Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris, PA State Coordinator for Black Youth Vote, offers up five questions every taxpayer should ask candidates seeking to become the next Mayor of Philadelphia.
—
The headlines at media outlets in Philadelphia are starting to reflect that the political season is truly upon us. Even before the public has had a chance to vote for Governor in November, the discussion is being started about the 2015 mayoral race, and rightfully so considering that in less than 10 month –May 19th – voters will engage in the primary elections for the city’s next mayor.
The highly contested race is expected to bring out a host of familiar faces and a ton of political buzzwords – like education reform, income inequality and lowering taxes – but as Philadelphia is experiencing massive growth and equal challenges, the next CEO of the nation’s fifth largest city has to do more than stand tall behind a shield of smokes and mirrors and easy-to-remember catchphrases, they need to have an impact that’s quantifiable and broad-based.
You, the taxpayer, can ensure the right person gets elected by asking the right questions, and here are five of them that I think really matter:
1) Are you in favor of leveraging social impact bonds to research, design, implement and scale experimental econological technology that enables the city to adapt quickly to and profit heavily from the effects of climate change?
2) Philadelphia has a desire to be a world-class city and an international hub of innovation, yet it’s voter registration information is only available in English and Spanish, marginalizing the very present population of African, Vietnamese and other immigrant communities. So as the Mayor of Philadelphia, what infrastructure, policies, procedures and protocol will you implement to ensure that all areas of civic engagement and its materials reflect the cultural and linguistically diverse nature of the city, and how will measure its success?
3) Millennials are the city’s largest population and statistics show that while they love Philadelphia, many of them will leave because of the cash-strapped school district. So given the failure of the School Reform Commission and the unequal distribution of state resources that state-controlled Philadelphia schools receive, will you advocate for the schools to be returned to local governance in order to structure a system that provides transparent oversight, autonomous innovation and internal mechanisms that generate revenue that can be taxed? If so, how? If not, why?
4) What tangible actions steps will you take to create opportunity and access –including allocating government funds to local civic and social entrepreneurs who have high-growth enterprises that could scale, train and employ residents – to lower Philadelphia’s poverty rate?
5) Straight up, what are WE going to do about the Philadelphia Police Department? Other cities are reporting a decrease in complaints because officers are wearing body cameras; are you open to that idea and if so, where you will get the money for it? Secondly, will you bolster the Police Advisory Commission by making it a fully independent agency with a robust budget, stronger powers and additional staff?
There are way more questions that could’ve been listed, but these are five really important issues that can guide the conversation into other areas of interest. Philadelphia is ground zero for problems and opportunity, and the people contribute to them both.
Engage in politics, your life depends on it.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
