Great Expectations

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.

Four citizen journalists attended the Oct. 13 forum for city civic leaders. The first report comes from Marisa McClellan Marisa is a local grad student, blogger, freelance writer and foodie who lives in a Center City apartment that has been in her family for more than 40 years. She blogs at Apartment 2024, Metroblogging Philadelphia, Stories from Reading Terminal (currently on hiatus) and Slashfood. When she's not writing online, she can be found co-hosting the local online cooking show Fork You and desperately trying to finish her thesis.:

Walking into the John M. Perzel Community Center in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia last Saturday morning, I had little idea of what to expect. I was there to attend a forum of neighborhood leaders and listen in as they brainstormed ways in which a new mayoral administration could help Philadelphia overcome some of the challenges that prevent it from serving all its residents effectively.
After signing in, I was pointed toward the far end of a double-wide basketball court. Ten round tables were set up around the sectioned-off area, covered with white tablecloths and multiple sheets of clean white butcher paper. Pens, note cards and crayons were set in the middle of each table in order to encourage creative thinking and the taking away of ideas.
Grabbing a bagel and some coffee, I settled in as Chris Satullo and Harris Sokoloff introduced the day’s agenda and the goals for the gathering. They set a hopeful and positive tone from the very beginning, stressing that the point of the day was to share experiences, create networks and generate momentum. The intent was not to solve all the problems that neighborhoods face but to start conversations that will hopefully lead to solutions further down the line.

Citizen blogger Albert Yee returns to Great Expectations to share his take on the civic leaders summit held Oct. 13 in Mayfair. Albert Yee is a freelance photographer living in Philadelphia blogging and photographing all things Philly, with a particular interest in state and citywide politics since Spring of 2004 and hopes to continue to do so for many years to come. He writes at Philly, Philly Future and as 1/2 of Messy and Picky and his photos can be found online at dragonballyee.

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I was asked to blog about another Great Expectations forum, this time up in the Northeast and with a few other bloggers in attendance: Marisa, and Bill from PhillyFoodGuys and Beth who will post somewhere in the ether that is the internet. About 70 leaders from across the city made the trek (some further than others) to the John M. Perzel Community Center in Mayfair. And for full disclosure, I worked on Tim Kearney's campaign to oust Perzel from his PA House seat. The old saying goes that if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all - I normally don't follow that rule - but this time, I'll say this, he's built one gorgeous community center. For a little back story on how this came to be, check out Chris' post.

What do you get when you mix 70 leaders - of civic associations, neighborhood action committees, citywide agencies among others - gathered in a room on a Saturday morning in October? Surprisingly, a lot of cooperation and good listening. I went into this meeting fearing the worst and hoping for the best. I feared that it would be an overwhelmingly white crowd. I feared that leaders wouldn't listen to other leaders. I feared that the lunch would taste like cardboard. What I found was a semi diverse crowd of male and female and black and white, with not much else. I think I was one of two Asians in the room. What can be done to reach out into the Asian communities in Philadelphia to get more involved in the political process is beyond me and not really the topic here so I'll save that for another day and maybe talk to Andy Toy and Skip Voluntad first. I will say just this though, I haven't been doing my part so I'm part of the problem. The leaders, at lest in my breakout session and larger discussion groups, listened to each other and intently. Breakfast and lunch were filling.

One of the main goals of this gathering was to highlight the greatness of all of the work neighborhoods have accomplished and to try to further break down the insular nature of the neighborhoods. I thought the location in the Northeast, a section of town I had never been to in my 36+ months in Philly, was a good choice. I've been told my many that the Northeast is it's own entity and the further upriver you go, you discover new pseudo-English languages where there are no "Ls" and "Os" are sucked through black holes becoming nearly unrecognizable. I've also been told that the Northeast gets things done on it's own. Perfect.

Citizen blogger Albert Yee offers Part II from his time at the Oct. 13 civic leaders' summit in Mayfair.

