the Pew Knowledge Project, people are invited to test their own news IQ by taking an online interactive quiz. The short quiz includes versions of some of the same questions that were included in the national poll. Participants will instantly learn how they did on the quiz in comparison with the general public as well as with people like them. Take the quiz yourself by clicking on this link.

For the full PDF of the report, go here.

PS: If anyone wants to comment with the questions we should ask in a similar quiz on the mayor's race, feel free and I will work it up into a survey.

So, as you may know, the first televised debate of the race happened Saturday. In case you missed it, here's a handy wrap-up of all the debate coverage:

The Next Mayor's read-it-faster-than-watching-it live coverage (and join in the lively debate in the comments)

CBS 3 archived video or debate analysis with Larry Ceisler

Philadelphia Inquirer story

Fight for Room 215 Debate Drinking Game (save it for the next one, if you'd prefer).

Tune in to Radio Times right now to find out:

We talk about the candidates for mayor of Philadelphia and what it takes to be a good and effective leader. Our guests are DAVE DAVIES, senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, ELMER SMITH, columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and TOM FERRICK, columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

If you missed it, you can right click on this link at around noon today to download a podcast of the episode. You clicked on it too early, didn't you? Be patient, it'll work soon. If it's not 11am yet, you can listen live.

In a few minutes, I'm leaving to go shoot web video of Central Philadelphia Development Corporation (CPDC)'s mayoral candidate event, during which they'll ask the candidates to respond to the report released over the weekend, "Center City: Planning for Growth, 2007-2012."

Before I leave, I wanted to point out the many things that have been written about this plan and city planning and design in general.

Today, CPDC President Paul Levy penned an op-ed in for the Daily News in which he explains, "Why Planning Matters." Backing him up on the importance of this, Chris Satullo devoted his "Center Square" column on Sunday to this very issue and took umbrage at the what appears to be the dismissive stance that several of the candidates have so far taken on city planning and urban design:

After Nutter cited Burnham on Monday to a packed Free Library auditorium, the other candidates in attendance pooh-poohed the notion that the next mayor should press boldly to animate and complete Center City. Such ideas are cute, they said, but trivial "compared to my agenda" to address poverty and crime. Dwight Evans was polite about it, while Chaka Fattah was frankly dismissive. Knox blew the event off to attend a fund-raiser. (Think about that a moment).

There it was, in bright colors, this city's old bugaboo: the testy, pointless, opposition between Center City and the sainted Neighborhoods. The familiar, false either/or choice: care about the real people in the 'hood, or cater to the rich folks downtown.

He reiterates how this is a "false choice" and then references several of the numbers that Paul Levy often cites to demonstrate how important Center City is for the rest of Philadelphia.

Over at Philly Future, Albert gives a very complete blow-by-blow of the event referenced by Satullo - last Monday's forum on planning and design sponsored by the Design Advocacy Group.

Finally, today's Inquirer had a piece by architecture critic, Inga Saffron, summing up the CPDC report and connecting some of Levy's comments from the weekend's unveiling of the report to the specifically dismissive tone of Chaka Fattah:

"It's not because rich people live there, but because Center City is a vital piece of the economy," Levy argued during a presentation to members of the American Planning Association, which is holding its annual meeting this week in Philadelphia. "If you don't reinvest, you're going to be less competitive."

Fattah suggested planning was a niche issue of interest mainly to affluent Center City residents, and said he preferred to focus on education and housing for the poor. "I'm interested in rebuilding the lives of people and not just the skyline," Fattah told the forum audience.

All of the candidates except for Evans are expected at today's event so I'll be curious to see if any of them have changed their tone or attitude a little given the full court press by the print media.

Report to follow later tonight and video some time this week.

For now, go outside and enjoy the non-rain!

Here's your weekly update of upcoming events in the mayor's race!

As you know, The Next Mayor is keeping an ongoing calendar of events in the race. Visit our site to see it -- or to submit an event. You can also sign up for e-mail updates.

TUESDAY
Michael Nutter to announce fiscal stability plan
(April 17, noon, 42 S. 15th Street, Suite 625, Philadelphia)
Mayoral Candidate Michael Nutter will present his budget plan at his campaign office. “I’ve released 11 plans so far and the question that I have received most often is how are you going to pay for that? “Well this plan answers that question,” he said in a statement.

Fattah to visit pre-kindergarten program
(9:15 a.m., The Cooperative Nursery School, The Unitarian Society of Germantown, 6503 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia)
Mayoral Candidate Chaka Fattah will visit children, parents and teachers at the Cooperative Nursery School at The Unitarian Society of Germantown, which the campaign says "exemplifies the type of effective early childhood education program that Fattah is committed to providing to all Philadelphia's children."

Mayoral Candidate Forum on Aging Issues
(April 17, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Vernon Park, 5818 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA)
The Philadelphia Association of Senior Services Administrators (PASSA) and the AARP-PA will host this mayoral candidate forum on aging issues. Senior Center participants and the public are invited to attend . . . for information, contact your local senior center.

WEDNESDAY
First “Tailgate” Event with the Candidates
(April 18, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., City Hall's Dilworth Plaza, Philadelphia)
Philadelphia’s mayoral candidates and/or their representatives will appear in a casual “tailgate” atmosphere for a public and media meet-and-greet, sponsored by PhillyCarShare (who will also show off some new cars).

Profiles in Leadership Event: John W. Hickenlooper
(April 18, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, 1200 Market Street, Philadelphia)
Join the Economy League and the Fels Institute of Government at Penn for a conversation with John W. Hickenlooper, Mayor of Denver, named by TIME as one of America's Top 5 Big City Mayors. Since taking office in 2001, Hickenlooper -- a small businessman who had never before run for public office -- has led an ambitious slate of initiatives, including overcoming a $70 million deficit, initiating a campaign to end homelessness, creating Denver's Sustainable Development Initiative, reducing crime by 10% in '06, and passing the largest regional transit initiative in U.S. history.

THURSDAY
Urban Sustainability Forum: Sustainable Health
(April 19, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., 19th and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia)
How do we make sense of all that babble of health info you hear on the morning news shows? What impact does pollution in our rivers, in the air and in our homes really have on our health? How do we reshape our cities to make them healthier places? Come and hear from leading local and national experts at the April Forum. As always, at the Academy of Natural Sciences at 19th and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Liberty Resources Inc. Mayoral Candidates' Night
(April 19, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., 714 Market Street, Philadelphia)
Liberty Resources Inc., Philadelphia’s leading advocacy organization and information referral service for people with disabilities, will host a Mayoral Candidates’ Night on Thursday, April 19th from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in conjunction with an Open House for consumers to celebrate its new headquarters in Center City. The Open House is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

SATURDAY
Building a Better Community and Meet the Candidates
(April 21, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., 4900 Block N. Palethorp Street, Philadelphia)
Friends of the 42nd Ward presents Building a Better Community and Meet the Candidates event. Join us for food, music and dancing. Tickets $20; Call: 215-457-4024 or e-mail: events@dem42ward.org

So, guess what happened at the forum on city planning that Dan mentioned earlier today?

