Great Expectations

Create a more inviting work environment for businesses in Philadelphia. The tax structure is a burden and a disincentive, particularly to small business owners who wish to stay here or come here in the first place. Business privelege tax, on top of net profits tax, school tax, etc., bleeds us dry and prohibits business reinvestment opportunities for future investment and potential growth.

A secondary effect of a reduced tax structure would be to create more opportunities for all the local college grads to stay in Philadelphia because there would be more jobs and dollars to hire them. Over time this would provide the tax dollars lost in a better tax structure for business.

We must compete economically in order to prepare for Philadelphia's future. Attention to business taxes is the way to go.

More comments via e-mail:
Chris

Yo, Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is ...

. . . bring me back to Philadelphia. I know this sounds rather self-serving, what with all the pressing crises of the city – including poverty, crime, and education. But I represent the vast Philadelphia diaspora – the many former inhabitants who long for Philadelphia, who spend hours a week on philly.com and phillyblog and read the Business Journal and City Paper on line. We miss our neighborhoods, our families and our soft pretzels. We want to come back, but something is missing: jobs.

Almost seven years ago, I married a man who lives and works in North Jersey. His technology-based firm is thriving in the New York area with many clients ranging in geographic location from Garden City, Long Island to Parsippany, NJ. How many clients do they have in the Philadelphia area? One. In Blue Bell.

Philadelphia needs to significantly lower its wage and business taxes and aggressively work to attract and grow new businesses. Some might argue that there is growth on the 202 corridor and in other suburbs, but without a vibrant economic engine at the center, the Philadelphia region is lagging behind metro areas like New York and Boston. Jobs will bring new residents, new income and new life to the city -- both at its center and in the neighborhoods.

Mary Barr Mann
Maplewood, NJ

I would like for you to address the problem of uncollected and non enforcement of real estate taxes, parking fines and water bills. It is estimated through published reports that a half billion dollars is outstanding when all added together. Other national municipalities are and have been quite effective in enforcement policies. As a City we cannot allow the continuing deadbeats to violate their responsibility that everyone else has to live up to. This uncollected money could be added to the City's general fund or perhaps a rainey day fund. Any business or corporation should not be able to do business or be a vendor to the City if they owe any sort of financial obligation of any kind. Additionally all individuals and business that currently owe uncollected money should be checked out to see if they have given any contributions to political candidates and if so, how much and to whom so that it can be published.

Everyone who is financially able must comply and do their part. It is the obligation of effective and responsive leadership to do the right thing on behalf of all the citizens of Philadelphia. After all this is supposed to be a new day, a new beginning, a new bright light needs to uncover what should have been done all along for all to see.

Richard Panichelli

Yo, Mike!

What is your strategy to improve transportation and public transit in Philadelphia and its neighboring suburban counties? We all have a stake in improving public transit and reducing traffic congestion on our highways.
Thanks.
Good luck in November.

Transportation Management Association of Chester County
Derrick Stokes
Senior Director, Marketing Communications

If Philadelphia is to grow and truly become a great city, it must provide an atmosphere which promotes private industry which in turn provides employment opportunities by creating good jobs. Philadelphia’s progress is stymied by its regressive wage tax which drives businesses out of the city. Philadelphia needs a total tax overhaul if it is to remain vibrant in the 21st century. The city must find ways to keep its best young college educated young people from leaving town as soon as they graduate.

Michael Rutberg, MD

The press seems to overlook one obvious solution to crime and bad schools, the overdue city property taxes now totallying $622 million!

Philly schools simply can't afford optional property tax payment.

Actual foreclosure would be unlikely, as people would simply find ways to catch up in order to keep their homes.

Compiled by web activist Ed Goppelt at:

http://www.hallwatch.org/proptax/about/redelinq/stats/summary

Types Amounts owed Number of Debtors

Business $245,863,932.37 56,329
Individuals $376,918,886.13 124,210

Total ****$622,782,818.50****
by 180,539 owners

Years delinquent, Property count, Total delinquency:

1 80,360 $81,653,573.17
2 23,775 $48,856,298.16
3 12,195 $32,702,018.86
4 7,834 $26,352,790.72
5 5,771 $24,481,946.88
6 4,612 $26,301,778.64
7 5,105 $24,895,863.68
8 3,645 $21,677,086.25
9 3,314 $22,665,143.63
10 3,707 $27,133,962.16
11 29,937 $286,062,183.35

Philadelphians vs. Non-Philadelphians

Group Total Due Total properties

Philadelphians $539,731,736.44 159,236
Non-Philadelphians $58,244,761.86 17,699

Philly can afford better schools, but Philly must collect what is owed the city promptly and in full. Other counties in the surrounding areas collect or start foreclosure proceedings in about 12 months for unpaid bills to a school district or county.

Philly can't afford to priortize deadbeat owners over kids.

Property taxes outstanding and unpaid now total more than $622,782,818.50 by 180,539 owners in Philly.

Any debt collector would buy this debt from the city for a huge sum. That's how Rendell funded his first surplus.

So where is the fire to put this money to good use, instead of providing deadbeat owners with free pass?

What could the schools do with $311 million dollars? What could the city do about crime with the rest?

How about abolish the wage tax for good and have a city that rivals NYC and Chicago?

