Homeless, Housing, Health: Uptown, Downtown, and Motown!
Section Summary
This section exposes the homeless industrial complex and details a tough, compassionate plan to end public squalor through mandatory treatment pathways, criminal trespass enforcement for squatters, dedicated "Liberty Meters," addressing accountability and special situations, preparing for emergencies and reviving our health centers.
From Kingsessing Township to Southwest Philadelphia
Solving the Homeless Crisis… For good!
Philadelphia should declare a state of emergency regarding the homeless mess we got ourselves in. Let me be clear. Homelessness is not a housing problem; it’s a quality of life problem and everyone agrees that we need some level of involuntary commitment for those affected by this disease leaving so many hurting. On top of that, the homeless industrial complex is a money maker. If we don’t clean up our streets, assist our most vulnerable and address the root causes of the problem with common sense, unhousing will spread like wildfire. The mess we see in public places isn’t just a housing problem, but a mix of drug use, mental health issues, addiction, and broken policies that leave loopholes, making an already devastating situation worse. The city feeds the problem—they don’t want to solve it. They encourage the situation by giving a false sense of security to displaced persons instead of encouraging them to become independent if they’re able. The city’s answer is to make them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or get a Center City District Safety officer to ask them if they need services, but they don’t want help. On the other hand, we have open-air drug markets that are the main engine of this misery, letting drug dealers profit from human suffering while ruining the safety of our neighborhoods. The root of this breakdown is a lack of personal responsibility, and the real virus is allowing people to live in dangerous squalor which must end because Philadelphians are compassionate.
Compassionate and Necessary Treatment
Now, some argue that cleaning up our city and no longer enabling the unhoused will just attract more destitute people from across the country, leaving the full burden on Philadelphia. The truth is that enforcing the law actually deters chaos and builds a safer city for everyone. Our plan starts by enforcing laws against public drug use and illegal camps immediately so everyone can use our sidewalks again. Then, we will develop and deploy what I call, “Grid Ambassadors”, a special force to make transitioning into stable and productive lives as easy as apple pie. Next, we’ll stop enabling public squalor by utilizing court-directed petitions under state law to require shelter and mandate treatment pathways for them, bringing them back to a higher functioning level so they don’t die on the pavement.Ask yourself this: Would you let your grandmother diagnosed with Dementia or Alzheimer’s walk into traffic on the Boulevard? You wouldn’t because she doesn’t want a PB&J, she wants to be safe! So why are we doing this to our most vulnerable population?
Squatters, Slumlords and Online Scams
The days of people taking over properties are over just as much as the lifeline we give slumlords and scammers. You wouldn’t let anyone barge into your own home, so why are we letting this happen on larger scales? We can’t just let any squatter do what they want to do because it isn’t fair for law-abiding citizens. I will direct the Police Commissioner to immediately treat unauthorized occupants with fraudulent leases as criminal trespassers, allowing officers to arrest and remove them on the spot rather than forcing homeowners into months of civil court. This enforcement protects the hard-earned property rights of our working-class neighborhoods from predatory scams, while also proactively shutting down illegal, heavily fortified compounds before they can escalate into unstable, community-wide security crises that threaten the safety of entire blocks. We’ll also crack down on crooks who take first, last, and security deposits on properties that don’t even exist. I will weaponize the Department of Licenses and Inspections to immediately revoke the rental licenses of chronic slumlords and failing property management corporations. We’ll hit negligent property owners with aggressive city lawsuits and escalating fines until every Philadelphia renter has a safe, clean, exterminated and what I call, “fully repaired and ready to go” place to live. Both of these stances will naturally lead to better, honest, and open communication between tenant and landlord especially in cases of disability or life-saving medication.
