Candidates talk on campus

Standing in sharp contrast to last week's live television debate at Drexel University, the Palladium hosted a mayoral forum on Friday night that attracted just two of the six candidates running for the city's top executive office. The event was sponsored by the Fels Center of Government's Class of 2000, the Penn Law Democrats and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. About 150 graduate students, faculty and staff showed up for the event, which was not open to undergraduates. Only Dwight Evans and Happy Fernandez, both Democratic candidates, actually attended. Event organizers said that John White and John Street had canceled earlier in the day. Evans and Fernandez -- who lag far behind their opponents in most recent polls -- presented their visions for the city in brief speeches, followed by casual mingling afterwards. Evans -- a Pennsylvania state representative -- began by discussing his finance and community development background, eventually explaining that preventing crime and using universities like Penn for economic growth are two of the goals he would like to accomplish as Philadelphia's next mayor. "You've got to talk about the issue of public safety because there is a direct connection between where people want to live and how safe they feel," Evans said, noting that crime in Philadelphia is one of the main reasons that the city has lost over 150,000 residents in the 1990s. Appealing to the University-dominated crowd, Evans described institutions like Penn as the "21st century factories of the city." Citing his efforts as a state legislator that helped make the successful Pennsylvania Convention Center a reality, Evans closed by saying his track record proves he ready to be Philadelphia's next mayor. Fernandez, a former City Council member, opened by telling the crowd about her familiarity with the University as both a one-time graduate student and long-time West Philadelphia resident. While inviting the audience to visit her World Wide Web site to gain more specific information about her candidacy, Fernandez said she wanted to "zero in" on Penn's role in the city during her speech. "My goal is that we market [Philadelphia] as the education center of the country and the world," Fernandez said, echoing a theme that she has championed throughout her campaign. "I want to attract all of you to stay here [in Philadelphia after graduating]," she added. Steve Nesmith, who is running for an at-large seat on City Council, also spoke at the event, challenging the crowd to get involved in the community. Explaining that he wants his campaign "to be about the future," Nesmith added that he hopes to bring a young, bright and energetic perspective to City Hall. Anuj Gupta, a first-year student in Fels and one of the event's co-organizers, said he was "very disappointed" with the low turnout among candidates but that he was generally pleased with the evening. And Tiffany Hodge, a second-year student in Fels and another co-organizer, said she was happy with the forum, even though a full cast of characters was not present. "I believe that this event did a wonderful job creating unity among the graduate students," Hodge said.

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