Let Him Hear From You: Yo, Mike!

May 29, 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial

The primary election is over, but the conversation is just getting going.

Michael Nutter, surprise winner of the recent Democratic mayoral primary, still must face off against Republican Al Taubenberger in the fall.

Taubenberger is a nice man and a fine citizen of Philadelphia, but in this one-party town his chances of winning in November are about as good as the Sixers' chance of winning the NBA title this spring.

For those of you not paying attention - or trying to forget - Philadelphia's hoops team didn't even make the NBA playoffs this year.

So, practically speaking, Nutter - while avoiding public acts of presumption - has seven months to pull together a team and hone an agenda.

Just as important, citizens of the city and region have seven months to tell him what really matters to them, and what they hope to see done about it.

The value of citizen input is a guiding premise of the Great Expectations project, a joint effort of the Inquirer Editorial Board and the University of Pennsylvania. The project has held more than 50 citizens and issues forums so far this year to identify rising issues for this city and region, and ideas to deal with them.

In the coming months, we hope to work with citizens to explore in depth those issues and to craft an Agenda for the Next Great City to be presented to the new mayor and City Council before they take office next January.

This civic to-do list will seek to blend the best ideas generated during citizen forums this year, the best ideas that have worked in other cities, and the best ideas proposed by candidates this year. Crafting of the agenda will be informed by the best journalistic and academic research into civic issues that the Editorial Board and Penn scholars can offer.

Nutter has indicated he'll support that process and pay attention to the result.

So let's get started. With you.

Here's how.

Imagine that Michael Nutter has shown up at your home, and is sitting across the kitchen table from you. You have his undivided attention.

So, complete the following sentence: "Yo, Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is ..."The key to this exercise is not to list seven things, 11 things, or 32. They key is to think hard, then narrow your wish list to the single thing most important to you as you live your life in this city or region.

Once you've done that, write down how you'd finish that sentence in a little essay of 150 words or so.

Nutter has agreed to read these citizen messages and to respond to as many of them as he can.

You can submit that essay in one of two ways:

You can add it to the "Yo, Mike!" thread on the Great Expectations blog, to be found on the project Web site, http://go.philly.com/greatexpectations.

Or, if you can, submit it via e-mail to editor@phillynews.com, putting "Yo, Mike!" in the subject field.

We will publish a sampling of responses in the paper; you can read through everyone's responses on the Great Expectations blog.

This invitation is open to everyone in the region, because everyone in the region has a stake in how Philadelphia is governed, and because good ideas to make a great city can come from anywhere.

There's a lot not to like about Philadelphia's being such a one-party town. But this de facto seven-month period of preparation for a new era at City Hall could turn out to be a boon, if citizens and presumptive election winners make good use of the time.

Let's start. Yo, Mike, here come the citizens of your city, and region, ready to help you lead Philadelphia on the path to Next Great City.