Abolish the BPT. Whoever heard of taxing gross receipts before even knowing your profit? We can create jobs by making employers want to be here.

Nothing could disincentivize business more. I think the person who wrote that legislation wanted to create a large federally funded socialst dream state.

What resulted is a city where no one with good legal counsel houses their registered headquarters to avoid this crazy tax.

Let's have a local economy again, since we are the fulcrum of the pharmaceutical, health, energy, and other industries on both sides of us.

Why is Philly a big empty hole of poverty in the middle of one of the nation's booming regional economies?

We need larger, better prisons for the city.

Yes, we have State Road, CFCF, Riverside, ASD, and Holmesburg (it really is open folks).

But those facilities are only a few stories tall, and made of materials stronger than the foundations they are resting on.

We have room to house more than just 8000 or so inmates until they are processed up state or to a program for addiction or health care.

Philly has a super prison system in terms of providing mental health care, methadone treatment, counseling, social services, referrals to placements in proven programs.

What we don't have is enough room for the people who are going to die if we don't get them off the streets.

Whether it's overdose or murder, death by preventable disease that is costing the city a fortune, prison helps people who are destroying themselves, their families, whole communities.

The Street/Fattah/Brady type vision of "opening up the prisons" is the cause of the current murder rate in no insignificant way.

If Philly is not going to build prisons, then it must hire private prison contractors to take the overflow.

We can't keep trying to tailor the police and court response to crime to the available local prison space! Criminals are not cooperating.

Let's tailor the prison space to what is required for reasonable public safety in the greatest city in the world (under Nutter).

Yo Mike! There are a lot of citizens out there who aren't waiting around for the next few months until you become mayor. They're out there now trying to fix problems in their neighborhoods. But when you do become mayor, you should reach out to them. Check out the Eastwick Bike Patrol, for example. These are working people who have taken time out of their lives, and in some cases away from their families, to patrol the 12th district--one of the city's more dangerous--by bicycle. They have the energy and desire already! What they don't have is enough money to keep their bikes on the road...The hardest thing about making a difference is getting people moving. But when they're already moving, they just need the slightest encouragement to keep them at it. We can't wait for your help!

"Yo, Mike! The one thing I really need you to do is............... TAKE ME OFF OF YOUR AUTOMATED PHONE LIST. I have not lived in Philadelphia for forty-six years.
Ronni Weinberg
North Wales, PA

Yo, Mike! The one thing I really need you to do is ...

...enable construction projects in the City to use whatever contractors and sub-contractors they see fit; union or non-union. The ridiculous spectacle of coercion and veiled threats by the building trades has gone on long enough. With higher built-in construction cost for the City compared to the suburbs (where most of the unions' membership lives by the way), is it any surprise investment in Philadelphia continues to lag?
Philadelphia was made great in the first place through commerce. Removing such artificial impediments to commerce should be the first order of business. This is one Philadelphian who will fully back whatever move you make.

Note from Chris S. -
Here are some of today's responses via e-mail:

Yo Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is demolish areas of blight creating open space of as many square blocks as possible. Then provide whatever safety necessary and tax incentives to entice suburban type super markets and fast food franchises to locate there. This would provide local jobs and a sense of civic pride which might well extend into the sourounding areas. These small oases within the city could include a youth and teenage "hang-out" which beats curfews and restrictions young people hate. The possibilities are endless.

Ralph D. Bloch
Dresher, Pa.

----

The one thing we all really need you to do is get the guns out of the city. You worked long and hard to ban smoking in public places (thank you!) because cigarettes kill people. Now it's time to do something about the city's ever rising rate of gun-related deaths. I realize that this is a moral, educational and cultural, as well as a legal issue, but you're now the top guy in the city and you need to get things moving.

Bob Bauer

----

If you can only do one thing consider the plight of homeless children in our city's homeless shelters. Take your family one Saturday to play with the children who are growing up in shelters and who need our attention. Notice that in some of the shelters there is a playroom called a Bright Space where children and families can spend time together, moms can have some repite to focus on their job skills and children can play in a beautiful, developmentally appropriate place that can bring them hope for a better life. This public/private partnership can bring needed early intervention services, parenting education, college coaching and health and safety information that is typically difficult to reach. The Phila Bright Space Project needs your support and recognition to continue to grow in effectiveness. A visit from you would send a hopeful message to all of us who work with children and know that they hold the key to the future. I know your daughter would learn from and enjoy the vsit as my children have. Philadelphians need to understand that all children deserve what you and I want and givéto our own children. In the days leading up to the election please come to visit a Bright Space in one of the 13 shelters in the city lucky enough to have one. We need your support to continue.
Good luck in your important ane challenging work of improving the lives of all of Philadelphia's citizens.

Ileen Henderson
Phila Bright Space Project Manager
---

If I could speak to Mr. Nutter I would tell him that the most important thing he needs to do is to stop all the killing. Before anyone can focus on education or any of the other very important pressing issues, people have to be safe; safe on the streets, safe in schools, safe in their homes. Without solving that problem, Philadelphia can never move forward in improving its neighborhoods and schools.

