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Date:                   Jan. 13, 2007

Location:             Point Breeze Performing Arts Center

Citizens attending: 22, a diverse group from South Philadelphia neighborhoods west of Broad Street, with a couple of folks from Center City

Moderator: Jack Kinsley, Stacie Molnar-Main and Beth Perry

Inquirer observer: Chris Satullo, Editorial Page editor, and Tom Ferrick Jr., columnist

 

Participants in each group were first asked to describe one hope or one fear as the city enters its election year.  Then each group did an exercise that asked participants to imagine they were giving a good friend’s family advice on whether to move to Philadelphia.

  • What would be the pros and cons of that move?
  • What forces and factors underlie those pros and cons?
  • What steps could the city and region take to strengthen those pros or weaken those cons?

For a full description of the exercise, see http://go.philly.com/friendsdilemma

Moderators' Report:

 

What were the group's most striking hopes/fears?

 

HOPES:

  • Competitive elections.

  • More effective communication from/with elected officials and public offices.

  • Neighborhood-based economies.

  • Greater opportunities for youth.

  • We will really understand our children’s needs.

  • Small-business development.

  • Community development that creates affordable communities.

  • Education will be a focus.

FEARS:

  • Violence will continue to prevail in our community.

What "pros" emerged as most important?

1. Philadelphia is an "accessible city."

2. Affordable housing 

 

What "cons" emerged as most important?

1. Education

2. Parenting  

3. Violence

4. Wage tax  

 

Let's look at the pros and cons in detail:

 

1. Pro: Affordable housing

Why is this pro important?

     Philadelphia has always been an affordable city, offering housing opportunities for people at all income levels. With redevelopment and changes in the housing market, it is important to ensure neighborhoods remain affordable to long-time residents.

 

What forces or factors underlie it?

  • Diversity of housing opportunities

  • Abandoned, unkempt homes

  • Planning: Mixed-income development must be planned for.

  • Development can increase taxes in a neighborhood (con).

  • Predatory lending makes it difficult for people to keep up with housing and other costs (con).

What action steps could strengthen it? What actors should do them?

  • Incentives for development need to be managed, so the tax burden does not rest disproportionately on long-time residents.
  • Restructure taxes and incentive programs with fairness in mind.
  • Prioritize public funding to support residents who would benefit from tax subsidies.
  • State laws regarding predatory lending need to be strengthened or changed to allow local government to regulate.
  • Expedite tax foreclosure process by simplifying process, reducing bureaucracy, and giving neighbors the option to purchase.
  • Use "Percent for Arts" model to offset tax burden of long-time/low-income residents when development comes to their community. This could be used to balance tax-abatement programs and promote greater fairness.

Now the cons ...

 

1. Con: Lack of parenting that supports student learning

Why is this con important?

     Parenting influences the entire educational process. It also impacts the safety and security of the neighborhood.  

 

What forces or factors underlie it?

  • Single parents and two-parent working families are under great stress. They often need to work many hours to support their families.

  • Adults that have not had positive experiences with schools. In some cases, these individuals may express distrust and negative attitudes toward schools, influencing young people. As parents, some may resist involvement with schools.

  • Inadequate childcare and insufficient quality time spent with children.

  • Poor parenting skills and lack of positive parenting role models in communities.

What action steps could weaken it? What actors should do them?

  • Improve parental access to technology. If parents could use technology to make contact with the school and teachers, they would be better able to monitor the child’s progress or needs without having to attend a "parents night." This technology could be provided with corporate partnerships.
  • Establish programs in the school district to train and promote the use of home visits by teachers as a way to improve home/school relations and support parents. Teachers could make "home visits" to families that have difficulty making meetings at the school. This would not be framed as a punitive measure. It would be considered "family educational outreach."
  • Increase neighbor-to-neighbor involvement. Parents in the neighborhood could form a "parents group" of neighbors that would meet to share concerns and support one another ("Let’s Have Dinner Together" initiative). Much could emerge from this type of activity (i.e., assisting one another with child care, sharing parenting tips, discussing students’ learning and school). 

