Great Expectations

After many months of politicking, and many millions in political spending, Philadelphia has its mayor-elect: Michael Nutter.

Even though that result has been 100 percent predictable for more than five months, Tuesday made if official - and that's a notable milestone.

Political junkies were bored by the fall election; they thought the May Democratic primary was the interesting part.

But for people who care about issues, who live the issues at rowhouse level, the really interesting, the really important, the really exciting part begins right now. The part where the people they elected get a chance to work on addressing the city's ills and realizing its promise. To all but the political junkie, that's what really matters.

For the citizens who have given their time, their ideas and their passion to this Great Expectations project, Nutter's election is a hopeful moment.

Today, the Citizens Agenda for Philadelphia's Future, the culminating product of the Great Expectations project for this year, was published online at www.greatexpectations07.com.

Also, the first installment of a six-part presentation of the Agenda in the ink-and-paper Inquirer appeared in the Sunday Currents section. During the week, the issue by issue rollout of the Agenda will appear on the local Commentary page, B2.

Every day as the Agenda is unveiled, we'll post an open thread for your comments on the issues covered in that day's print Inquirer. (If you want to comment on other parts of the agenda ahead of their print publication dates, that's fine, too. Go ahead. And don't forget the Citizens Convention to review the Agenda next Sunday at the Convention Center.http://www.greatexpectations07.com/convention)

Today's issues in Currents were Education and Knowledge Economy. They were paired for obvious reasons; together, they speak to the fact that any vibrant region is focused on providing educational opportunity and skill training to its citizens at every point from preschool to post-college. We expect the Education agenda to stir some debate; in the end, we chose not to go with the popular notion that the city should take its schools back fully from the state.

This thread is to receive your comments about the second installment of the Citizens Agenda for Philadelphia's Future, which was published in The Inquirer today (Monday) and is available in expanded version on the project Web site www.greatexpectations07.com

A few words about the Taxes/Budget section:

The No. 1 Priority listed there, continuing aggressive wage and business tax cuts, is one of a few instances where the Agenda actually goes contrary to the input of many of the citizens who attended forums. (Wage tax cuts were mostly popular, but business tax cuts were not. The abatement for new construction was widely regarded as unfair, as unearned candy for developers.)

Click the link to read a little explanation for our decision. Or, if you prefer, skip it and just write in your own comments:

The issues for the Citizens Agenda today (Tuesday) are Planning and Zoning and the Environment. Please feel invited to offer your comments and critiques on this thread.

These issues are ones where the agenda sings in unison with the bulk of citizen comment received throughout the year. In 2007, these topics received an unprecedented amount of attention from a populace sick of how the pay-to-play, deal-making culture of the city often supersedes community interest in development decisions. Equally energized were people captivated by the prospect of Philly recapturing its legacy as a green country town.

A note of gratitude: These two issue agendas, as with all 12 of them, are based on the input not only of ordinary citizens, but of experts, leaders and advocates on these issues. Many people in positions of local leadership have given generously of their time to help us figure out what ideas and solutions held the most promise of upholding the values enunciated by citizens.

The Great Expectations staffers who pulled together the agenda are indebted to these leaders for their help and guidance. These sources, from whom we borrowed eagerly and shamelessly, deserve much of the credit for anything you see that you like in this work; anything you don't like, don't blame them. Blame us.

As we roll out the Citizens Agenda for Philadelphia's Future in print in the daily Inquirer, with the issues appearing two at a time, some pairings are more obvious than others. Education and Knowledge Economy were obvious, as were City Budget & Taxes with City Services.

The duo for today (Wednesday) might seem to offer a little less of a slam-dunk linkage.

More than 500 people shrugged off the hype about yet another nonexistent "winter storm" to pack the room yesterday (Sunday) for the Great Expectations Citizens Convention.

Thanks to all who came, giving of their time, experience and emotions to review the draft Citizens Agenda for Philadelphia. This thread is open for your comments and reflections on the day.

Those in attendance heard Mayor-elect Michael Nutter give a rousing speech about his own expectations for his administration, and for the people of Philadelphia. Along the way, Nutter gave the Great Expectations project a dollop of credit for the upbeat, substantive, civil tenor of the mayoral campaign just completed. And he welcomed the commitment expressed by Lenfest Foundation founder Gerry Lenfest, a key funder of the project, that Great Expectations would continue throughout Nutter's term, serving as a monitor and watchdog on the city's progress towards the goals expressed in the Agenda and embraced by Nutter.

For media coverage of the event, see http://www.planphilly.com/node/2316 and http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20071203_Nutter__Great_ethical_expectations.html