Next Great City Coalition's Mayoral Candidates' Forum provides dialogue on key issues facing Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Six mayoral candidates addressed health, housing and environmental issues this evening in front of a crowd of nearly 500 at the Next Great City Coalition's Philadelphia Mayoral Candidates' Forum. The capacity event, held in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Philadelphia Flower Show, "Celebrate the Movies," and co-presented by the Healthy Rowhouse Project, focused on six policy recommendations outlined in the Next Great City Coalition's 2015 agenda (nextgreatcity.org).

The candidates were Senator Anthony Hardy Williams, former District Attorney Lynne Abraham, Judge Nelson Diaz, Rev. Keith Goodman, former Council member Jim Kenney, and Doug Oliver. Dave Davies served as moderator.

The agenda, voted on by the Coalition's more than 100 member organizations, outlines common-sense, cost-effective policy proposals designed to help create healthy and sustainable neighborhoods across the city. All of the proposals are within mayoral authority, can be completed in a term of office, and tackle a broad range of topics including healthy homes; strong, local businesses; clean public spaces; trail and bike lane access; storm preparedness; and nourished students.

The content of the questions compelled candidates to provide specific policy plans around timely and achievable actions that can improve the quality of life in all neighborhoods of the city.

Some highlights of each of the six recommended action steps:

Healthy houses: Repair substandard housing conditions that make Philadelphians sick

Aging and deteriorated houses are making their occupants sick, particularly residents with chronic conditions such as asthma. To improve the health of houses and their occupants, the next Mayor should prioritize repair and improvement of existing affordable housing in policy and practice. The next Mayor should also expand the city pilot that improved children's health and school attendance dramatically by removing asthma triggers from the home.

The 2014 pilot program between the City and St. Christopher's Hospital repaired homes at a cost of $3,500 per home, and dramatically lowered children's emergency room visits by 400 percent – and missed school days by more than half – within six months.

Strong, Local Businesses: Improve small business climate

Neighborhood businesses are not growing as they should and feel burdened rather than helped by city government. To improve the climate under which small businesses operate, the next Mayor should lower license and tax obstacles, offer gap financing, integrate nonprofit supports, and improve inspections.

Studies have repeatedly shown that cities that adopt a speedy and simplified regulatory approval process increase business growth.

Clean Public Spaces: Reduce litter and trash in our rivers

"Filthadelphia" says it all. We have too much litter in our streets, parks, and rivers. To reduce the amount of litter in our public spaces, the next Mayor should improve regulation, charge for single-use plastic and paper bags, and implement a street cleaning program.

The National Association of Home Builders reported that the presence of litter in a community decreases property values by a little over 7 percent.

Nourished Students: Provide free drinking water and nutritious food to students

Many Philadelphia students do not have access to drinking water or nutritious, appealing meals during the school day – two key ingredients to their ability to learn. The next Mayor should work to offer modern water stations near cafeterias and throughout the school, incubate a local business to provide appealing and nutritious pre-plated lunches, and encourage school gardens.

According to the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, the standard recommendations are for children to get 6-8 glasses of water per day. Teenage boys need 11 glasses per day.

Trail and Bike Lane Access: Connect neighborhoods to our trail and bicycle network

Many neighborhood residents do not have safe, convenient access to the city's trail and bike lane network. To ensure safe, equitable access for all residents, the next Mayor should improve connections to and between trails and bike lanes, create uniform signage, and extend Bikeshare to lower income neighborhoods.

The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion found that extending biking and walking trails to neighborhoods has been shown to improve resident mobility and promote a sense of community, safety and security.

Storm Preparedness: Protect vulnerable residents and infrastructure in extreme weather

To protect vulnerable residents, buildings, and critical infrastructure during increasingly severe weather events, the next Mayor should create an extreme emergency response plan for residents, establish a flood task force, and make storm vulnerabilities a required factor in new development and infrastructure decision-making.

A Fall 2014 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists projects that over the next thirty years, tidal flooding events in Philadelphia, where one of our rivers rises above its banks, will grow in frequency from 19 to 200 per year.

Full text of the agenda can be found at www.nextgreatcity.org.

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization founded in 1998 with offices in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. The organization's activities include litigating cases before regulatory bodies and in local, state, and federal courts; advocating and advancing legislative action on a state and federal level; public education; and assisting citizens in public advocacy.

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Contact: Elaine Labalme   [email protected]   412.996.4112  

SOURCE PennFuture

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