41,000 Junkers Gone, 31,000 Lots to Follow

They didn't believe 41,000 Junkers could disappear from our city's streets. But Mayor John Street made believers of them.

Then, when he declared there were 31,000 abandoned vacant lots, some covered by jungle-like growth making them safety hazards, but most just ugly, unsafe trash heaps, they laughed again. They wondered how will he get those cleaned up and turned into neighborhood assets?

The launching of his Neighborhood Transformation Initiative last weekend, in the rain, demonstrated how he plans to do it and get it done on schedule. Volunteers, neighborhood leaders, neighborhood committee people, elected leaders and just regular folks turned out to lend a hand to the first day effort.
The mayor turned every stop into a neighborhood party, a festival celebrating the removal of blight. It's a knack we have seen him develop since his first days in office. He involves everyone and they end up sharing in his conviction and catching his enthusiasm. Instead of obstacles, there are volunteers and paid hands to remove them. No longer do we hear "How can we get all this done?" What we now hear is "How many more can we clean up and return to the community this week?”

The Mayor's Office of Community Services is involved, so are other city departments. Everyone is being pressed into the campaign, because it is another project Philadelphians desperately want to see finally completed. Another achievement they can be proud of, for their city and themselves. 
Will it be 31,000 cleaned by the end of next year at this time? 
Place your bets. We say "Yes!”

Everyone Has An Agenda

Every political leader has a public agenda and a private agenda. The latter is kept close to the vest, it mirrors his or her personal belief in what role it is they play as part of elected officialdom.

All-every single one of 'em-is guided by the belief that they will be graded at each and every primary by their constituency. And they are right. To score high, they must work to convey how dedicated to service they are. It is the common thread uniting them to their voters.

Every elected office holder must believe he or she should aspire to higher office when the opportunity presents itself. Among these are those who would remain where they are, but believe the more political power in their hands the better.
Philadelphia is blessed-and we mean blessed in a positive way-to have men and women who understand the value of power, and work to amass that power.

Seeing two go arm-to-arm in Harrisburg over how best to shape the city's fortunes warms the innards of older politicians. It tells us our leaders are not asleep at the wheel. They just appear to be that way at times. When a golden opportunity arises, it is still siezed.

So hats off again to two of our pros-State Senator Vincent Fumo and Majority Leader John Perzel.

Your positions are well taken. But what is best noted by all of us is that you are still willing to go the extra mile to win your point. In the end, no matter who wins, eventually we all win. For now, we join the spectator ranks and watch for Part Two of the PPA Takeover battle. 

Leadership at Work

Our chores take us around the city on an almost daily basis. So we see things happening that normally would go unnoticed and unreported by other media outlets, other than of course, the Philadelphia Public Record.

The good that our political leaders in their communities do is the gist of what we report weekly in these pages. What we see and report is testimony to how effective these leaders are.

Bringing these thoughts to mind was a basketball tournament in Cobbs Creek Park held under the auspices of State Sen. Anthony Williams. It wasn't covered by the rest of the media, and we would have missed it had we not seen it ourselves. But what it demonstrates is the fact that the hundred plus young men at the park, playing basketball were being given an opportunity to engage in cooperative and community activity. Williams' efforts are adding to the growth of community spirit. 

Elsewhere throughout the city we see events sponsored over and over again by elected officials. A glance at our weekly calendar of events lists those called to our attention.

It's getting to be a nice habit for our elected officials to involve themselves directly with the sports, social, and cultural activities of their constituents. The only thing we decry is sometimes they forget to let us know so we can herald their activity. 

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