The Issues

A New Approach to Community Safety

We need a holistic and multi-layered approach to public safety that brings resources into our communities experiencing the highest rates of crime, targets efforts at poverty reduction, and treats violence as the community healthcare crisis it is. Evidence shows violence interruption, peer support, healthcare responder and other public health systems are all violence-reducing approaches. District 8 can change the city-wide discussion around public safety with leaders who understand that meeting people’s needs and investing care, compassion, and resources into our communities is the path to a safer Philadelphia.

As Your 8th District City Councilperson, Seth Will…

Approach violence through a public health lens using best practices already working from coast to coast, including investing in community-rooted approaches to resolving conflict.
Fully fund healthcare responders, crisis responders and public health infrastructure including local clinics and door-to-door outreach programs that help people where they are.
Scale up peer support, violence interruption and holistic evidence-based programs including violence response funds to support survivors, targeted neighborhood housing renovation to keep people in better homes, wraparound services and counselors at every school, and job mentorship and training programs that all reduce violence.

Housing Justice

The 8th District is facing a housing crisis, just like the rest of Philadelphia. Back in 2018 over half of our district’s renters and a third of our district’s homeowners were housing cost burdened – meaning that after paying their housing costs there wasn’t enough left over to meet other basic needs like food, medicine, childcare or transportation. And it has only gotten worse. Displacement – due to rising rents, housing costs and property taxes – is unraveling the fabric of our neighborhoods. Having a safe and affordable place to call home is fundamental to individual, family, and community well-being.

It is time for City Council to deliver for families that have suffered from decades of disinvestment and the generational legacy of racist redlining practices. It is time for City Council to guarantee deeply affordable housing for renters and homeowners, to utilize housing-first approaches that provide homes to people experiencing homelessness, and to ensure union jobs, with family-sustaining wages, are used to build new homes.

Seth will be a City Councilmember who looks at every possible tool to keep rents within reach, protect tenants from predatory landlords, and ensure that everyone in the 8th District has an affordable place to call home.

As Your 8th District City Councilperson, Seth Will…

Work to fully fund legal aid and defense counsel to meet the right-to-counsel requirement for all eviction cases.
Increase funding for deeply affordable housing, and preserve and renovate existing affordable housing to keep families in homes.
Fight for comprehensive rent and mortgage relief that addresses the historic inequity exacerbated by the pandemic, and work alongside allies in the state and federal legislatures to update and modernize the Philly Housing Authority’s properties and practices.

Community-Led Development

For far too long, constituents of the 8th district have been unjustly shut out of development processes which affect all aspects of their lives. District City Council members hold immense power in making development decisions. We need leaders who foster policies of transparency and accountability in development, not stifle them. Seth will fight for responsible community-led development which engages community members throughout the entire process, giving us a voice in building the future of our district.

As Your 8th District City Councilperson, Seth Will…

End the 10-year tax abatement and ensure developers pay their fair share.
Reform or replace the Land Bank to make it more possible for community groups to take ownership of vacant lots, green spaces, and homes.
Prioritize city-owned land and resources for community land trusts – entities that ensure there is permanent affordability and community control.
Fund a Public Bank that prioritizes local economic opportunities, women and minority-owned small businesses, and proposals from residents who know what our neighborhoods need.

Fighting for the Schools Our Kids Deserve!

All students deserve equitable access to valuable resources that ensure their physical safety, educational success, and emotional well-being. We need to protect and nurture our public schools, fully invest in them, and institute a fair funding formula that equitably invests in students from all of our communities.

As Your 8th District City Councilperson, Seth Will…

Lead efforts to remediate lead, mold, asbestos, and structural decay in our public schools.
Allocate School District funding for recruitment and retention of staff of color.
Demand that mega-non-profits make payments in lieu of taxes to support school funding.
Join state legislators in calling for Pennsylvania to institute the Fair Funding Formula.
Support increasing funding to fully staff Philadelphia’s public libraries so that every library is open 7 days a week.