Urbanism and the mayoral primary: How do the candidates compare?

Abraham

Staunchly favors a strong mayoral form of governance: Mayor should run the city, Council should just write laws.

“Mayor is the chief executive of the city. The CEO.”

Diaz

Opposes Council approval of mayoral appointments, but pledges improved communication with Council.

“As Mayor, I will work with all the relevant stakeholders, rather than treating them like competitors or enemies, to find common ground and move past the constant sense of municipal crisis.”

Oliver

Supports giving Council advise and consent power over Mayor’s Department head appointments.

“I’d be interested in sitting down with the council president to get a better sense of what he’s thinking.”

Street

No public position taken

Abraham

Emphasizes streamlining the Department of Licenses and Inspections’ permitting process to accelerate development.

“… you can make sure that codes are not burdensome and confusing, that they’re clear, that the requirements are clear, that inspectors are not expected to take a bribe, or offer to take a bribe or to quote “fix something” if you pay them off or they’ll turn a blind eye.”

Diaz

Supports citywide planning efforts undertaken by Michael Nutter.

“We need to have a mayor who should be in charge of development. It should not be relegated to people on City Council. That would be a mess. I believe an executive can do the job a lot quicker, faster, and a lot better.”

Oliver

Supports zoning reform, and advocates for public intervention to set the stage for development on the waterfront.

“While I think there’s always going to be some inherent tension between what we say we want to do as a broad brush across the city and what people want to do about individual projects in their districts, I think the purpose of the overhaul was to make sure going to the Zoning Board of Adjustment was the exception and not the rule.”

Street

Would hire “best minds” on city planning. Wants to redevelop vacant lots and blighted houses without raising home values or property taxes above what poor people can pay.

“I would like to have something that’s a little more substantive, a little more hands-on, a little more—people in the poor community, they don’t need any more talk. They need to see something tangible.”

Abraham

Would add more inspectors to the department and expand inspection unit’s hours.

“The L&I department has been serially investigated for years, and decades even. And I can’t say what’s the problem but I know this is something that will be a huge, huge priority for me.”

Diaz

Supports streamlining and digitizing permits, and trumpets his work reforming the city courts.

“Other peer cities across the country have managed to substantially reduce red tape without compromising public safety or sacrificing important public policy goals, and we can too. We need to make better use of digital technology to streamline the approval process, and dramatically reduce paperwork so that residents and business owners spend less time jumping through hoops.”

Oliver

Wants the department to focus on customer service, and to invest money to make sure licenses and permits are enforced.

“There’s no pride of ownership. If Darrell Clarke’s got a plan, City Council’s got a plan, as long as it’s user friendly, as long as it doesn’t prohibit or hinder business from growing, I’m OK with it. There may be other good ways to do it, and I may have my own ideas. I don’t at this point…”

Street

No public position taken

Abraham

Supports keeping the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities.

“As Mayor, Lynne will… Use the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities to coordinate decision-making among the agencies and departments that manage the City’s transportation and utilities infrastructure.”

Diaz

Supports keeping the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities.

“While I believe we’ve begun to make progress on creating a progressive, multimodal transit network, that work is still very much ongoing. I’d work hard to make sure we made even greater progress going forward.”

Oliver

Would consider keeping the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities.

“I’m not sure at this point. I was there in this administration for the first three years and I think I understand why he organized it that way and I think there are lots of benefits of clustering city services under a Deputy Mayor who’s responsible for them and so they’re not operating in silos.”

Street

No public position taken

Abraham

Supports open data executive order, Chief Data Officer position, using OpenDataPhilly.org, and releasing city information in machine-readable format.

“We have to be open to innovation and ideas. And I’m open to any platform that will deliver services, make the government work better, be simplified, transparent, be efficient and effective.”

Diaz

Supports open data executive order as a means to hold public officials accountable, even when the result is “embarrassing to public officials.” Would maintain Chief Data Officer position, continue using OpenDataPhilly.org, and release city information in machine-readable format. Supports releasing as much Revenue Department and traffic incident data as possible.

“As [Supreme Court] Justice [Louis] Brandeis wrote, ‘sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant,’ and I believe wholeheartedly in transparency. The people have a right to know how their money is being spent, and to analyze the data and hold public officials accountable.”

