Wiki-delphia

IS THE '07 MAYORAL race any different from others in the past?

A mayoral race always takes on some of the qualities of a circus, especially in this town. And honestly, we hope that never changes.

One positive change this time around: We see many more forums and candidate meetings, which broaden the chances for the public to hear the candidates' platforms and the issues.

And thanks to technology, and the advent of "Wikipedia," which allows many voices to enter the fray, there's a new channel for the public to voice what it wants out of the next administration. The reform group Philadelphia Forward has created a Web site that invites citizens to actually write and edit the agenda of the next chapter of civic leadership.

If you log on to reformballot.org, you can read a long list of suggested reforms related to restoring credibility, engaging neighborhoods, responding to citizen input and modernizing city services, and to fiscal responsibility and open government. Plus, you can add to it and edit it.

This is a wonk's dream. But reformballot.org is also an interesting experiment in democracy-at least for those who can access the Internet -and we encourage all voices to make themselves heard. *