The Next Mayor

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority or PICA (pike-uh), released its analysis of the City's FY07 fund balance (def: the amount by which revenue was over or under expenses - in this case over).

You see, the city is required, every year, to create a 5-year plan which anticipates the next 5 fiscal years and takes steps to make sure that the budget remains balanced or in surplus during that time. So estimates are made. In this case, the city estimated that they would have positive fund balance of about $215 million. That "balance" would then be carried over and factored into future budgets. In other words, this doesn't mean the city has an extra $215 million. All of that money has already been allocated.

However, when the 2007 fiscal year ended (last June) it became clear that the fund balance was actually about $297 million or about $80 million more than they had anticipated. THAT is an extra $80 million.

Imagine your own household budget as a comparison. In September you plan out the final three months of the year. For October you anticipate that your household will take in about $5000 bucks after taxes. You expect to spend (on housing, food, health care, entertainment, travel, utilities, etc.) about $4000. However, you know that in November and December, with the holidays coming, you'll need to use that extra thousand bucks. So you factor it in and end up with an anticipated balanced budget for those three months.

October comes and goes and at the end you realize that you actually took in about $6000 (you worked extra hours, won a grand in a raffle or one of your investments paid off bigger than expected). So now you DO have an extra $1000 because when you planned things out, you were able to balance your budget without it.

That's essentially what happened with the City. Here's how our analogy works:

- your next "3 months" = the city's next 5 years
- your October = the city's 2007 fiscal year
- your $5000 income for October = the city's revenue for 2007 (around $3.7 billion)
- your $4000 in expenses = the city's expenses for 2007
- your anticipated extra $1000 = the city's anticipated positive fund balance of $215 million
- the extra $1000 you ended up with on top of that = the extra $80 million the city ended up with
- the extra hours, raffle winnings and investment income that got you the extra $1000 = the city's higher than expected tax revenue, higher payments from the state government, and higher than expected interest income.

So does this mean you can expect an extra $1000 bucks every month? If you heed the same warnings that PICA makes for the city, you'd realize that you have to:

- Stop factoring in the repayment of that $1000 loan you made to your unemployed, drunken, unreliable uncle as part of your income in December. For the city that means, stop anticipating repayment of a $45 million loan from PGW as part of your future revenue.

- Understand that your kid is not going to go to college for free on a baseball scholarship and start getting ready for it. For the city that means, knowing that it's could be paying more to its employees for salary and benefits when their contracts expire in the summer of '08.

- Understand that your parents are going to stop slipping you $50 bucks a month. In the city's case, the federal and state governments are going to reduce the amount of cash they send its way.

- "brace" for the fact that you're younger kid is going to need orthodontic work. The city is going to have to cough up some money to the school district, which is anticipating some funding difficulties of its own.

So what should you do with that $1000? Again, if you follow PICA's suggestions for the City, you would:

- Pay back the money you borrowed from your 401k which caused it to become seriously underfunded. For the city that means actually paying the employee pension fund now, while they have this unanticipated money, to take a step toward fixing that severely underfunded obligation.

- Hire a contractor to fix that leak in your dining room ceiling that you think is coming from your bathroom but isn't so annoying as long as you put a bucket under it to catch the drips. This way, you won't be faced with a MUCH larger bill when your bath tub ends up on your Thanksgiving dinner. For the city, this means putting the extra $80 million into much needed infrastructure improvements.

- Pay down your credit card so you can reduce the amount you pay each month on finance charges. Pretty obvious one here. The city paid about $43 million more for debt service in 2007 than it did in $2001 (and it's only going to get worse). That's $43 million that didn't go to hiring police or mowing the grass at rec centers.

- Use the money to pay your tuition for your MBA so you can make the big bucks. For the city that means paying for a more competitive tax structure so that more businesses and people will move in and, in turn, increase revenues.

- Set the money aside, somewhere safe, and don't touch it unless there's an absolute emergency - like a car accident or health problem. In the city's case, that means establishing a rainy day fund in case their some totally unanticipated emergency that requires several million dollars. Emergencies include: lower than expected revenue because of a recession, a huge snowstorm requiring massive overtime costs, etc.

Of course you can divide your $1000 bucks among a number of these things, just like the city can divide its $80 million.

So now, we wait and see what the city will do.

(edited to add) So far, the Philadelphia Business Journal is the only publication I've seen that has covered this story. Hopefully they'll keep track of what the city does too.

That was the theme of today's Get Out the Vote/Heal the City rally. Several prominent Democratic officials and candidates shared the stage in what was originally intended as a pre-Election Day event but was transformed at the last minute into another kind of call to action.

One speaker after another, from Superior Court candidates to Congressman Fattah to Democratic mayoral nominee Michael Nutter spoke about the need for mitigating the poverty that drives people to such desperate acts AND for the personal responsibility necessary to make the right choices.

Nutter had several such moments in which he attempted to recapture John Kennedy's famous inaugural exhortation. He challenged the crowd, made up mostly of white, building trades workers and union members, to ask themselves how they could make a difference in their communities and in the lives of young people in the city. In an eerie coincidence, just as Nutter began his speech, he paused for several seconds as an ambulance made it's way past LOVE park, speeding north on 16th street.

"After the events of the last few days, many of will think differently when we hear such a noise," he said, "rather than just considering it a truck with lights and loud noises, it'll be symbol that one of our fellow Philadelphians is in trouble."

At the end of his speech, Nutter referenced his wonkish reputation. Gesturing towards City Hall he said, "When I worked across the street, many people said that I was all about the numbers. Well, I have three numbers for you today - 18, 25 and 45. Forty-five percent of our students graduate drop out (corrected. Must have misread my notes from Friday. - dp) from high school. We have a 25 percent poverty rate. Eighteen percent of our city's residents have a four-year bachelor's degree."

He went on to say that those three numbers are connected and that while there are many things that government can't do, it can affect those three numbers.