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The shot above is just a glimpse of the size of the community center - two full basketball courts, complete with stands on one wall, offices and I think meeting rooms to the side. I'm also going to assume that there are two good sized locker rooms off to the side as well. The forum took place in one half of the basketball court area. Back to the happenings on the floor…

During Round 3 of switches, groups discussed what steps were needed to get to the New Deal and to maintain it. My group had a lot to say about what needed to be changed like Lisa, from Kensington, who said that agencies within the City weren't responsive to calls for help which leaves less time for neighborhood groups to take on larger projects. Gabriel, from The Enterprise Center, leadership from the top needed to lead the non political issues like trash pickup. He added that things like this are easily quantifiable with simple input/output measurements for services with incoming calls coupled to when calls were answered [once again, a CitiStat-esque system]. Rose made a very strategic suggestion to position a group to get close to the incoming mayor's transition team to get their ear; the very who-you-know attitude many want to get rid of. Lisa noted that these days, everything has become a transaction and simple services are not being done without an expectation of something. Our moderator Ben stepped in and asked the group what needed to be changed. Rose simply stated it: those within the City needed to be the civil servants they're supposed to be. Lisa and Rose touched on the issue of leaders of groups becoming too powerful and their personality taking over that of the group's. Also, those leaders were resistant to change within the group holding them back from getting things done [sounds like the Ward system to me]. Gabriel had another simple point that certain things shouldn't require a call to one's councilperson to get things done. That would free up time for neighborhood groups to exchange information in forums like this one.

Beth Lewis is the third of our four citizen journalists to share her impressions from the forum for civic leaders held Oct. 13 in Mayfair:

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First, an admission: I’m not a professional blogger. No problem, I was told in the invitation, you don’t have to have your own blog. If you’re interested in civic issues, in this case neighborhoods, (I am), and how they work together or against each other and how they interact with the city leaders and bureaucracy, that’s all that’s needed.

I’m honored to have the opportunity to do this. Summarizing my impressions of a gathering of folks from all over the city – a city that has been called “the city of many neighborhoods” - however, is not an easy task.

This was the first citywide meeting of community leaders of Great Expectations - a jointly sponsored project of the Philadelphia Inquirer and University of Pennsylvania. The project’s goals include reaching out to community leaders and the public at large to obtain input regarding an agenda on civic engagement for the new mayor. Over 70 invited participants attended this Saturday event, representing nearly as many organizations.

Starting with the backdrop might be helpful, as it provided clues to the meaning behind the whole event. For example, driving to the meeting venue - the John Perzel Community Center in the Mayfair section of the Northeast - my fellow bloggers and I realized that this was a neighborhood about which we had little prior knowledge. (Clue #1: We all need to learn more about our city.) Throughout the event, people could be heard whistling softly, admiring the expansive gym and all-purpose room that easily housed the group. “If only this kind of facility existed in ALL of our neighborhoods.” (Clue #2: Isn’t making that a reality what the dream of the “the next great city” is all about?)

Our final blogger from the Oct. 13 forum for civic leaders is Bill Rowland, whose own blog can be read at http://phillyfoodguys.com/.

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Philadelphia civic leaders have an opportunity to really make something good happen. The energy and enthusiasm displayed at the recent Civic Leader Summit in Mayfair, not to mention the conduit offered by the Great Expectations Project, gives civic groups an opportunity to take a leadership role in forcing change in Philadelphia. And boy, does it need it.

For all the great things going for Philly, the perceived black hole of city government is not one of them. Summit attendees echoed Tom Ferrick’s observation [Link: http://www.greatexpectations07.com/node/205] that their organization’s resources are siphoned from their civic purposes to deal with routine matters that should be handled by the city. Furthermore, inconsistent service, lack of accountability and an old-school political machine desperately clinging to power seem to perpetuate this Catch 22 situation. Where’s a civic to start?

Civics should start where they have the most control: Themselves. Yes, I know that isn’t what many want to hear, but let’s be realistic. Philadelphia City government has a lot of problems, not to mention the havoc of an upcoming election. It’ll take a few months for the new administration to settle in and identify problem departments. Of course Civic groups should participate in identifying poor performers, but only by getting their own houses in order both individually and collectively, can they become a positive force for change.

Citizen blogger Albert Yee files his third and final report from the Oct. 13 forum for civic leaders. You can also check out Part I and Part II.
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Part III of the forum was when mayoral candidates Michael Nutter (D) and Al Taubenberger (R) took questions from the group. Above is a shot of Nutter answering a question. Perhaps it was the first question Skip asked: with the ever-increasing immigrant population of Russians, Asians, Hispanics, Africans and others, what would each candidate do as mayor to deal with providing services to facilitate the transition.

