Call for the Academy; Trunk or Treat at Kelly Park; Election Protection Phonebank; Beloved Community Canvass

PNN Endorsements for the 2026 Midterm Election

First, you have until THIS Monday, October 19th to register to vote in the midterm election. If you haven't done it yet or just want to check your registration, click here and follow the prompts.

Philly Neighborhood Networks prides ourselves on our deliberative process to endorse candidates. It involves detailed questionnaires to candidates, followed by interviews to probe their thoughts about specific duties for the office to which they aspire. All PNN members are invited to provide questions and to watch the interviews; then we create a brief on each candidate along with our recommendation to our members; then our dues-paying members vote on who PNN will endorse.

This process assures that we have done our due diligence on the candidates and the issues, and it provides a sweeping and thoughtful approach to deciding who we will hire to represent us.

But this election has a whole different vibe to it, and it is evident that a major political party has capitulated to the MAGA crowd and become their enablers. We can clearly see the daily destruction of our political and social norms to appease the whims of a modern-day Caligula. We believe this is no time for cowardice in the face of fascism, and that a firm and clear stand against these sociopaths is needed to save our democracy. Voting is the minimum we can do in this dangerous time.

It is for this reason that Philly Neighborhood Networks makes a blanket endorsement of all Democratic candidates on the ballot for the 2026 Midterm Election.

While every candidate has their faults, this election has a clear red line between the two major parties, and the very real possibility that there will be election interference from the Tangerine Tyrant and his henchmen. And while we cannot guarantee that a massive turnout will stop fascism, we know that the bad guys win if we do nothing.

So, we are going to need your vote and your family's votes, and your reluctant neighbor's votes because in this moment Everybody's Vote Matters. As a Philly voter, you'll have the option to vote for the Governor, your Member of Congress, and your State Representative. We ask that you cast your ballot for every single Democrat on your ballot.

In Philly, you also have two ballot questions to consider. We recommend YES on both.

The First Ballot Question is a Charter Change about who gets hired in Philly. Last October, the Trump-aligned, Stephen Miller-founded nonprofit "America First" Legal won a settlement from the City of Philadelphia over municipal contracting practices. For four decades, the City had set a goal of awarding between 25-35 percent of all contracts to “minority, women, or disabled-owned enterprises.” Part of the 2025 settlement required that policy to end.

Voting YES will restore balance to this process by giving preference to local small businesses over big outside conglomerates. The new part: City Council can pass ordinances to give contracts between $75,000 and $500,000 to responsible small and/or Philadelphia businesses, even if they’re not the lowest bidder.

The Second Ballot Question is also a Charter Change. It would make Creative Philadelphia (formerly known as the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy) a formal and permanent part of the government under the City’s Charter. Currently, the department operates under an executive order, essentially at the will of the sitting mayor.

Voting YES will codify Philadelphia’s commitment to the arts. Additionally, it will make the head of the department a member of the mayor’s cabinet, and it consolidates the City’s Public Art and Mural Arts programs, along with “other municipal arts programs and initiatives” under the department’s purview.

You can read more about these ballot questions here

How to become a Voting Member: You will be able to vote if you make any contribution to PNN within the twelve months prior to one of our elections. You can donate any amount, but please be generous as we're in pretty serious financial shape because the Mango Menace has frightened away and minimized contributions to the progressive cause in general and to PNN in particular and we need your support. Just go to the bottom of this newsletter and click the big blue Contribute button. Thanks!

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South Philly Canvass for Project Beloved Community

Saturday, October 17th, 11AM-2PM, 1701 South 15th Street

Join PNN and coalition partners at DiSilvestro Rec Center at 17th and Tasker Streets to spread the word in South Philadelphia, the home turf of the Council President. We'll canvass neighbors to sign a petition in support of Project Beloved Community with the goal to make PBC a priority issue in 2027. We'll pair you up with an experienced canvasser if you're nervous about knocking, and we'll offer training before we hit the streets.

Want to learn more about Project Beloved Community?

Check out our Virtual Town Hall here.  Passcode: %6Wwg^8Y

We'll canvass neighbors to sign a petition in support of the Project, ask them what issue is most important to them, and link their issue to Project Beloved Community. We'll share the vision of what our City could be if had the political will to do it. Canvassing is fun when you do it with a Buddy! Sign up below to let us know you'll be coming on Saturday. Then show up. See you there!