Other interesting moments:

- Chaka Fattah pledging to do everything he can in Congress to bring back the resources that "the next mayor, Michael Nutter" will need to improve Philadelphia. He then shook Nutter's hand.

- Lynn Abraham noted the name of the artist who is designing the expansion to the Free Library.

- Nutter, mentioning all of the alternative activities that could help keep children and young adults off the street corner - "where two things can happen, either we [the cops] will pick you up or somebody will shoot you" - mentioned boy's and girl's clubs and specifically mention "the scouts." Interesting, given all of the controversy surrounding the Boy Scouts lately.

Back in the spring, when Michael Nutter collected so many newspaper endorsements he could wallpaper his den with them, the one paper that went for another candidate was the Philadelphia Tribune.

Well, today, he can count them among his editorial backers.

With his "Al the Underdog" spot... his only spot... I saw it this morning during the Today Show/NBC news...

This is a real blast from the past. Two years ago, we asked readers to write their "help wanted" ad for the next mayor. We got a bunch then... and, out of the blue, got another today!

(Sorry that the cloning option isn't available.)

All the ad must say is:

We want a clone of Ed Rendell.

It's time for change.

We want a leader to bring back civilization to the city!

We want a professional business man who will work with the Police Commissioner and lock up the animals that are dragging down the City of Brotherly Love with their drugs and guns.

If you'd like to join the parties, Nutter will watch the returns and host a party at the Warwick Hotel in Center City. Taubenberger will do the same at Knowlton Mansion in the Northeast, reports Catherine Lucey in her story today,

First... Will Bunch has some criticism (or is it, Attytood?) for Michael Nutter for, as Bunch puts it, reducing a "nuanced issue to a bumper sticker" -

It's a complicated issue -- a Mayor Nutter will need to send a certain message himself to Washington, about a federal role in putting more cops on the streets and curbing guns, and as Democrat, he should be focused next year in getting one of his own kind in the White House. But this ad reduces that nuanced issue to a bumper sticker, and a fairly pointless one.

Then again... that's pretty much what all 30-second campaign spots do. (Speaking of which, is anyone else as sick of all references to the New Jersey state assembly as I am?) Anyway, I suppose the same sentiment holds true for the full page ad that Nutter is running in today's Inquirer (in my copy it's on page B-9). Under "Top 3 Reasons to VOTE for Michael Nutter and Democrats" it says:

3. When Democrats win, it makes George Bush mad
2. Electing Democratic judges is the best way to protect our Democracy
1.

"1" stands for "push button 1" to vote for all the Democrats on the ticket. Nutter's ad exhorts people to step into the booth and mindlessly vote straight ticket. But let's go back to #3 for a sec. "Makes George Bush mad?" What is this? Preschool? Why didn't he just say "makes George Bush cry."

In the end, this is a political campaign and even mayors have to play that political game - spending his money to get other Democrats elected ensures that when it comes time to repay the favor, they'll be more likely to help him fix the city. It just has such a childish, insulting, and somewhat skeevy feel about it.

Next item...

In yesterday's debate on NBC 10's "Live at Issue," an apparently exasperated Michael Nutter finally seemed to put his finger on Taubenberger's problem with Nutter's plan to get illegal guns off the streets:

Nutter said opposition to his policy, including Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson's contention that it would be a disaster, amounted to a hang-up over semantics.

"How about 'Stop Killing People?' We could call it that," Nutter said. "If people want to change the name . . . that's fine with me. What I'm interested in is results - whatever gets more weapons off the streets of Philadelphia legally and constitutionally."

And now we've come full circle. Waaay back in January when Nutter and Fattah were releasing their crime plans within days of each other (Nutter's was based on testimony he had given the previous August to the state house judiciary committee), I mentioned how Nutter didn't dance around the issue, seemingly embracing the term "stop and frisk" as part of his extensive crime plan. I even commented somewhere (can't seem to find it) that any candidate who uses this phrase runs the risk of having the media and his opponents reducing their entire crime plan to a three-word scare tactic. In fact, Nutter's suggestions to change the name to "Stop Killing People" makes a lot more sense than the idea I had in the title of this post.

Speaking of full page ads...

Even more infuriating than the Nutter ad referenced above is Al Taubenberger's brilliant attempt to get to 10% of the vote. In my paper it's on page A-5. (I don't know how advertising in the Inquirer works, but does that mean that Al paid more to be in the A section and have his ad go to folks all over the region including suburanites who can't vote for him?) In big bold words in the middle of an otherwise blank page, it reads:

100%
TAX ASSESSMENT?
NOT OVER
MY DEAD BODY.

At the bottom of the page is a picture of Taubenberger, looking grim with arms folded. Next to the picture:

TAUBENBERGER
AN UNDERDOG IN A CITY THAT LOVES UNDERDOGS. (probably not the most effective message given the Eagles' performance last night)

Talk about taking a nuanced issue and making it a bumper sticker. This fear-mongering, common denominator lowering, disengaging, down-dumbing, mind-numbing, disappointing, and pointless attempt does nothing but make it that much harder to have an actual, substantive and necessary conversation about this issue after the next mayor takes office. I can see plenty of City Council folks who will be just too happy and ready to hide behind this giant sheet of page A-5.

Let's hurry up and get this election over with so the real work can begin.

Philadelphia Magazine's blog, The Daily Examiner, got some dirt about a possible "almost-appointment" to the Nutter administration:

According to a source close to real estate tycoon Dan Neducsin, mayor-to-be Michael Nutter recently asked the “man who saved Manayunk” if he’d be interested in becoming his deputy mayor.

Both sides in this story deny that such a conversation took place and according to the Examiner's source, "Neducsin politely turned it down."

That's just a preview of the game that the media (including, admittedly, this site) will be playing in the coming weeks. Namely, who can be the first outlet to announce a major appointment to the new administration? Many of the items that appear on blogs will most likely have this "he said, he didn't say, he turned it down anyway" format. In fact, I was told weeks ago about a someone who was approached by the Nutter group to be a part of the administration and turned it down. That kind of thing is hardly important.

