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Elementary students grill mayoral candidates

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams jokingly promised extended recess and summer break. Nelson A. Diaz name-checked notable Philadelphia School District grad Questlove - though he called him Love Quest.

Doug Oliver, one of six Democrats running for mayor, chats with elementary students after the forum for fourth and fifth graders from throughout the Philadelphia School District. KRISTEN A. GRAHAM / Staff
Doug Oliver, one of six Democrats running for mayor, chats with elementary students after the forum for fourth and fifth graders from throughout the Philadelphia School District. KRISTEN A. GRAHAM / StaffRead more

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams jokingly promised extended recess and summer break.

Nelson A. Diaz name-checked notable Philadelphia School District grad Questlove - though he called him Love Quest.

And James F. Kenney told those in the audience he loved them very much.

Five of the six Democratic mayoral candidates took the stage for a very different type of forum Monday: The questioners were fourth and fifth graders from district schools around the city. The event was sponsored by the Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement.

(Former Gov. Ed Rendell, welcoming the students, told the 10- and 11-year-olds that "I don't normally have to introduce myself, but I will today.")

The candidates present - also including Lynne M. Abraham and Doug Oliver - managed with varying degrees of success to bring their policy positions down to students' levels. One Democratic candidate, T. Milton Street Sr., was absent.

One girl wanted to know why the five aspired to become mayor. Kenney said it was because "in order to be happy in your life, you need to be helping others."

Someone else asked about police brutality.

"Cops that use the N-word or any other word, we're going to fire them and they can't come back," Williams said. "I want to make sure a police officer doesn't have hate in their heart for you. I'm going to protect you."

Abraham said she wanted to win so girls can say, "if she can be the mayor of Philadelphia, I can be the president of the United States."

Kenney said the forum was a good change of pace. "We all are well behaved in front of schoolkids," he said.

Oliver, father of a 12-year-old, was the undisputed audience favorite, earning rock-star status among the preteen set.

At one point, he asked who felt that the police were their friends. Only a few hands shot up.

"Police officers are your friends, and we're going to do everything to make you believe that," he said.

Later, he told the children to "go home and tell your moms and dads to vote for Doug Oliver, make him mayor, and you can be everything you want to be."

A group of fifth graders from Harrington School in West Philadelphia said they were dazzled.

"He was amazing," said Tadaja Shaw, 11. "He was funny."

"He broke it down really easy, and he told us how he'd turn bad things into good things," said Amezia Rodney, 11.

After the debate, Rendell said he was delighted by the level of questions.

"Kids are smart," he said. "Kids are interested."

Rendell said he thought the candidates rose to the questions well, and said the city was "lucky to have candidates of this caliber."

But he was with the kids that Oliver stood out among the younger set.

"If Doug Oliver doesn't win, I told [Superintendent] Bill Hite he should hire him as a teacher," Rendell said.

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