The Next Mayor

The local print media has started to stir on the issue of education with the Daily News saying that school district CEO Paul Vallas's future is "murky" and the Inquirer calls it "uncertain." Both articles include information about the position of the Magnificent Six on Paul Vallas with their opinions being overwhelmingly supportive.

The Inquirer is also starting a series that evaluates the performance of the 2001 take over of the schools by the state:

In 2001, the Philadelphia School District was a mess financially and educationally. It needed the jolt that came down from the state capital that December in the form of a takeover.

Not well enough to justify complacency.

The debate seems to focus on whether Vallas should stay or go, what the school district will do in the face of possible cuts to state funding, and whether personality clashes among elected officials will resurface to undermine any of the progress that has been made.

No one is asking, though, whether the eventual end point should be a return of control to the city and the mayor.

The Counter Intelligence Unit returns from its tour of the suburbs today. We'll be heading into some of the rapidly changing neighborhoods in close proximity to Center City. First it's a stop to the Italian Market and checking out an area of Philadelphia with a growing population of immigrants and young couples who are buying up the still reasonably priced houses in South Philly. While I'm there maybe I can pick up some cheap fruit or order up a nice filete del queso at Geno's.

After that we'll swing back up to Northern Liberties (at one time the second largest city in America), where the sounds of demolition and construction fill the air and where even the artists type who pioneered the revitalization of the area are starting to get priced out.

So if you see the Counter Intelligence minivan - a white minivan with the WHYY logo - come on by and tell us which issues you think should be the focus of the 2007 race for mayor.

Quoth Alan Kessler, a veteran political fund-raiser, in a story about in today's Inquirer about the effects of the new campaign finance limits on the mayor's race:

"It is going to be more old-fashioned, getting out the vote, having a great organization, and having a candidate run from one end of the city to another."

I'll believe it when I see it.

Frequent Next Mayor blog commenter, Friedman, runs America's Hometown, cool little blog that discusses politics, economics and community issues in Philly and Pennsylvania. It's through his blog that I found a site called Turnhere that hosts short films about neighborhoods from a bunch of different cities including our fair city. Click here to go directly to the films about some of Philly's neighborhoods and POI (points of interest) including Old City, Mt. Airy and my home base, South Street... where I have yet to see an honest to goodness hippy.

This gives me an idea. Are you an aspiring filmmaker with an interest in Philadelphia issues and politics? If you can make a short film (5 minutes or less) that portrays any of the major themes of The Next Mayor project, feel free to submit it to me and maybe we can host it on our server so that anyone following the race can see it an weigh in. In case you're wondering what those "themes" are, here are some examples:

What kind of leadership does Philadelphia need to solve the major problems facing it today?

How can we as a city and a region move beyond the divisions of race, class and politics that have impeded progress for the last several decades?

What are the major issues in your neighborhood?

How do you and your friends and neighbors view the city's political leaders? What would you and your friends and neighbors do if you were in their shoes?

Be funny. Be serious. Be artistic. Be interpretative. Do whatever you want and most of all have fun with it. I can't promise any prizes aside from as many free issues of last Sunday's Daily News as I can muster. This is your chance to show the potential candidates what you care about. Trust me, if it's on this site, they'll see it.

You can submit your work on DVD, VHS, miniDV or DVC-Pro to this address:

WHYY, Inc.
150 N. 6th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
attn: Dan Pohlig

By submitting your work, you're allowing us to use it however we want without any expectation of compensation (aside from the benefit of getting your name out there). And I can't stress this enough... THIS IS NOT A CONTEST and submission does not guarantee that your work will be put on the site.

On Radio Times today, Marty Moss-Coane will be talking with Melissa Grimm the executive director of Philadelphia 2016, which is leading the city's bid to host the Olympics and Alba Martinez, who is co-chair of Philadelphia 2016's Community Relations Committee (and another person whose name should be tossed out there for mayoral consideration). Marty's basic question will be, "Would you like to see Philadelphia host the Olympics in 2016?"

I'm interested in a slightly different question. Whether Philadelphia is or isn't eliminated from the running when the USOC makes its first round of cuts in the coming weeks, what else could the 45 business and civic leaders who have come together to form the board of Philadelphia 2016 do to make this city a better place? Is it naive to think that they could do something about the murder rate that continues to claim lives at a rate of one person per day?