The idea of privatizing the airport and the issue of city planning came together in one useful and very entertaining bundle!

Bob Warner will report in tomorrow's Daily News:

Stung by criticism of his plan to lease Philadelphia International Airport to private investors, Congressman Chaka Fattah challenged mayoral rival Tom Knox yesterday to put his money where his mouth was — a $1 million bet on whether Fattah could pull off the deal.

Knox blinked.

The wealthy businessman, who has estimated his net worth at $100 million, turned down the wager but took a shot at Fattah’s finances.

“You know, Chaka, I have a million,” Knox said.

The lively debate goes on, with talk of voodoo economics, white papers and the now-famous bet. Then, moderator Paul Levy, executive director of the Center City District, tries to intervene, but the two continue the back-and-forth. Finally, Levy asks Nutter for his opinion of the exchanges:

“Michael, is it still constructive, or not?”

“I think it’s just getting good,” Nutter replied, as the audience roared.

Oh, you want MORE? The Daily News is sold at many fine establishments and, at 60 cents, is a total bargain. It should be widely available after 5 a.m. tomorrow.

(And, of course, The Next Mayor will post Bob's full story tomorrow, too.)

And this one breaks my heart. I had a friend visiting from out of town this weekend, and I saw the city through her eyes -- and I saw trash.

If Philadelphia is to be the NEXT GREAT CITY, someone should be assigned to clean up the major arteries. People are standing in piles of trash to wait for buses. The Far Northeast used to be beautiful. Now it's starting to look like North Phila. and West Phila. Center City may look clean and beautiful, but the grassy, wooded areas in the Far Northeast are left to accumulate roadside rubbish that never gets cleaned up. Where is C.L.I.P.? We've been told that Academy Rd. and Roosevelt Blvd. belong to Fairmount Park, so the Streets Dept. ignore it. Please help!!!

-Rita and Bill

Michael Nutter has published his plan for how he'd deal with the city budget, called "An Honest Budget Now."

It's part his philosophy for how to manage a city budget, part statement of priorities (developing affordable housing gets a shout out) and part swipes at the other candidates for failing to be specific about how they'd fund their plans. (The term "phantom revenue sources" is used.)

Here are a few highlights of the plan:

*Nutter says he'd continue wage tax cuts to get the tax to a rate of 3.25 percent for both residents and non-residents by 2015.

*He'd gradually reduce the deeply hated gross receipts portion of the business privilege tax over a five-to-seven year period. He says he'd also gradually reduce the net income portion of the BPT to the current rate of the wage tax, meaning businesses in Philadelphia would pay the same "income tax" as individuals.

*He wants the city to move toward full-value assessment of real estate -- as long as the millage rate then goes down. In real English, that means that we'd base tax bills on the actual value of homes -- but lower the tax rate so that the city wouldn't see a giant windfall. However, the move would certainly change bills for individual homeowners.

*He also supports a complete reassessment of city real estate, as long as "safeguards" are in place "that ensure no Philadelphian is forced to sell their home because of an increase in property taxes."

*He would modify the 10-year tax abatement (the tax break that people get for building or rehabbing new homes) to encourage development beyond Center City, especially of affordable housing. He'd also put 10 percent of the abatement's value into a trust fund dedicated to the provision of affordable housing throughout the city.

*He commits to establishing a Rainy Day Fund, a pool of money the city can draw on in hard times.

*He'd establish a formal debt issuance policy, to spell out what we borrow for -- and what we don't.

*He said he'd base his budgets on a realistic estimate of future revenues. (Thing is, right now we underestimate revenues -- which beats the reverse, but is not smart budgeting and can lead to easy funding of pet projects.)

*He pledges to "focus on outputs not inputs." (Which means, tie performance to spending, aka "outcome-based budgeting.")

*He'd direct city agencies to look for grants and other non-tax funding opportunities (A 2005 study identified nearly $500 million in potential grants that the city is not pursuing)

*And he'd create public participation in the city's budget process.

As to the actual crisis looming in the city budget -- the dramatic growth of pension and health care costs, and the drop in the general fund -- Nutter defers. He wants to "convene a Commission to devise and implement a fair and responsible solution to Philadelphia’s growing pension and benefits costs."

However, that's probably realistic -- I don't know that we can expect a candidate to walk in with an answer to a crisis that's devastating governments and corporations across America right now. The only thing is, that commission better get started -- quickly.

The Ethics Board announced today that they have made a deal with U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah regarding funds his exploratory committee spent on his mayoral campaign – an issue first raised in the Daily News back in February.

The mayoral campaign has reimbursed $33,251 $36,767 (number was updated -- W) to the exploratory committee, according to Shane Creamer, executive director of the Board of Ethics. The money was spent on Fattah’s website, his candidacy announcement and office supplies, Creamer said.

Back in February, good government types said Fattah was violating the spirit of the campaign finance law by spending his exploratory funds on his campaign ­– because he had accepted donations above the city campaign contribution limits while in his “exploratory” (before declaration of candidacy) stage.

Committee of Seventy CEO Zack Stalberg praised the decision by the board, saying “it’s pretty clear the Fattah campaign misbehaved or they wouldn’t be agreeing to this settlement. And I think it’s the first strong signal from the Board of Ethics that they are going to take this law quite seriously.”

The campaign adds that Shane Creamer made a point of saying how the Fattah campaign had provided “extraordinary detail for requests about many, many questions” and that Fattah did “everything asked of him.”

- Reported by Catherine Lucey

I wrote yesterday that I was leaving to attend the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation/Center City District annual meeting, featuring a mayoral forum during which the candidates were to be asked to respond to CPDC's newest plan for Center City.

I know I promised to report back last night with what I heard but once I got there and saw the Inquirer's Larry Eichel, the Daily News's Bob Warner, the Metro's Josh Cornfield and KYW 1060's Steve Tawa, I figured I could just sit back and tape the event and let them to the reporting. If anything, I could just fill in the holes.

The Inquirer and Great Expectation Project's Chris Satullo was also there and I'm hoping he'll expand further on the parts of the evening that weren't covered in today's news - a little of which I'll share below.

I'm in the process of rendering the video so I can upload it to our Google Video account. Then all of you will be able to view the Knox-Fattah exchange that was so thoroughly chronicled by the journalists in attendance. Trust me, it reads a lot cooler and snappier then it actually was. In person, the exchange was kind of awkward and uncomfortable with Fattah pretty much acting like the students I used to teach who would ask their rivals to "bet five" about every dispute and Knox using comebacks (at least I have a million dollars) that wouldn't have even passed muster in the halls of my former employer. Fattah came across as someone who hasn't really been questioned during his long career in politics, which I guess happens when no one ever poses a serious challenge, and Knox reminded me of someone who's comebacks always come just a beat too late to be effective.