Taubenberger reminded the group that he's the son of German immigrants. He didn't have a specific plan on how much money he'd put towards programs or what services needed to be provided, but he was committed to making everyone feel welcome, legal or not.

Nutter deferred to Councilman Jim Kenny's plan to open an Office of New Philadelphians [.pdf] to lure more immigrants to Philly. He added that Philadelphia should make more of an effort to expand the number of languages it prints on flyers to a dozen or more, not just english and spanish. He stressed the importance of the mayor physically getting out of City Hall more and more and showing up at events in ethnic communities; "sometimes it's just a matter of showing up" he said.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1214Eight citizen bloggers attended the Dec. 2 Citizens Convention. The first to send in a post is Whitney Hoffman. Whitney is a parent of children attending public schools in the Philly suburbs and a tutor at Kennett Middle School. She podcasts about learning and learning disabilities and has been actively involved with the new media community in Philadelphia. She blogs regularly at Parent's Eye View and GNM Parents Blog, and is part of the Mommycast and Friends podcast channel. She is also director of operations for the Podcamp Foundation.

Today, she weighs in on the opening activities, which included the Michael Nutter speach. Tomorrow, look for her thoughts about the education segment.
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By Whitney Hoffman
On a blustery Sunday morning, over 500 citizens from all walks of life gathered in the Philadelphia Convention Center to be a part of the Great Expectations Citizens Convention and to discuss issues facing Philadelphia and the region.

I sat with diverse group of people for the opening speakers, including Bill Leonard, an attorney and part of Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), and Fred Vincent, who has been a high school teacher but now develops tours of local neighborhoods in Philadelphia, giving people the real Philly. Everyone seemed favorably impressed by incoming Mayor Michael Nutter’s remarks.

Citizen blogger Whitney Hoffman continues her report from the Citizens Convention:

The first break-out session I attended was one on Education. The ideas of finding a leader, getting better financing, and looking for after-school programs all were welcomed as great ideas. But it felt like that was a very top-down approach to education, which seems best managed from a more bottom-up approach because nothing motivates people like how to best educate their children.

We spoke about making neighborhood schools integrated into the community, and about how they become centers and hubs for community activity, bringing in not only parents but also residents otherwise unaffiliated with the schools. Community open houses or meetings with City Councilpeople at the local schools were discussed as ideas to help people identify the neighborhood school as an important part of their community, whether they had school-age children or not.

Citizen blogger Whitney Hoffman wraps up her take on the Dec. 2 Citizens Convention:

In the session on the knowledge economy in Philadelphia, participants seemed to have many concerns. One concern was making Philadelphia an attractive and affordable city to young graduates, which meant affordable housing for people starting out in their first jobs. Another prong of the discussion dealt with providing internship opportunities with local unions and local businesses beyond formal co-op programs, to let students take off a semester and get more experience as well as needed funds to afford higher education.

One of the most compelling suggestions was to make Philadelphia a leader in alternative energy, or make it a center for telecommuting, and invest in the regional wi-fi net that would allow people to live and work from here, anywhere, in the emerging global economy. We spoke about providing more e-learning for continuing education.

Citizen blogger Susan Zalenski of West Philadelphia attended Citizen Convention issues sessions based on: What she knows best, what she thinks about most, and what she takes for granted. She writes:

When it comes to Philadelphia, “Great Expectations” is something most residents probably lack. We’ve learned to lower the bar and deal with. But why shouldn’t we expect more from our civic leaders and our city government? How can we make Philadelphia a Great American City?

Great Expectations has put forth the agenda to make Philadelphia great.

Mayor-elect Michael Nutter warmed up the crowd with a heartfelt speech about Philadelphia, the Great Expectations agenda and a promise to focus on doing instead of dreaming about doing. How can we improve our city? Why DO we choose live here? And better yet what, can we citizens do? The day was an opportunity to open up to ideas and think about how our civic leaders and institutions can initiate and manage the change than needs to happen. The agenda has been drafted – now it’s time to fine-tune, modify, review and elaborate – what do you LIKE about the agenda, what could be different and how will YOU make a difference?