Ellen Rothschild

----

Yo, Mike! The single most important thing a new mayor could do would be to repeal the city wage tax. It is probably the single reason why large American business (and their thousands of jobs ) go to Wilmington Del. Corporate headquarters always locate in the most salutary location. In the not too distant past a high percentage of the American oil refining industry was here. The wage tax and the dollar a barrel refined products tax drove them to Houston; and are a major reason why we are smaller and less appealing than they are today.

Edgar Harris

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The one thing I really need you to do is lead a campaign to obtain dedicated funding for SEPTA. Just suppose you had to plan your personal finances without knowing the total money you had to work with.

The traffic is already so bad in the Delaware Valley that gasoline and peoples' time are being wasted in enormous quantities. The air is also being dangerously polluted. This is not a local problem. The entire state is being affected when people cannot get to jobs or transport goods in a timely manner.

This country prides itself on letting people make their own choices. Without a dependable transit system, the choices cannot be made as to how people want to get around. Even people who never ride SEPTA are usually glad to know their taxes are being used for a really essential government program. Please get a coalition working on this needed dedicated funds for public transit.

Ellen Kadransky
Upper Darby

---

Yo, Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is,

To please go through City Hall and rid it of all the wasteful, good for nothing, unhelpful, rude and non-working city staff /employees, including some Council Members that have never earned and do not deserve a paycheck. I voted for you knowing and trusting that you would fight for what's right for our City and for those that believe that hard work never hurt anyone. I know your and our hard work will restore the present good for nothing Administration back to pure integrity and common decency, where our City rightfully belongs, before the likes of John Street and his cronies took over and did nothing but create nepotism and discontent all while lining their own pockets and turning their heads the other way. I know you will lift us back up to greatness and I appreciate and thank you in advance!

Divonne M. Hargett
Philadelphia

---

"Yo, Mike! The one thing I really need you to do is............... TAKE ME OFF OF YOUR AUTOMATED PHONE LIST. I have not lived in Philadelphia for forty-six years.
Ronni Weinberg
North Wales, PA

----

Get the city agencies to work - through direct public accountability.

Every City agency has smart, committed, capable staff. Every agency also has rude, disengaged staff. When confronted with the latter, citizens have no credible recourse and often throw up their hands in frustration. There is a pervasive lack of professionalism and public accountability by City employees. People rely on constituent services from City Council because they see no other viable method for fixing problems. This is poor public policy and drives City Council to act as retail vendors for city services. The Mayor and City Council should be focusing on creative, systemic solutions to the challenges that face Philadelphia and citizens should be able to depend on the city agencies to do their jobs.

Appoint an ombudsman for each City agency, who reports to the Director of that agency, whose job is to field complaints. The ombudsmen understand the services and operations of their departments and they are empowered to take action on behalf of citizens – to resolve problems and to set the highest standard of customer service.

Aaron Goldblatt
Laura Foster
Philadelphia

---

Yo, Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is focus on Center City.

Philadelphia was once considered a destination city, maybe even a future world class city, for business and tourism. We still have tourism, but business is leaving.

Walk east of City Hall, down Market Street, Chestnut Street, Walnut Street. Look at the empty store fronts and the store fronts that cater primarily to the poor people. Macy's decided to not bring a department store to Center City. The Macy's in the former Wanamaker's store is merely a clothing and accessories store. That means the big department store in Center City is a K-Mart. Think about it, the big department store in Center City is a K-Mart. People who have the means do not shop at K-Mart, especially they do not use it as a destination. People who have money do not ordinarily shop in the same stores as poor people.

During the past few weeks we have been informed that one in four Philadelphians live at or below the poverty level, and that Philadelphia is too poor to support its school system.

If Center City is not brought up to a level that will support a couple of major department stores then Philadelphia will become another Detroit, Camden or Newark, New Jersey.

Too much public money has been directed to the neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods do not contribute enough revenue to justify the allocation of public funds so disproportionately. It is immoral and corrupt.

Also, walk from City Hall to the Art Museum. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway looks like an abandoned and vacant lot. Look how the lawns have been allowed to go to seed, or weed, or develop bare spots surrounded by crab grass. If you want Center City to be a destination and Philadelphia to be a world class city then Center City's appearance must be improved and become the example the entire city looks up to.

Albert Raman, Spring Garden District, Philadelphia

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While there are many problems in Philly that will take long term solutions, there is one thing that we can do rather quickly to improve the spirit of our city.
So what I'd like to say to Mike Nutter is "Yo, Mike! Let's change the slogan!"
I'm sure that the current slogan, "The place that loves you back" has played a part in increasing tourism, but can't we have a slogan that defines who we are while bringing in the tourists?
Besides, the current slogan makes us sound like we're puppies. Hey, I love puppies,
but this is Philly not Puppyland and we need a slogan that is truly us.
Philly is America's first hometown and a source of inspiration to the world, while being as homelike and comfortable as a pair of slippers.
Considering this, my idea for a slogan is Home is Philadelphia "Where Hopes and Dreams are Born."
Patrick J. Kelly

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If Michael Nutter sat down at my kitchen table, the one thing I would discuss is: "St. Joseph's College students are destroying Wynnfield Neighborhoods, what steps or laws will you enact to protect homeowners, if and when you become Mayor of Philadelphia.