Anyway, I figured I could just fill in some of the things that the others didn't cover. My own journalistic instincts must be improving (did I mention the last time I was a "journalist" before this project was when I wrote one newspaper article for the "Hawklet" in high school?) because I knew that the Fattah-Knox exchange was the only real "news" to come out of the event. That's not a dig on the journalists, by any stretch. If anything, it's because everything else the candidates said has already been written about. In fact, the only other news that could have been generated would have been if any one of them had actually responded to CPDC's plan.

Knox paid it a little lip service when, after over an hour, he was the first candidate to mention any of the parts of the plan. He used his two-minute closing statement to offer a vision for what his greatest accomplisments would be one year hence (after four months in office). Knox proceeded to run down the whole list of CPDC suggestions - light rail connecting 30th Street to City Hall, street level beautification, and conversion of Dilworth Plaza into green space - though he disagreed with putting a "movie theater" there. He prefers a performance space for the more high-falutin' things like orchestra's and performing arts. (I'm more of a movie theater guy, myself). Aside from that, and like I said, it was crammed into his closing statement, none of the candidates offered any real vision or "grand plan."

Of course the issue of taxes came up. Specifically, what are the candidates' proposals for changing the tax structure so that businesses would seek to relocate in Center City. For all the debate going on at YPP between Fattah supporters and Nutter supporters over their positions on taxes, I didn't get a sense that there was a real deep contrast in what Nutter and Fattah say they want to do with taxes. They both seem to want to reduce wage and business taxes. They also both seem to want to continue the tax abatement program in one way or another. Sometimes I have a feeling that the debate between their respective supporters happens because everyone believes that Fattah talks about cutting taxes because he has to in order to satisfy the business types but he won't actually do it and that Nutter talks about fighting poverty because he has to satisfy the ultra-libs but he won't actually do it.

If there was a contrast on the tax issue, it occurred when Knox basically disagreed with the notion that businesses aren't relocating or starting in Philadelphia because of the tax structure. According to Knox, businesses don't locate here because we don't have a skilled workforce. Definitely a bold position to take in a room full of business owners and proprietors. Knox used the tax question to pivot to his usual rant about vocational education, etc.

I, of course, think that none of them will be able to do any of those things given the impending pension and healthcare crisis - a question which, not unlike the debate this past weekend - they dodged again last night.

There was more, but I'll let you catch it on the video when Google gets done processing it. Link to come soon.

As for attendance...

Dwight Evans must have had a scheduling conflict because the folks at CPDC said earlier yesterday that he wasn't expected. Bob Brady was a no-show after saying that he would be arriving late. How do you stand up a guy like Paul Levy? He's pretty much the mayor of Center City. Even if he doesn't have any political juice, any candidate for mayor should at least be there to learn a little something about how to turn around an entire area using just a few very targeted investments in street lighting, beautification and other small infrastructure improvements.

End result of all of this... my soul is not yet stirred. None has inspired me to think that he can be any more than a manager of continued decline. Will Philadelphia ever be Paris or New York? No. Probably not. But it doesn't mean we can't be something better than we are. It doesn't mean we can't have nice things. Did I see that vision from anyone yesterday? That vision invoked by Daniel Burnham (who was invoked by Michael Nutter who was invoked by Chris Satullo)? That vision that doesn't make little plans? Have I seen it from anyone yet, whether in their television ads, stump speeches, forum appearance? Have I seen anything visionary, attainable, sincere and believable enough to move even the sternest cynic?

Unfortunately... no.

(Video of the event to follow)

Watch the candidates in action....

Philadelphia Forward asked each candidate to record a video response to address how issues like tax reform, ethics reform, and budgetary reform can help reduce the cost of living and doing business in Philadelphia and improve our quality of life.

Check it out here.

While we wait for the video from the CPDC forum to "clear waivers" and get approved by Google video, you can check out some recently uploaded video that we added to our growing list of mayoral forums.

Last Friday, Chaka Fattah, Michael Nutter and Al Taubenberger fielded questions from a number of young people about issues affecting children and youth. The Future Leaders' Mayoral Candidate Forum was presented by the good folks at the Philadelphia Children's Commission with some other partner organizations. Info about the event is available here. The video is available here.

Immediately following that event (and thankfully right across the street), Chaka Fattah fielded more questions about children and youth, this time, specifically about those children at risk for abuse and neglect. Philadelphia Safe and Sound, one the city's leading advocacy and research organizations, convened the third of their series of one-on-one discussions with the candidates. Since it happened to be in the place where I work, it was pretty easy to get video of this one. Check it out here.

The revolution will not be televised. Apparently, it'll be on Google Video and Youtube. That is, if the revolution is to be carried out by this damn laughing baby.

With great love, I challenge anyone...

To remix Jesus White's video response to Philadelphia Forward into a dance single.

Go check it out.

OK, shameless plug time.

Tomorrow afternoon at 5:30, I'm going to interview John W. Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver, about what it takes to be a successful, regional, forward-thinking mayor who manages more than a few challenges.

Snow removal in Denver, anyone?

And this interview is open to the public! You can be a part of the audience, watching our conversation and asking your own questions. The event's sponsor, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, keeps comparing it to "Inside the Actor's Studio," which is a little, um, hard for me to process, but it will be fun.

This is part of a series of talks sponsored by the Economy League to share the best practices of governing -- especially from the top guy or gal. Next up: Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams on May 21.

The event is at the Loews Hotel, 12th and Market; There is an admission fee. Information can be found on the Economy League's site.

PS: Let me know if you have a question you want asked...seriously, I'd love input.

PPS: Also, check out the Economy League's survey on the candidates and the budget process -- including, do the candidates think that the public should be involved? Answers so far from Fattah, Knox, Nutter and Brady. (They all said "yes" to that question, but there is far more to learn...)

Wow! This is perhaps the most difficult issue to wrap one's head around. What does "quality of life" mean to you? For some people in some neighborhoods, it means not being able to walk on the street in front of their house at night. For others, it means watching people drop their used Transpasses on the ground to be swept up into the swirl of trash. Clearly, depending on the circumstances it means different things to different people.

Does that mean that people who live in high-crime neighborhood don't care about trash on the streets? No. Absolutely not. It just means that in the list of priorities, not getting shot probably ranks ahead of trash.

Anyway, Radio Times is just wrapping up a show that tries to explore this issue. Here's the promo copy:

The third in our series of issues of importance to Philadelphia voters -- quality of life in Philadelphia. We'll explore everything from crime trash pick-up with our guests, JEFFREY BARG, managing editor of the Philadelphia Weekly, PEGGY HOCH, president of the East Frankford Civic Association, and AISSIA RICHARDSON, who lives in the Belmont/Mantua section of the City and works in North Philadelphia.

I've been listening and it's been pretty interesting but I've heard this conversation a few times now and no one ever seems to drill down to exactly what the expectations should be for city government. Peggy Hoch, the guest from East Frankford who has seen a few generations come through Philadelphia, brought up the idea that a lot of quality of life issues can be traced back to a certain attitude that is instilled in people at a very young age. If that's the case, it seems like it would be damn near impossible for the mayor to change it.