Cleaning Up Our Corridors
As we begin what I named, “Operation—On the Path,” we will offer increased salaries to those specialized biohazard crews who clean up discarded drugs, needles, spit, urine, and feces from public streets, transit tunnels, and concourses. From there, we can train anyone wanting to specialize in hazardous waste to properly discard drug paraphernalia, dangerous bio-litter, and associated refuse, repairing that department. We’ll restore safety and order to our commercial corridors by strictly enforcing Philadelphia's existing loitering laws, giving police the backing they need to keep sidewalk entrances clear, deter intimidation, disperse occupation, and ensure small businesses and shoppers feel secure at entrances and exits for everyone’s safety. The days of panhandling on the street and being homeless in public spaces like libraries are over. If our homeless don’t like this option, they are free to move to a different city that allows for this widespread disease and money-making scam. We’ll use designated courts to guide them into recovery, rehabilitation, and occupational training so that if we provide housing, they will need to work to keep it. Once we rehabilitate them, they will go from asking Philly what She can do for them to what they can do for Her.
The Liberty Meter
Instead of letting millions in PPA revenue vanish into Harrisburg administrative bloat while people beg on our street corners, we are going to repurpose decommissioned parking meters into what I envision brightly painted locations and what I call ‘Liberty Meters' stationed across our commercial corridors. Now this is a really sweet idea, and something I thought about years ago. Cities like Denver and Baltimore proved that giving residents a secure, direct way to donate spare change wipes out passive panhandling while funneling real money into legitimate shelter, addiction recovery, and job-training programs. Under me, you will no longer be allowed to give money to the homeless: End of story! We will mandate that the PPA fund, install, and maintain these meters, while redirecting a dedicated, obligatory and sufficient portion of parking revenues away from unnecessary administrative overhead and straight into my 'Operation—On the Path.' It gives Philadelphians a common-sense way to help without enabling street squalor, ensuring every cent goes toward actual rehabilitation rather than fueling this filthy, tax-free, money making machine on our sidewalks.
Accountability and Special Situations
What about special populations? By connecting unhoused persons with physical or cognitive disabilities to stable housing, self-directed homecare, those who may want to house and get paid to take care of special persons, and consumer choice, we allow them to live independently, protect our most vulnerable neighbors, and build a more cost-effective, compassionate community where no one is left behind and money follows the person. At once, police will completely shut down the drug networks, so that those living on the street have no choice and wouldn’t want any other option but to seek healthy, supported independence where needed, because it is too dangerous for them from those who prey on them. With that same compassion, let’s be entirely clear: while we hold deep empathy for the truly sick and vulnerable, we can no longer tolerate any unhoused individual whose untreated illness or unpredictable violent actions actively endanger our citizens, and those posing a threat will be the absolute first ones removed from our streets for everyone's safety because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few in these situations. If we fund harm-reduction programs while engaging in selective enforcement, city policy effectively uses taxpayer dollars to indirectly subsidize the local illicit trade. As Philadelphia establishes a dedicated system to support our own neighbors, our focus will shift from enabling public squalor to enforcing personal accountability and long-term recovery and liberation.
Public Health Revitalization
Our public health facilities should serve as pillars of community strength, not outdated hurdles that punish people for seeking basic care that cannot afford it. Until we eliminate homelessness, we will begin revitalizing these centers across the city and maybe add additional ones if needed. To prepare for this, we must first ensure we create a demand for clinicians and those in public health, social work, and related careers to make sure the city has what is needed to help our most vulnerable. As Mayor, I will use executive authority to overhaul and completely modernize our city health centers from top to bottom, ensuring every facility is fully upgraded, clean, and properly equipped to handle everyday community needs. We are officially putting an end to the archaic, unfair mandates that force sick or vulnerable residents to line up outside at dawn just for a chance to be seen. If a citizen needs medical help, they shouldn't have to waste hours standing in arbitrary lines after being told they missed their “time to get in line”. Healthcare in Philadelphia should be accessible, dignified, and designed around the working-class people who depend on it. We will also ensure that community-based health centers like Mazzoni—which provide essential primary care, specialized wellness services, and infectious disease prevention—are fully stocked so that no patient goes without timely treatment and preventative care.
It is completely unacceptable that independent neighborhood health clinics and local family medical providers—which deliver vital primary care, routine immunizations, and preventative wellness services—are left waiting weeks or months for critical supplies like shingles vaccines while municipal stockpiles sit empty or unmonitored.