There were a dozen core issues up for discussion. Each person was encouraged to attend three sessions during the day. Choosing only three topics wasn’t an easy task, but I went with what I knew best, what I think about the most, and something I take for granted.

What I Know Best: Transportation

Myself and a group of other engaged citizens/SEPTA warriors gathered for a moderated discussion on the transportation issues that affect Philadelphia with the #1 priority going to something basic, but very important: SEPTA Customer Service.

Philadelphia-area blogger and podcaster Bill Rowland discusses his impressions of the Great Expectations Citizens’ Convention held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Sunday December 2nd.

In this program, Bill covers the event including the welcome session, as well as discussions of three of twelve key issues found in the draft Citizens Agenda. Specifically The Knowledge Economy, City Services and Crime.

Listen in to Bill's podcast

Margit Olsen joined the Great Expectations citizen blogger team for the Dec. 2 Citizens Convention. She's 25 and preparing to go back to school in order to become a special-education teacher. She moved to Philly three years ago from Delaware and currently lives in West Philly with her girlfriend, dog and three cats.

Margit writes:

I held “Great Expectations” for the day. I came in pumped to talk about real issues. I signed up for my first topic, Transportation, and I took my seat. I have been in Philly for the last three years, and I have grown to have a deep love for the city and its people. I thought long and hard about the other two topics I wanted to delve into. I made my decision: poverty and education. I thought to myself, “I will do what I can.”

Transportation: I am not a daily Septa rider. I don’t claim to be. I am not because I think that it is a flawed system. I appreciate the ease of taking Septa from my house in West Philly into the city when I want. I love that the trolley stops right outside my door. I hate a lot of things about Septa, too. I hate that the trains stop running pretty early. I hate that its fare keeps increasing. I also hate that from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. right now they are doing construction outside my house.

Albert Yee, who blogs at dragonballyee.com returns to the Great Expectations blog for the first in a series of posts on the Great Expectations Citizens Convention. Albert writes:

I spent this Dec. 2 at a convention. It wasn't in Las Vegas, and there weren't any cars showcased. What took center stage was 500+ Philadelphians coming out, in the cold, to talk about the future of this city. Above is a shot from the Pennsylvania Convention Center where the convention took place. After people registered and picked up their lunches, they went into this large room to take a seat and meet fellow concerned citizens. I saw many familiar faces, some people I had met at previous Great Expectations events, some from my own political/community venturings. I inhaled my Italian hoagie and got to shooting.

Above is Gerry Lenfest from The Lenfest Foundation, one of, if not, the largest monetary backers of this Great Expectations experiment. He spoke only a few words of the promise he saw in the project and how his foundation was proud to be a part of it.

Mayor-elect Michael Nutter was running a little late so the a film by Richard Power Hoffmann was shown. Prayer for Philadelphia won the Great Expectations film contest. You can see Hoffmann's film here and all of the entries here. This is the second Hoffmann film I've seen, the other being Fridays at the Farm. Both films were shot using thousands of photos from a still camera and voice over. His knack for storytelling is obvious and I look forward to seeing more from him in the coming years.

Albert Yee moves on to Arts & Culture in his second installment from the Dec. 2 Citizens Convention. He writes:

The biggest issue in the Arts & Culture session was the creation of a regional fund to support the arts. The group of 20 was split into two groups that did not come back together to discuss as a whole. The side I was in did not come up with the how to get that money. People were confused as to where it would come from. It could come from tax money, a pledge of 1% of the city's budget, somewhere else. Taking the leap of faith that hundreds of millions of dollars would be poured into Philly's thriving arts scene, where would it go and what would it do?

An artist, Sue, was concerned that much of the money would end up going to administrative costs. She said that usually, 80% of monies end up going to admin costs and a trickle ends up in the pockets of the artists themselves. She stressed that the message must be clear that artists cannot create art for free and they must be paid for their contributions to the city. Sue added that the old Office of Arts & Culture (it currently doesn't exist, but I believe Nutter has pledged to reopen it) did not do anything other than organize artists around Christmas time to create displays around City Hall. She said that a revived Office of Arts & Culture must actively act as a liaison between all of the arts groups in the city. A well designed website would be a huge step; the group agreed.