To some extent, I agree. For example: yesterday as I waited for the bus I stood on the corner with a woman with her two kids (a girl who was probably about 12 and a boy who may have been about 8). Out of the corner of my eye I saw her Transpass (you didn't think I referred to that by accident, did you?) fall out of her wallet and onto the ground at her feet. Actually, she took it and threw it to the ground. It stayed at her feet for a while before a gust of wind blew it into the middle of the street. Another gust brought it back to the curb where I was standing. I reached down and picked it up. Fighting the urge to let her know that she "accidentally" dropped her pass, I crumbled it up (it was expired) and pocketed it. I saw no benefit in starting an argument with the woman, something that most likely would have happened had I confronted her with her litter, especially with her two kids present.

But I felt bad. Never in my whole life do I ever remember my parents throwing trash on the ground. In fact, I've seen my dad go out of his way several times to pick up litter from in front of other people's houses on my family's street. Watching the woman toss that piece of trash on the ground in front of her children reminded me that a lot of the smaller "quality of life" issues - litter, unkept houses, graffiti, loitering - are learned behaviors. How does a mayor teach a 6-year old not to litter when a parent, whose own parents probably taught him or her, is teaching him that it's ok to litter? Where is the line between what a parent is responsible for and what the government is responsible for when it comes to these issues? Can the mayor influence the behavior of the next generation with the "bully pulpit" and use his position to reach them through the schools?

I told you it was one of the tougher issues to wrap your ahead around.

Anyway, the podcast of the show will be available here at about 12:15pm. I encourage you to give it a listen and share your own opinion of "quality of life" in the comments.

(edited to add)In case you missed it, yesterday's show focused on education as an issue for the next mayor. I know I missed it so I'll be listening to this podcast.

I really don't know all that much about St. Louis except that I always thought old Busch Stadium looked a lot like the Vet and the apparently have half of the biggest freakin' McDonald's in the world.

Apparently, what I've been missing is a population flight that, in percentage terms, makes Philadelphia's look like a trickle. According to this story in yesterday's New York Times, St. Louis went from a high of 860,000 residents in 1950 to about 350,000 in 2000. That's like saying, take a look to your left and a look to your right, neither of those two people will be here in a few years.

But hope springs eternal for the gateway to the West. Read the article to find out why.

Two candidates have brand-new television commercials for us to comment upon:

Dwight Evans' "Take Action" ad:

Michael Nutter's ad featuring his daughter Olivia:

As you know, we're asking you to comment on these ads as they air. (Read our first batch here.)

So, what do you think of these?

Nutter has delivered a letter to Mayor Street, asking him to explain exactly how the mayoral candidates will be involved in the schools CEO selection.

Says the press announcement: "Nutter believes that the selection of a new CEO will have long-term implications for the Philadelphia schools and it is very important to discuss future plans now and not when a new Mayor takes office and a CEO is already in place."

The state's high court won't reopen the issue of campaign finance limits before the May primary. Which means they remain in place.

The Committee of Seventy praised the decision: “Seventy has consistently maintained that removing the limits would result in a fundraising frenzy,” Seventy said in a release.

Michael Nutter has resigned as Chairman of the Board of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, effective yesterday. He says he needs to focus on the campaign.

In a letter to the board, Nutter said needed to "devote undivided attention to my Mayoral campaign, and these next four weeks are critical to my success in that effort. I do not want my campaign commitments to jeopardize the pace of our successful work on the expansion project and other key PCCA initiatives."

The letter cites Nutter's effort to settle the labor issues at the Center, to create a long-term marketing plan for the center and to advocate for money for the Center's planned expansion. It ends, "When I am successful in my Mayoral campaign this year, we'll work together to bring more job opportunities to the region."

At the request of a commenter, here's a link to this morning's Inquirer story about Tom Knox and his apparent "insider" connections. I don't really have anything to add to the article.

(Wendy would just like to add that Knox's non-insiderness has been thoroughly reported by the Daily News. The most recent example: Clout had the Fumo info two weeks ago, and we put it on the front page of this site, on the blog and had it widely commented upon.)

Most of my commentary about Knox has been about how his "outsider" image may affect the first couple years of his mayoralty. In fact, in the comments I'll reprint a comment I left on YPP a few days ago.

Consider this an open thread to discuss the "insider" part of his narrative in the comments.

Sorry if you've all been staring at this news all day -- I was trying to figure out what to ask the mayor of Denver. More on that in a sec.

BUT, I must point out:

Young Philly Politics is reporting on a new Survey USA poll (for Channel 10) that has Knox way up...

32% Tom Knox
18% Chaka Fattah
17% Bob Brady
14% Michael Nutter
10% Dwight Evans
2% Other
7% Undecided

For those of you who do enjoy the partisan stuff, check out the comments for what Councilman Jim Kenney has to say...and for Dan U-A's surprise endorsement..

Meanwhile, Josh over at Fight for Room 215 has reported on Brady's spending from his congressional PAC, based on a recent campaign finance filing...a filing which, Josh reports, is going to have to be amended.

Oh, and on the issues? I found myself thinking a lot tonight about how much personality can shape leadership. Mayor Hickenlooper of Denver -- a Narberth native -- is the kind of person who tends to end on an up note in any conversation. The Pennsylvania Economy League had the good sense to bring him to town tonight, and I got the chance to sit and talk with him.

He didn't duck any questions, but he does tend to move from the specific answer to general statements about his city's values and future.

The impression you're left with is that he is a positive guy. He talks about doing things, about success. It's a very businessperson approach -- focus on success, talk up your team, set goals and achieve and be proud of that -- and I have to say, it was pretty inspiring.

(Edited to add by Dan) (I also stopped in for about five minutes on my home from the Philly Car Share Mayoral Tailgate to see Wendy do her best James Lipton impersonation while interviewing Mayor Hickenlooper. I gotta say, in just five minutes I became convinced that I'm going to write in "Mayor Hick" when I vote on May 15th. I've only ever given campaign contributions to two elected office seekers in my whole life, but after hearing Hickenlooper, I'd be willing to make it three. What can I say? After attending forum after forum in which our candidates basically just say things that will appeal to the people whom they think will vote for them, it's refreshing to hear someone who can talk to everyone in his city.)

Contributed by Dave Davies of the Daily News...

Police were called to site of the NAACP mayoral forum Tuesday night after a sidewalk confrontation involving Tom Knox campaign volunteer Michael Youngblood and the heckling partner of Tommy the Loan Shark.

The Shark is part of a two-man team that follows Knox on the campaign trail, pelting him with taunts about Knox's days in payday lending. The other half the team, Jim Nixon, was speaking through a bullhorn when he says Youngblood aggressively approached him and began spewing profane threats.

“He comes to me and says ‘You’re in my neighborhood now, m-f. I’ve messed up people tougher than you. I’ll crack your skull. I’ll shove that megaphone up you’re a--.”