Let's just all keep in mind that the process of determining these folks is just as important, if not more so, than the people who get appointed. If the process is open, involves community and expert input and takes qualifications into account (not political qualifications, job qualifications) then we should be able to trust that the person who gets the job was the most qualified for it.

For those of you who want to see this Dan Neducsin in action, he was part of one of our Next Mayor Community Forums last year:

You can see all 6 excerpts from this forum here. The entire hour is available on Comcast Video OnDemand in the Get Local section.

You might need these numbers tomorrow:

To report complaints about polling problems or other Election Day complaints: Committee of Seventy Hotline: 215-557-3600
League of Women Voters /6ABC Election Hotline : 215-686-1590

To find your polling place: Committee of Seventy: 215-557-3600 or www.seventy.org/cac

For voter registration questions or problems: County Board of Elections, 215-686-1590

For rides to the polls: Democratic City Committee, 215-241-7800 or Republican City Committee, 215-561-0650

I'm sure Michael Nutter will be crying himself to sleep on a mattress stuffed with all of his other newspaper endorsements, since he didn't get the support of the Evening Bulletin. In fact, the Bulletin went out of its way to not-endorse Nutter, claiming that this is the first time they've ever done endorsements:

We say all this knowing that the Democrats have put up a quality candidate in Councilman Michael Nutter, certainly a cut above what they usually inflict on the electorate. But having said that, we still favor another quality candidate that the Republicans have put up. We endorse Al Taubenberger for mayor based on his resume and on the need to get Philadelphia out of a 50-year rut (or perhaps "ditch" would be a better word) of power in one party.

In other words, if the Democratic party in Philadelphia nominated Jesus Christ himself to be mayor and the Republicans opposed him with a can of tuna, the Bulletin would still endorse the Republican.

It's Election Day, and we're beginning our coverage of the events of the day!

We are sending more than 10 newsgatherers out into the field for you, who will be checking on turnout, polling issues, and any other news.

We'll update the blog all day -- and tonight, we'll bring you results of all the city races as they roll in. Stay tuned!

Front-runner Michael Nutter cast his vote early, almost as soon as the polls opened. The West Philadelphia resident voted at the John C. Anderson Culture Center at 5301 Overbrook Avenue.

He came with his wife, Lisa; daughter, Olivia; and a number of aides and friends.

Nutter took a moment to do a live interview with Fox 29, urging everyone to come out and vote -- despite the drizzly rain this morning.

"It's not like it's a hurricane," he said, when the reporter asked if he was concerned about the weather lowering turnout even further than the low levels that are expected. "It's just a little bit of rain."

And he said he was looking forward to moving into the next phase of his long journey to the mayor's office. "It's what we've prepared for over a year and a half."

Republican candidate Al Taubenberger plans to vote at 10 a.m. at Rhawn St. and Verree Rd.

7:00am
Nutter arrived with wife and daughter to vote. Everyone from the media crowded around him. He was all smiles and walked with confidence.

Nutter was then interviewed by FOX 29.

When asked about not getting enough sleep he said:

"I know a little about this job and I have been getting ready for it for long period of time. I look forward to the challenge, but I won't be down there by myself. I encourage all Philadelphia to be a part of this great experience."

Ironically, as he was trying to inspire people to vote, he and the media were blocking the polls. One woman voter was a little frustrated with this barrier.

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia in the morning.

And sure, this is about the mayor's race. As you must know by now, the man suspected of slaying Officer Chuck Cassidy has been arrested in Miami. Keep up with the latest on www.philly.com.

Fox 29 this morning reported that Nutter has been briefed on the arrest.

(And it's great news to have this happen before Officer Cassidy's services tonight and tomorrow.)

Well, loyal readers, The Next Mayor project has taken steps to blanket the entire Greater Philadelphia region with volunteers from Temple University's journalism program. They'll be at polling places and with candidates throughout the day and into the evening. So without further ado, let's introduce our bloggers:

Click "Continue Reading" to read brief profiles and the assignments of each of our bloggers.

One of our loyal readers and frequent contributors had this to say about her voting experience this morning:

On this dark and dreary morning, my daughter, granddaughter and I approached our polling place shortly after it opened. A woman was emerging, grumbling about not having time to stand in such a long line to vote. "What happened?" I asked imagining an unexpected surge of voter turnout at 7 AM. "One of the machines is down," she reported, "You'll have to wait at least an hour!" she exclaimed and left. My daughter and I looked at each other and for a moment considered leaving as well.

Let's teach our children - Stand up. Be counted. Be heard. Make noise. Make waves. Make a ruckus. But whatever you do - don't walk away. I am glad my granddaughter got this lesson this morning. Even in the rain and gloom, there is still hope and promise for our communities and our future as long was we make noise.

My own Election Day story isn't as interesting or inspiring but I'll pass it along in a few minutes.

For me it's been a roller coaster ride. It's been incredible. I go back to last year when I resigned from City Council. People thought this guy had a snowball's chance, seems to have a few good ideas but no way would compete. We were competitive in raising money. We were competitive in volunteers and supporters.

Policy position papers and certainly debates and mayoral forums since the primary election the campaign have been about issues - no acrimony, no nastiness. Citizens wanted that and they deserve that. As I have said many many times, it's not a local version of American Gladiators. It's about issues, issues that matter to people.

We have to lower crime in the city. We have to educate our children, create jobs, and and restore integrity to government those have been my themes from the start of this campaign. They're going to continue to be through the course of this day, should I be successful during my
time in office.

Nutter on Charles Cassidy, the importance of voting, and John Lewis the alleged shooter… 5-10 minutes before the announcement made about the capture of Lewis.

[Cassidy] has been on my mind for a long period of time as have been the other officers who were shot earlier on the same week. These are the real things that affect people on a day-to-day basis and it's why people should come out to vote. We need a change in leadership and direction in policy. It is a way for people to express themselves. It is incredible. Of all the inhuman things that human beings can do to each other there is nothing less than a public assassination of that officer.