Could the current mayor or the next mayor tap into this unprecedented collection of wealth, influence and experience to solve a problem that results in stories like this one from Saturday's Inquirer:

Raymond Ruffin, also known as "Dude" or "Black," was shot in the forehead and again in the top of his head.

The day before Ruffin was shot, Antose H. Brown, 19, the nephew of Ruffin's stepfather, Reginald Brown, was shot to death at 18th and Ellsworth Streets. There has been no arrest in that case.

This story is about Army Sgt. David Wright, widower of Neshia Wright, Raymond Ruffin's neighbor who was killed earlier this week by a stray bullet. Ruffin himself seems to have been mixed up in some criminal activity but the block captain from this neighborhood, Al Payton, sums it up best when he says:

He was no angel but he didn't deserve that.

So my question is, can the same group who is competing with Chicago and San Francisco and other "world class cities" to bring the Olympic games here, do something so that people like Neshia Wright and 4-year old Nashay Little no longer have to compete with flying bullets just to live in their neighborhoods?

Here's a start, maybe each and every one of them can heed Daily News columnist Sandra Shea's call to participate in WorkReady Philadelphia. Making sure that EVERY Philly teen who's old enough to get working papers can get a job or an internship is a good start.

Sorry to rain on the "Yay! Olympics!" parade but since Philly 2016 has done such a good job getting the whole region behind this and since there's probably going to be very few people who say no to Marty's question (Would you like to see Philadelphia host the Olympics in 2016?), maybe it's time to ask this group some different questions.

Click on "Continue Reading" to see a complete list of the board of Philadelphia 2016.

Daily News has a cover story about Congressman/Potential Mayoral Candidate Fattah's wife, who happens to be a local celebrity of some sort. Unless you're such a big fan that the possibility of her having to step down as an anchor because of potential journalistic conflicts enters into your decision of whether you should vote for Mr. Fattah (should he decide to run), this probably isn't news that warrants much coverage here.

Besides, if we want to talk about celebrity spouses/ex-spouses of big city mayors, I'd prefer to focus on the former Mrs. Gavin Newsom (mayor of San Francisco for you non-mayor nerds out there).

Just figured I'd give the story its 30 seconds. Don't worry, Congressman, the link to this story won't end up on your Next Mayor profile page.

One of my favorite Daily News columnists is Mark Alan Hughes, whose day job happens to be professor at Penn (or more precisely, a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania). In fact, if I were ever elected mayor - assuming the city's population decline continues to the point that the only people left are me and this guy - I would make Hughes my Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, and then actually listen to him.

When Hughes writes something, I read it. More often than not I agree with it. So how psyched was I when I read his column in today's Daily News and saw that he actually agrees with something that I suggested a while ago.

First read his whole column, it's important. Don't worry I'll wait.

Ok. You're back. Now click "Continue Reading" to see what I'm talking about.

Today's City Paper is ripe with more examples of Daily News columnist Mark Alan Hughes' Big Theme for 2007, which we blogged about two days ago.

Following up on their examination of the tension between new and old residents in South Philadelphia over street trees, today they wrote about the tension between new and old residents in Manayunk over beer pong at 2am. I'm going to go out on a limb on the tree issue (no pun intended) and say that the new residents had a stronger argument about whether trees should be planted along their street. However, in the Manayunk case, it's hard to agree with one anonymous source's idea that the old residents should just "move the f*** out" if they don't enjoy hearing the sounds of well played game of "boat race" as they're drifting off to sleep.

The article involves a whole mess of issues for the next mayor to contend with including gentrification, on-street parking, land use, absentee landlords, code and law enforcement, and government accountability.

This column about Penn's grand plan to develop the area between its current campus and the river Schuylkill is one of a myriad of examples (including Delaware waterfront development, high rise condo development, the continuation of NTI, casinos etc.) where the tension between old and new manifests itself in the danger that could come if development happens without sufficient input from city planners. While giving credit to the University for being open and transparent about a plan that makes sense, the writer also advises:

As development progresses, Penn will hopefully continue embracing a strong sense of public benefits and a robust vision of "mixed-use" that maximizes density and involves a broad range of non-university interests.