Citizen blogger Beth Lewis, who previously about the civic leaders' summit for Great Expectations, returns to give us her take on the Dec. 2 Citizens Convention. She writes:

There was no question that Michael Nutter’s presence, and the determination with which he spoke about Philly already being great, buoyed up the spirit of the group that had gathered at last Sunday’s Great Expectations Citizens Convention with the sense that a “new day”, as he described, was dawning. But equally uplifting, I felt, was the opportunity to meet people from the entire Philadelphia community and together discuss the strengths and shortcomings of the Citizens Agenda. While the problems we face as a city are large, the recognition that we need to pull together to dialogue about what needs to be done to address them, to me, represents the value of the Great Expectations effort.

Albert Yee focuses on transportation along with the wrap-up session in the third of his three-part post on the Dec. 2 Citizens Convention. He writes:

My final session for the day was transportationhttp://www.greatexpectations07.com/node/301. It was a smaller group of about 10, with 2 moderators, spread out a large circle. Why we didn't move close to each other, I'm not quite sure. That didn't stop a spirited discussion focused around SEPTAhttp://septa.com/ and the PPAhttp://www.philapark.org/home.aspx. Skip opened up the discussion with concerns about limited English seniors who get no sympathy from SEPTA. He said that he's tried numerous times to initiate talks with SEPTA about the issue, but they refuse to meet him and his minority-represented groups. One of the moderators, Carol, added that many seniors don't know that they can ride SEPTA for freehttp://www.septa.com/fares/senior_citizens.html.

Greg, who was the youngest participant I saw, had a lot to say during the meeting. He wondered why SEPTA didn't have free systemwide mapshttp://www.septa.com/store/books_maps/city_maps.html. Another participant, Debi, said she recently bought the systemwide map. It set her back $10. NYC's MTA has the full color, zebra-folding mapshttp://www.mta.info/mta/maps.htm all over the city. DC's Metro offers mapshttp://www.wmata.com/maps/maps.cfm that you can download to your iPod. Boston's T has downloadable mapshttp://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/system_map/ for all their lines. Chicago's CTA also has mapshttp://www.transitchicago.com/maps/systemmaps.html you can download in .pdf. Would it kill SEPTA to stitch together some printable resolution .pdfs for people? How many people are buying those $10 maps anyway? I've lived here for 3.5 years and I didn't know they existed until Debi said she actually owned one.

Citizen blogger Peak Johnson graduated from high school last spring and former editor of the North Philly Metropolis. He gives his perspective on three issues he decided impacted youth in the community: poverty, crime and transportation. He writes:

Although I had blogged before as part of my after-school program, I never thought much about the medium. As a writer for my community paper, the North Philly Metropolis, I’ve wanted to reach readers in my community rather than in the cyber community. But after my friend Mr. Ben Lowe explained that the Great Expectations project was looking for citizen journalists, I decided to give blogging a shot. He thought the Citizens Convention might be of interest to me because writing is what I do. I thought that being fresh out of high school and having already built a reputation as writer in the Metropolis, I should try a new approach.

Unfortunately, I really have no sense of direction when traveling around Philadelphia – or anywhere else for that matter, even if my destination is just a few blocks from home. As I waited for the No. 33 bus, I hovered over the stack of The Metropolis that I was taking with me and repeated the directions to the Convention Center in my head. I had the reoccurring wish that someone would see me, know me, and drop me off where I needed to go. Despite the gray skies and rain, this was my lucky day. A neighbor pulled up and asked, “Where ya going?” “Twelfth and Arch, the Convention Center,” I replied. And with a wave of his hand signaling me to hop in, we were on our way.

As you may have seen after previous Great Expectations events, our blog features Citizen Bloggers. The idea is for a blogger to attend an event, talk to people, participate in the discussion, and then write up a blog post about the experience. We want to know what people were discussing, positive and negative, and each blogger's personal take on the event and dialogue.

We post the blog entry here on Great Expectations, which means the blogger's name is also listed on philly.com for a day. We also ask that if the blogger has a personal blog, that the entry be posted there as well.

We're looking for bloggers to attend our "Presenting the Agenda" community forums in February and March, at which we will talk about the final version of the Citizens Agenda. We need people for Districts 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10.

If you're interested, please contact me at jchester@phillynews.com.