Oliver

Supports open data executive order and would call for “greater access to open records” than Nutter. Supports retaining Chief Data Officer position, using OpenDataPhilly.org for city data hosting, and releasing city information in machine-readable format. Is only candidate not to commit to renewing PhillyStat program. Supports releasing more Revenue Department data, and data on traffic incidents in a timely manner.

“We need to infuse an identity of information into every single department. So more than just the CTO is thinking about technology. We need every commissioner to be thinking about how technology can make their job better.”

Street

No public position taken

Abraham

Supports increasing the budgets of the Office of Supportive Housing and the Office of Housing and Community Development.

“My housing strategy obviously is working with more CDCs, encouraging that 20-year tax abatement, allowing people to know what the [housing repair and preservation] programs are.”

Diaz

Wants 20% of units in new residential buildings to be preserved for low- and moderate-income residents. The policy would be mandatory for publicly funded projects, and would allow density bonuses on private projects.

“The goal is to leverage existing expenditures and programs as much as possible, to limit costs while creating the most new housing.”

Oliver

Advocates for housing preservation and enabling longterm residents to stay in their homes.

“The most affordable housing is the homes that people already own.”

Street

Supports preserving and refurbishing existing affordable housing.

“There is a way that you can kind of create that balance by preserving some of the existing real estate stock, by not allowing all of the existing real estate stock to be recycled or be redeveloped. The way I would attempt to have affordable housing is keeping costs down by preserving what we already have for low- and moderate-income people.”

Abraham

Favors keeping the 10-year tax abatement in place and expanding it to 20 years in underdeveloped neighborhoods.

“Lots of people complain that Center City Philadelphia, where the wealthy generally congregate, has had the benefit of a ten-year tax abatement, and people feel very, very strongly about it. So I thought that, why don’t we balance the scales so that everybody in the outlying community—not in the Center City core—who wants to build in their communities, but they’re not catering to the wealthy, they’re catering to neighborhood people who want to have a better life, can have a 20-year tax abatement?”

Diaz

Proposes cutting the abatement within Center City to allow schools to collect their portion of the property tax while still abating the city portion for 10 years. Estimates it would bring an additional $40 million to $50 million over 10 years.

“I think there should be a penalty if people walk away from the benefit of an abatement. That way we can keep them here. You know, we’re giving you something, and all of a sudden, you’re selling it and you’re walking away from it.”

Oliver

Has expressed interest in revisiting how the abatement is structured.

“Maybe we don’t need tax incentives in Center City anymore, maybe we don’t need them in Fishtown or other places that are in a virtuous cycle of development.”

Street

Would explore modification of current tax abatement.

The tax abatement “needs to continue but be modified. Shorter time periods would be suggested and bend points established based on the value of the house. However, we must continue to encourage development.”

Abraham

Wants to “energize and depoliticize” the Land Bank and use it to quickly redevelop vacant properties.

“Convert abandoned buildings and vacant lots into productive uses as quickly as possible through use of the Land Bank.”

Diaz

Supports the Land Bank concept and wants to use it to help create affordable housing.

“I’d aggressively use the Land Bank in partnership with Philadelphia Public Housing Authority, PIDC, and community development corporations and neighborhood business groups to transform vacant or abandoned property into affordable housing or structured green space to spur community development.”

Oliver

In response to a questionnaire, says he would require the Land Bank to prioritize low-income housing development.

“Yes.”

Street

Does not support the Land Bank.

“I never found the purpose of a city sitting on the land. The Land Bank makes no sense.”

Abraham

Sees Philadelphia’s historic character as an asset that can stimulate development. Supports an accurate inventory of historic properties. Interested in exploring zoning code revisions to incentivize adaptive reuse of historic buildings and new buildings with LEED certifications. Supports facadism.

“I do agree that one of the things we need to do is be more sensitive to historical preservation… There are some burdens that go along with the benefits.”

Diaz

Supports renovation of existing businesses and homes as part of comprehensive “green neighborhoods” revitalization strategy. Supports replacement of half of city’s vacant and abandoned buildings with mixed-income housing, community gardens, structured green spaces.

As a community we should “decide which ones we really want to preserve and want to continue to protect… we’ll be able to develop those that we can afford to develop and not stop progress and not be against everything because of preservation.”