Melverna Hagans
Wynnfield Homeowner

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1. I voted for you, thank-you for the smoking ban!

2. WHATEVER needs to be done to get more businesses to locate here! Educated, middle class young professionals are moving here by the hundreds but we still have to commute to the suburbs for thousands of great-paying jobs. How many huge pharmaceutical corporations have world headquarters just outside of Philadelphia? Why? Thousands of pharmaceutical jobs are computer jobs and can be done in any office, why not downtown?

3. Keep beautifying the city to increase tourism. Tourists spend and create more jobs for everyone, but also the people who have chosen to make Downtown their home talk about how great it is to live here and that just gets more people to move here.
The park around City Hall is a disgrace. Needs to be fixed yesterday! Major tourist spot not living up to any potential at all. The ice skating rink is an awesome idea, slow tourist season in winter, I would walk over there just to watch people skating. Could you imagine taking pictures there in the winter with all the beautiful architecture in the background? It would be a one-of-a-kind tourist spot in the U.S.


Dr. Steven J. Musuras
Philadelphia

And more via e-mail:

Yo Mile the one thing I really need you to do is Take Care of the Children and to save a City we must save the children who are the citizen of tommorow and the key is education
We start with the children in the DHS system What I propose is to develop and implement a IMPERVIOUS GRANNY SQUAD Who would be an advocate advisories to young families in need of DHS services I have the proposal I just need you to implement this project to save our children and schools. Let's talk.
Sincerely,
Juanita B. Hatton

---

The one thing I really need you to do is figure out how to improve the City’s school system. I know as a parent you can appreciate the importance of a sound education that includes the basics, and what used to be the basics like art and music education, physical education and college prep support. If we are to become the next great city we must be able to attract and retain a robust economic base. To do this will require more than just an attractive city with good transportation, cultural amenities, and great sports teams. Rather, it will require us to produce a diverse and skilled labor force, to reverse our standing as the City with the highest poverty rate in the country, and at the very least, to graduate more students each year than are dropping out. Philadelphia is a good city: It has wonderful housing and open spaces; diverse cultural and recreational opportunities; and, a true sense of community in each of our myriad neighborhoods. However, if we continue to lose 50% of all incoming 9th graders before we hand them a high school diploma, it will never be a great city.

Cathy M. Weiss
Philadelphia

Mr. Nutter,
Fund the City Health Centers.
Established around the City, they provide health care to the uninsured and under-insured(as well as the insured). These services are essential to those citizens,are cost effective and serviced by dedicated and over extended staff.
As one member of the staff, I say to you sir, ..."give us the tools, and we'll do the job".

Yo Mike,

Clean and sweep the streets and sidewalks on a daily basis. Start enforcing laws against littering and illegal dumping! Restructure the lackluster and unresponsive Streets Department.

Mr. Nutter -- the city needs to address the inefficiency of traffic flow. There are too many automibles and (as is well known) an inefficient and fragmented public transportation system. SEPTA was going to eliminate the transfer pass? There shouldn't even be a transfer pass. We should be able to move throughout the city on the cost of one token. The system should be more fully integrated. Also, how about putting limits on cars allowed into the city. This can be done through a system that allows even plate numbers in one day, odd another, and like this alternate throughout the week. I expect such a suggestion to be laughed at because our rhetoric of excessive freedoms demands change without sacrifice.
One last issue concerning traffic: Construction in Center City spills out into the streets, closing sidewalks and riping up pavement with heavy machinery, making it dangerous for cyclists and damaging to motorists. (And I don't think property owners pay to repave when their buildings go up, do they?). Sure, the city needs development, but the city government cannot let private interest walk all over public space, nor suck up public funds because of destruction they've caused.

Dear Mr. Nutter,

The one thing we as a community would like you to think about is: turn down the terribly loud music and noise amplified on the Parkway. We live in the Fairmount section and are literally blasted by the loud crazy music on the 4th of July and other celebrations that take place on the Parkway. In past years (back in the dark ages of the 70's) the music could be heard but it did not disturb now it has gotten so extremely loud it is hard to put up with for so many hours. If the music was true music it would also be easier to hear the blast but it is not really music just rhythm and noise. Thank you for considering this - I think if you would ask the people in this neighborhood, many would agree to have it lower in volumn. thank you again.

to have you work closely and with an eagle eye on the School Reform Commission. This commission has not been doing its job: reform Philadelphia's schools. They have mismanaged their "CEO" over the last few years, a CEO who himself mismanaged his shop and the funds for Philadelphia's children into a 182 MILLION DOLLAR HOLE. Someone has to hold the SRC up to scrutiny, and yeah, it was instituted by the Commonwealth, but AHEM, they are our schools! Our children!

So glad that you are in on this and also, thanks for standing up to be counted on 5/29 at the SRC meeting. That was grand.

If you want to champion the schools and make them better, you need to work on some program where unwed mothers are paid to NOT have kids and to also hold fathers more accountable for their children. The poor kids of these irresponsible and unaccountable adults are victims of neglect. Their vicitmization manifests itself in our schools where these kids prey on those they see as weaker than they are.

My proposal is if you are a female receiving welfare you should receive an extra one hundred dollars a month for NOT having kids. Be that birth control or abortion. It will stop the violence in this city, the cycle of poverty these people find themselves in, save our schools, save a lot of money, and ultimately save our city. Drastic problems need drastic solutions!!