It's not acceptable under any set of circumstances. The Philadelphia Police Department will find this individual if he left the jurisdiction. I have not one doubt on my mind that other law enforcement agencies will track him down whether they are local or federal. This man will be brought to justice. There's no doubt on my mind about it. I would expect somewhere potentially in the next 24/48 hours we should know better what is going on. The hunt for this individual will not stop. The city will not rest. We will not have closure on this until he is back in custody in the city of Philadelphia and he will then have to deal with the criminal justice system.

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia in the morning.

I was with Anne during Nutter's appearance at the Ace Diner and asked him for a reaction to John Lewis' capture:

Nutter:

"I'm glad they caught him. It was only a matter of time. You can't run, you can't hide. Either Philly PD is going to track you down or other law enforcement across the country. It's a tragedy what happened.

"I think it has galvanized support in the community and people understanding crime strikes everywhere. Someone's going to shoot down a Philadelphia Police Officer. How safe can the rest of any of us be?

"So, he'll be brought to justice. He's got to be accountable for what he did. He knows it was wrong. We'll get him back here in Philadelphia shortly."

Tim Jimenez is a senior broadcast journalism major at Temple University. Tim will be blogging from wherever he is assigned election night as a desk assistant for KYW News Radio.

I am currently with Al Taubenberger and have been following him around since 10 am. A few moments ago, I was standing with his whole family his wife, two daughters and his son. His youngest daughter just turned 18 and in her first vote today, voted for her father.

We started at the corner of Verree and Rhawn Street where Al and his family voted and now we're at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer Cottman and Lawndale Avenues.

I will be following him until 7:30 tonight when I go back to his headquarters. We are currently headed to South Philadelphia for more Election Day activities. Check back for more later today.

Rachel Falcinelli is a senior broadcasting major at Temple University. Rachel will be talking to Al Taubenberger and find out why some people are voting for him. Rachel will talk to Al about the whether the Republican party can gain any traction in Philadelphia since there has not been a republican mayor in about 50 years. She will be with him day and night to and give readers a sense of what its like to hand out in an underdog candidate’s campaign.

-----------------------------------------

(added by Dan: Since Rachel will be on the road with Al throughout the day, spending a good deal of time in the car with his entourage, she'll be phoning in her reports and I'll be transcribing them as accurately and as quickly as I can.)

Taking a minute to talk suburban races...

When I went to my Delaware County polling place this morning, at about 9:15 a.m., I was interested to learn I was voter number 91. That's in a precinct of 900-some registered voters.

That was not a big turnout, given that we've got some hot races: David Landau has raised more than $200,000 in his quest to be the first Democrat on the Delaware County Council in nearly 30 years, and in my own neighborhood Democrat Larry Chrzan is running aggressively to unseat 7th ward commissioner Jim McGarrity (as my daughter said in the voting booth this morning, pointing to Chrzan's name, "He came to our house!" I quickly pointed out that McGarrity himself was standing right outside our polling location.)

I'm interested to see if turnout picks up -- and interested in the surprises that could result in Delco if it doesn't.

My colleague Tim and I hung around the polls after Nutter voted to speak to some of his constituents. Most of them said they came out in the rain to exercise their right in hope for a better future.

Jacquelien Allen from Wynnefield she voted with an "interest in making sure the city moves forward."

"Things have completely gotten out of hand to a level that's never been seen before," said Ben Benton of Wynnefield, who voted for Nutter.

He said he knows to solve the crime problem in the city will not be an easy task and that one man can not carry out that mission alone.

"[City government officials] will be able to make some difference as to what's going on out there. Hopefully, people will be safer in the city."

After that Tim and I headed over the Ace Dinner, where Nutter was having breakfast with his family. He took the time to speak to some of the people in the dinner. Tim was able to talk to him right as he was leaving the dinner to comment on the capture of John Lewis.

I was able to obtain a schedule from one of Nutter's people. Here it is and I will be right behind in every step of the way.

11:30 at the Breakfast club on Cecil B Moore
12:00 at Sheet Metal Workers Union Hall at 1300 S. Columbus Blvd.
1:00 at Sadiki at 71st and Ogontz
2:00 at 633 West Erie Ave
3:15 at Melrose Diner on Synder

Looks like a tight schedule. I hope I can travel in my car as fast as he can.

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia in the morning.

Another one of our frequent contributors and longtime readers, Mark Chalupa had this to say:

I was number 25 at my polling place. I voted to not retain any of the judges. Yes, I know, some of them deserve to be retained. But I want Harrisburg to convene a Constitutional Convention, and if there is a bloodbath in the judges retention ballot, I might see one.

Local politicians and volunteers working the polls in Chalfont, Bucks County were disappointed at the low turnout at this morning elections. With the polls open for a little over two hours, only fifty people actually showed up to place their vote.

State Representative Chuck McIlhinney (R) said he would surprised if even 30 percent of the voting population decides to show up today.

Volunteers working the polls claim part of the poor turnout could be due to rainy weather as of this morning. Others say that since this is an off year election many people don’t feel that it is as important as the Presidential or Senatorial Election.

Major issues facing the Bucks County Candidates are Open Space, Route 202 traffic and continuing development in the area.

Meanwhile, in New Britain, Bucks County, Jim Scanzillo - Republican running for re-election for New Britain Township Supervisor - has been a resident for 21 years and has been serving the public for the past 18 years. A major issue he plans to address is control on development. He feels that all the other problems such as congestion and traffic stem from excessive development.

Scanzillo’s opponent, Democrat John Mihalich proposes to address the same issue as his opponent, but in addition he would like to curb taxes and provide an open government.

Recently the Bucks County area has been seeing an increase in the Democratic voters. This may pose a threat to Scanzillo reelection. Scanzillo said in an interview, “It’s not about politics it’s about public service.” He assures the community despite what party an individual may identify with, he is here to serve the people.

