‘Change By Us Philly’ website will connect residents to City Services and allow Philadelphians to take an active role in improving the City.

Philadelphia, November 21, 2011 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the Mayor’s Office of Communications announced the launch of the ‘Change By Us Philly’ website. This website serves as an interactive, social media platform that enables citizens to connect with City officials, community-based organizations and each other to share ideas and create projects to benefit the City of Philadelphia. The website is accessed at philly.changeby.us and is operational.

“Our Administration wants to know what is important to its citizens and actively works to make the changes Philadelphians want and need,” said Mayor Nutter. “The ‘Change by Us Philly’ website is an innovative, social media tool that will enable Philadelphians to present ideas to City officials, get involved with existing City projects and create new initiatives to make Philadelphia a smarter, safer, greener, cleaner and better City.”

Change By Us Philly was created by Code for America, CEOs for Cities and Local Projects with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The website will be administered by the Mayor’s Office of Communication. The Office of Communication will be assisted by non-profit partners with site maintenance and upkeep.

“The City of Philadelphia has been a pioneer with its use of technology to engage citizens, and it is continuing its leadership by launching Change By Us,” Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director of Code for America said.

Julia Klaiber, Director of External Affairs at CEOs for Cities said, “Our ambition with Change By Us was to reinvent public participation in America. The traditional models no longer work in a world where technology is a primary method of engagement and where citizens can and should be co-creators of civic solutions. It is a true testament to Mayor Nutter’s leadership that Change By Us is launching in Philadelphia.”

In addition, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a $25,000 civic innovation grant program, which will incorporate the use of the Change By Us Philly platform.

“Philadelphia has long been a city of innovation and invention, and Philly residents are eager to find solutions that strengthen their neighborhoods,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Philadelphia Program Director for the Knight Foundation. “Change by Us is just one of the ways that new technology, in the hands of residents and leaders, can put citizen action at the center of community change.”

Philadelphians create user accounts at philly.changeby.us to begin posting ideas, joining or creating projects on the site and connecting with resources. An “idea” on Change by Us is any solution, insight or question about a local or citywide issue. A “project” is any specific action that helps achieve the goal or mission. For instance, projects to make the city greener might include a neighborhood tree planting project. A “resource” is a link to helpful information or tools from city agencies or community-based organizations for use by project creators and contributors. Participants can select resources to add to a project based on their potential benefit to help accomplish the goals of the project.

Code for America (CfA) connects the talent of the tech industry with local governments to make cities more open, responsive, and efficient. CfA recruits civic-minded, tech-savvy individuals to work with industry and governmental leaders to develop innovative applications that can be used in cities across the country.

CEOs for Cities is a national network of urban leaders from the civic, business, academic and philanthropic sectors dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities. Through research, convenings and advocacy, CEOs for Cities curates the data, trends and relationships that are driving local innovation nationwide. Additional information is available at www.ceosforcities.org.

Local Projects is creating the media design for the 9/11 Memorial Museum, StoryCorps, Change By Us, and the Frank Gehry designed Eisenhower Presidential Memorial. Local Projects is a three-time National Design Award finalist and was named the second most innovative design firm by Fast Company for its redefinition of emotional storytelling. Principal Jake Barton is recognized as a leader in the field of interaction design for physical spaces, and in the creation of collaborative storytelling projects where participants generate content. Current clients include the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Cleveland Museum of Art, Seaworld, the 9/11 Memorial and the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more information, see: http://www.knightfoundation.org

The Rockefeller Foundation envisions a world with Smart Globalization – a world in which globalization’s benefits are more widely shared and social, economic, health, and environmental challenges are more easily weathered. They support work that enables individuals, communities, and institutions to access new tools, practices, resources, services, and products. And they support work that enhances their resilience in the face of acute crises and chronic stresses, whether manmade, ecological, or both. For more information, see: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org

Mayor Nutter Sends Legislation To City Council Extending Youth Curfew Throughout City

Philadelphia, September 22, 2011 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter proposed legislation to extend and expand the City of Philadelphia’s curfew for minors as part of a coordinated response to “flash mobs” and teen violence, including more enforcement and sustainable, positive opportunities for young people.
“Today, legislation was introduced by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown to tackle this issue city-wide because we know the strategy we have implemented in Center City and University City is effective,” said Mayor Nutter. “I thank Councilwoman Reynolds Brown for her leadership on this issue and her willingness to sponsor this important bill on behalf of Philadelphia’s families.”