Mike, if you win the mayor's office please get rid of anyone Mayor Street has appointed to office. Please get his brother and son out of public office and out of this government. That family has had their time on our dime. Now it is time they get a real job, and we stop supporting them.

Thank you for the smoking ban.

The one thing I really need you to do is invite people in the suburbs to help solve Philadelphia problems. Sure, it would be nice if there were a region-wide dedicated sales tax for science and cultural institutions (Denver does that successfully). But what I'm really talking about is on the family level. My family does not live or work in Philly, but we enjoy sports events, museums, restaurants, and kid-related activities in Philly. I read about the violence, the school problems, and the DHS problems, and I wonder what my family can do about them, besides donating to charities.

Dear Mr.Nutter,
In the last two weeks my children and thier friends have either been victims of violence or been near an incident. Thank God that they are all alive to tell us about it. Getting guns off the streets of this city is the single most important issue to me right now. Our city is in a crisis. I fear for the lives of my young adult children and I fear for my ten year old who I am afraid to leave out of my sight for long periods of time.The laws need to be tougher for crimes committed with a gun. If found carrying a gun without a permit they should go to jail. I don't want my children to become one of the statistics.

Congratulations, Michael. The focus and integrity of your campaign were beautiful to behold. And your victory inspires hope!

Please enlarge the city's committment to and cooperation with citizen activists. From home and school associations to civic clean and green groups, this city is brimming with talented people who care. Every neighborhood has its unofficial leaders -- the optimists, the people who pick up trash and take it home to dispose of it -- the people who believe that a better city starts with them.

Tap into that energy, and you won't believe the transformation possible.

Thanks!

Mike, the most important thing you can do is something that will allow you to do all the other things that everyone is asking you to do. You need to work really hard to stop this city's bureacracy from wasting money. Every agency needs to do a variety of simple things to work smarter and more efficiently.

Whether its the police using data to identify where and when crimes occur and who commits them on a realtime basis so they can staff those places and prevent the crimes, or...

Simply knowing the tools necessary to analyze the data collected by the behavioral health organizations or DHS, so that case workers can respond more effectively, quickly, and intelligently to head off the worst problems, or...

Re-evaluating the functions and purposes of licenses and inspections, reorganizing the place, using triage techniques and empowering and training the staff to provide excellent customer service, or...

Allows schools more autonomy to specialize in serving particular types of students with specific learning styles, so that teaching methods are matched to learning style, rather than the current, one-size-fits-all because people move too much, or...

I could go on and on. The main point is that if the city uses the best techniques, constantly collects data about how they are doing, and empowers staff to constantly make improvements based on a knowledge of what their customers want, I bet you could free up enough money to do just about everything on everyone else's lists, and cut taxes, too!

Mike, you're smart. I hope you can make the city government work smart, too! If you do, you and our city will have a grand future!

Yo Mike, the one thing I really want you to do is read these comments. I hope you personally read all of them and see what the people of this city have to say. Many Philadelphians have good ideas that never reach the ears of politicians, but they are all over the Internet. The three things at the top of my agenda for this city are:
1) Fix SEPTA. It is disgusting, expensive and unsafe. If SEPTA was improved (particularly the subways), more people would come out and spend their money in the city instead of partying at someone's house and drunk driving back home.
2) Implement a recycling program for the ENTIRE city. What about a bottle deposit? That might even help with panhandling.
3) Improve emergency responses. 9-11 needs to be a heck of a lot faster. We need GPS technology to be able to locate calls made from landlines since fewer and fewer people have land lines.
Thanks!

Correction: The above should read "calls made from cell phones" -- Thanks.

Yo Mike,
I really want you to take a walk down the 6400 block of Dorcas Street. I have lived here since 1979 and would love to not have to move. Only two doors away, a HUD owned home sits empty with all the windows boarded. Many calls and emails have fallen on deaf ears. This is an eyesore. Over 8 homes are for sale on this block. They sit because of this visual blight. The lawns grow high, the owners have moved on. At the end of the street at Hellerman is a dead end driveway that PENDOT has created. In blocking this drive for their purposes, illegal dumping and trash have accumulated. Again no one cares. Calls have been made. Now drive down Dorcas during rush hour and try to turn left onto Levick. Visibility is difficult. Cars park on Levick right up to the corner. Neighbors have made numerous calls for a no parking sign since February. No one cares about us, Dorcas Street, or anything else. Please dare to be different.

Yo Mike,

First, this is not the most user friendly website. It is un-nerving to start at your website and then to be dumped into another public website. It may be cost effective but it is off putting to me. I had the same experience when I made my contribution online--not an experience I am likely to do again!

Anyway, Mike I am a supporter and will vote for you in the fall. My worry is the Stop and Frisk program. I am with you when it comes to needing to something to stop the crime and killing wave in Philadelphia. However, we in Philadelphia have a particular history of police abuse in this city that can't be ignored. Help me understand how you plan to protect against a repeat of that history. The last thing we need if for citizens to experience the violence of the criminal element and the terror of the police state. Tell me how you intend to meet the expectation that I have that your policy of stop and frisk will make people feel that their communities are being protected and not further harassed.