Albert Yee starts off the citizen blogging for our "Presenting the Agenda" forums with his report on the District 10 meeting. The forum was held Feb. 18 in the Northeast. Yee's personal blog can be found at http://www.dragonballyee.com/blog/. Here's his take on the evening:

Monday night was the first of ten meetings where the Great Expectations Agenda is opened up to each of the ten councilmanic districts to discuss. I made my way to the Klein Jewish Community Center in Councilman Brian O'Neill's 10th District (the Bustleton section of the NE). In addition to the 7 or so staffers, about 20 citizens came out as well as Councilman O'Neill, Councilman Jack Kelly and Councilman Bill Green. It was a smallish group, but the discussion was lively.

Albert Yee continues his report on the District 10 community forum, at which the final Citizens Agenda was presented. (Yee's own blog is at http://www.dragonballyee.com/blog/) He writes:

The second portion of the District 10 agenda meeting was mostly the city councilmembers talking, specifically Councilman Brian O'Neill, it's his district after all. The other two councilmen, Councilman Jack Kelly and Councilman Bill Green are both currently At-Large officials, but Kelly is from the NE and once was a district councilman as well. They were more than happy to let the home team have their say and added their points accordingly. The initial discussion focused on Planning & Zoning. Forum attendee and NE resident Alan wanted wanted a real citywide plan with significant localized input. He asked how much juice should individual neighborhoods have?

Citizen blogger Albert Yee weighs in on the District 4 "Presenting the Agenda" forum. In Part 1, he writes:

Approximately 50 people gathered for Feb. 25 Great Expectations District 4 agenda forum at the North Light Community Center (175 Green Lane) in hilly and narrow-streeted Manayunk/Roxborough. I sat down at a table with 5 locals, most who had been to a previous Great Expectations meeting. Barbara was especially pleased she attended the Citizens Convention in December and was looking forward to seeing how the Nutter administration does over the next year in regards to the agenda laid out by the citizens through this project. The ongoing basketball games next door in the other gym kept a steady beat throughout the night for the group to work by. The fluorescent lights kept things difficult for me to take photos. We were told that 4th District Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., 40 days into office, would be attending and hopefully At-Large Councilwoman Bondell Reynolds Brown would make it too.

Citizen blogger Albert Yee weighs in on the second half of the District 4 community forum, which was held Feb. 25 at North Light Community Center. He writes:

After the breakout sessions, all three groups reconvened in the gym for the Q&A session. Councilman Curtis Jones took a walk over to my group's giant sticky notes which were taped to the wall. He took it all in and turned to say: "They're gonna ask me all these questions?!" to which I replied with a smile, "As many as they can."

Citizen blogger Peak Johnson graduated from high school last spring and is former editor of the North Philly Metropolis. A North Philadelphia resident, he returns to the Great Expectations blog to give his perspective on issues he thinks most affect city youth. He attended the District 5 event held Feb. 24. He reports:

Another chance to blog and another chance to be able to represent the youth of North Philadelphia. When Ms. Jodie Lowe sent out a list of the different spots of where the bloggers would be delivering the Great Expectations Agenda, I chose The Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News building. What better place to be for a future writer?

I had managed to catch the No. 3 bus to Broad Street, where my intention was to catch the next bus and be at my destination in no time. However, the one thing I overlooked was that this bus, the C, is never known to come on time. I knew where this building was located, unlike many others, and as I did for the December Citizens Convention I received a ride from a friend, except this time I called him asking if he could drop me off.

Arriving at approximately 7:10 p.m., I dashed into the building and was directed to the event. “Just follow the balloons,” the person manning the guard station in the entryway said in a rather dull voice. The balloons were nice, but what really seemed more appealing were the framed covers and articles of the Daily News and Inquirer lining the walls.

Citizen blogger Marisa McClellan attended the "Presenting the Agenda" community forum for the 2nd Council District. The event was held Feb. 21 at St. Gabriel's school. Marisa lives in a Center City apartment that has been in her family for more than 40 years. She blogs at Apartment 2024, Metroblogging Philadelphia, Stories from Reading Terminal (currently on hiatus) and Slashfood. When she's not writing online, she can be found co-hosting the local online cooking show Fork You and desperately trying to finish her thesis. She writes:

The first thought I had when I pulled into a parking spot was, “Wow, I had no idea that this was down here!” This was St. Gabriel’s Church and down here was 29th and Dickinson Streets. I’ve lived in Center City since moving to Philadelphia six years ago, and while I’ve explored many of the city’s neighborhoods beyond downtown in the intervening years, I’d never had reason to be in that pocket of southwest Philadelphia.