2. Con: Violence 
Why is this con important?

  • "Our kids go to school with heavy hearts." They go to school "with issues," such as "their cousin got shot." This can interfere with their ability to concentrate in school.
  • A mother (in this group) is stricken at her 8-year-old daughter looking around the street in fear as she walks in her neighborhood. We have children "who hate each other."
  • "Violence is like a sore -- if you don't get rid of it, it will fester."
  • People are afraid to live here. Those who live here are isolated and constricted because of fear of violence. One long-time resident said, "I would like to be able to sit on my front porch." 

What forces or factors underlie it?

  • People are paralyzed by fear.

  • Many parents lack skills to help their kids; some parents are as undisciplined as their kids. "Parents have forgotten how to parent" (from a social worker). "Have we lost a generation?" (From a teacher in the public schools)

  • Violence co-occurs with other negative community forces. It is most predominant in areas with high poverty rates ("lack of economic security in the home"), dirty neighborhoods (poor trash collection got special mention), low employment and jobs, poor services and poor recreation programs (includes under-funded education system), drugs. In these communities and others, there is a "Glorification of the fast life."

  • Police not doing their job. This is related to lack of funding for police training and salaries.

  • Criminal justice system lets people (with connections) go who should be behind bars.

  • City services not working. Example: Marian Anderson Recreation Center has its lights on all night, but there is no one there, while Point Breeze Performing Arts Center is busy night and day.

  • No coordination of efforts and few comprehensive programs to stop violence. Point Breeze Performing Arts Center has a unified program -- "We know where our kids are and how they are."

  • History. Participants were also clear that the issue was not just local or new. One woman said, "I lost a brother 40 years ago. This problem didn't start yesterday."

  • Perceptions that this is a city problem. Participants spoke of the "polemics" of the "us vs. them" mentality of the city vs. the suburbs, but pointed out that gun violence exists in the suburban high schools, too.

  • Accessibility of guns. This is related to gun laws and the reputation of our city as the "Wal-Mart for guns" in the region.

What action steps could weaken it? What actors should do them?

  • Put a human face on this human problem.
  • Citizens should demand better services from city officials. Hold people in office accountable through participating in the political process and voting. Register people to vote.
  • Get citizens to vote – not just for the political machine.
  • Promote and fund community organizations. There is great competition for the City Hall money available for supporting community organizations (though there would be a risk of being controlled by City Hall). Start grass-roots organizations and get additional funding for outreach.
  • When outside development comes into the neighborhood, require that they: a) train local people and b) hire local people (not just bring in people form New Jersey).
  • Get parents to invest in schools. Provide more funds for parent/teacher organizations and for local schools' annual budgets.
  • Get more police community relations officers in communities and get improve quality of police officers.
  • Get rid of little guys with drugs.
  • Hire local college students (and stop brain drain of their leaving Philadelphia) to be interns in recreation centers so ALL centers can stay open for longer hours.
  • Coordinate all efforts to support children. Follow Point Breeze Performing Arts Center’s model of full support and monitoring of children's activities. Make recreation centers and schools hubs of the community. 

3. Con: Education

Why is this con important?

     Education is key. In recent years, public education in Philadelphia has not been successful in educating everyone to be productive participants in society. Lack of education is weakening our democracy because many undereducated people do not participate in democratic processes.  

 

What forces or factors underlie it?

  • Funding structure – Adequate funding of schools is necessary. Currently, our city is struggling to fund a basic level of education for its students.

  • Drug use – The culture and effects of drugs are negatively impacting the climate of schools and students’ learning.

  • Parental resources – Many parents lack the educational and financial resources to support successful learners. 

What action steps could weaken it? What actors should do them?

  • Elected officials and public have to recognize that funding is essential for our schools’ success. Investments need to be made in neighborhoods and organizations serving disadvantaged students.

  • Consider revising funding structure for Philly schools (at the state level).

  • Corporate funding/partnerships with neighborhood schools.

  • Establish long-term funding partnerships (foundations, grants, etc.) to support changes with long-term influence.

  • Encourage faith-based organizations to expand educational outreach through donations and private funding.