Oliver

No public position taken

Street

No public position taken

Abraham

Supports Vision Zero goal of cutting pedestrian injuries and fatalities in half in four years. Will convene a Vision Zero task force of stakeholders as in New York City. Is on the record as skeptical of one particular road diet, the protected bike lane plans for JFK and west Market Street.

“I will seek guidance and best practices from cities that have already implemented Vision Zero, such as New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.”

Diaz

Supports Vision Zero goal of cutting pedestrian injuries and fatalities in half in four years. Opposes 2012 law requiring a Council ordinance for lane removals.

“It is problematic that the City Council unanimously usurped the mayor’s traditional power to make major changes to the streetscape of Philadelphia, a move that was in direct response to Mayor Nutter’s attempt to make our city more friendly to transit alternatives.”

Oliver

Supports Vision Zero goal of cutting pedestrian injuries and fatalities in half in four years. Supports more pedestrian street closures and physical traffic calming changes to streets.

“I believe the first step towards reducing conflicts is improving our city’s built environment and planning, to make our city — particularly the core — less auto-centric. This can begin with proper curb cuts and protected bike lanes. I’m also in favor of creating an east-west greenway — an auto-free street to get from river to river. I believe this will not only reduce accidents, but increase pedestrian tourism, outside of the historic old city.”

Street

Supports “something like” Vision Zero, especially for bicyclists. Sees bicycle commuting as a way to cut car traffic.

“I would support something like that, especially for bicyclists. We should have more people coming to work on bicycles. It would reduce the number of cars coming into the city each day, promotes good health and gives people a chance to enjoy the outdoors.”

Abraham

Says she would increase Streets Department funding, has not specified how.

“As Mayor, Lynne will… increase funding to the Streets Department to identify and prioritize problematic intersections and to find preventative solutions to reduce vehicular accidents.”

Diaz

Wants to increase repaving rate by 50%, has not said how to pay for this though.

“I believe we should be repaving streets at least once a decade … and would look to put the streets department onto that schedule by the end of my first term in office.”

Oliver

Open to idea of increased funding for Streets, balanced against other budget priorities.

“Yes. Provided that these are resources that we can create.”

Street

At Mobility Forum, called street paving a middle priority for the city.

Abraham

Supports more bike lanes, but wouldn’t build protected bike lanes on JFK or Market without local seniors signing off.

“I don’t know if I’d support a protected bike lane unless we can protect senior citizens [from bikes].”

Diaz

Supports bus prioritization, increased bike infrastructure and pedestrian-friendly street improvement.

“It is problematic that the City Council unanimously usurped the mayor’s traditional power to make major changes to the streetscape of Philadelphia, a move that was in direct response to Mayor Nutter’s attempt to make our city more friendly to transit alternatives.”

Oliver

Says he supports increases in bike infrastructure, but did not seem to understand what protected bike lanes were at Mobility Forum.

“While much of the City’s core has made great progress in biking and pedestrian infrastructure, there is still a great need for improvement in many outlying neighborhoods. Biking infrastructure is still in its infancy in some neighborhoods which are historic TODs—Frankford, Germantown, Somerton, Fox Chase, and Bridesburg—and could greatly benefit.”

Street

Street is an avid cyclist who has expressed support for better bike infrastructure.

“I think that the streets that are controlled by the city, the city should make the call.”

Abraham

Sees parks and open spaces as civic treasures that require greater investment.

“I think we need to do everything to make sure that our parks, our squares, our little vest pocket parks are fixed. Whatever it is, we have to leverage it.”

Diaz

Supports moderate increases in funding for parks, greening citywide, particularly in neighborhoods with less outdoor opportunities.

“Parks and structured greenspaces are essential to our children’s development and to the health and well-being of our neighborhoods. The same is true of arts and cultural institutions. That’s why I support increased funding for both. One way I’d like to achieve that goal is to address our vacant and abandoned property epidemic. As mentioned above, we have 40,000 vacant properties in Philadelphia, and I’d like to halve that number during my time in office and replace them with affordable housing and parks.”

Oliver

Wants to see programming build on existing Parks and Rec infrastructure, emphasizing youth and after-school programs.

“Parks, rec [centers], swimming pools in the neighborhood are more than just words. I think they account for those down hours.”

Street

No public position taken

Abraham

Supports stronger anti-graffiti efforts, more recyling, and prioritizing street cleaning, including citizen cleanups. Interested in a small plastic bag fee.