Nixon, who says he’s a graduate student not affiliated with any campaign, spoke to a police officer who’d arrived, and gave a statement. Police confirmed that a car was dispatched after a 9-1-1 call, and that a statement was taken from Nixon.

Youngblood admitted having words with Nixon, but denied he threatened anyone. He said Nixon was blocking his path to the event and taunting him by name.

“He was at me, I wasn’t at him,” Youngblood said. “He gets up in my face with a bullhorn…Look if I was going to do something, I wouldn’t have talked about it. It would have been done.”

Participants in the forum were apparently unaware of the commotion outside the Freedom Theater, where the event was held. Knox began and ended his remarks with an attempt at humor involving Tommy the Loan Shark.

“Even though I have to leave early, I hope when it’s over you’ll all enjoy a nice fish fry,” Knox said. “There’s one outside.”

Nixon said Tommy the Loan Shark, who now has his own cartoon blog, was unavailable for comment.

PS: We heart Philadelphia Will Do's Tommy the Loan Shark collection...

No one can be at every mayoral forum during this campaign forum. I give huge props to the reporters at the Daily News, Inquirer, Metro, KYW 1060, the Evening Bulletin, the Philadelphia Tribune, the Weekly, the City Paper, and countless other smaller community papers for getting to as many as they do.

But still, some go uncovered by the MSM - that's mainstream media for first-time visitors to the blog world. That's where bloggers come in. Last Sunday, while many of us were bailing out our basements during the latest "storm of the century," a number of people gathered on the Parkway for the a forum on arts and culture presented by The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia.

The only coverage I could find was from a blogger named "TragicHipster." (I have since also seen this posted at YPP.) Warning: the writer is not a journalist so objectivity is pretty much out the window. However, I do think that if more mainstream journalists would feel free to write about and comment on the answers given by the candidates at some of these forums and the way those answers were delivered, the public may get a more complete picture of each of these candidates. It may also make the writing a little more interesting and humorous, two things that will be necessary if we're ever going to get people to pay attention to city politics. For example, check out what TragicHipster has to say about Knox and which American city Fattah would use as a model for how to promote the arts.

You can judge for yourself how the candidates did at the "It's About the Arts" forum since, lo and behold, the entire thing can be found on video here. Nice work, GPCA! I'll be adding this to our growing collection of mayoral forum videos.

Video from the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation, which I wrote about a couple days ago, is finally available. Google has finished processing and the video is live. You can link to it with this or, what the heck, watch it below:

Today at D.C. 47 headquarters. The union represents 3,500 white collar municipal employees.

(ETA: I just got the press release from the endorsement; it's here.)

In the press release, Fattah says:

"Unions are the backbone of Philadelphia, and to receive support from one as influential as AFSCME D.C. 47 is an honor," Fattah said.

Evans continued to press his "do something" against violence message today, with a whistle-stop tour through town. This leg was in North Philly, around the Somerset/Susquehanna/Progress Plaza area.

Seems to me that Evans has picked up the explication of his approach to violence lately. Evans created the "Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia," which says that violence must be fought by improving communities, schools and job opportunities as well as via crimial justice methods. That's the "table" that keeps showing up in his ads.

It's a complicated idea for voters to wrap their brains around: Fight crime by doing something else. Of course, it's probably also the only thing that actually works -- but selling it during a five-way campaign has to be tough.

Hence the whistle-stops -- and his new Web site, www.endtheviolence.com, which asks people (especially young people) to pledge to report suspicious activity, to volunteer in anti-crime actions and to donate to anti-crime charities, and to "talk to my family and my friends about the violence that has gripped our city and ask that they too join me in signing this pledge."

Nutter is happy with yesterday's ethics ruling, natch.

From the press release:

Mayoral candidate Michael Nutter, who championed breakthrough ethics reform in City Council, praised the Ethics Board for a job well done.

“It is heartening to see the Ethics Board in full force,” said Nutter. “When I pushed the legislation creating the board through City Council, I envisioned a Board that would be independent, strong and effective. Judging by the work that they have done to date, I’d say that this is a great start in restoring integrity to our City.”

PS: Councilman Goode has a slight clarification in the comments...

...fresh after helping Tom Knox's campaign for mayor. Locally, Phawker has this up...

Trippi writes on John Edwards' blog...

I really thought that the 2004 presidential campaign would be the last I would be involved in. I have always wanted to make a difference, but for me I thought those days were over.

A few weeks ago, John and Elizabeth Edwards made their decision to continue, not just John Edwards' campaign for President, but their work together to make a difference for their country.

And that made me realize that I wasn't done trying to make a difference either. Not by a long shot. So today I am joining the John Edwards campaign.

(Wendy ETA: I stand corrected -- Bob Brady has a MySpace page.)

Check it out here. (Photo is from Fattah's visit this week to The Cooperative Nursery School in Germantown.)

Also, since the last time we took a look at the candidates' use of sharing Web sites, Fattah has added a MySpace page, with quite a few friends...looks like some DJs, some just folks, Hillary Clinton, the North Star Bar...

So, the rundown now is:

Chaka Fattah: MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr.

Tom Knox: MySpace, Wikipedia, You Tube, Flickr.

Michael Nutter: MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr.

Dwight Evans: MySpace, YouTube, Flickr. (Hey! Where's Dwight's Wikipedia?)

Bob Brady: MySpace, Wikipedia. (Hey! Where's Bob's everything else?)

Considering that most of the coverage that Philadelphia has been getting has been about the murder rate, it's good to see the City get some props for a program - even if it is a program that isn't exactly achieving its goals. In yesterday's New Orleans Times-Picayune, there was a long feature about Mayor Ray Nagin's recent visit to Philadelphia during which he learned about the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.

Our own local papers have pretty much wrote NTI to death a while ago so this article serves as a good refresher to evaluate the successes and failures of Mayor Street's signature program. It also includes a healthy dose of former Daily News columnist and current Nutter policy chief, Mark Alan Hughes as well as quotes from Nutter himself.

In discussing what held NTI's shortcomings, Nutter says that the biggest problem "was not its ideas; it was in its execution." Hughes adds that the original goal of demolishing derelict buildings and cleaning vacant lots - a goal which came with a $296 million price tag - quickly took a backseat as the project was allowed to become "something for everybody."

Simply to get Council approval of the project, Mayor Street had to give each of the council members an equal share to use at their discretion. End result: demolitions occured at no faster rate, per year, than they had before NTI but a lot more money got spread around.

So that brings us to where we are today - with a handful of candidates promising various large scale projects and programs. Who will bend to the will of City Council and give up too much just to get the headlines of passing their next great initiative (call it "NGI")? Where will that leave us four years from now? And of course, with personnel costs (pensions and healthcare costs) expected to rise as fast as they are in the next few years, will the money be there?

Read the article. Like I said, it's a good refresher course.

