Weekly Newsletter, Issue 85
VOTE TUESDAY!
Tuesday's election is an opportunity that only comes once every four years to really shift the power at City Hall to elected representatives who can help us win more frequent and reliable public transit, safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, and abundant and affordable housing for all Philadelphians. Read up on 5th Square's 2019 endorsements and vote for a pro-transit, pro-bike, pro-housing City Council tomorrow, Tuesday, May 21st.
District Council 2nd District
Lauren VIDAS #84
District Council 3rd District
Jamie GAUTHIER #85
Council At-Large
Adrián RIVERA-REYES #54
Helen GYM #56
Eryn SANTAMOOR #60
Justin DIBERARDINIS #80
Charter Change Question #4
“Public Safety Enforcement Officer” - YES
Want to help our candidates in one last election push? Sign up below!
Lauren Vidas: Canvassing, phone banking, and/or election day shifts!!
Jamie Gauthier: Volunteer on Election day!
Adrian Rivera-Reyes: GOTV canvass for Adrian!
Helen Gym: Sign up to volunteer!
Eryn Santamoor: Email [email protected] and RSVP to pledge your vote!
Justin DiBerardinis: Volunteer to get out the vote on election day!
THANK YOU to everyone who came to our GOTV phone banking event on Sunday!
EVENTS
Tuesday, May 21, 7 am - 8 pm
*** PRIMARY ELECTION DAY ***
Find your local polling site and VOTE!
Tuesday, May 21, 8 - 11 pm
Primary Night Party with Jamie Gauthier
Come to Booker's on Baltimore Ave for the Gauthier campaign's primary night election party. Free dinner will be served.
Tuesday, May 21, 8:30 pm - 12 am
Election Night with Lauren Vidas
Join Team Vidas for an election night party at Bob and Barbara's lounge. They'll be watching results come in with voters, volunteers, and supporters from across the district. All are welcome!
Wednesday, May 22, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Grays Ferry Ave Community Meeting
South of South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA) is pursuing a grant opportunity to create better public space and safer intersections along Grays Ferry Avenue at South and Bainbridge Streets. Attend this Open House to share your ideas.
POLITICAL NEWS
WHYY's Ryan Briggs talks to the experts about what it would take to change Councilmanic Prerogative, which creates a pay-to-play culture around city-owned land sales and zoning politics. The article features our endorsed District Council challengers, Lauren Vidas and Jamie Gauthier, who are running to change this broken system.
TRANSPORTATION NEWS
Speed cameras for Roosevelt Boulevard got the green light in a unanimous City Council. This bill marks the end of a three-year process to bring this life-saving technology to our city's most infamously deadly corridor, and hopefully is only the beginning of automated speed enforcement technology's deployment in Pennsylvania.
The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), announced a partnership with Philadelphia among several other cities to accelerate the implementation of high-quality bike and transit corridors by the end of 2020. This work, part of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge, will help the cities meet, or beat, their near-term carbon reduction goals. Changing the planning and implementation process—and especially City Council's ability to veto street design changes— is a key part of getting street improvements rolled out quickly.
An ode to the Cone: The Inquirer explores the humble traffic cone, its history, its circulation and its multi-faceted uses in our region.
PUBLIC SPACE NEWS
Filbert Street outside Reading Terminal Market will become Philly’s first flex street. The City will turn the area underneath the underpass into a flexible pedestrian plaza with retractable bollards that can be pulled up to close the area off to cars, or retracted into the street to let traffic through. When the redesign is done, the street will have widened sidewalks, no curbs, and areas that welcome removable seating.
GRANT & PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES
The 2019 Registered Community Organization (RCO) registration period will be open from June 1st to June 30th.
2019 RCO Training - This free workshop is for members of existing RCOs (Registered Community Organizations) and for groups considering applying as an RCO. The presentation-style format will walk you through the approvals process for any construction project in Philadelphia and the roles of the Planning Commission, Civic Design Review board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) and RCOs. Training sessions will be held on June 6th at 12:30 PM and June 12th at 5:30 PM.
Mira Fellowship is seeking Mira Fellows. "If you’re a proven doer and believe you know where the world should aim next you’re a Mira Fellow. We’re looking for mid-career applicants with a proven track record, an undying need to sink their teeth deep into a specific problem, and the openness to reframe their assumptions to find a new solution." Due 6/1.
In Philadelphia every summer, there are over 500 streets designated as “Play Streets”, which are streets closed off to traffic where neighborhood children can receive a meal and play together. In order to make those Play Streets more playful, Fab Youth Philly (www.fabyouthphilly.com) created the Play Captain Initiative (www.playcaptains.com), which is a summer job for teens. Those teens will create and lead play activities on a number of Play Streets throughout Philadelphia. Due 6/17.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is seeking a Director, Community Investment
NV5 is seeking an Active Transportation Civil Engineer
Cohere is seeking an Account Director
Council member Helen Gym is seeking a Legislative Aide
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (BCGP) is seeking a Policy Fellow
The City of Philadelphia is seeking a Smart City Director: This position will support the Office of Innovation & Technology and be responsible for leading the City’s SmartCityPHL initiative.
5th Square is Philadelphia's urbanist political action committee. We're an all-volunteer grassroots organization advocating for safe and affordable transportation, abundant housing, and more and better public spaces. You’re receiving this email if you signed up via our website, attended one of our events, or supported one of our advocacy campaigns. Support our advocacy with a recurring monthly contribution of $5.