Dwight Evans
Democratic Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans brings nearly 30 years of experience in education, job creation and public service to the Philadelphia Mayor’s race 2007.
Dwight, 52, was born and raised in Philadelphia and educated in its public school system where he would later return to teach. He also worked for the Urban League of Philadelphia as a job developer, employment counselor and director of several employment projects prior to being elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1980.
Since his first day in the state Capitol, Dwight has provided vibrant visionary leadership. He is credited by Gov. Ed Rendell as one of the key legislative players who made the administration’s agenda a reality in the face of Republican opposition, thereby ensuring a Rendell re-election.
Dwight Evans understands that public safety is paramount to creating communities where families thrive and businesses succeed. It is a philosophy he has espoused throughout his career, often times to criticism. Recently, though, Philadelphia’s pundits have taken to using the phrase, “Dwight was right,” in describing his governing philosophy that public policy – whether for economic development, education or culture – cannot be successful when crime is rampant.
After his election in 1980, Dwight set about revitalizing his Northwest Philadelphia district. He first attacked the crime problem by fighting for more police officers in the neighborhood and a zero tolerance policy even for minor criminal mischief. With crime on the downside, Dwight created the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation (OARC), a community development corporation in West Oak Lane. Its mission is to create and stimulate economic development and improve the quality of life in the neighborhood. The success is evident: Ogontz Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood is a thriving middle class community with robust housing stock, education programs, job opportunities and a vibrant cultural scene. It is a recognize nationwide as a model for urban development.
In fact, the success is so dramatic that Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Baer recently opined that Dwight Evans, “did it for a neighborhood, he can do it for a city.” What’s more, because of his expertise on the issue of crime and its impact on community development, Dwight was asked to serve on a national panel studying the problem at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Education is second only to crime on Dwight’s agenda. He was instrumental in 1998 in stopping the shutdown of the Philadelphia school district and creating the School Reform Commission. In addition, he sponsored legislation allowing parents to have greater choice and options in their children’s educational life.
Dwight secured passage of Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law (1997). There are now 56 charter schools serving the students and families of Philadelphia, including the West Oak Lane Charter School, begun by Dwight in 1998. In 2004, in conjunction with the Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Lotus Academy, Dwight opened the doors to New Media Technology Charter School, a digital project-based learning high school. He is an advocate for vocational education and community colleges.
Dwight Evans is widely credited for his economic development initiatives and his ability to turn public policy ideas into reality whether the issue involves grocery stores in neighborhoods or stabilizing funding for arts groups such as the Philadelphia Orchestra.
As with his Ogontz Avenue project, Dwight has drawn national attention for his Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a multi-million effort to increase the number of supermarkets or other grocery stores in underserved communities in Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia the project has created 1,000 jobs at nine stores. This national model has been lauded by major newspapers, including the Washington Post, and by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Dwight Evans’ influence cannot be underestimated.
Dwight successfully increased funds for mass transit in the current year’s state budget. He continues to fight for a dedicated stream of funding of $110 million a year for all of the state’s 22 urban, 19 rural and more than 50 community transit systems.
He fought to stop predatory lending practices in the banking and mortgage industries; led efforts to creating job training and promotion in the hospitality industry; promoted new and updated laws that allow communities to more easily remove and ameliorate vacant and blighted properties; fought utilities on behalf of consumers; and has been a great friend to the city’s arts community.
Dwight was the driving force behind Gov. Rendell’s efforts to create programs that aide working families; he was praised for helping to save the Pennsylvania Convention Center; he is a champion of the state’s $2 billion economic stimulus package; and he is an ardent fighter for reducing Philadelphia’s wage tax.
Dwight is a graduate of Germantown High School, Community College of Philadelphia and LaSalle University. He holds an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University.
He serves on the boards of directors of the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Children’s Scholarship Fund, Concerned Black Men and the Presbyterian Foundation of Philadelphia.