Our Five Most Momentous Mayors-race Moments of 2006! (The Next Mayor)

Tradition says that after the eggnog come the Year in Review lists. And since we don't consider ourselves somehow loftier than, say, AOL News, we're offering our Five Most Momentous Mayors-race Moments of 2006!

Here they are, in descending order:

1. Bob Brady dithers. Larry Ceisler said it best when he called Brady "our own little Hamlet." From his late, but significant, arrival at the must-be-seen Pennsylvania Society events in NYC; to telling one friend he would run and another he wouldn't, within the space of hours; to his last-minute and enormous party in December to raise money for a race he has not joined -- Brady repeatedly lured our attentions like that iDog our kid got for Christmas. He's not declared, yet. But he will be, soon. Or he won't.

2. Jonathan Saidel bails. Brady's mojo is so strong that even the idea that he might run cost the race a candidate: former City Controller Jonathan Saidel decided Dec. 3 to end his campaign. That was even though he'd raised almost $1 million, launched his campaign Web site, opened a headquarters, worked the subway handing out Saidel for Mayor buttons and put out a comprehensive policy paper. Saidel and Brady are friends -- they have called themselves "Batman and Robin" -- and now we know for certain which one is Robin.

3. Four candidates announce. For those of you keeping score at home: Michael Nutter quit City Council early and declared on July 21, taking governmental ethics as one of his early, signature issues. Sitting U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah declared Nov. 18 at West Philly's School of the Future, claiming education as his early issue. Tom Knox, the businessman-turned-candidate, declared Nov. 30 near the public housing project where he grew up, with promises to "take the for sale sign down off City Hall" -- and $700,000 in campaign ads in early December. Then, state Rep. Dwight Evans declared himself a candidate Dec. 11 and issued a major white paper on crime.

4. Philly's murder tally hits 400. The year's final body count, sadly, may be the most repeated statistic used in this race next year. Crime will continue to dominate the campaign through the primary. We must ensure that the city's other important issues are thoroughly discussed in this race as well.

5. Philly has tough new campaign-finance rules. No we don't. Yes we do! (At least, until the next court ruling.) For a moment there -- in the calm of pre-holiday December -- we had four declared candidates who were all following tough new rules limiting campaign-finance donations. This was a miracle in a city where $50,000 campaign donations from city contractors were not anything but expected. It was going to change the race! And then...thanks a whole heck of a lot, Court of Common Pleas. A judge there struck down the ruling Dec. 14, saying the city didn't have legal authority to set limits -- even though an earlier ruling, from a different Common Pleas judge, said the exact opposite. As it stands now, the city has appealed the ruling, so the limits are back. But gee, does this all have to happen in the midst of an election?

So there we have 'em. We thank all of you for reading this year, and promise loads more for 2007. So sign up for updates, comment early and often, and check back throughout 2007 for lots more news and analysis!

PS: Don't forget to offer up your predictions for 2007...

PPS: Thanks to the photographers whose work enlived this post. Photo credits: April Saul, Inquirer; Tomonori Kubo, Inquirer; Jori Klein, Daily News; and Steven M. Falk, Daily News.

Comments (8)

Dave

After Judge Tereshko's ruling on the city's campaign finance rules, I'm really hoping that Gov. Rendell follows through with merit selection for judges like he's suggested he wants to do as part of his second term agenda.

I don't know why Tereshko ruled the way he did, but I don't know how we can justify having people who can potentially have very close political ties making such politically charged decisions.

Posted by Dave | December 29, 2006 1:47 PM

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