Voter Tom Garon is a high school senior and a registered Democrat. Although he considers himself to be a liberal, when it comes time to vote he will not let this influence his decisions.

“I wouldn’t vote for the people who I didn’t think could do a good job,” said Garon. “Local government elections are just as important as the Presidential elections.”

Candidates throughout the county share Garon's opinion and want all people to know that all local government elections are important regardless of the township or borough.

Megan Gaffney is a senior at Temple University majoring in Broadcast Journalism. Megan will be talking to voters in Chalfont, Bucks County about issues that will affect who they vote for in the races for County Commissioner. She will be talking to a local state representative who is not up for re-election about the political situation in Bucks --- both issues and the future of the Republican stronghold on the county.

When Tim and I walked into the Breakfast Club, I was unsure if it was the right place. I asked one of the waitresses if they were expecting Nutter anytime soon. She ecstatically answered yes. At that very moment he walked through the doors and people starting clapping, cheering, and saying things like “here’s our next mayor” and “the change is about to begin.”

Nutter walked around the small diner and shook hands with everyone. Everyone seemed so excited to meet him. They took out cell phones and took photos, they asked him for autographs, and one woman looked like she was about to burst into tears as she said, “this is the second time I am meeting you.” He was treated like a celebrity.

I asked one female what she thought of Nutter.

“I think he will do good, like John Street, because the city is real bad, there’s a lot of crime, and we need help,” said Jonahzsa Terry of North Philadelphia.

She also said that after watching the mayoral debates on TV, she believes Nutter can take illegal weapons of the streets of Philadelphia.

“I want to live to see 80. I want to live a long life. Everyone is dying day by day. I think it’s terrible and he can help.”

When I asked her why she though Nutter would make a better mayor than Al Taubenberger she stared at with a blank expression and said, “I don’t know who that is.”

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia in the morning.

Tim Jimenez is a senior broadcast journalism major at Temple University. Tim will be blogging from wherever he is assigned election night as a desk assistant for KYW News Radio.

We have a very interesting report from Upper Darby, brought to us by Daily News reporter Bill Bender:

Upper Darby Councilman Jack Shingle was hospitalized and local Democratic leader Steve Smith arrested this morning after a fight broke out at the Highland Park Fire Co. polling place in Delaware County.

Smith is still locked up this afternoon at the police department and will likely be charged with assault and other offenses, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood Sr. He said Smith apparently knocked Shingle to the ground and "thumped him," requiring Shingle to be taken to the hospital.

But Democrats say Shingle was the aggressor and are accusing Chitwood's cops of partisan policing. Chitwood is a potential Republican congressional candidate.

"When the police arrive, of course they arrest the Democrat and don’t arrest the Republican," said Ed Bradley, campaign coordinator for the Upper Darby Democrats. "This is Chitwood’s police department."

Michael Nutter skipped the traditional lunch at the Famous Deli today to be with his supporters in the Northwest. The Daily News' Elmer Smith was there too, and brings this report:

Virtually every officeholder, ward leader and candidate in Northwest Philadelphia awaited Nutter’s arrival at a sumptuous buffet at Sadicki’s, a restaurant on Ogontz Ave. in the middle of the Northwest coalition’s political stronghold. The coalition, led by City Council member Marion Tasco, State Reps Leanna Washington and Dwight Evans, has had an often contentious relationship with John Street.

“But we’re looking to the future now,” Tasco said. “Eight years of this bickering is enough.”

Almost on cue, Nutter sounded a similar sentiment when he and his wife and daughter showed up. “I’ve been saying at every stop today,” Nutter said, “that this is a new day. There’s going to be a new way of doing business.”

The gathering at Sadicki’s symbolized that new day, according to Bill Miller, a businessman and off-stage political operator who hosted the luncheon for the coalition.

“This is the start,” Miller said. “No longer do we have to go downtown on election day. We’re starting a new tradition right here.”

Right before Nutter left the Breakfast Club I was able to ask him why he chose this place to visit. He said he had spent a lot around Temple University during his campaign and liked the relationship the school has with the community.

He began talking about education and he said he was proud of Heidi Ramirez and believes she can help improve the public education system. Ramirez was appointed yesterday as the youngest and first Latina School Reform Commission member.

Nutter, parent of a Philadelphia public school student, said the district needs to make sure of these points:

-schools are safe.
“You can’t learn, you can’t teach in an unsafe environment.”

-invest early in childhood education.
“We have to make sure all 3rd and 4th graders are reading at grade levels as they move through the system.”

-additional support services for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
“It’s critical middle school years where a lot of young people make the decisions they are on the right path or on the wrong path.

-get high school students to enroll into college
“Show our high schoolers there’s really a path for them. We have to lower the high school drop out rates.”

Nutter said that by accomplishing these things and getting better funding, “our kids are going to take off, the city is going to grow and develop, employers will understand that Philadelphia is a city that values education.”

Since we were on the topic on education, I couldn’t help but to ask about an important issue that was created with the elimination of school tokens. I found it to be interesting since his daughter goes to Masterman. Masterman students in grades five and six are exempt from free public transportation under all of its current policy. Student went from paying 90 cents ride to $1.30.

“I’ve been in touch with the school district and I’m hopeful that soon that we may be able to announce a resolution to that particular issue,” he said. “It is unfair. It’s one of the few schools in the city where the 5th and 6th graders are not getting the same deal as everyone else, and we have to fix that.”

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia throughout the day.

Nutter made an appearance at the Sheet Metal Workers Union Hall at noon. People were on their feet clapping as he approached the stadium to walk. He addressed the issue of crime and violence, economic development, and the importance of hitting the polls.

“It’s about our kids and their future,” Nutter said to the workers. “That’s why we’re all in public service. That’s why you do what you do because we have the opportunity to move this city in a new direction.”

“He’s for the working man,” said Brian Page of South Philadelphia, who wants “better benefits, better labor, more work.”

