Just got this report from Jennine over at the Vote for Homes Coalition:
600 Homeless and Low-Income Voters Meet to Hear from Mayoral Candidates
Approximately six hundred people filled Arch Street United Methodist Church last night for one of the most unusual candidates forums of the mayoral election. Sponsored by the Vote for Homes! coalition, the forum focused on engaging the city's low-income and homeless citizens; 25% of Philadelphia’s population lives below the poverty line. The crowd was mostly homeless and low-income people from dozens of shelters and programs in the city. Several observers noted that it was one of the biggest forums of the year. All six of the major candidates were invited (the date was set two months ago). Two candidates came and stayed the whole time, Former City Councilman Michael Nutter (D) and Businessman Al Taubenberger (R). Congressman Chaka Fattah (D) came late, answered a few questions, and left early. The other candidates – Dwight Evans, Bob Brady, and Tom Knox – did not attend. Several homeless and formerly homeless persons spoke, as did Sister Mary Scullion, Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E. Elmer Smith from the Philadelphia Daily News was the energetic moderator for this event.
Some highlights of the exchange with the candidates: All three candidates enthusiastically supported the idea of a “one-stop-shop” coordination of services similar to what was provided to the Katrina victims who came to Philadelphia. This proposal also received the most enthusiastic response of the night from the audience. Also, both Michael Nutter and Chaka Fattah proposed expanded of the Housing Trust Fund as a way of generating more affordable housing.
Next week, a full report and video on the forum and the candidates’ responses to the issues will be available. In the meantime, the Vote for Homes! coalition has produced a Voter’s Guide which includes all the mayoral candidates’ responses to issues of affordable housing, living-wage jobs, and services. The Coalition has registered nearly 1,200 people this election season and 10,500 people since 1999. In the coming weeks, the Coalition will train volunteers to help mobilize the vote in Philadelphia shelters, recovery houses, halfway houses, and soup kitchens. The Guide and other information about the coalition is available on-line at www.projecthome.org/vote.
FYI... apparently Channel 6 was there too (you'll have to watch the video - and sit through the ad).
Comments (3)
I cant wait to see their reaction that theyll be stopped up and frisked up cause theyre poor and black
Posted by Anonymous | April 27, 2007 10:40 PM
Michael Nutter at the Vote for Homes mayoral forum
Posted by karen | April 28, 2007 8:48 AM
The following report on the Vote for Homes mayoral forum was sent to me from a friend who has a long history as a fighter for social justice as an activist, as a policy analyst, and as a human services worker. She went to the forum leaning Fattah and came away leaning Nutter.
Vote4Homes – a coalition of over 50 organizations serving the poor and homeless - held a Mayoral Candidates Forum on Thursday night at the Arch Street United Methodist Church, at Broad Arch.
Inspiring speeches from Sister Mary Scullion (Project H.O.M.E.), Church Pastor, Reverend Robin M. Hynicka, and Leeroy Jordan, of Ready, Willing & Able were met with cheers and applause.
The coalition has registered over 1,000 new voters, and they’re making sure that people experiencing homelessness, parolees, and probationers know their rights as voters. Their question: Will the next Mayor work to end homelessness and poverty?
And…..the response? Only Michael Nutter, and the Republican candidate Al Taubenberger (way out of his league, trying to answer questions from the crowd) showed for the whole event. Chaka Fattah arrived an hour late and left after only about 15 minutes. Disappointing, big time, considering he is running on a platform to fight poverty and we could use some leadership on this issue. That this is the major problem facing our city is undeniable, as the crowd of service providers filled the Church to overflowing. Kudos to Nutter for showing up and staying.
This crowd - people who live in poverty and the folks who work to provide services and advocate on their behalf – deserve the utmost respect, and he delivered. One question from the director of Homeless Advocacy services was about how Philadelphia was able, in only a few days, to pull together a seamless “one-stop shop” array of services for the victims of Katrina – and yet somehow can’t seem to do the same for the victims of poverty in our own berg. Nutter had to admit he had been puzzled about that one (Fattah used this opportunity to point out that Nutter hadn’t thought to raise these doubts when he was councilman). But the question remains --- will the next mayor work to address this problem – as the numbers of homeless continue to climb (listen to NPR’s recent piece Philadelphia’s homeless rate rises anew)?
Let’s hope last night’s poor showing doesn’t point towards four years of abject neglect…and let’s hope that Nutter’s showing at the event means that, if elected, he will address the problem of homelessness by putting accessible housing at the forefront of his reforms.
Posted by karen | April 28, 2007 8:50 AM