If you've seen the front page of our website, you'll notice that all this week, Radio Times has been giving special attention to some of the biggest issues affecting Philadelphians. Today they wrap up "Issues" week with an in-depth conversation about the J-word - JOBS:

Mayoral campaign issue #5. Jobs. What should Philadelphia's next mayor do to improve economic opportunities in the city? We'll talk with SALLIE GLICKMAN is the chief Executive officer of Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, which recently released the report A Tale of Two Cities that says the workforce needs better training and educational opportunities and from MARK SCHWEIKER is President & CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, which has expanded its efforts to attract and nurture businesses in the region.

You can listen live from 10-11 AM here. If you missed it, use this link after noon today to download the podcast. With these two guests, we have one person whose group focuses more on increasing employment with "bottom-up" strategies to build the workforce and the other whose organization looks to "top-down" strategies to bring more businesses into the city. So far it sounds like they're set on working together to pursue both strategies.

And on to reform:

Today is the last day that you can go to reformballot.org to vote for the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda. So far, according to Philadelphia Forward's Brett Mandel, "more than 400 people [have] sign[ed] on to the R.E.F.O.R.M. Compact. The edits and additions to the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda have been all thoughtful (and not at all frivolous, libelous, or silly), and the voting (so far) has been favoring thoughtful elements to add to the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda."

Today is the last day to vote so go to Reformballot.org and make your voice heard. Excuse me while I go cast my vote.

Bob Brady has released his plan for energy and sustainability. Check out the press release for a summary or take some time and read the whole plan.

Perhaps most interesting and amibitious is Brady's idea to use the Schuylkill River to generate hydroelectric power:

Opportunities for Hydroelectric Power generation are limited considering the enormous up-front costs and engineering challenges. Philadelphia possesses a unique opportunity to capitalize on its geography and generate clean electric power by using its rivers in new ways to encourage the innovative generation of energy.

The Flat Rock Dam in the Shawmont section of Philadelphia provides a terrific opportunity. The Dam was constructed to service the Manayunk Canal. The canal still exists, but is not used as a waterway, and the primary purpose of the dam is now flood control. The Brady administration would partner with the private sector to apply for Commonwealth funds from Growing Greener II and Energy Independence Initiative to construct a 3 Megawatt, small hydroelectric plant. Electricity generated by the station could be sold to PECO and the revenue generated would go to a dedicated and recurrent source of financing for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

He also likes recycling, green roofs, solar energy, biodiesel, wild animals and improving building standards. No mention on whether future green buildings will be forced to install useless plumbing to service their waterless urinals.

...association meeting. Why? What were you expecting.

Just added to our collection of mayoral forums is this podcast of the Chancellor's Forum sponsored by the Philadelphia Bar Association on April 10th.

As a reminder, news coverage of the event is here.

From Mark McDonald, the city hall bureau chief for the Daily News...

The Democratic City Committee met today at noon, where they -- unsurprise! -- and endorsed a slate of incumbents for City Council at large.

Separately, the Democratic ward leaders in the City Council districts have all met over recent weeks and voted to endorse the district incumbents.

Now, that's the official endorsement. But Mark warns that we will have to see if some ward leaders break off to endorse other popular non-incumbents.

I don't know how widespread this is but Channel 6 will be airing its mayoral debate on Sunday, April 22nd at 10am. The debate will be taped tomorrow in the WPVI studios starting at 1pm.

I know the only reason I found out about this was because of a Google News search that turned up the press release on PRNewsire. Was this in any of the papers today and I just missed it?

Set your VCRs for Sunday at 10am.

Nice work to Josh over at FFR215. Apparently, he got his Blackberry past the security in WPVI's space-aged building (it's what people in 1967 thought 1985 would look like!) and is sending up-to-the-minute reports back through his blog.

Check it out and be sure to watch tomorrow at 10am on channel 6. Sounds like it was one heck of battle. Knox is getting hammered by Evans and it appears Brady jumps in at the end to give him a swift kick while he was down. Hope Matt O'Donnell and Tamala Edwards were up to it.

Bob Warner just got back from the Channel 6 debate too -- it just finished taping -- and he said there were fireworks.

Apparently, the other four candidates have decided it is now time to go after Tom Knox.

It started with Dwight Evans, who challenged Knox's accomplishments, and finished with Bob Brady, who in closing arguments went after Knox again. Our reporter was particularly struck by Brady's comments, saying it seemed like he really felt it -- it wasn't scripted or strategized.

Stay tuned -- we'll be bringing you more shortly. But I think you want to set your TiVO for the debate, tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

The Daily News's Bob Warner has this report about the debate and its aftermath:

The gloves are off in the Philadelphia mayor’s race, and the guy who’s suddenly taking heavy blows is Tom Knox, the millionaire businessman who’s ahead in the polls.

The five major Democratic candidates got together at WPVI this afternoon to tape their second televised debate, to be aired Sunday morning at 10 AM. Co ngressman Bob Brady waited until his closing statement to say publicly what his campaign aides have been sputtering about for weeks.

Nutter repeatedly described himself as the only candidate in the race who had actually dealt with city problems - forcing the hiring of more city policemen in a budget battle with Mayor Street, and getting City Council to act on a series of polit ical reforms, including campaign contribution limits and a strengthened city Board of Ethics.

Apparently, Evans also took a few shots at the media for giving Knox a "free ride." Rather than get into my whole spiel about how folks seem only to be seeing what they want to see when it comes to media coverage of these candidates, I'll refer you and candidate Evans to this post, in which I pointed out at least 5 occasions (and there have been more), including the very first thing written about Knox, where the media has covered Knox's payday lending and insurance practices.

It seems pretty clear, that with 24 days left until the primary, we have a whole new campaign on our hands.

Stay tuned on Monday for even more about the debate from the Daily News (and I'm sure everyone else in the city).

Oh... and watch the darn thing yourself tomorrow at 10am on channel 6.

...Dwight Evans.

Could this have been written before the debate? Hmmmm?

Dwight Evans has begun to air what is tiptoeing toward being an attack ad. The campaign calls it a "comparison" ad, which is probably more accurate -- but this one (unlike the other ads we've seen to date) has teeth.

I can't find it anywhere online (the campaign e-mailed it to me), so I can't show it to you.

But here's the script:

"Major differences on crime.

Tom Knox has no record fighting crime. And Chaka Fattah (Wendy has an edit -- though my version has Fattah's name spelled "Chakka," that was corrected in the ad sent to TV stations) says there's nothing a mayor can do to immediately reduce the murder rate.

Dwight Evans thinks a mayor has to do something. He lowered crime in West Oak Lane and made it a model for the city.

He can lower crime in all of Philadelphia. 500 more police in our neighborhoods. Trace guns found on juveniles. And closely supervise those on parole and probation.

Dwight Evans, for Mayor."

The graphics are as you'd expect: Mug shots of opponents, blown-up type of Fattah's quote, Dwight Evans walking with cops and looking tough.

