About the Participants
Linda Gibbs was appointed the deputy mayor of health and human Services for by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in January of 2006. Prior to that, she was the commissioner of the New York City Department of Homeless Services.
David Jones is the president and chief executive officer of the Community Service Society (CSS) of New York. Prior to joining CSS, Mr. Jones served as executive director of the New York City Youth Bureau, and from 1979 to 1983, as special advisor to Mayor Ed Koch. Mr. Jones was a member of the transition committee of New York's mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg.
Lawrence Mead is a professor of politics at New York University, where he teaches public policy and American government. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Princeton and the University of Wisconsin. He has also been a visiting fellow at Princeton and at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. He is an expert on the problems of poverty and welfare in the United States.
Rafael Pi Roman (The Moderator) hosts New York Voices on Channel Thirteen/WNET. In 1999 he won an Emmy for The City, a three-part special covering all aspects of the 1997 New York City mayoral race which he executive-produced, wrote and hosted. In addition to his ongoing work at Thirteen, he is a member of the American Program Bureau speakers program.
Jean Reynolds is a certified nursing assistant in Keansburg, New Jersey, who supports three children, including her cancer-stricken eldest daughter, Bridget, and two of Bridget's four children.
About the Event
This panel discussion was conducted at the Channel Thirteen/WNET Studios on August 22, 2006.