2015 Mayoral Elections
ery drives up costs and reduces productivity. Anthony Williams is the lone dissenter in our pages regarding a proposed charge for plastic bags, citing that a charge would disproportionately affect the poor.
Mayor Michael Nutter on the green roof at Friends Center
Bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure: Can the streets be made safer for everyone? Many candidates are talking about Vision Zero, which is an international goal of reducing traffic related deaths to zero. It’s pulled from the Better Mobility 2015 platform created by The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. How the City proceeds with further investment in bike lanes, the new Bike Share program, and how public outreach efforts are handled will significantly effect how, where, and who is able to safely take to the streets on foot and on bike. Also mentioned by at least one candidate, is SWEEP, a citywide program created to educate citizens about their responsibilities under the sanitation code.
Blight: How will the Philadelphia Land Bank be run? There are approximately 8,000 vacant properties in Philadelphia owned by the City. The creation of the Philadelphia Land Bank has established a transparent system in which citizens can acquire properties and return them to productive use. The lots can be transformed through many kinds of community development projects, including affordable housing, public gardens and urban agriculture. It’s a relatively new program, and how much thought and funding goes into its implementation will significantly affect public safety, access to open space and revenues for the City.
Energy Hub: Does it mean clean tech, or petrochemical pollution? In 2010, Philadelphia won a competitive national award from the Department of Energy to be a research hub for energy efficiency. Even after several direction, leadership and name changes, the words “Energy Hub” meant one thing: The public and private projects at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Now, Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which runs the old Sunoco refinery, wants to rebrand “Energy Hub” to mean its own plans to make Philadelphia the epicenter for refining natural gas and attracting new petrochemical industries to the heart of the City (see Grid’s March 2015 cover story). On March 13, City Council held public hearings on how to approach new energy opportunities for the City, and constituents who hear “Energy Hub” both ways were present. While PES CEO Phil Rinaldi was testifying, activists held up signs that read, “Climate Denier” and “Invest Green, Not Fossil Fuel.” The next mayor, and the next City Council, will have to decide which face we project to the rest of the world.
PHOTO BY GENE SMIRNOV
APRIL 2015 G R I DP HI LLY.COM
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