Nick Costello of South Philadelphia said Nutter’s visit was significant.

“He [came] get his message out to all our members so we can get out to the public.”

The first thing Costello wants Nutter to when he becomes mayor is to “get crime under control in the city of Philadelphia. It’s going to ruin the city.”

After that rally, I headed hope to vote. Turnout was light - no other voters were there.

Now I am heading over to Melrose Diner.

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia throughout the day.

From Gar Joseph:

Without a competitive mayor’s race, the talk at the Famous Deli was about voter turnout and its impact on the Philly judge candidates running statewide: Seamus McCaffery and John Younge.

McCaffery is running for the state Supreme Court, Young for Superior Court. Low turnout could doom their chances.

Expectations heading into today were low. Party chairman Bob Brady worried turnout could be as low as 20 percent. But he and others were bouyed by what they said was surprising turnout in the 7 a.m.-9 a.m. time slot.

“It was decent,” Brady said. “In my division I had 50 to 60 people. I’d love to get to 30 percent, but it can’t drop off this evening. It has to keep steady.”

State Sen. Vince Fumo predicted turnout between 25 and 30 percent. Bob Henon, labor leader John Dougherty’s chief lieutenant, was even more optimistic, predicting 35 percent. All of those numbers would be a record low for an open-seat mayor’s race.

Republican mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger said there was a line at his polling place, Rhawn and Veree in the 63rd ward. “The people I saw in the Northeast are genuinely interested,” he said.

David Auspitz is the deli’s former owner who encouraged the Election Day tradition and is now a zoning board member. He said any turnout surprise could be credited to the high tone of the Taubenberger-Michael Nutter race.

“These two have changed politics forever,” Auspitz said. “They never said a bad word about each other, they just talked about issues. Elections will never be the same because of the class Al has shown.”

Fumo and Dougherty, often at odds, are both backing McCaffery. Fumo said he thinks the judge’s big weekend TV buy could offset low turnout. Also helping: Good turnout for competitive races in the suburbs where McCaffery has name recognition.

McCaffery agreed that the SE Pa. suburbs could work to his benefit.

“I’m so much of a different candidate for a democrat,” he said. “I have Republican crossover votes across the state because of my background as a police officer and prosecutor. Eastern Pa. turnout is always going to be monumental, but my core support group is crossover republicans and independents.”

Municipal Court candidate Jacquie Frazier Lyde, daughter of ex-heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, said the boxing community throughoput the city had been a base of support for her with volunteers coming from boxing clubs and Rec Centers. Former boxing commissioners George Bochetto and Jimmy Binns have held fund raisers. Boxers Tim Witherspoon and Tex Cobb have campaigned for her.

“I’m going to fight for justice from the bench,” Frazier-Lyde promised.

(edited to add by Dan) Gar also filed a video report of his visit to Famous Deli. It doesn't seem that he was aware at that point about Nutter's decision to skip the stop but he did correctly speculate that Nutter wouldn't be there.

Michael Nutter may have skipped the traditional Famous Deli stop at lunchtime today, but not so for Al Taubenberger. Not passing up his chance to take part in this Election Day custom, Taubenberger lunched at the popular eatery at 4th and Bainbridge at around noon today.

Among the lunchtime crowd at that point were several campaign staffers, Democratic party functionaries and District Attorney Lynn Abraham while outside a large contingent of McCaffery for Supreme Court supporters congregated.

Taubenberger, as he's been doing all day, didn't miss a chance to talk to a single person as he walked the streets around Famous Deli. While many of the folks he approached seemed unaware about today's mayoral election he did run into at least one woman who had been successfully plied by the Democratic message. Upon meeting Taubenberger, this older woman, in her 50s or 60s proceeded to let him know that she disagrees with everything he stands for a as a Republican and especially in the performance of President George Bush. Taubenberger's attempts to separate himself from the president went unheeded.

As Taubenberger continues south on Passyunk Avenue he's finding a much more lowkey, and at the very least polite, reception.

On the lunchtime deli tour, Taubenberger found a much friendlier audience at the Mercer Cafe. Located in a Republican stronghold in the lower Northeast, the Mercer played host to several GOP luminaries including Councilmen Jack Kelly and Frank Rizzo, Jr.

Check back later tonight for accounts of the scene at campaign headquarters as the results begin to come in.

Rachel Falcinelli is a senior broadcasting major at Temple University. Rachel will be talking to Al Taubenberger and find out why some people are voting for him. Rachel will talk to Al about the whether the Republican party can gain any traction in Philadelphia since there has not been a republican mayor in about 50 years. She will be with him day and night to and give readers a sense of what its like to hand out in an underdog candidate’s campaign.

More detail on Bill Bender's scoop about fisticuffs at a Delco polling place earlier today...

Stephen Smith, a high school teacher and Democratic leader in Upper Darby’s 4th District, is known as a mild-mannered guy.

But he’s sitting in a jail cell right now, waiting to be arraigned on assault and harassment charges for allegedly beating up a 62-year-old township councilman this morning at a Delaware County polling place.

Police say Smith, 37, became upset at the placement of political signs and punched Republican Jack Shingle with a closed fist -- then used a "leg sweep maneuver" to take Shingle down.

Smith landed a couple more punches, witnesses told police, before bystanders intervened. Shingle was treated at a local hospital and released.

Democrats say Upper Darby cops are spinning the case to make Smith look bad. Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood Sr., a potential Republican congressional candidate, has expressed his support for the all-Republican township council.

"Gimme a break. It is what it is," Chitwood said of Smith's arrest. "That’s absolutely ridiculous."

Democrats say Smith has not been allowed to speak to his lawyer. His hearing is tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m.

When I heard David Oh would be the very first Asian to hold a council seat if he was elected, I went straight for Chinatown to see what kind of support would emanate from the Asian community.

As I walked through Chinatown the blue and white David Oh council posters seemed omnipresent but not to the degree that I would have thought given the historic opportunity provided by the Oh campaign. The signs were in every other window of businesses. I was curious and stopped in to see if Asian businesses really supported Oh.