Disaster Readiness
We must be ready for the unfathomable! Beyond daily clinic access, our emergency response centers and community healthcare networks must be fully prepared for any crisis or supply chain failure. Under my administration, we will aggressively audit, fully replenish, and maintain municipal medical stockpiles so our emergency response centers are always ready for whatever comes next. We will ensure we are fully equipped and ready to partner with who we need—including FEMA and federal emergency management—to prepare for the worst. We cannot leave our healthcare providers vulnerable to sudden shortages or governmental delays when lives are on the line. We will also deploy newly designed emergency vehicles called CARS (Community Access Response Shuttles) fleet for rapid transport during citywide emergencies. This fleet with the most up-to-date technology and AI will be for rapid transport during citywide emergencies. Built for every terrain, our brand new high-clearance land units seat 12 passengers to navigate tight rowhome blocks, while our amphibious craft and flood-response boats carry 14 passengers to protect low-lying areas like Eastwick and Manayunk—giving us the exact right tool for every crisis without wasting taxpayer money. By fully stocking and securing every emergency and health hub, we ensure total medical preparedness across every Philadelphia neighborhood. Again, Philly First!
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Philadelphia’s known for being the “Bedbug Capital of the World” and is crawling with a disgusting, out-of-control plague of rodents, cockroaches and bedbugs that are chewing through our rowhomes, infesting our commercial corridors, clobbering families and children at night and turning our historic blocks into a complete biohazard. Beyond the obvious physical destruction and the rapid speed at which these infestations spread across densely packed rowhome blocks, living among swarms of rats and roaches takes a devastating psychological toll on everyday families, destroying peace of mind and robbing residents of the safe, clean homes they deserve. While past administrations sat on their ass and watched our neighborhoods get overrun, we are going to direct targeted municipal emergency funds straight into aggressive extermination grants and public health sanitation sweeps to eradicate these threats immediately. These annoyances don’t discriminate and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed if you have these infestations. As mayor, I will deploy the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) to crack down hard on negligent landlords and filthy property management corporations, slapping them with massive, escalating fines and shutting down infested rental properties until every single building is professionally scrubbed clean. We will also establish a specialized, direct-dispatch “Philly Pest Hotline” to bypass bureaucratic delays, guaranteeing that your situation is inspected, prioritized, and cleared within 5-7 business days. We are going to mandate strict trash containment standards across every commercial district and residential alleyway, cutting off the food supply that lets these pests multiply. At the same time, we will deploy these specialized sanitation sweeps into neglected subway concourses, parks, and alleyways to systematically eliminate nests before they can spread. Ionic Street, and many other trash alleys will be clean for good. We aren't asking nicely anymore—we are funding the fight and cleaning this city from top to bottom, so Philadelphia is no longer a breeding ground for filth.
Trash and Sanitation
Theodore Roosevelt championed the American conservation movement over a century ago, he understood a fundamental truth that modern politicians ignore: a great city cannot stand if it allows its streets and natural domains to choke on filth and bureaucratic neglect. What is environmental stewardship? To me, as the Chief of the world’s largest Druid Order, it means defending our local ecosystem—keeping our air breathable, our water pure, and our food supply untainted from the mounting filth choking our Philadelphia neighborhoods. Following the tradition of Theodore Roosevelt, real conservation isn't about punishing working families with punitive woke taxes, carbon mandates, or bureaucratic climate tape; it is about fierce protection of our public spaces and refusing to let our blocks turn into open-air dumping grounds. We are replacing neglected municipal bureaucracy with clean practical engineering, reforming waste collection logistics, and exploring waste-to-energy partnerships that eliminate deficits while keeping our streets spotless. By modernizing our sanitation infrastructure, we actively protect our natural watersheds, purify our local waterways, and safeguard public health from the ground up. This is common-sense conservation that puts the physical beauty and health of our city first, ensuring our natural environment remains pristine for generations of hardworking Philadelphians without adding a single tax.