...as opposed to becoming a borg collective that assimilates a large part of the city making them available only to people with Penn ID cards.

So the first entry for Big Theme of 2007 holds up. Still waiting for other suggestions.

Can't swing a dead cat without hitting a news story about our Philadelphia's sorry state of emergency preparedness (also here and a Daily News editorial here) .

I'm not one for playing up on people's fears in order to win an election, so I'd hope that none of our Magnificent Six try to play the old "vote for me or the city won't be prepared for terrorists armed with swarms of killer bees riding tsunamis" card. If they choose to comment at all, they can say some variation of:

"Given the emergencies that have arisen due to both the forces of nature and the dark hearts of those who would do us harm, it's clear that municipalities nationwide need to take more steps to ensure the safety and survival of their citizens. No candidate for mayor can guarantee that we can prevent all such occurrences - especially natural disasters - but we can all agree that as mayor, each of us would insure that everyone responsible for public safety in this city and the surrounding counties will be organized, united and prepared."

If he or she really wants to impress, this fictional enlightened candidate can cite the lessons learned from other big city mayors who have taken steps to make sure their cities can survive both the incident itself and the inevitable bungling by the federal government.

Click on "Continue Reading" to see how preparedness would begin to improve if the next mayor would just work on being a better neighbor.

An op-ed by the congressman who "represents the 2nd District, including parts of Philadelphia" states his position the City of Philadelphia and the School District of Philadelphia should "Keep Paul Vallas." The 622 words that Fattah uses to stake out this position can best be summed up with this mathematic proof:

Philadelphia Schools in 2002 = Bad
Traditional School District Governance by Mayor/School Board = Bad
Philadelphia Schools in 2002 - Traditional School District Governance = 0
Philadelphia Schools in 2002 + 4 years of Paul Vallas = Better
Better = 0 + Good
Therefore 4 years of Paul Vallas = Good.

Potential candidate Fattah hopes voters get the message that:

Chaka Fattah as Mayor = 4 more years of Paul Vallas
Therefore Chaka Fattah as Mayor = Good

He's also pulling a page out of the 1999 Election when Sam Katz gave his full, unquestioned support to retaining the services of John Timoney as Police Commissioner, "goading" candidate John Street to give his support to Timoney as well. Most of the potential candidates have already lent some degree of support to Vallas, while candidates Nutter and Dougherty were "unavailable for comment." It'll be interesting to see how whether this move prompts a response.

Get out your rakes, boys! Looks like by the time those pesky courts are done, you'll need them to gather all of the cash that you're going to be allowed to raise.

Show of hands, how many other people read this story today? Don't worry, the blogosphere is here to make sure that stories, which normally would have faded into oblivion because they appeared in Saturday's paper, get passed around for days.

My favorite least favorite part:

The city code says words that are not defined in ordinances should be construed according to "common usage," and Fletman [Saidel's attorney] cited two state Supreme Court precedents defining the "ordinary usage" of the term candidate to mean one who has publicly announced or filed nomination papers.

They could have just consulted the dictionary like I did and learned that a candidate is:

A person who seeks or is nominated for an office, prize, or honor.

Funny, it doesn't mention anything about filing papers or making public announcements.

Anyway, to recap, here are the positions of the Dirty Half Dozen re campaign fundraising limits:

Saidel has said that he began observing the limits in all his fund-raising since January, when he left office. Evans, Dougherty and Fattah have taken the approach that the limits do not apply to them before they announce they are running. Evans and Dougherty have further argued that the city does not have constitutional authority to preempt state law, which has no campaign caps.

Michael Nutter has been voluntarily adhering to the limits ($2500 from individuals and $10,000 from PACs) since the law went into effect.

One bright spot from this whole story comes from our partners at the Committee of Seventy:

The ruling does not involve the Committee of Seventy's lawsuit, though it uses a legal rationale similar to Nutter's in arguing that potential candidates should be required to abide by the limits.

"It doesn't affect us directly," said John Harkins, the lawyer for Seventy. "We will be able to supply the judge with plenty of [legal] authority to rule that the state definition should apply."

Help me Obi-Wan Harkins, you're our only hope...

