“Public comment matters”: Reflecting on action and efficacy into 2026

Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania is celebrating that Philadelphia’s HOME Initiative is moving forward with legislation ensuring that families with the greatest need will receive the greatest assistance! Alongside many other organizations, we pushed for the first installation of Philadelphia mayor’s $800 million injection into housing preservation and new building to maximize funding for the Basic Systems Repair Program and the Built To Last program, and ensure that families who are most financially at risk are prioritized. 

You can read this article for more information, or this paywalled article.

It was exciting to see this bill pass, even as it was frustrating to see voting delayed on the Stop Trashing Our Air Bill, which would prevent Philadelphia from incinerating its trash in the heavily environmentally burdened community of Chester. So often, I find myself excited and encouraged by seeing legislators work together to make real change in so many people's lives, but I also feel discouraged at the many problems that remain. I admit, I have trouble feeling hope when we exist within a state already so polluted and unjust, where even if we stopped drilling today decades of toxins would remain, where even our government is accelerating extraction and pollution, where the rich get richer but so many are sleeping out in the cold and children are going hungry.

Here at the beginning of a new year, as we are looking back on the past year and ahead to what will come, I find myself torn between hope and despair, and wondering how I can be most effective in making people's lives better. How, when the forces of greed are so strong, when every problem seems so tied up in the system, can I make a tangible difference?

Recently at City Council, I got two answers.

First, what we achieved this December happened in coalition. It was the work of many people showing up in lots of different ways that secured the outcome we hoped for. 

And second, in the words of one Councilmember’s staffer, “Public comment matters.” Showing up and speaking up, especially at a local level, makes a difference, however new to the practice or nervous we may be. Whether or not we think our legislators want to, they need to hear from us, and while we can and should always reflect on improving our efficacy, and how we can work to widen the door for those who are being excluded, speaking up now, however imperfectly, for what our communities need is what will achieve it. And - perhaps most importantly - that’s where we will find others doing the same, and strengthen our coalitions that build the future.

I look forward to showing up with you in this new year. May the holiday season’s warmth continue despite January’s cold: may it be a time of gratitude for what we have and joy in the good we are striving to protect.