Adam Goodman | One goal, two ways to get there

Michael Nutter has an idea.

"I'm going to create an Office of College and University Relations because I believe that our colleges and universities are an untapped resource for the city government," Nutter, one of five candidates in the upcoming mayoral election, told me.

"There would be regular meetings with the college presidents and their top staff, and the person staffing this office would maintain regular and direct contact to help them with issues related to the city, " he added.

Sound like just another bureaucratic ploy that is heavy on rhetoric and light on substance?

Think again.

Last February, the Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent nonprofit, released The Philadelphia Case Study. One of the interesting observations of the study was that Philadelphia is run by a "bifurcated leadership," where each entity has relatively little contact with the other.

On the one hand, you have Mayor John Street's administration. On the other, you have the civic, business and community leadership, of which Penn is a major player. The Case Study describes the two sets of leaders as sharing goals, but not communicating effectively.

"I think the organization got it right," Nutter said. "I think they captured the essence of what's going on, unfortunately correctly."

For the city to solve its long-term problems, this arrangement will have to change.

Penn, for its part, has done a tremendous job of engaging with the surrounding community: The various local schools which Penn has successfully partnered with and sponsored, the Penn Smiles program which delivers oral education and treatment to neighborhood children and parents, the new school-based community health initiative and clinic on 58th and Walnut, the office devoted to investing in improved housing.I could go on and on.

"Our office is established to help improve and maintain effective working relationships with the various surrounding communities and the city of Philadelphia," Glenn Bryan, assistant vice president at Penn's Office of City and Community Relations, said. "We're really a model across the city and the country."

But don't take my (or Bryan's) word for it. The Case Study itself calls Penn a "prime example" of an institution engaging effectively in its surrounding community. Penn's work is even being studied by the city of Cleveland for application to its University Circle Cluster.

But there's more to be done and Penn can't solve Philadelphia's problems by itself.

According to the study, the city has experienced a surge in violent crime (1,934 shooting victims in 2006) with an ever-climbing homicide rate and a thriving drug trade. Philly is still losing both people and jobs, with 55,000 people and 37,000 jobs lost in the last five years. A quarter of the population lives in poverty (up by 2 percent since 2000) and 80 percent of Philadelphia's resident don't hold college degrees.

These are serious problems. To even begin to tackle them will take an innovative vision from City Hall and a determination to close the communication gap which plagues the city.

"Our relationships are quite good, but there's always room for increased cooperation," said Ira Harkavy, Penn professor and founding director of the Center for Community Partnerships, referring to the city's relationship with civic institutions. "The idea would be to encourage every school and university and to provide positive incentives to be engaged with their communities."

Nutter's proposal for an Office of College and University Relations is a step in the right direction, separating him from at least one other candidate.

"Bob Brady has a strong record in this city as a leader of the Democratic party," said David Mellet, deputy press secretary for the Brady campaign. "He would definitely be open to working with anyone who came to City Hall."

What about the disconnect cited in the study?

"We can't comment on that."

That's the kind of stale attitude which Philadelphians can't afford for another four years. Being "open" to work with organizations that approach the city simply won't cut it. It's the kind of attitude which fails to recognize that universities, especially ours, are some of the city's largest private employers, most important economic drivers, and have access to substantial intellectual and financial resources.

A resolute effort by the next mayoral administration to close the leadership gap through collaboration and communication can help Philadelphia finally achieve its potential as a truly international and cosmopolitan city, which, in turn, will make Penn that much more impressive and attractive of an institution.

I'll close by stealing a page from fellow columnist Mara Gordon's book: Register to vote absentee. It matters.

Adam Goodman is a College sophomore from La Jolla, Calif. His e-mail address is goodman@dailypennsylvanian.com. A Damn Good Man appears on Wednesdays.

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