I stopped at a bus company and the ticket clerk didn't seem to know what I was talking about, she was oblivious to the fact that there was even a David Oh poster hung prominently on the front door. My next stop was an insurance office. The secretary there simply shrugged and stated David Oh was her "boss's friend." My last stop was a health care office and the secretary's knowledge of the posters was no different than the previous businesses.

I finally reached the polling station at the Fire Engine Co #20 on 10th and Cherry, the only polling station in Chinatown, and was not surprised to find David Oh representatives handing out fliers and motivating voters to vote for him.

Joe Eastman a 'Citizen for David Oh' says Oh has "a hundred percent support from community leaders and all Asian publications. The Asian community understands it's a very important time for them and this gives them representation."

Eastman went on to say that Oh's support is not only limited to the Asian community he also has a "wide range and diverse support, he is endorsed by every paper except the Daily News, which shows the depth and breadth of his support."

Standing amid the 'Citizens for David Oh,' there was a relatively low stream of voters and Eastman said it had picked up after the rain and expects it to be a bit steadier after work hours. Eastman said voter turnout was very diverse and the Asian voters were among 60-70% in the "most competitive race," after the mayoral race of course.

I saw a lot of elderly people voting and David Oh's representatives did not skip a beat. I found a few of those elderly voters did not seem to speak English but they nodded their allegiance to David Oh when shown a newspaper with his face on the front cover. They gladly accepted the fliers. The job of the 'Citizens for David Oh' is to "let people know Oh's number and where he is on the ballot to get in there and vote for him."

Their job was not in vain. I asked an 88 year old voter if he voted for David Oh and he enthusiastically shouted "I certainly did." He went on to say he voted for him because "I like to see one of my countrymen in the seat."

Others were less enthused to vote for Oh but did so anyway because "he is a very moderate republican, more moderate than the other two," said one Chinatown resident who is "not a fan of nepotism." He said although he is a Democrat, he would rather vote a moderate Republican into the seat as opposed to the current trend of mayor's sons.

John from South Philly voted for Oh simply because "he's a cool dude."

Timothy and Anne Duffield from the loft district said their decision to vote for Oh was swayed by public opinion. Mrs. Duffield unabashedly stated since "he's very highly endorsed by the Inquirer," her vote was determined. Both are Democrats but Mr. Duffield believes "you don't have to vote everyone into government who is like you; it's good to have new blood in council."

I was highly curious why there were only David Oh reps that were rocking the vote. Was it simply based on ethnicity? Eastman confirmed since David Oh's success would be a hallmark and make history in the Asian community, it would be "ridiculous for us not to be here." Allan Wong, David Oh representative and second-vice president of the Chinese Benevolent Association affirms "it's not just simply because he is Asian; he has ideas to change government." When asked why they were the lone city council-at-large reps Eastman pointed out "the real battle is in the Northeast."

I was amazed to find many Democrats voting for a Republican but I assume they were doing as one Oh rep was encouraging people to, "vote for the person, not the party."

Dashira Alexis Harris is a graduating senior at Temple University. She is a Broadcast Journalism major, business minor. Dashira talked to voters around the city and especially in some of the neighborhoods with large Asian populations to get an idea of the level of support for Council At-Large candidate David Oh.

A Daily News staffer just voted in the 15th ward in Fairmount and, in her very anecdotal report, says turnout is still low. She was voter number 151 of 650 registered voters.

Here's the front:

And here's the back:

Nutter was handing out T-shirts today too, but they weren't as witty. Check after the jump:

(We're borrowing Tim in his work as a desk assistant at KYW Newsradio. Here is the first of a Tim's blog entries from within that organization to provide our readers with some sense of how the media is covering the race. Very meta, I know. We'll also have reports from WHYY 91FM's news operation throughout the night. - Dan)

I just got into the station for my first election night at KYW Newsradio. I just started my job here as a desk assistant a few weeks ago, and am looking forward to this experience. I will not have any special election duties for the evening besides helping with the phones but I will observe our coverage around the Delaware Valley. So far, our team of reporters are being given their election assignments. That's all for now. KYW's Election night coverage begins at 7pm.

Tim Jimenez is a senior broadcast journalism major at Temple University. Tim will be blogging from wherever he is assigned election night as a desk assistant for KYW News Radio.

If you've been listening closely to Michael Nutter in the campaign (and we have, for a year and a half) then you've begun to notice something lately.

The candidate has turned from campaign talk to mayor-elect talk.

We've heard Nutter begin to voice the themes that (OK, we'll issue the disclaimer, IF he wins tonight) he's going to voice as mayor.

Some of those are: A large-scale call to public service. More open government. And a burnishing of our civic pride.

They could be summed up as "a new day," a phrase he's been using a lot lately.

I'll betcha money we'll hear those (IF he wins) in a speech tonight.

It's that civic pride message that I saw, yet again, in an invitation I just got from the Franklin Institute. It's for the launch of their new exhibit, "Identity, an exhibition of you." As much as I love the Franklin Institute (and I do), that would not normally catch my eye. What did was the speaker:

7:00pm
Michael Nutter
A special keynote address on
"The Identity of the New Philadelphia"

I'll blog after his speech (IF he wins) on whether he uses these themes in his speech.

(Unfortunately I didn't create an account for this blogger, Joseph Hegarty, but here is his account from today's action. - Dan P.)

As I boarded the southbound Broad Street line on my way to see how this year's election was doing, I really had no idea what I would find. As the subway screeched to a halt at the Lombard-South station I began to think about what I was about to see. Much to my surprise I was greeted with a number of volunteers ready to help me find the information I needed.

I was directed to Ms. Carlie Seltzer a voting official who was more than happy to answer any questions that I had.