I'll Buddy Canvass

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Trunk or Treat in Roxborough

Friday, October 23rd, 6PM-8PM, 440 Parker Avenue

Calling all ghosts, goblins, superheroes, pirates, princesses and other trick or treaters! Join PNN for the 2nd Annual Trunk or Treat festival in Roxborough next Friday at Kelly Park. There will be special contest prizes for Best Costume, Best Table and Best Trunk Design, plus FREE PUMPKIN PAINTING. Come for the candy, the family-friendly activities and a spook-tacular time! (Rain date is Saturday, October 24th)

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Call to Action: Speak Up for the Academy!

ASAP, Leave a Message at City Council

The City Council hearing on the Academy of Natural Sciences has been postponed to Monday, October 26th, giving us more time to build pressure on City Council and the Mayor’s Office and demand accountability. All it takes is a few phone calls.

Click Who to Call on City Council. for instructions on call scripts, phone numbers, and guidance on what to say to each Council member. Here are our targets: Council Members Thomas, Bass, Squilla, and Young

Ask Them to:

• Hold the October 26th hearing as scheduled.

• Use the Committee on Legislative Oversight’s full subpoena power to force Drexel and the Academy’s Board to answer questions publicly and provide documents.

• Move Council Member Young’s Academy zoning bill out of the Rules Committee and to the full Council for a vote.

If you live in the 8th District (Bass) or 1st District (Squilla), be sure to mention it. Constituent calls carry extra weight.

Visit City Council: Then mark your calendar to attend the hearing on October 26th at 2PM and show City Council that Philadelphians are paying attention. Let's pack the room! Click below to let us know you're coming.

Attend Council Hearing

Want to make a comment? Email chiefclerk@phila.gov or call 215-686-3406 by 3:00 PM the day before the meeting. Provide your full name, phone number, address, stance, and that you want to speak about the Academy zoning bill.

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Public Banking Conference in Philly

Saturday, October 24th, 1PM, 1501 Cherry Street

Imagine a Philadelphia where poverty rates have been cut in half and we enjoy $10 billion in new community assets. Project Beloved Community offers a detailed ten-year roadmap toward that goal. By city action alone we can direct locally generated wealth into our Philadelphia neighborhoods, create 65,000 new deeply affordable homes, place 50,000 more workers in living-wage jobs, build more than $500 million in new Black household wealth, and develop shared wealth worth billions more.

Interested in how public money can help build lasting public prosperity? Come to the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, at 1PM on Saturday, October 24th for the final afternoon of the national conference on "Public Banking, Public Prosperity, A Declaration of Financial Independence."

This special gathering in the Friends Center Courtyard, will begin with a costumed Colonial Town Crier’s dramatic reading of a Declaration of Financial Independence, which calls for separating public money from private profiteering. The program will continue with a presentation of Philadelphia’s public banking history and an introduction to Philadelphia’s new Beloved Community movement, as well as a discussion ofProject Beloved Community by Rev. Gregory Holston of Just Nation. No registration is required for the Saturday afternoon portion.  

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Phonebank for Election Protection

Wednesdays & Thursdays, 6PM-8PM, Zoom

With our Democracy at stake, we need thousands of committed volunteers to be Poll Observers on Election Day. Join our team of phone-bankers to reach out to prior volunteers to ask them to help again this election cycle. We will meet every Wednesday and Thursday on Zoom. You'll get training and support for each phone bank. Sign up below.

Phones

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Word Scramble

DYDUB SVNASAC

Clue: Most fun way to knock doors (two words).

Last Week's Word: AUTOCRAT (Someone who insists on complete obedience from others; an imperious person.)

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This Week in History

Oct 22, 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis. On this day, John Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet warheads in Cuba. This led to thirteen days of high-stakes brinksmanship that ended in withdrawal of Soviet missiles in Cuba and US missiles in Turkey.

Oct 23, 1850 – Women's Rights Convention. The first National Women's Rights Convention was held in Worchester, MA with the objective: "to secure for [women] political, legal, and social equality with man until her proper sphere is determined by what alone should determine it her powers and capacities, strengthened and refined by an education in accordance with her nature."

Thanks for your activism!

Tim Brown, Organizing Director

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