'W hat changes would you like to see in your neighborhood once the new mayor takes office?"

That's the question we're asking people from neighborhoods all over Philadelphia. Below is the sixth of a series of 11 "Neighborhood Dialogues" that will run right up to voting day. Participants were chosen from among people involved in the Citizen Voices project. Our focus in this dialogue is Roxborough.

Deborah Hess is a computer industry analyst, and Beverly Chandran is a technology consultant and trainer. Both are longtime residents of Roxborough. They spoke recently to Commentary Page editor John Timpane.

Deborah Hess: We need much better public transit. I think we need vastly improved links out to the suburbs. The strongest job growth in Pennsylvania is in Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties. There's some limited bus service out to the suburbs, but there's really no way to get from suburb to suburb. With all that growth going on, that's a serious problem. 

Beverly Chandran: Roxborough residents as a whole are high taxpayers. In the last two years, crime has become more of an issue: robberies in stores, banks, Seven-11s, home burglaries. Now, there has been a lot lot of new construction of new homes and young people buying these homes. They're selling for $130,000 to $170,000 - but if the city of Philadelphia wants to attract people and safety is an issue, it's not gonna work. I live in new construction, been here for two years, and there have been two burglaries on my block since I've been here, almost three. I have seen a prowler on my property at night. I want safety to be addressed.

Also, response time with regard to police and emergency medical service personnel is too long. My neighbor, an elderly man, fell down the steps, and it took the EMS people over 20 minutes to get here - and Roxborough Hospital is two blocks away. We called 911 at least six times before someone came.

Hess: The mayor needs to stand up to Harrisburg on two scores: education and welfare. With education, we're falling into a two-tiered system in which the better-off send their kids to private schools and the less so send theirs to public schools. The next mayor has to go to Harrisburg and bring back the bucks.

He also has to help humanize welfare reform. I call it "welfare deform." You have mostly young, unwed mothers and younger women, many of whom are without education or with serious emotional or personal difficulties. Some are going to school, taking literacy classes, learning trades. Meanwhile, our governor wants to throw them off the rolls and go straight to work. There, the mayor has to speak up and stand up to Harrisburg. We shouldn't throw people off rolls if they're in school and are trying to improve themselves. This upsets me terribly. If you have people working 40 hours a week, commuting three hours to work, with young kids, how are these children supposed to be raised?

 Chandran: Citywide, I see definite racial issues. Specifically, there are very strong discriminatory practices in terms of employment. I know a lot of qualified people of color either in low-paying jobs or not working at all. What is the deal? You have all the universities, LaSalle, Penn, Drexel. Residents of Philly go to these schools and then can't find work here. Folks from New Jersey come here and find work, but Philadelphians can't. Employers are not hiring educated people of color. Penn is the Number One employer in Philly, but people of color tend to have low-skilled $10-13 an hour jobs, not professional jobs. I started my own firm because I couldn't find a job.

What can the mayor do about that? Probably nothing. Maybe bring more people together to challenge it. It's really a matter of relationship-building. The mayor can rally people and encourage them to address things. It's sad, but it's a reality.

Hess: In city politics, you have a choice between two groups: Democrats serving special interests and Republicans serving special interests. It also tends to break along racial lines, with blacks being overwhelmingly Democratic and whites tending to be conservative Republicans. You don't get progress as much as reaction in two different directions. Anyone looking for reform isn't going to get it from this situation. I hope the next mayor can break it up somehow.