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Power: The Dwight Stuff?
From schools to crime, mayoral wannabe Dwight Evans has spent more than a decade talking about the issues that matter most to Philly. So why can't he connect with voters?
By Gregory Gilderman
- Photo by Ed Cunicelli
MORE ON EVANS FROM OUR ARCHIVES
The Quiet Connection, by S.A. Paolantonio, July 1998
Campaign Journal: Dwight Power, by Sasha Issenberg, February 2007
The Quiet Connection, by S.A. Paolantonio, July 1998
Campaign Journal: Dwight Power, by Sasha Issenberg, February 2007
WHEN IT COMES TO EXPLAINING WHY HE should be the mayor of Philadelphia, Dwight Evans likes to present the listener with a list. A list is clear. A list is concise. But as Evans learned in February of 1999, an audience may not be ready for The List.
The scene is a mayoral candidates forum in the Grand Ballroom of the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue hotel. The emcee is Zack Stalberg, then editor of the Daily News. Evans and the other candidates line a table to Stalberg’s right.
“Imagine — and that’s such a nice word — imagine you’re at the end of your first term,” Stalberg says. “What was your biggest accomplishment, and how did you pull it off?” He calls on Evans.
“What I’m gonna do is show-and-tell,” Evans says. “David?”
A 30-ish man enters from stage right. He hoists a giant, incomprehensible bar graph above his head.
“Population change of the TOP 50 CITIES,” Evans says. “Philadelphia between 1990 and 1960 has been LOSING more population than any other two cities except St. Louis and Baltimore. And the question is, how do you reverse that trend?”
The audience begins murmuring.
“What I’d like to talk about is eight points, and how to reverse that trend. David, could you just move around so they could see the chart there?” The crowd is chuckling. Didn’t he hear the question?
“The first issue that I think it’s very IMPORTANT to deal with is the aspect of CHANGING THE POLITICAL CULTURE. … ” Dwight Evans, when imparting a list, emphasizes critical words and phrases, though in such a way so as to make it unclear whether he is being emphatic or is in a very foul mood.
“Second, there has to be an improvement of public safety. We have to reduce illegal guns on the street. … ”
Cutlery is now striking plates, a sure sign the audience has been lost, one question into the event.
“Six, we have to DIVERSIFY our economic development strategy. And last but not least” — apparently The List has gone from eight points to seven — “we must have leadership. We must have leadership that can work within. We must have leadership that can work with Harrisburg. … ” He withdraws another visual aid, this one from beside his chair. It’s a copy of a Daily News front page decrying pay-to-play. “This should not be ACCEPTABLE in the City of Philadelphia. We should be outraged at — ”
“Dwight,” Stalberg interjects. He has had enough of The List. Evans stops speaking.
“Ah, Dwight just proved,” Stalberg says, to much tension-releasing laughter, “that he doesn’t really need to answer the question.”
The scene is a mayoral candidates forum in the Grand Ballroom of the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue hotel. The emcee is Zack Stalberg, then editor of the Daily News. Evans and the other candidates line a table to Stalberg’s right.
“Imagine — and that’s such a nice word — imagine you’re at the end of your first term,” Stalberg says. “What was your biggest accomplishment, and how did you pull it off?” He calls on Evans.
“What I’m gonna do is show-and-tell,” Evans says. “David?”
A 30-ish man enters from stage right. He hoists a giant, incomprehensible bar graph above his head.
“Population change of the TOP 50 CITIES,” Evans says. “Philadelphia between 1990 and 1960 has been LOSING more population than any other two cities except St. Louis and Baltimore. And the question is, how do you reverse that trend?”
The audience begins murmuring.
“What I’d like to talk about is eight points, and how to reverse that trend. David, could you just move around so they could see the chart there?” The crowd is chuckling. Didn’t he hear the question?
“The first issue that I think it’s very IMPORTANT to deal with is the aspect of CHANGING THE POLITICAL CULTURE. … ” Dwight Evans, when imparting a list, emphasizes critical words and phrases, though in such a way so as to make it unclear whether he is being emphatic or is in a very foul mood.
“Second, there has to be an improvement of public safety. We have to reduce illegal guns on the street. … ”
Cutlery is now striking plates, a sure sign the audience has been lost, one question into the event.
“Six, we have to DIVERSIFY our economic development strategy. And last but not least” — apparently The List has gone from eight points to seven — “we must have leadership. We must have leadership that can work within. We must have leadership that can work with Harrisburg. … ” He withdraws another visual aid, this one from beside his chair. It’s a copy of a Daily News front page decrying pay-to-play. “This should not be ACCEPTABLE in the City of Philadelphia. We should be outraged at — ”
“Dwight,” Stalberg interjects. He has had enough of The List. Evans stops speaking.
“Ah, Dwight just proved,” Stalberg says, to much tension-releasing laughter, “that he doesn’t really need to answer the question.”
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