People often ask me what is economic development? I always respond that it is a process. To ensure economic development occurs, you need to organize, plan and execute, and then evaluate. There are no magic wands, and no sure fire method to be successful at economic revitalization and development. You need to find the right combination.

Organizing for sustained economic development is often the most time consuming part of the process. A district needs to get the right people to the table, and make sure that they are involved. The right people include stakeholders, such as business owners and residents located in or near the district, as well as the political representatives and staff of the political subdivisions involved.

Organizing means that people provide input concerning their wants and needs. Those comments are then prioritized and integrated into a list. That list then has to be checked against previous plans that have been developed to see that if there are any conflicts.  Many times, some of the studies sit on the shelf for a long time because of lack of funding or not being able to secure consensus during the execution phase. It is always a good idea to dust them off and review the narrative before proceeding— I call it getting everyone on the same page. Everyone needs to agree on the goals and must work as a unit to accomplish the tasks. Sometimes there is massive conflict or different sides that are dug in with a fixed position. Those situations are the most volatile.

The key is to get from “point A” to “point B” in the straightest line possible. During the organizational phase, there should be a general direction, which is agreed upon. What will be the final product? What will it look like? The situational assessment in the organizational stage will identify where you are beginning. The planning stage will determine where B is located on the matrix.

There needs to be someone who will use his or her time and influence to move the idea forward. When you are working with political subdivisions, everyone seems to look toward themselves rather than moving in a cooperative manner. In addition, things tend to be politicized and sometimes the stakeholders are left out for various reasons.

I have created consensus for a number of years in many communities. I have worked in tense situations and derived consensus from diverse groups of people. When Philadelphia’s South Street experienced problems with riots at the time of Mardi Gras and the Greek picnic sexual assaults, they sought someone to resolve the problems. I interviewed for the position and was hired at the interview. This area presented the biggest challenge of my career; there was no semblance of consensus.

The problem was not just those two celebratory days— it was the general way that business was conducted on the street. I started in January. Mardi Gras was early that year, and I had a chance to observe what occurred that day. I was exposed to a lot of posturing leading up to the event, and it was a lesson in how to observe and stay out of the way. The day before Mardi Gras was held on South Street, there was a news conference held in front of Fat Tuesdays which seemed to be the epicenter of the riot the year before.

People came out of the woodwork to say bad things about the bar, the management and the patrons. It was all bad, people pounding away at my business owners. People were blaming “beads” for the riot, as well as any other logical or illogical reasoning their brain could justify. The store owners and as well as the liquor license establishments were standing on the sideline mumbling things that I will not go into today. 

I was standing there observing the Fat Tuesday bashing when I was asked to speak. I looked at the people I was supposed to be representing and I looked at the neighbors and politicians and I knew it was decision time for me. A million things ran through my brain at that time as I realized at less than 45 days on the job, with two sides hating each other, I had to be a leader. Consensus was kind of out of the question at the time, and I had to exert myself a bit and establish a leadership role in the district.

I moved to the podium and said my piece. I told the assembled crowd that Fat Tuesday did nothing wrong and they were wrongly being accused by the group. I thought Frank DiCicco’s aide was going to take gas. Neighbors were staring daggers at me, politicos shaking their heads.

When I went back over by the merchants they thought I was a tool of the man … I think Bill Curry called me a puppet. I explained what I said, and then it showed up on the news. I was then all of a sudden a great guy. I had the trust of a group that did not necessarily have to believe in me.

The following rest of the year was one of growing sales and good times. Sales were up and things were improving on the street. We had confronted the City concerning their attitude toward the street. At the time, the bars on Delaware Avenue were being closed by Senator Fumo, and he made it known that the South Street bars were next.  

During that year I worked with the neighbors through the community watch and gained their trust. We had worked to establish a campaign against violence and sexual assaults on the street. I introduced the street music program and it changed the tenor of the street. I worked with the owners of the “Ducks” amphibious tourist vehicles to get them out of the residential neighborhoods, and have more of the route be on South Street. We worked on getting the drug dealers off the street by re-establishing parking on the north side of the street in order to force the drug dealers to stand in the street not the sidewalk. We followed that with street patrols making the people move along and not stand stationary.

In 2003 when Mardi Gras came around again we were prepared. We closed the bars early the next year as a penance and looked to provide for a good Mardi Gras the next year. There were no protests…there was unity.

This was an extreme condition, but it was an example of how I have been able to draw consensus in the most difficult situations.