“Plastic bags are an environmental nightmare.”

Diaz

Supports cleaning and maintaining vacant lots as an economic and community development strategy. Supports plastic bag tax to fund bi-weekly street sweeping.

“‘Filthadelphia’ needs to be a thing of the past. I support a modest fee on single-use plastic bags, and using a portion of the cost to institute bi-weekly street sweeping. One of the best things we can do for our communities is also to clean them up. Philadelphia has an unacceptably high number of vacant or abandoned properties around the city, many of which are concentrated in poorer neighborhoods. Nobody wants to live or locate a business next to a burned out house or vacant lot that’s been turned into a dump.”

Oliver

Supports mechanical street cleaning and adding more public trash cans. Supports a plastic bag fee to help curb litter and plastic use.

“I would take steps to educate, encourage and incentivize Philadelphians to reduce litter and increase recycling, including: asking merchants not to place flyers and menus on the doors of homes or businesses; requiring landlords to provide sufficient space for storing tenant trash; cleaning our City streets on a more frequent basis; requiring merchants to charge a fee for single-use paper and plastic bags to reduce usage; and educating Philadelphians about the importance of reducing waste and recycling.”

Street

Would hire neighborhood residents to clean trash and vacant lots.

“We’ll hire people from the community where they live to patrol the community where they live … they’ll identify abandoned houses, they’ll clean out alleys, put the trash on the sidewalk for the trash people. You know, when the trash people come along and put half in the bucket and half in the street, they’ll clean it up.”

Abraham

Supports energy hub, with protections for environment. Wants to attract businesses from energy finance, generation, distribution and exporting for petrochemicals and by-products.

“Lynne would work to transform Philadelphia into the next great energy hub — while preserving our environment and health throughout our neighborhoods and industrial areas,” said spokesman Stuart Rosenberg.

Diaz

Supports energy hub but only if it can replace, rather than add to, current or recent emissions.

“We can’t continue to make the city dirty.”

Oliver

Supports energy hub without environmental qualifications.

“Philadelphia is in a unique position to establish itself as an energy hub. Leveraging the opportunity that abundant natural gas represents as well as the many positive characteristics of the City – close proximity to airways, railways, waterways, and highways, a large workforce, proximity to an even larger portion of the nation’s population – Philadelphia can position itself as a prime location for new or expanding energy companies.”

Street

Skeptical of energy hub and does not feel it is a good short-term priority.

Former state lawmaker Milton Street says an energy hub just won’t happen within the next eight years and seemed annoyed when the topic came up at last week’s debate.

Abraham

Supports city’s green infrastructure plan for managing stormwater, wants to see more LEED buildings and adaptive reuse, and would expand funding to Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

“By increasing funding [to the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability], the City will improve quality of life for its residents, create jobs, protect the environment, and attract green-minded businesses and residents. Specifically, each City agency will be held accountable for achieving sustainability goals.”

Diaz

Sees environmental protection as an investment in public health. Advocates for significant emissions reductions, wants stronger measures to protect air and water quality, and a greener transportation network and public fleet. Supports full funding for Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

“I will be guided by two environmental principles as I make every decision. 1) We need to be making our city healthier, and 2) We need to be building sustainably and responsibly for the future with our eye on the long-term. Every policy decision must also be made with an awareness of any opportunities to invest in and promote alternative energy.”

Oliver

Wants to see city take stronger measures to reduce our municipal energy footprint, from the vehicle fleet to public buildings. Would maintain funding to the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

When we think about sustainability, we often think “green,” planting trees and reducing carbon footprints. However, sustainability also means positioning the City for long-term sustainable growth. As mayor, I would do the following to make Philadelphia a more sustainable city: convert the City properties that use oil and steam to natural gas; analyze energy usage in older buildings to ensure they are as efficient as possible; identify cleaner, greener, abundant, locally-sourced energy sources; begin converting the City fleet from gasoline to natural gas in order to save money and reduce the carbon footprint; consider the conversion of SEPTA from diesel to natural gas or low-sulfur diesel.

Street

Wants to work greening initiatives into various other city programs.

“We have to be more strategic in our planning. Greening should be tied in and synchronized with other city initiatives. Greening has to be included as a requirement in all new developments and added in any major renovations that should be enforced by the Zoning Board.”