Great Expectations

It's a small thing, but perhaps encouraging for those who'd like to see Philadelphia well-run by whoever wins the mayoral election this fall.
Democratic nominee Michael Nutter and Republican nominee Al Taubenberger having been working with Great Expectations and the Inquirer to offer published responses to some of the citizen essays submitted to the Yo, Mike! project.
These Yo, Mike/Yo, Al! responses have been running every other Sunday during the summer in the paper's Currents section - and are archived on the G.E. Web site.
Here's the good news:
Both Nutter and Taubenberger have met every deadline we've given them for filing their essays. And they always "write to size," in other words, stay within the word limit we give them.
May not seem like much, but if I had a nickel for every time a politician (or professional journalist) could not meet a deadline, or went way over a length limit, whining all the while, I'd have long ago bought that beach house at Sunset Beach, N.C., that I only dream about.
A little thing, but it speaks to a certain discipline of mind and a decent regard for the needs of others.
Good work, gents.
-- Chris Satullo

Remember way back when, when Chaka Fattah was a leading candidate for mayor?
Back in those giddy, and soon to evaporate, days for the Poverty Candidate, Fattah was saying something interesting and unexpected about Philadelphia school reform.
As other candidates echoed the sound bite that, as mayor, they'd bring the district back under city control, Fattah demurred.
Such governance issues, he purred, flashing his Cheshire cat smile, were a distraction. He'd be happy to let the joint city-state control embodied by the School Reform Commission continue, just as long as he as mayor felt he had real input.
This was interesting, because Fattah had been one of the loudest critics of the takeover as it happened back in 2001.
Perhaps we now know why.
Perhaps the fix has long been in for Sandra Dungee Glenn, the SRC member who is a long-time Fattah protege and ally, to become the new SRC chair, replacing Jim Nevels.
Gov. Rendell made that move this week, after last week gently but firmly edging out the Republican Nevels, the only chair that SRC had ever had.
Fattah probably thought there was no point in wasting the energy and chits he'd have to use to wrestle the school district formally back under city control, gven all the input a Mayor Fattah would have for free with Glenn running the shop.
Funny thing happened on the way to the dream, though.
"Mayor" Fattah became Fourth Place Fattah.
None of this is denigrate Glenn, a hard-working board member with considerable expertise.
But it reminds us how different the landscape looks today, with Michael Nutter as presumptive mayor, than it did late last year, when all the smart money was on a Fattah romp in the May primary.
Michael Nutter, meanwhile, still talks about wresting back control of the schools.
He should take a cue from Fattah, and not waste the energy.
Rendell is setting up the SRC to be a full and willing partner in any mayoral education strategy.
The question now is whether that strategy will be an innovative step forward, or a depressing step backwards towards the old political arrangements of the disastrous, pre-takeover status quo.
-- Chris Satullo

It was Wednesday night and what better thing did I have to do than to head to a potluck dinner with 2007 Philadelphia mayoral candidates Al Taubenberger (R) and Michael Nutter (D)? Pictured above are eight of the ten Philadelphians who made it out for the potluck dinner/discussion with the candidates at the center of the shot. But how did we all get to this South Philly home for the dinner? Let's back up a sec.

Great Expectations is a joint venture between the Inquirer and the UPenn Project on Civic Engagement; the full project description here. After the primaries back in May, then editorial page editor Chris Satullo ran into Democratic primary winner Nutter at a restaurant. Nutter brought up the idea of a series of get-to-know-you dinners in neighborhoods all around Philly. Great idea, but one condition, Satullo said, Taubenberger's gotta be there too. And thus the potluck dinners were born. How'd I end up in the fray? Well, you write 3,100 posts over the course of three or so years, you piss some people off, you make some people happy and maybe, just maybe, you get noticed by someone with some juice and maybe, just maybe, those someones have someone send you an email asking you to trot down to South Philly with your gear and have some free grub. Who could say no? Back to the dinner. Satullo segued into South Philly by quoting colleague and Philadelphia legend, and South Philly native, Acel Moore, that there are two kinds of people: those from South Philly and those who wish they were from South Philly. Since I don't wish I was from South Philly, I guess I'm from South Philly. Go figure, I thought I was from NY — I learn something new from the Inky almost every day.

Twenty-three people in total made it out for the inaugural potluck in South Philly. The organizers even had seating arrangements covered. I just happened to be seated next to someone I knew — former candidate for City Council Damon Roberts. He ran for Councilwoman Anna Verna's Second District seat and lost. And full disclosure: I passed out literature for him in the Second District. To my left was Satullo who pecked away on his laptop while I wrote longhand in my pad; Satullo noticed this a few minutes into the discussion and said that we should switch places behind each other's note taking devices. Why no laptop for me? Since I had my photo gear with me, I figured it would be easier to put down a pen and pad than a sensitive laptop.

Albert Yee did a great job reporting on the flow of conversation at the first Yo! Mike, Yo! Al potluck dinner dialogue in South Philly Wednesday nigthat the D’Aarreca home.

See his post right below this one; great photos and I'm thrilled that, in a real public service, he took none of me.

Thought I’d supplement with some direct quotes from the conversation that I managed to record because I, the dead-tree media dinosaur, had a laptop while Albert was wielding his camera and scribbling furiously with pen on paper. Go figure.

-- Chris Satullo

About gentrification and taxes:

Franklin Evans of South Philadelphia: I’m a gentrifier myself, though I moved in about 15 years ago. My wife and I, we can afford reasonable taxes, but I see my neighbors feeling the pinch. My biggest question is: What’s the justification for the 10-year abatement on property taxes for new construction. My house is worth $150,000, but there’s $400.000 homes going up near me, and their taxes will be a third of mine.

Friday night, the second of the Yo! Mike, Yo, Al! Potluck Dinner Dialogues was held in Mount Airy.
Michael Cunningham, a blogger who contributes to Young Philly Politics, filed this report:

Friday evening, I had the pleasure of joining a Pot Luck at Ebony Stanton and John Weidman‘s house in Mount Airy as part of the Inquirer’s Great Expectations/Citizens Voices Forum. Below I relate my interpretation of some of the highlights of the evening with a healthy dose of paraphrasing. To the extent possible, I'm letting participants thoughts speak for themselves and accept all responsibility for any errors or misinterpretations. Comments and feedback are welcome.

Once again, I’m supplementing the fine report done by our citizen blogger, Michael Cunningham, with some more-or-less direct quotes I tapped into my laptop as I tried to keep up with swift flow of conversation at the second Yo! Mike, Yo! Al Potluck Dinner Dialogue at the home of John Weidman and Ebony Staton in Mount Airy, on Friday, Aug. 24.

-- Chris Satullo

THE ENVIRONMENT

Citizen Annie Leary – My issue is the environment. I do struggle with that because I know we’re in a city. And what can one city do with global warming
It’s a huge problem but in reality a lot of cities are leading the way in doing something to address.

Citizen Rev. Adan Mareira -- When kids are getting shot, it’s hard to focus on that. I will say this about the environment. We do have beautiful community gardens, they used to be vacant lots. Getting those gardens in did organize community. We’re proud of it.

Citizen Patricia Berrian – The gardens are one way to get youth involved, so it does connect. They get down into the dirt and do something. They say: I grew this in this neighborhood; I did this. It builds hope.