The Fattah for Mayor Exploratory Committee (FMEC) is flush with enough cash to have a paid staff that includes Charles Hayden as executive director, Harry B. Cook as policy director, former Philadelphia Weekly columnist and author Solomon Jones as communications director and office manager Jennifer Gomez. Former chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association Mark Aronchick serves as the policy chair and a cadre of students at Temple and Penn serve on committees.

Fattah, who does not have to resign from Congress to run for mayor, believes he can raise money for his exploratory committee unbeholden to contribution limits since he has not yet announced a mayoral candidacy.

He has continued raising money for his re-election campaign to his congressional seat and has attracted big-name supporters such as former vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

FMEC is holding the series of town-hall-style meetings to hear citizens' concerns, gather ideas on specific topics and get Fattah's name out there for when he does announce. Comments from the meetings are gathered and relayed to the various FMEC committees, which then discuss them with Fattah.

The first non-campaign event of the series, which Fattah did not attend, included a catered Mediterranean buffet with beverages in one of the larger function rooms at the National Constitution Center on June 28.

The topic was housing and community revitalization and the audience consisted of community housing activists, developers and lenders for low-income housing. They discussed the city's responsibility for affordable housing, housing grants and housing for the homeless and disabled.

One issue raised was the lack of cheap land on which to build affordable housing since land values have shot up drastically across the city. Gone are the days when land could be purchased for a dollar.

"The next mayor, whoever he is, has his work cut out for him," said one activist who attended the forum. "There is going to be a crisis in this city. There is limited housing for the disabled and the homeless. I get calls every day about housing for them."

Federal funding for low-income housing has been cut severely during the past three decades and attendees proposed that the city will have to create a fund to allow housing to be built for people whose annual incomes are less than $24,000.

The high cost of rentals was also an issue. One man from the city's Planning Commission suggested rent controls be implemented, similar to what has been done in New York City.

Another activist suggested a real estate tax deferment program for those who are being priced out of their homes because of high property assessments—the balance of the taxes owed would only be paid at the time the home is sold.

The high cost of energy was an issue for low-income and senior residents, who may have to make a choice between eating and paying their PECO and PGW bills.

Some suggested that although casinos are distasteful, the city must use them as a major tax base to fund the community development organizations whose funding is drying up.

How effective are these forums for a man who is setting himself up for a possible run for mayor?

Mary Ellen Balchunis, an assistant professor of political science at La Salle University, called the forums a "brilliant strategy."

"It makes him an attractive candidate," she said. "It will help him on a local level with city issues since he is a congressman. It will also help him develop his position papers, which are useful for a debate and puts him ahead of the competition."

The corporate lawyers at NBC 10 will have to decide whether Fattah's wife, Renee Chenault-Fattah, will be permitted to continue as a nightly news anchor during her husband's potential campaign.

While Chenault-Fattah is certainly entitled to have her own career—a career she had before she married—Fattah opponents could consider it an endorsement of his candidacy by the station.