The Main Event

When The Next Mayor project was conceived, in the back of a '92 Volvo station wagon one memorable night, the dream was to have a media presence in the race unlike any that had ever been attempted. Rather than simply waiting for a number of candidates to introduce themselves and allow them to define the issues that would be discussed in the race, the founders of this project (who among them have covered every mayoral campaign since Humphrey Morrey) decided it was time for the people of Philadelphia to define those issues.

Then, they took it one step further. Instead of having the media pull a bunch of the classics (crime, schools, taxes) out of a hat and then poll people on them, they would convene small, diverse groups of people from throughout the region to have discussions about the issues, letting them go in all different directions without the constraints of "Very Important, Somewhat Important, A Little Important, Not Important at All" that come with polling. These groups would put people who would not otherwise interact with each other into one room where they could hash out exactly what it is they want the candidates for mayor to talk about and the next mayor to act on.

That process began today.

About 3 hours ago we wrapped up the first of what he hope will be 10 or 12 focus groups. After months of preparation and finding hundreds of potential participants whose only points of commonality are that they live in the Greater Philadelphia region and are tuned in to the any one of a number of challenges facing the region, we brought together 13 of them to begin the discussion.

The discussion was held in Studio One at the WHYY Technology Center on 6th Street and will eventually be broadcast in its entirety on the digital tv channel and as part of documentary work on channel 12. Video highlights will also be available on thenextmayor.com. I don't want to give away the ending but I will say that the discussion started off slow as the participants got to know each other a little better and listen to each other's ideas about the important issues that must be taken on by the next mayor. Soon they were conversing with each other, talking, listening, convincing and being convinced. Many of the issues discussed were exactly what you'd expect but they talked very frankly about the intersection of race and politics, money and politics, and the need for more civic engagement by themselves and the citizenry at large.

As our moderator pressed participants to offer solutions and go deeper into the roots of the problems, many brought up the point that the candidates and elected officials don't talk about these issues because the media doesn't press them on it. I couldn't help but think that maybe discussions like this, taped and prepared for television are the first step. (Ok ok... there's my boundless optimism peeking out again. Quick, Dan, say something cynical... "yeah, that'll happen when I'm standing on South Broad watching the Phillies World Series victory parade.)

But seriously, stay tuned for the product of this and the meetings to follow. We're still looking for participants so if you or someone you know would like to come in and talk about issues... rather than trash one candidate or another... feel free to send me an email.