- Council Asks that Libraries Remain Open
- Good news! City Council stands up to the mayor, says "the public have questions!"
- Be There For Health Care Today at City Hall at noon
- City Paper on the effects of the YPP poll and other online organizing on budget cuts
- Another local library group organizes
- Kids organizing in Mantua to keep their library to open
- Talk solutions with Maria Quinones-Sanchez @ PFC Meetup tonight
- Talking Out of Both Sides on Libraries
- Vince Fumo, the Charmer
- SCI Camp Hill Update—Call for Action, Increased Monitoring, Constant Vigilance
Electing a Woman Mayor in 2015
Submitted by Ray Murphy on Mon, 10/29/2007 - 12:19pm.
I know everyone is excited about starting a new era in City Hall with the election of Michael Nutter on November 6th. With all the challenges he’ll face, and that we as Philadelphians face, it seems premature to talk about the next mayoral election, but…we have to talk about this now if we want to elect a woman in 2015.
Why should we elect a woman?
Well, after 97 male Mayors of this city (98 when you count Nutter) it sort of seems like it’s time. Even more importantly, there are a lot of great women in the city who are ready to lead. You don’t even have to look much further than the last two Mayors to see men who were each partnered with very intelligent and successful women (Naomi Post and Midge Rendell). And our new Mayor is with a woman equally formidable, in Lisa Nutter.
It’s not just these three women either.
Kathy Black, Sharmaine Matlock-Turner, Sandra Dungee-Glen, Della Clark, Nora Lichtash, Jane Golden, Ronda Goldfein, Kathy Padilla, Sister Mary Scullion, Janet Ryder, Susan Gobreski, Jane Pepper. Ellen Somekawa, Denise Brown, Shelly Yanoff. not to mention a new generation of up and coming women like Rodnie Jamison, Gloria Caserez, Casey Cook, Rue Landau, Stacey Sobel, Jen Murphy, Hannah Miller, Anne Dicker, Beth McConnell, Jennine Miller, Kate Houston, Nijmie Dzurinko, Amadee Braxton, Helen Gym, Shivaani Selveraj, Laura Weinbaum, Fareeda Mabry, and others would all make amazing elected officials.
Speaking of elected officials, there are six women currently on City Council, and one more will very likely be added after November 6th when Maria Quinones-Sanchez wins her General Election.
In summary, there’s no shortage of talented women who could run for elected office in this city. Not all of these women work in politics or work on politics, but I think that is maybe something that really recommends them. You don’t have to have been in City Hall for the past 20 years to have made a difference in our city.
At least one of these women if not a lot more, should consider running for Mayor in 2015. However judging by the number of women who ran in the 07 Primary for Council, how likely does that seem? And what could we as voters and citizens do to get more thinking about running?
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Should totally happen
I actually don't get why cities aren't on the forefront of this. Ray has such a great long list, because there are so many amazing active women in leadership positions already all over this city.
One thing, though: political office isn't for everyone. A lot of those women are doing amazing work in nonprofits and unelected public service.
But we should absolutely nurture women who want to run. This is an area where I think formal networks of support and mentorship should be developed alongside informal ones.
I have very high hopes that Maria Quinones-Sanchez's office will nuture strong future female leadership. And from everything I can see, she'd be great as mayor. Even if we don't get a woman mayor next time around, I think we (the biggest 'we') will have failed if the field is as totally completely male as it was last time.
This isn't just bean-counting, or whatever: the specific issues that women (individually and as primary care-givers to children) face were almost-totally effaced in the mayoral race. I got made fun of (yeah, yeah) for my 'engendering the mayoral race' post, but I think it was not merely symbolically telling that no candidates or representatives from their campaigns attended the city bar association's panel on women's issues in the election, which featured women leaders from huge nonprofit providers of services to women and children in the city.
agreed
I am sure not every woman on the list above would want to run for Mayor, and I am not every person is qualified at the moment, but a lot are, and women need to be as presumptuous as some of the men who ran last time for lots of offices without any political experience or even the experience of founding and leading a successful org like Sr. Mary has, for example.
Wait so it is a race to the bottom now??
Kidding, kidding.
Three words
Julie Goodman Hawkins.
Another hat in the ring
I've heard the Jane Golden idea from a lot of different folks. A lot of these folks have also thrown out Alba Martinez's name as a potential candidate.
As with any election they
As with any election they are open to any person who meets the crtieria to run for the office. Over 25, live in the city for over a year, and have atleast I believe 1,000 signatures on their petitions.
There are plenty of women and men who are qualified to be Mayor that haven't run, I think the conversation of a woman running just because she is a woman is kind of crazy, how many people here backed Happy Fernandez when she ran in 99?
To be an elected official or a leader in any sort, should not be based on race, gender or any other irrelevant factor to lead, it should be based on knowledge, experience,and willingness to lead. As well as the ability to inspire others to better themselves, as opposed to lead and have trained no one to lead after, your just a waste of a leader.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter".
Dr Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.