Unfortunately, it's also not the famous song by U2. Saturday Bloody Saturday was followed by Sunday Bloody Sunday and as of 5am this morning, Monday looked to be a pretty damn bloody Monday. I don't have much else to say about it except that it's pretty damn depressing.

This article by Larry Eichel should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the dynamic between the two Philadelphias that exist today. He asks the question, "how long between the two worlds collide?" John Baer got an email from a reader that he put in his column that says the same thing, in a brutally honest way:

Several folks suggest I tell "the truth" about killings in the city, more than 200 this year, headed toward breaking last year's 380, the highest number in eight years.

I'm told that "the truth" is that the gun crisis is blacks shooting blacks, and that until or unless it spreads to the suburbs or whiter neighborhoods there'll be no real solutions.

I've noticed that people don't tend to comment on this blog when I talk about issues, even issues as serious as this one. I've always just assumed it's because most people who are reading this blog are politics enthusiasts who stumbled here by accident while they were searching for Tom Ferrick's blog. If they happen to see that I wrote about one of the Dirty Half Dozen, they'll stop and throw in their two cents. Most of those comments have been thoughtful, reasoned arguments on behalf of their favorite guy or against their least favorite.

We need that thoughtfulness now.

They won't admit it, but those candidates do stop by every once in a while, again probably only because they stumbled across it after googling their own names. Use this forum to tell them how you feel about the fact that Philadelphia has the highest murder rate of the top 10 cities in the country. One of those guys, or maybe someone else we haven't met yet, will be the next mayor and will need to solve this problem.

If you want a little background, Wendy made it easy for us by compiling a quick glance at each of the potential candidates' records on dealing with violent crime.

You can also check out WHYY's Special Online Violence Project. I'll draw special attention to the comments left by some of the site's visitors. Let's spend the energy that we use debating the merits of the candidates on debating the merits of the ideas that are out there.

One ray of optimism shines through today's Daily News (yeah, the one with the skull on the cover). In this op-ed, Manayunk resident/New York commuter Bob Hughes implores the city to throw its cap over the wall:

I think the real question boils down to this: Why does it take Olympic dreams to give this city the overarching direction it desperately needs?
...
The Olympic quest is a noble and worthy cause for the city, but I don't think we should wait for it to improve the region. I've had enough of New York, and I want to give back to my town, but I want to do it right - as do thousands of people like me.

...as, I hope, do the folks on the Philadelphia 2016 Board as I wrote here.

Can the next mayor sustain this energy and civic engagement regardless of Philly's Olympic status? One can only hope.

Two stories today that illustrate the original entry for Theme for 2007. That is, DN columnist Mark Hughes' idea of finding a mayor who can manage the tension between old and new Philadelphians.

From today's Daily News, this piece by Catherine Lucey about longtime residents in the Art Museum area having concerns about a proposed high rise condo in their neighborhood.

And in today's Philadelphia Weekly, there is this cover story about that incident and the overall need for centralized planning to deal with the rapid influx of new development.

In case no one caught it in the comments, here's another suggestion for a theme from Mike:

As a suggestion for a the big issue and a new issue: I vote for making Philly an "entrepreneurial city."

I'll have more on that later but for now, we have to get back to the dominant issue of the time - violent crime. I am, however, still accepting suggestions for the big theme of the 2007 mayor's race. Sound off in the comments.

UPDATE (7/20/06): In case you missed it, here's the follow up to the story about the proposed high rise in the Art Museum area. It appears that, at least in this case, compromise between old and new will be difficult.

In yesterday's Daily News, our six likely candidates gave us an idea of how they would respond to the current violent crime crisis.

Sound off in the comments. Whose plan seems the most likely to succeed? Are there any solutions that none of them mentioned?

Use this thread to comment on the podcast interview of soon-to-be-official candidate for mayor, Michael Nutter, conducted by Catherine Lucey of the Daily News.

The City Paper's Political Notebook has a little feature about Tom Knox. While most of the column is devoted to how much scratch Knox has, it does drift dangerously close to talking about issues and policies towards the end.

