Great Expectations

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.

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 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.

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 Albert Yee brings us the final report from our "Presenting the Agenda" neighborhood forums. He writes:

My final Great Expectations agenda forum was in District 7 - the home turf of freshman Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez. The forum was held in Holy Innocents Church in Junianta. Along with about six staffers were about 40 participants. Councilwoman Sánchez and Councilman Bill Green made it out to hear their constituents discuss the agenda.

I sat down with the breakout group that discussed Budget & Taxes, Leadership & Reform, Transportation and City Services more in depth. This group was definitely the most subdued out of the four I've sat down with in the past month or so, but still had some lively conversation on some points. The discussion started with transportation. Duane wanted to see incentives for not taking cars into Center City like in some other large cities. Adan, a church leader from Norris Square, wanted to see how the city could become greener and address the issue of clogged streets in one fell swoop. James, a PhillyCarShare advocate, wanted to try new ideas and see if the worked out. He wanted smaller vehicles to run late at night instead of the large double-length buses, which run up and down Broad Street with single-digit passengers. John was worried about privatizing I-80. He definitely wanted more money to fund mass transit, but thought that this option would bust the unions and lead to crony appointments.