Is to reinstate prayer into all our schools. Ever since prayer has been taken out of our schools our children has had no godly role models - all they have are hip hop singers that abuse human relationships. It should be a mandate/or choice of an individual to pray

Yo, Mike!

The one thing I really need you to do is focus on equality in elementary education. The effects of educational inequality ripple through our City and our entire society. It is appalling that 50% of our high school students drop out and that teenagers, especially inner-city boys, skip school and wander the streets – with no one assuming accountability. Without quality education, our children, especially inner-city children, will not be prepared to hold jobs, support families and be responsible parents. Violence, separated and dysfunctional families, and poverty will continue.

Studies show that if children are not reading at grade level by 4th grade, it becomes more difficult every year for them to achieve in school. And yet many of our City’s young children do not receive quality instruction in their earliest years, setting the stage for frustration and failure.

Please recognize that nothing is more important for our future than a high priority on elementary education. If anything can break the cycle of poverty, violence and drugs for future generations, it is quality education. ALL our children deserve the chance to succeed in school, to learn skills to succeed in the workforce and thus to become productive citizens.

Christine S. Beck, President and CEO
Gesu School

...be a Great Leader. This city has its share of problems, as all large urban cities do. You and others have identified the right ones to work on: crime, the declining business base, a dysfunctional education system, deteriorating transportation infrastructure. And it has wonderful assets, too: fine universities and colleges, an arts and culture community, a regionally based growing bio-sciences sector. What it needs is LEADERSHIP: bold, visionary, innovative, energetic, but above all leadership that builds coalitions, unites fractious parties, mobilizes vast teams of resourceful citizenry, non-profits, corporate partners, and regional governments to implement the many great ideas this region has and can produce.

Judy Tschirgi

yo mike

please have the water department give us honest answers on the flooded basements. the flat roofs of our row homes gather tons of rain water. Instead of going down into the sewer main why can't this roof water be diverted into the alley and down the street to the storm drains on the corners?

until these outdated and poorly maintained sewers can be reconstructed wouldn't it be better to divert all this extra water?

clean up this city!

One of the quickest, most visible, and cheapest proposals that would fundamentally change the city would be to address the hideous trash problem. Following the five-pronged approach below would reverse the vicious cycle by which pedestrians and landowners litter with reckless abandon.

1. Institute alternate side of the street parking, which has worked in New York for years.
2. Send street sweepers to clean up behind the garbage trucks.
3. Increase the number of trash cans with removable tops on street corners.
4. Issue fines to owners who do not dispose of trash on their properties.
5. Start a campaign for residents to have pride in Philly and take responsibility to “Clean up this city!”

Congratulations on securing the Democratic nomination! Here is what I am waiting to see happen with your administration:

1) Reduce the "brain drain" in Philadelphia of young professionals. Why is the Greater Philadelphia region such a great place to get an education but not a great place to live if you are under 40? It's time to make organizations like Innovation Philadelphia more accountable in creating solutions rather than more paper and patronage jobs.

2) Work on the disconnect between law enforcement, the DA, and the judicary branch. My brother was the innocent victim of a murder in 2002 and although his killer confessed, the judge (Kathryn Streeter Lewis)prejudged the jury against the DA. As a result, his murderer went free. I have to believe that beyond gun control and more police on the streets, that they has to be a solution to judges who allow known criminals to go free.

3) City services are awful! Make sure that the streets are cleaned, plowed in the winter, and enforce stiff fines against people who do not keep their properties clean.

4) Stop tearing down older homes in North Philadelphia! We have lost some beautiful structures that could have been converted into condos and larger apartments. There are still some nice homes left but what a tragedy that North Philadelphia's older structures are almost all gone.

5) Reform the school district and board - enough said.

6) Continue the revitalization of Center City Philadelphia. Philly is one of the few major cities in the country where you have to go the suburbs to shop in upscale stores. It's time to make Walnut and Chestnut Streets the equivalent of Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue with Prada, Gucci, Furla, and other major retailers coming into the city.

7) Lure high tech companies to Philadelphia. Seattle did it - we can too.

8) Reform SEPTA - good grief! It may time for some of the long time 'title holders' to be shown the front door.

9) Lastly, encourage civility by modeling it. It's time for us to really embrace what it means to be the 'City of Brotherly Love.'

Alexia Hudson, Proud Philadelphian

Why was Police Captain Louis Campione removed from the 26th District. Captain Campione loves this District and we love him. The people and children of the 26th District depend on Captain Campione and our caring officers to protect us. Captain Campione knows the young people of this district by name. He is respected by them. In a world where children are looking for some guidance it is an atrocity that someone they can finally count on and look up to could be taken from them. This district will surely suffer from this loss. As the parent of a 16 year old boy and many neices and nephews in this neighborhood I am petrified that our streets will be given back to the drug dealers that Captain Campione has pushed out. The only people who have anything against Captain Campione are these drug dealers because he has put them out of business. We need Captain Campione if our children are to have any chance. Let's not let these drug dealers and the other bad element who fear Captain Campione win. We are a neighborhood of good hardworking people who deserve a chance in life and so do our children. Please bring our beloved Captain back. This district is heartbroken and we cannot afford to let our guard down now. We need the protection of the only person who knows us so well and tirelessly works for the people in this community. Our children are the future and they need to know that they do have choices. There are so many programs that Captain Campione has headed for this community and we do not understand why we are being denied our rights to a safe community. I don't know what you can do about this but if it is impossible for us to get our Captain back, please consider him for the Commissioner's office he needs to be working in the communities not sitting at a desk in the Roundhouse. I know that you really want to make a difference in Philadelphia. Please show us that you mean business. It is about time we get a Mayor who will listen to the people. Do not let Captain Campione's unique talents go to waste. It would surely be an injustice to the citizens of the 26th District and the City of Philadelphia.

