Great Expectations

Nearly 70 civic leaders met Oct. 13 at the Mayfair Community Center to talk about what they're doing well, what they can improve upon, and to think about how they can work together going forward. Mayoral candidates Michael Nutter and Al Taubenberger also took questions from attendees.

Plenty of ideas and concerns were raised during the day, but we didn't get to them all. What needed to be said that we didn't get to? Anything come to mind once you got home?

This is the space (in the comments) to keep the conversation going.

Also, check out the latest goings-on with the Great Expectations project at http://www.greatexpectations07.com

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.