Knox uses these precious column inches to push his ideas for increasing funding for job training in the city to make the city's workforce more attractive to potential employees. His pulled-up-by-his-own-bootstraps background makes an appearance with this subtle dig on all those latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, Hollywood-loving folks out there when he says:

We used to have skills training schools for kids, then somewhere along the line, the school system decided that everyone should have a liberal arts degree.

It seems to me that politics is ignoring facts once again. While job training is great and would prepare people for decent wage jobs in manufacturing and other factory jobs, the fact is those aren't the jobs we have here. Heck, even Tastykake is on the way out.

In the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, you'll find that in the city of Philadelphia, 59 percent of the jobs are in the Educational and Health Services, Professional and Business Services, Information, Financial Activities and Leisure and Hospitality sectors. Manufacturing and Construction represent 6 percent.

I appreciate that Knox is trying to do something for people who need jobs now - those for whom school is a distant memory. Who knows? Maybe we can attract a new factory or two with a better trained workforce. But the numbers bear out that we should be concentrating on preparing people for the jobs that are here now and are most likely to be here in the future. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that the School District and the building trades union are expanding opportunities for public school children to enter the construction trades. However, construction work represents just 2 percent of all the available jobs. That'll be a lot of people competing for very few jobs.

"Job training" is a good soundbite but it ignores the reality of this city's economy. The only way large scale change will happen is if we dedicate ourselves to the proposition that every single child, from birth, needs to be prepared to go to college... and get that liberal arts education. That means no more "college isn't for everyone" attitudes from parents and teachers. Aside from being degrading and, in many cases, racist, it's just a way of giving up. Parents, teachers and the students need to try harder and be given every possible resource to make it happen.

If we're gonna talk ideas, why don't we do something really big? Why don't we tell everyone in this city, regardless of age, that they can start over. If you agree to stop dealing drugs or stealing or if you just want a chance out of a menial, low paying job, we'll make it possible for you to start from as far back as you need to in order to learn what you missed the first time through. Then, through loans, work study, grants, etc. you go to college. Sort of like Billy Madison for everyone... except not a joke. By the time you're done, you'll be able to fill any of the jobs that are actually here and not just pine away for the ones that left decades ago.

Gar Joseph's column in today's Daily News gives us some insight into how our potential mayoral candidates are getting from place to place:

Mayoral wheels

Tom Knox
2004 Mercedes S500

Jonathan Saidel
2005 Lincoln LS.

How long before one of them is riding around in something like this?

Did you catch this in yesterday's column by John Baer of the Daily News?

A leading Democratic consultant likely to work for another mayoral candidate says, "Whoever makes the people of this city believe they will be safer on the streets will be elected next year."

The column focuses on potential mayoral candidate, State Rep. Dwight Evans, and the work that he has done on the issue of gun violence, an issue, it seems, that will be front and center next year.

What do you think? Does the entire election come down to this one issue?

Elections have been known to turn on one issue before, especially in this town (cf. 2003 Mayor's race). In low turnout, Democratic primaries, these elections are won on the ward and committee level. With six potential candidates, the winner may only need 17% to win, assuming it's split pretty evenly among them.

So if one of them can unite all the people who are dealing with this issue day in and day out (say with a snazzy, well-timed commercial that includes the very fortunate headline "Rep. Evans has walked the walk on battling gun violence in city"), he can win in a walk.

The strategy seems simple.
1. Take a ward map of Philadelphia.
2. On top of that, place this map that pinpoints the location of every homicide this year, which I clipped from last Sunday's Inquirer since I couldn't find it on-line.
3. Now, spend all of your time campaigning in every ward with more than, say, three homicides in it, and convince the people there that you're the man that will stop the killing.

Congratulations! You're the mayor. Now you just have to fix the problem.

So Mike Nutter actually did it.

The former city councilman announced his 2007 mayoral candidacy this morning before several hundred supporters at a rally near the Mann Music Center.

"Listen well, because I'm going to say it loud and clear," Nutter boomed from a podium on the front porch of a home on Parkside Avenue near 51st Street. "Today, standing here, I am now running for mayor."

The exuberant crowd -- wearing red and blue Nutter buttons -- broke into a "run Michael run" cheer.

After a speech in which he said he would fight for better jobs, education and public safety, Nutter shook hands and lifted a small curly-haired boy in his arms for the television cameras.