Sincerely,

Kathy Bozarth
an extemely concerned citizen and parent

Continue your down-to-earth, sincere, confident, respectful, and motivational communication and leadership style and bring the city of Philadelphia back to a city of hope!

I feel like Philadelphians have lost their confidence in what a great city this is and what good people live here. The news is depressing - hearing almost everynight that there is daily crime in the city - and brings down our morale. Sometimes it feels like there's no hope for us. But, in the grand picture, there is hope. We are good, hard-working people, diverse, and wonderful. We have so much to be proud of and so many positive contributions yet to make.

Mr. Nutter, I am going on my eleventh year of being a Philadelphia resident. Under former Mayor Rendell, Philadelphia residents felt confident in him to lead this city to greatness because of his communication and leadership style - we trusted him. I believe the same can happen with you as our Mayor. The morning of November 16, 2007 said it all when I walked to work with a smile on my face and a spring in my step knowing that you would be the next great leader of our great city.

Let me know how I can help!

Sincerely,

Sue Stauffer
Queen Village

stay honest (to yourself also). Trite, I know, but there are not many in politics (local, state, or national) who live up to this basic requirement. If you succeed easily at that (and I believe you can) look to you staff and other government officials to ensure that they follow your good example. Be relentless in developing competency and assist incompetent and neglegent city employees in transiting into other (hopefully non-government) vocations.

As far as doing something concrete is concerned, the only real tool you have is policy. You can't buy a new Delaware Waterfront or buy your way out of gun violence. (Quite frankly this is our job - the private citizens and organizations of Philly.) Your policies (the sum total of which will be your Vision for the city) will make it easier or harder for the residents to effect positive change. Finally, be patient, charitable, and maintain a good sense of humor. Judging from a couple of posts here, you are already being tested.

Yo, Mike! The one thing I really need you to do is clean up all the graffiti in the city! I am trying to organize a citizens group to do this... here's the site:

http://gan.phl.googlepages.com/home

We need to get tough on the kids tagging everything up! Stop the criminals young and you'll win the long term battle against greater crimes.

yo mike, the one thing you really need to do is clean up the area around city hall. it is an amazing building and a major transit hub, but it is a mess. the underground septa concourses are especially disgusting. it wouldn't take much too clean and maintain them. the parks and plazas near by could use some work too. i've heard taht you are interested in opening the courtyard up to commerce and would like to see a dining establishment opened on the first floor of city hall. i say go for it.

Yo Mike:

As a resident of the East Falls community, I remain very concerned about the development (or lack of...) of the old Budd site and now the former Tastycake plant. I know of your past commitment to our neighborhood and would like to see you spearhead a revitalization plan which it so desperately needs... new businesses (NOT a casino) and a combination of subsidized and market rate housing projects. It would be a boon to the city as a whole to be able to offer a nearby residential & commercial alternative to all those recent graduates choosing to remain or contemplating a return to the city of Philadelphia.

Fondest Regards and best of luck!

Evan Geller
East Falls

Just a note of encouragement. I don't live in the city. I worked there for 30 years and I love Philadelphia with all my heart. Although I live in the suburbs, Philadelphia is my bedrock, my heart and soul. My son lives in the city and, he, too, loves it. We adore its cultural riches and all the things that make Philly Philly.

Keep the faith, Mr. Nutter. You can and will bring wonderful things to Philadelphia. I know you can do it. You have a lot of people rooting for you. I am one of them.

Regards, a fan,

Pat Scanlon, Morton, PA

Hello, & congrats, the one thing i need for you to do is to show up here in north philly where i live, to show the people here that you do care that we are not the forgotten, the foresaken, the doomed, people here have given up hope, we need you here.Im a single parent on a fixed income my son 13 and daughter 8, we live in raymond rosen projects at 23rd & diamond, this is the area where most of the murders have happened, we are all living in constant fear. please come out im giving a fund rasier for the cecil b more center on the 14th of july. the proceeds will start an account for the children for water, tranportation ect..if not then another day, come out and speak to the men, here give them hope, i belive that comming from you it will make a difference. thank you for your time and heart felt consideration..may god bless and keep you. c.cannon dreemgrl006@yahoo.com

Have you given any consideration to where the Youth Study Center may move, at least temporarily, so the Barnes can take over the site on The Parkway and not have to exercise its right to abandon its lease and seek another location. The Youth Study Center, itself, is a disgrace and should be eliminated from the juvenile justice system. Your thoughts on this problem would be most appreciated.