Citizen blogger Albert Yee gives us the first half of his report on the Great Expectations "Presenting the Agenda" community forum in District 1. He writes:

I jumped at the opportunity to attend the Great Expectations Agenda meeting in my own City Council district, the First. This meeting was the biggest of the district meetings to date with about 70 - 75 people in all. This event was at the Daily News - Inquirer Building so there was plenty of space. I was happy to see a bunch of City Year corps members in attendance. Their red Timberland jackets have become a common sight for my eyes during my time in Philly. This was also the first district meeting with Asians (aside from myself) in the audience. There was a good mix of young and old (about 40% - 60%) so I'm sure a good range of opinions and experiences were raised in each group. The Inquirer's Chris Satullo announced that 1st District Councilman Frank DiCicco would be there as well as, once again, At-Large City Councilman Bill Green. UPenn's Harris Sokoloff polled the crowd to see how many had been to previous Great Expectations events; about 60% had. He asked how many had been to any of the Penn Praxis events; about 40% had. The people at this event knew what was going on and what the project was trying to accomplish.

Citizen blogger Albert Yee rounds out his District 1 entry with a report on the second half of the evening. The event was held March 2 at The Inquirer building. (Check out Albert's personal blog at http://www.dragonballyee.com/blog)

He writes:

The Q&A session for the Great Expectations Agenda meeting for the 1st Council District started off with a bang, with a question for the councilmen about whether they supported spot zoning. The questioner wanted the councilmen to deny all spot zoning requests until a full plan was in place. The 1st District's Councilman Frank DiCicco took to the mic first. He said that he views all zoning requests on a case-by-case basis and to deny all spot zoning requests between now and the finalization of a zoning plan would be too broad a move to make. At-Large Councilman Bill Green said that it would be great to be able to hold everything until a plan was in place, but it that it is just not feasible. He pointed out to Miami's recent new zoning plan; it took them three years to finalize and their city is one-fifth the size of Philadelphia. Green gave a drop-dead date of 2011 (the same year as his re-election bid) for a plan to be in place. If a new zoning plan that pleased the majority of Philadelphians were in place before the elections, I foresee a slew of re-elections. Zoning is at the top of people's minds all across the city.

Citizen blogger Bill Rowland takes a look at the District 3 community forum, which drew a record number of participants for a Great Expectations neighborhood meeting. (Bill's own blog can be read at http://phillyfoodguys.com/).

He writes:

The March 5th presentation of Great Expectations’ Citizens Agenda to residents of City Council District 3 was energizing, if not informative. With attendance more than 100% greater than expected, West Philly’s participation blew away that of other sections of the city. Meeting in the heart of West Philly at 39th & Market Streets was a diverse group of 140 including residents, activists and students, as well as a squad of City Year volunteers.

Discussion of the Citizens Agenda started over dinner, as individuals and small groups arrived to share a buffet meal before the event began. The feeling was perceptibly optimistic as neighbors became reacquainted; Great Expectations “veterans” chatted with “newbies”; and everyone shared their hopes, concerns and dreams for the city’s future.

Citizen blogger Jennifer Yuan attended the "Presenting the Agenda" community forum in the 8th District. Jennifer's personal blog, A Thousand Times No, can be found at http://1000timesno.net).

She writes:

Snow fell over Mount Airy on Feb. 20, the evening of the Great Expectations District 8 agenda forum. Despite the weather, nearly 60 people from neighborhoods throughout the district, including Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill, filled a large conference room at the Lutheran Theological Seminary on Germantown Avenue. In this setting, project director Chris Satullo kicked off the evening with an apt description of the Great Expectations Citizens Agenda as an act of faith: “It’s an act of faith in our city; it’s an act of faith in the citizens of the city and the power of civic dialogue. It is also an act of faith in our leaders: a belief that if we are better citizens — that if we are ready to step up with our hearts, our minds, and our muscles to make this a better city — they will also be better leaders."

After the opening remarks, people broke into three smaller discussion groups, focusing on separate clusters of issues addressed in the Citizens Agenda.