He's running all right.

One bizarre moment marred the celebratory morning. As Rev. Al Campbell, of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, spoke about Nutter, a man with a megaphone appeared across the street and started heckling.

"Let's talk about the things you don't do in West Philadelphia," Jim Cade yelled.
Eventually, Steve Jones, chairman of the 52nd Ward where Nutter is ward leader, came over and told Cade: "If your don't get out of here, I'm going to take (the megaphone) and stick it up your ass."

Otherwise the event went smoothly except for a few raindrops. The guests were a mixed bunch, neighborhood leaders, politicians and supporters from Nutter's former council district.

Several ward leaders were in attendance, Ralph Wynder, of the 38th Ward, Louis Agre of the 21st Ward and Terry Gillen from the 30th Ward. State Rep. Kathy Manderino, who represents parts of Roxborough and Wynnefield, made an appearance.

Also on the scene was Philadelphia Sun publisher and local NAACP president Jerry Mondesire, who is supporting State Rep. Dwight Evans for mayor.

"I'm supporting Dwight, but Michael's got a great vision," he said.

After the speeches, supporters listened to music and munched on hoagies and the official campaign cookie -- Nutter Butters.

Though he still may be lagging far behind in the "pimped out ride" department, Michael Nutter has a snazzy new website (via America's Hometown).

It even seems to have a blog or what passes for one on a campaign website (ie entries that are carefully crafted, always "on message" and have comments that are carefully selected from supporters and/or campaign workers).

As always, your obscenity-free comments, pro or con, about any candidate are welcome here.

Young Philly Politics has the results of a straw poll of the candidates. The poll was shut down after charges of ballot box stuffing. Say it ain't so!

I'm guessing you've all seen this by now, so here's your chance to share your thoughts on the possible mayoral candidacy of Congressman Bob Brady.

Zack Stalberg had shared his thoughts on the subject several weeks ago on a "very special episode" of Zack's Corner.

UPDATE: Daily News columnist John Baer also seems to be convinced that there will be two Philadelphia congressmen in the race for mayor.

Looks like Congressman Fattah is going to go on, take the money, and run.

Mayor Street will be on TV tonight. You can see it on WHYY-TV Channel 12 or listen to the speech on 91FM. You can also catch it live via the web here. At 7pm he'll deliver a 5-minute speech on the city's murder epidemic, getting you back to Jeopardy in time to hear the contestant's witty anecdotes. During the speech, according to the Daily News:

Street will review his administration's efforts against drug dealers in a program that has cost millions of dollars in police overtime.

And he'll describe the evolving successor programs that aim to improve policing, increase community engagement, better coordinate social services to at-risk youth, and reduce the number of guns on the streets.

In addition to that:

Street will urge the state General Assembly to adopt stronger gun-control laws and to give the city authority to adopt some laws on its own.

The mayor is also expected to announce an aggressive public- service campaign using political and sports figures in stark television and radio spots.

Aside from the flashy new PSA's (starring, perhaps, Beanie Siegel?), it sounds like more of the same to me. What do you think?

Meanwhile, an avowed Michael Nutter foe is softening a little due to what the as-yet-only-official candidate has to say about this issue.

The Daily News editorial board saved me the trouble of writing an op-ed when they borrowed an idea that I had a few weeks back about what do with the group behind Philadelphia 2016 if the Olympic bid were to be shot down by the USOC.

In today's Editorial, the Daily News makes a special plea to the board members of Philly 2016, asking them now to come together behind the goal of stopping the violence that is gripping many communities throughout the city. Their memo to the Philly 2016 Committee points out that stopping this scourge will take more than just the (rare) concerted effort of the region's political leadership:

This morning, the Brady Bunch - a group pulled together by U.S. Rep. Bob Brady - is meeting behind closed doors in the mayor's office. With a few exceptions, most of the bunch includes elected officials. The meeting isn't a bad idea. But joining forces to solve this problem is their job. That's why we elected them.

Your group of movers and shakers, on the other hand, could bring a new set of brains and imagination to the problem.

It goes on to name a few of the members of the Committee. In addition to the people mentioned in the editorial, I would highlight a few more members with unique perspectives, experience, and the positive attitude required to get this job done.