Have you given any consideration to where the Youth Study Center may move, at least temporarily, so the Barnes can take over the site on The Parkway and not have to exercise its right to abandon its lease and seek another location. The Youth Study Center, itself, is a disgrace and should be eliminated from the juvenile justice system. Your thoughts on this problem would be most appreciated.

Yo Mike,

I live on 6400 block of Dorcas Street. I have lived here for over 10 years and I love my home. But the condition of this block is degrading and even if I try to move out I won't be able to sell my house for these reasons. #1. The house across from mine sits empty and it is owned by HUD. The windows are boarded up for OVER AN YEAR. I have made several phone calls to Hooks Van Holm, Inc. (HUD's outsourced asset management company)and nothing has been done. I do not understand WHY its kept boarded and HOW long do they need to install new windows. Many of the houses on this block are for sale but they can not sell them because of this blight. #2. From the time Penndot moved in to Lawndale Plaza we have nothing but problems. They have blocked the driveway at the corner of Hellerman and Dorcas Street therefore public uses our narrow driveways to drive to and from Lawndale Plaza. This means the traffic has increased in our driveway and it has become dangerous for us to be in our backyards. Especially in the summer and now that the schools are off our children can not play in our backyards because of the heavy traffic. #3. The corner of Hellerman and Dorcas street has become a dumping site for trash. Penndot needs to remove the block to allow thru traffic. Please care to make the difference.

Yo, Mike, when you enter your mayoral office you will find a tasty plum on your desk that you will salivate over. The building of a new 'Barnes Museum' on the Parkway. But before you get too excited, look under your rug and you will see the dirt of the virtual stealing of the venerated Barnes Foundation school and arboretum, a national cultural treasure, now in Merion.

This is happening through the nefarious actions of Gov. Rendell (who holds $100 million of taxpayer's money) and in league with the false ill-advised legitimacy of the involvement of three philanthropic organizations putting up $150 million for that purpose (that's where you drool, Mike). But the actual cost of the move is currently at $300 million and will easily rise to $500 million, much of it coming out of 'your pocket' and better used for projects you propose and Philadelphia sorely needs.

You have made yourself known as an honest and honorable man, Mike. Stealing the Barnes with the intent to enrich Philadelphia in this manner is evil: you have to ask the question, "Where will the money really come from?" and whether you want to be involved in such an egregious theft. Mike, show your colors by doing THE RIGHT THING! AND OPPOSE THE MOVE!!

Thanks.

Philip Lustig

Yo Mike,

Great idea for extra revenue for the city. Why not install cameras at sites that have been reported for illegal dumping? Catch the license of the vehicles and send them a $500 fine and a mandate to remove the dumped article. Start with the lot at Hellerman and Dorcas. This is an eyesore created by Penn-Dot who took it upon themself to block off access to the shopping center and created a dead end now used for dumping. Got it cleaned thru clip then tires got dumped, liquor bottles thrown. This is on going. We need cameras and fines.

Asking people to recycle doesn't make sense if the city isn't doing it's part. We moved to our home on the 1600 block of N. 3rd St. 4 months ago and have never seen a recycling truck. Our trash gets picked up but our recycling just piles up. Do you think people in the wealthier neighborhoods of the city have this problem?

ps. Owner's of industrial property and empty lots that are for sale need to CLEAN UP or face consequences!

Mr. Nutter:
While there are many issues and initiatives the next mayor could rightfully undertake while in office, I believe the most important are those initiatives involving the city's children. One only has to walk around any neighborhood in West Philadelphia, for example, and see the blank look on the faces of many of our children. A look like that can only happen if one sees no hope or possibilities for themselves. Imagine being 15 years old and seeing nothing positive in your future, no hope that something good can happen to you, no hope that you can have a piece of the American dream. How many of us would accept that for our children? The answer is not one of us. Our children have to a sense there is a future for them. One component of leadership is giving people hope that good, positive things can happen and then finding ways to make those positive things actually happen, no matter how difficult. The city is looking to the next mayor for that kind of leadership. Will you provide it?
Joe Eastman
Chinatown

Yo,Mike Do the city a big favor get rid of Carl Greene and his cronies clean up PHA and make sure the new executive director of PHA spends money on infrastructior and unit repairs

Yo Mike
The one thing I really need you to do is...

Commit even more firmly to getting the City to be more C02/environmentally friendly. I know that you are already familiar with efforts going on in Chicago- but recently the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, has made an even stronger commitment to fight C02.

Is there a way that you can accelerate /promote early adoption of LEED in Residential/Apartment construction? There seems to be so much new APT construction downtown- yet most mayors focus only on city services/ buildings/CFL or LED light bulbs, etc.

Good luck in November- I voted for you in the Primary and belive you are certainly the most qualified to bring our city back!

(oh and p.s. please help fix inner city SEPTA rail routes/stations! That would be a great way to fight C02 pollution)

C Miles
Germantown, Philadelphia 19144

Hope you don't start charging homeowners for trash pick up or go to every 2 weeks. Why not respond to the article in Philadelphia Magazine and reduce or eliminate the corporate fleet?

How you can Simply Discover The Person Lurking behind A Skipped Cell phone Call By means of Phone Cell Number Lookup

Online courses would be a great way to get your education if you are on a budget.

I like that idea of inviting more cooperation from various fields. This will certainly improve our city.

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