Philly Council leader wants unified effort to maximize community investment

Community reinvestment in the city needs better coordination, according to the president of Philadelphia City Council.

And so, Darrell Clarke Thursday proposed a change to the city charter — establishing a commission to coordinate initiatives so that banks, universities and other groups talk to each other about the projects they’re backing.

“There’s a significant amount of investment over time — some as a result of capital investment through the city, some as a result of federal and state, some as a result of the [Community Reinvestment Act] where the government requires that lending institutions invest in neighborhoods and municipalities,” he said. “But there’s no coordination whatsoever.”

And better coordination, said Clarke, could help these projects have a bigger impact.

“What we want this commission to do is to sit down, have appointing authority and come up with a strategy for reinvestment in neighborhoods across the city of Philadelphia,” he said.

If approved in City Council, the proposal would need the approval of Philadelphia voters to proceed.