Robin Cooper hopes whoever wins the mayorial race will invest in Philly neighborhoods.
On Nov. 8, general elections will be held in Philadelphia to elect the city’s mayor. Some have begun to think about what changes they’d like to see in their neighborhoods and said that the mayor has a lot to do with bringing changes into effect. Robin Cooper, 24, of 18th and Montgomery streets, said she would like to see a better environment in her neighborhood.
“[I would like to see] the guys get off the streets, off the corners,” Cooper said. “For the children, I would like to see more activities at school so that they can learn more.”
As Cooper was waiting for her sisters to come home from school she said that better educational funding is very important and she said she hopes that the next mayor will do all he or she can to see that schools are better funded and have access to resources like computers.
Philadelphia’s current mayor, Michael Nutter will be running for re-election against Republican Mayoral Candidate Karen Brown and the only Independent Candidate Wali “Diop” Rahman. Since Nutter has entered office in January 2008 there has been a 21.74 percent reduction in homicides. Educational accomplishments under Nutter’s watch include the Philadelphia School District’s increased high school graduation rates.
Karen Brown is the first female Philadelphia mayoral candidate. Brown said she hopes to make “fundamental changes about how our city functions, how our neighborhood grows and how our children learn.”
“I want [a mayor] that is going to work with the community,” Cooper said. “My concern is really about the drugs because its children that go to school and walk by themselves. The [mayor] needs to be stricter and have cops patrol like they used to back in the day.”
Cooper said that she is going to vote but needs to conduct more research before deciding which candidate to support.
Kierra Bussey can be reached at kierrajb@temple.edu.
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