This weekend is the Weekend When the Race got Slightly Nasty. Clearly, this ad underscores what Dwight said about Knox in the Channel 6 debate. Just as clearly, there's been a strategic decision, not just by people outside the race who are contemplating attack ads, but by the campaigns themselves to go after the front-runner, Tom Knox.

I just talked to Bob Warner about the Channel 6 forum that aired Sunday, and he told me one little detail that had to be trimmed -- for space -- from his story today.

Knox, at one point, told Dwight Evans that he didn't have to respond to his "lies and innuations."

Which is innuendo + accusations, I think.

Fattah has a press conference today with .. Richard Roundtree.

SHAFT!

Roundtree will accompany Fattah as he is endorsed by United Steelworkers Local 404 at 2 p.m. at the union’s headquarters. That's a 1,000-member union, the campaign says.

Then, Fattah and Roundtree will appear at the Haddington Senior Center on Haverford Ave.; Center City's Career & Academic Development Institute, a school for kids who need a second chance at school because they got pregnant, had disciplinary problems or faced other obstacles; and at the Adolescent Violence Reduction Partnership in West Philly.

Shut yo' mouth.

At an event this afternoon, Michael Nutter renewed his call for a "crime emergency" in the city, after a weekend stunning even considering Philly's brutality, with 11 murders.

Nutter thinks it's 10, but we think it is actually 11.

"We are a City in crisis," Nutter said in a statement, "and rhetoric by the administration is not going to cut it."

"Philadelphia is in trouble and we need to move right now to stop the violence from escalating."

Nutter has called for the ability to declare a "limited crime emergency," which would allow the city to create "targeted enforcement zones" in high crime areas.

Behind those terms is a stark truth: Inside the zones, cops would conduct targeted crackdowns, including stopping and frisking people (in a way that the authors of Nutter's plan say would be constitutional, and indeed other cities have done it) and enforcing arrest warrants.

(Wendy ETA: Check out Philadelphia Will Do's take on this here.)

As you know, actor Richard Roundtree – badass star of the 1971 film “Shaft” – appeared around town with U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah today.

Ya damn right.

We caught up with the duo in North Philadelphia where Fattah received an endorsement from the United Steelworkers Local 404. During his remarks, Fattah insisted that he will prevail on Election day, despite currently trailing in the polls to millionaire Tom Knox.

Can you dig it?

Roundtree ­– who has no Philadelphia connection and had never met Fattah before today ­– said Clifton Davis, CEO of the Sunoco Welcome America! Festival, asked him to help out the campaign

“I’m familiar with what he’s trying to do,” he said, noting that he liked Fattah’s record on education issues.

Right on!

The actor also said he may be recording a radio advertisement for Fattah.

Shut your mouth!

(Apologies to Isaac Hayes.)

Ooh, Sam Katz is getting testy: In his latest post on his blog for Philadephia magazine, he rates the candidates. And he flunks them.

Well, first he gives them a B+ on defining themselves. But on definining your opponent -- which he calls the second task of a candidate -- he flunks them all. "No one seems to want to touch Knox," he says (this post was dated Friday, before things got ever so slightly more testy). And on defining the issues of the race -- the third task -- he flunks them again.

It's a good post, but I have one quibble. Katz becomes the latest pundit to put forward the idea that this race is boring Philadelphia because it's not smashmouth enough. In fact, he puts the words in our mouths: "the press has made its view clear: We’re bored as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!"

Um, ohhhkay. I realize I am far from objective here, but I would like to put forth the radical notion that it's actually OK to have a Philadephia election without blatant highway robbery.

Besides, we all know things are about to get weird.

I think this comment -- and I've heard ones like it before before -- actually means that political insiders are bored. They like the sideshow. Don't worry, hired guns of the city, and patrons thereof -- you'll get your thrills soon enough, I am sure.

Wendy has an important edit:

The campaign has run into some "technical problems" (I feel for you, guys) and postponed the chat.

Hey, go click on www.evansformayor.com ...

Evans is having another live video Web chat at 7 p.m. The direct link: www.evansformayor.com/webchat.

(Wendy edited to update throughout)

So, is Sam Katz' grousing related to the fact that...

HE MIGHT RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT?

OR EVEN AS A REPUBLICAN?

THIS FALL?

Now, both the Daily News (through The Next Mayor, of course) and the Inquirer (props to Marcia Gelbart, who had her story out first) are reporting.

Read Dave Davies' story for the Daily News here.

Read Marcia Gelbart's story for the Inquirer here.

Philadelphia Magazine lumps for Michael Nutter in their May issue. Check it out here.

And they have their Tom Knox profile up. I'll just say that the subhead gives you the idea:

"Millions of dollars in ads have made him the man to beat in the mayor’s race. Unfortunately, the crusading outsider Tom Knox plays on TV bears little resemblance to the connected insider he is in real life"

Memo To: Tom Knox
From: The Next Mayor
Re: Put up your dukes

As observers, we found this trend rather interesting, and thought we'd sum up.

Recent events in the campaign indicate that the four other men gunning for the Mayoralty of Philadelphia are getting rather fiesty. Specifically, they are taking you on in debates and running more critical ads -- and now they are also holding themed press events to attack your record.

The latest such attack will come today at 4 p.m. from the Evans camp. The theme is a little dated -- it hearkens back to 1984, and we're not saying how old we were then, but we definitely couldn't vote -- but it could be fun for observers. Evans will challenge your record on crime. The scene will be near a Wendy's restaurant. The theme: "Where's the beef?"

Specifically, we understand that Evans will take on your lack of experience on public safety, which is a particular strength of Evans'. Now, you were quick on the draw with this, Tom (if you'll pardon the expression) -- delivering petitions to Harrisburg in support of tougher gun laws, spelling out a crime plan -- but, still.

Again, we're just observers here -- but it seems that, as front-runner, you're going to be seriously scrutinized over the weeks to come.

And strikes back at the sudden turn in the tone of this campaign.

From an e-mail sent to supporters:

Dear Friends,

Your steadfast support over the past 16 months has been crucial to our growing momentum and now, just 21 days from the election, we are peaking. However, our growing lead in the polls is bringing out negative and desperate tactics from our opponents. We need your support so that we can continue to counter their baseless accusations.

Join us tomorrow, April 25th, for our final fundraiser before the May 15th Democratic Primary. Your $250 contribution will go a long way to help us answer the slurs and attacks ads that our opponents are pushing on Philadelphia.

Tom Knox is running for mayor of Philadelphia to end the pay-to-play politics and to reclaim Philadelphia's streets for every Philadelphian. I hope you will join us by making your contribution today.

Sincerely,

Josh Morrow

Campaign Manager, Knox for Philly

P.S. See the invitation below and make your $250 contribution today to help Tom end politics as usual in Philadelphia.

At an event today at a fire station at 21st and Market streets, Bob Brady called for improvements to the city's emergency management system.

In particular, he wants medically trained firefighters in every unit in the city. He said there are 40 firefighters trained as paramedics on the job now who aren't acting as paramedics. He wants them doing the medical work they were trained for -- and to add another 20 trained paramedics to the force.