With the introduction of the proposed curfew bill, the Administration seeks to provide the Philadelphia Police with an important tool to prevent youth violence. The bill lowers the current curfew time and simplifies the current curfew scheme by imposing standard times for the school year and extending the curfew by one hour during the summer months. In the proposed bill, the curfew will be the same time seven days a week from September to June. Likewise, for seven days a week in the summer the curfew will be the same – just one hour later than the school year curfew.

The current bill takes differences between age groups into consideration by allowing for older teens to stay out longer than younger teens. Those aged 13 and younger need to be home by 8:00 pm during the school year and 9:00 pm during the summer. Teens aged 14-15 need to be home by 9:00 pm during the school year and 10:00 pm during the summer. Older teens aged 16-17 need to be home at 10:00 pm during the school year and 11:00 pm in the summer.

“We began the process this summer by addressing the problem of flash-mobs in targeted areas by placing emphasis on geographic locations where the violence was occurring, but we heard loud and clear from the public that this approach needed to be applied across the city, and that’s what we’re doing,” said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison.

“The City will continue to offer expanded hours at selected recreation centers on Friday and Saturday nights, and we’re working with the Youth Commission to plan more activities and programming for next summer, but we wanted to do introduce this bill now because we know that the legislative process takes time. In the interim, the Mayor’s orders will be extended and we will continue the targeted-area approach until this legislation becomes law with the help of City Council.”

Previously, Mayor Nutter signed an executive order to establish an earlier curfew at 9:00 pm every day for all minors under the age of 18 in targeted enforcement districts in Center City and University City. Throughout the remainder of the City, the curfew is 10:30 pm for minors under the age of 13 and 12:00 am for minors under the age of 18.

“Cutting crime amongst minors is going take the involvement of the government, parents and faith-based organizations. Can we legislate good parenting? Probably not, but when government can step in, we should step in and consider preventive measures to help parents realize that they have an enormous responsibility. There is no silver bullet to resolve this complicated matter impacting children and youth,” said Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.

The bill also increases the penalties for parents whose children are in violation of the curfew and imposes parental liability for the criminal acts committed by children. Minors who are caught breaking curfew will be sent home, brought home or transported to a police station where their parents will be contacted and issued a fine of $75 within ten days. The penalties for violation of the curfew will not exceed $500.

If parents do not get their child within a reasonable time, the PPD will contact the Department of Human Services (DHS) to initiate an investigation. If a child is found liable or guilty by a court for injury, theft or other criminal acts, the parents will be liable to the person who suffered the injury or loss of property.

“To be clear: this is not a revenue bill; we don’t want to fine people. We want to ensure that parents are taking responsibility for their children, that’s the key,” added Mayor Nutter. “I have been encouraged by the public response over the last few weeks; Philadelphia’s parents have really stepped up and we want to build on that progress. This is not just about policing, this is about a comprehensive community approach and this bill is one piece of that puzzle.”

In addition to the new curfew, the Administration is continuing with the “iPledge” campaign, which seeks to engage the community in providing structure and resources to youth in their neighborhoods. Also, in the weeks to come the Mayor will announce additional holistic measures calling upon community partnerships and the Youth Commission to provide meaningful and safe venues for Philadelphia’s youth. The PPD will also continue their increased presence in the targeted enforcement areas, which will include the Mounted Unit, Bike Patrol and other officers.

The eight recreation centers with extended hours to 10:00 PM on Friday and Saturday nights are the following:

Facility		Address
Vare Recreation Center		2600 Morris Street
Myers Recreation Center		5800 Kingsessing Avenue
Kingsessing Recreation Center		5000 Chester Avenue
Shepard Recreation Center		5700 Haverford Avenue
Athletic Recreation Center		1401-27 North 27th Street
McVeigh Recreation Center		400-64 D Street
Feltonville Recreation Center		231-31 E. Wyoming Avenue
Lonnie Young Recreation Center		1100 E. Chelten Avenue