Philadelphia mayor calls on presidential candidates to debate urban issues

From "Philadelphia mayor wants city-issues debate," in the Washington Times:

Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, whose city is a key battleground in the state's Democratic primary, is inviting the candidates to answer residents' questions at a town-hall meeting — an exchange with ordinary people that he says Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton's and Barack Obama's campaigns lack.

"It's been too narrowly focused, and life is more complicated than sound bites and the [debate] forums we've seen them in," Mr. Nutter told The Washington Times. "The public should have an opportunity to hear them in a different format."

Philadelphia voters need answers about urban issues, including school funding, re-entry programs for convicts, jobs initiatives and plans for federal grant programs for policing and community development, the mayor said.

"I think these are the real important, serious issues that need to be addressed," he said.

This was first reported in the Philadelphia Daily News, in "Nutter urges discussion of urban issues." Also see "Monica Yant Kinney: At 56th and Master, primary concerns" from the Philadelphia Inquirer.