Also, he wants to start a "311" system for non-emergency calls that would siphon those calls from the 911 system.

During the event, Brady made a slightly odd connection -- as he said he wanted a better emergency system, he knocked Knox for his role in an insurance company in Maryland that had been fined by state regulators for requiring patients to get approval from their primary care doctor before going to the emergency room.

The candidates really are going out of their way to get Knox, aren't they?

Nutter's endorsement meeting with Philly Magazine just ended. At the end of it, Nutter slightly joined the criticism of Knox, says The Daily News' Catherine Lucey.

Nutter said: "I actually have a record. He's got a TV record; I've got a public record."

And then Nutter added that he and Knox were roughly contemporaries in City Hall, but that he didn't see Knox at bean-counting time: "I came into government at the same time, and I attended every budget hearing the city ever had. I never saw Tom Knox."

Dwight Evans' "Where's the beef" press event just broke up. A brief summary:

The visuals: Evans outside a Wendy's in Center City, surrounded by supporters, two of whom had signs. One sign detailed Evans' record, which was described as "beefy." The other said it described Knox's record -- and the only thing on it was the petitions that Knox had delivered to Harrisburg to support local gun laws.

Evans had tough words, as well. Knox's ads, Evans said, "particularly when he starts talking about fighting crime, are misleading and should be taken off the air."

And, Evans said: "how can he have a crime plan when it is clear to me he has no record?"

OK, that's three candidates, three statements, three whacks at Knox today.

(Bumped to the top -- Wendy)
As the Inky said this morning, there are a slew of new ads up. And they are rougher on the competition than what we've seen so far.

You know what that means -- play media critic for a minute, and tell us what you think about them.

Take a look at the ads below and leave us a comment...

Michael Nutter's "Fights" ad:

Chaka Fattah's "Passion" ad:

Bob Brady:

Tom Knox:

Dwight Evans' "Right Now" ad:

Read our past "Rate the ad!" posts here and here.

Chaka Fattah today released his testimony before the Minority Business Enterprise Council and said the city must increase its business with minority-owned and women-owned firms. He said:

In order for the City to grow its economy, it must build a stronger business base. The millions of dollars that the city spends on procurement each year is an important economic development tool that has not adequately benefited minority and women-owned businesses and our local economy.

This point is detailed in his testimony to the Council, as well as in his Opportunity Plan. Michael Nutter, and Dwight Evans also have discussed the need for the city to spend more with minority-owned businesses as well.

(Wendy edited to update)

Bob Brady CAN stay on the ballot.

Today, the state Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of lower court rulings that said he should stay on, which means that he will stay on the ballot May 15.

According to the Philly Mag profile of Tom Knox, referred to earlier today by Wendy, an incident from early in Ed Rendell's first term regarding special perks and US Air was attributed to Knox.

A member of the administration, saying he was acting under authorization of the mayor, had demanded VIP status in the USAir reservation system. He wanted automatic upgrades to first class for himself and his wife, and preferential boarding, and while Schofield and USAir had no problem with it …

Knox denies this one, too. Why, he’s had VIP status since the ’80s, courtesy of his black American Express card, so calling USAir wasn’t something he’d ever stoop to.

Although the black American Express card existed as a sort of urban legend back in the "me" decade, AMEX didn't actually introduce such a thing until 1999 when they began issuing a black colored card called the "Centurion" card. There are multiple explanations of this urban legend, including here and here and the official site of the Centurion. Oh, I'm sorry, don't you have the $2500 annual fee? No? Then I guess that last link won't be working for ya.

Since it's not a direct quote from Knox, it's hard to tell who got this wrong but if he's using urban legends to deny that he tried to he used his position in the administration to get that perk, then maybe that whole payday lending thing was actually the fault of that vanishing hitchhiker?

(edited to add) Just because he probably didn't think I'd do it, I wanted to credit the wife of the friend of mine who tipped me off to this as "a sharp-eyed, rich-person friend of The Next Mayor." No word on whether she has one of these mysterious "black cards" but apparently the first rule of black card is you DO NOT talk about black card.

Knox's new ad takes on the attacks that he's faced recently. Check it out:

The Daily News has a big package of stories about Tom Knox today. Here's a recap for you:

Daily News story on Knox's claim to "outsider" status and his business deals

(Wendy edited to add: Here are the links mentioned in the story: "Reviews highly mixed for Knox" and "Millionaire entrepreneur as Philly's next mayor?" )

Story on his Maryland insurance firm, which was fined for telling patients to get authorization from their primary care doctor before going to the emergency room

Daily News story on the "knock Knox" efforts by candidates

Baer's column, where he admits, "How ya feelin’ about your mayor’s race? I, personally, am feelin’ Tom Knox. Which, if you think about it, is amazing."

Finally -- and you really want to click on this -- Signe Wilkinson's animated editorial cartoon on Tom Knox. (Credit Daily News online editor Vance Lehmkuhl for the actionscript that made Signe's art dance.)

Michael Nutter earned a second media endorsement today -- from The Daily Pennsylvanian, the student paper over at UPenn. The paper prints and distributes 14,000 copies daily.

Nutter already picked up the endorsement from Philadelphia Magazine this week.

Note to candidates: adorable children trump wonkish pols any day!

According to the Michael Nutter campaign, online fundraising skyrocketed in the week after an ad featuring his precocious 12-year-old daughter Olivia went up on TV and online.

Between Friday April 13 – when the ad first ran on television – and Thursday April 19, the campaign received $35,915 in online donations. The previous week they brought in only $6,655 online.

Maybe she can appear in the debates too?

The Philadelphia Business Journal is currently conducting a poll that asks:

The mayoral race: Who's best for business?

So far, it's Knox 44, Nutter 40, Brady 6, Fattah 5, Evans 5, with some interesting comments.

Feel free to jump in and cast your own vote. I think the polls close on Friday.

Dave Davies has another great story in this morning's Daily News: As everyone thought would happen, an independent group has formed to raise money for attack ads challenging Tom Knox.

Such a group -- sometimes called a "527" for the part of the tax code it refers to -- is not supposed to be linked to any campaign. Because it is not raising money for a candidate, it is not bound by campaign donation limits.

This group is called the "Economic Justice Coalition for Truth." It's president is Rev. Robert Shine and its treasurer is attorney Alex Talmadge.

Talmadge. Wait...Talmadge. Hasn't he hung out with Tommy the Loan Shark? In fact, wasn't he just in Clout?

"According to two witnesses, Talmadge was a stand-in for U.S. Rep. Bob Brady at a North Philadelphia candidates' forum March 14. Talmadge didn't return two messages yesterday asking him to fill us in."

And therein lies the issue. 527s can't be connected to a campaign. Obviously, the Knox people are crying foul.

However, I think the likelihood that we are about to start seeing far more pointed attack ads is very, very high, be them from a 527 or from one of Knox's opponents with ad money to spend.