In less
than one month, the Next Great City Coalition will be hosting the first-announced Philadelphia
Mayoral Candidates’ Forum on March 3 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Pennsylvania
Convention Center.
In a
race that has so far been described as “vacuous,” this
forum presents an opportunity to kick start a substantive dialogue in the run-up to this year’s Philadelphia mayoral primary. As a guiding principle, the
Next Great City has always made recommendations to the Mayor that are largely
tangible and practical but also high-impact. Our soon-to-be-released agenda
for 2015 identifies six key initiatives that
will lead to renewed investment, energy and strength in the city's
neighborhoods while supporting sustainable practices and an effective city
government. Each recommendation features detailed action steps that not only
propose what should be improved upon, but also how.
At the forum, we’re asking candidates questions that are specific to the agenda, ensuring that the dialogue addresses the wide range of sustainability policy areas that were chosen democratically
by our diverse coalition members – with each organization bringing a very different perspective
to the issues facing the city of Philadelphia.
We don’t
have to wait for the forum to start having conversations about where
Philadelphia is headed. We’re inviting social media users to post a photo to
our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts (with the
hashtag #nextgreatcity) that they believe make clear Philadelphia is on its way
to becoming the Next Great City.
Katie Bartolotta is PennFuture's Philadelphia outreach
coordinator. She tweets @KatieBartolotta.
