The upcoming Philadelphia City Council election is the first since Mayor John Street's 2005 announcement of Philadelphia’s Ten Year Plan To End Homelessness. The Ten Year Plan is not mentioned on the websites of Republican At-Large City Council candidates Frank Rizzo, Jr., David Oh, or Patricia Mattern, but each provided a detailed position on the issue of homelessness. Jack Kelly's campaign had not responded at deadline.

"Overall, I believe that the problem of homelessness needs to be addressed as a regional and state issue and not solely as the responsibility of the City," says Mattern. "The goal must be to work to find long term, affordable housing in group homes, or otherwise, and to move the homeless off the street and into stable environments." Mattern is wary of "enabling people to live in a self destructive manner" and says, "I support initiatives which encourage donations to programs which assist the homeless, rather than giving money directly to those on the street."

Incumbent City Council member Frank Rizzo, Jr. cites insufficient mental health intervention, lack of affordable housing, and "issues with substance abuse" as factors that contribute to homelessness. He also raises the issue of consumer debt as an understudied cause of homelessness. Rizzo stresses that "each one of these people could tell a new and unique story of how they ended up living their days and nights on our city’s streets," an array of different causes which make a "quick fix" impossible, in his words.

David Oh is an advisory board member of Back on My Feet, a program designed to help the "homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength, and self-esteem." He favors the formation "of a roundtable to determine the best way to coordinate all of our city’s resources in dealing with" homelessness. Oh is also concerned with the safety of shelters, especially for those who are entering the shelter system with children. Mattern echoes this sentiment and says, "a goal would be to have smaller shelters where security issues could be more easily addressed."

The three candidates agree that mental health issues, drug abuse, and financial stress are some of the most common causes of homelessness. All three view re-entry into the workforce and safe and permanent housing as the ultimate goals of political efforts to address homelessness in Philadelphia.


For the Democratic perspective, click here. For more information about politics and homelessness, check the "Politics and voting" news category.