I started off asking her how the voting process was going so far. She replied that it was a big turnout for her district that in the 10 years she has been working elections averages around a 5% turnout from registered voters. She says that such low numbers are expected since a majority of her voters are students from colleges around the city. As of about 5 o'clock the district had recorded a little over 13% of their registered voters coming in to vote. Despite the high turnout for this one location, City wide voter turnout overall has been extremely low.

She also said that most of the Republicans in her district are always there to vote, trying to make a difference, but since in the wide view of things they don't make much of a difference at all given the city's highly democratic beliefs.

Walking away from this experience I realized that one party politics makes for a very dull Election Day, and that the only way to really entice voters out to their local polling place is to offer the voters a real race.

Joseph Hegarty, is a senior at Temple University and a member of the TV News Reporting Class. His assignment included measuring turnout at specific locations and soliciting insights from volunteers on the nature of city politics.

“I am not a stalker” was the thought I had many times this late afternoon.

Nutter’s last stop before heading to his hotel was Melrose Diner in South Philadelphia. He was schedule to be there at 3:15, but when that time came, he did not.

I asked the manager if he was still coming. She said she had no clue that they were going to receive a visit from the candidate. But there were people in the diner who were waiting for him. One of those people was Carmen Garcia of Dallas, Texas. Garcia told me she a good friend of Nutter. She had ran a mayoral campaign in Dallas, and was overcome with excitement when she heard he was running for mayor in Philadelphia.

She and I kept looking out the window to see if had arrived. She asked out loud what car he was driving, and I think she was surprised that I knew the answer.

At 3:52 Nutter and his crew finally arrived. He met with the people in the diner, shook their hands, talked briefly to them, and then he sat down and ate a slice of cake.

I approached his spokesperson, Melanie Johnson, to ask what was next on their agenda. When I introduced myself she said she knew who I was because I had been following them all day. Eventually she told me that they were just going to head back to the Warwick Hotel.

As Nutter ate his slice of cake, I took a good look at him. He and his family all had smiles on their faces. But I could tell in their eyes they were tired. I must admit, even I was tired. But they remained energetic and talked to the people and answered their questions.

Then one of his photographers turned to me and said, “You’ve been following us all day.”

If I wasn’t so tried I would had said, “I can’t follow you if you walk into a place after I do.”

But I smiled at him and told him what I was up to. He was really nice.

Before leaving the diner, I talked to several citizens.

Michelle DaLuca, manager of the diner, said is a Democrat and is going to vote Democrat. She had made her decision to vote for Nutter after he won the primary.

“He’s one of us,” she said. “His kid’s in public school and that’s a big thing. He’s been around.”

“If Mr. Nutter does, in the city of Philadelphia, what he proposes to do, we’re going to have a very good city. If he doesn’t it’s just lip service, just like the other mayor,” said Floyd Wright of South Philadelphia.

He told me that he has no faith in politicians until they can prove to him that they are making the right changes. Wright said that he is willing to give Nutter two years before passing judgment. When Nutter becomes mayor, the first thing he wants for him to do is “get these guns and pistols that are illegal off the streets. Because the people with legal permits don’t even pull guns, I’m one of them.”

Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be with the Nutter campaign and voters around Philadelphia throughout the day.

Standing outside a polling place where he was meeting and greeting voters late this afternoon, Democratic candidate for county commissioner Joe Hoeffel said he was optimistic about his party's chances in today's election.

Hoeffel, a former Congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate, touched on a number of important issues in local government including traffic control and health care but he emphasized the importance of a Democratic party win in this traditionally Republican-controlled county for both the county itself and the entire state. Hoeffel predicted that dissatisfaction with the Bush administration would be the boost needed by him and his running mate, Ruth Damsker, as they seek to create the first Democratic majority in Montgomery County in over a hundred years.

During this 20-minute conversation with Hoeffel, about 15 to 20 people went in and out of the polling place signaling a moderate but heavier-than-expected turnout.

Stay tuned for a complete wrap up of events in Montgomery County as well as a report on the scene from the Republican Party election night celebration with candidate Jim Matthews.

Stephanie Ramirez is a junior at Temple University majoring in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Political Science. Stephanie is talking to voters and candidates in Montgomery County about the County Commissioner’s race, which according to pollster Terry Madonna of Franklin and Marshall College, is being watched around the country as a bell weather for national trends.

Election Day is a big day in Philadelphia with regards to the mayoral race, but with all of the hustle and bustle of that race many Philadelphians have forgotten about the statewide judicial races. These races focused mainly on the election of two new Justices of the Supreme Court, Superior Court judges, and Commonwealth Court judges.

Of all of the candidates in these races, three are native Philadelphians including: Seamus McCaffery for Justice of the Supreme Court, John Milton Younge for Judge of the Superior Court, and Doris A. Smith-Ribner, up for retention for Judge of the Commonwealth Court. When I went out to ask voters in Philadelphia about their views on the judge race I anticipated much support for the Philadelphians running in the race. I quickly found that that was not true.

(At the request of those who were interviewed, only first names or initials will be used to identify them.)

“The Philadelphia judicial system is the pits so a candidate being from Philadelphia doesn’t influence my decision,” said Mardella, a North Philadelphia resident.

I found that many did not know much about the judge race or simply did not care.

“A few people that voted so far today did not know anything about the race for judge,” a voter and volunteer who went simply by “CRR” said.

Another poll worker who would not disclose his name said, “The judges running all know what they are doing so it doesn’t matter as long as Nutter is mayor.” He went on to say, "the voters know what they are doing…they are all smart people.”

“I voted all females for the judge race, because it is something different,” said one man who went by Eric, “and the only thing that I am concerned about is the mayoral race.”

Mardella seemed to be one of the few more compassionate voters who actually cared about the turnout of the judicial race with concerns regarding her children.

“The judge race is very important to me because they have the power to send our children to jail,” she said, “I want judges who know what they are doing and voters need to research to find someone to vote for who is going to do something for everyone.”

With her concerns for the race she did not seem satisfied with any of the contenders as she also added, “Can we get new people to run?”

“CRR”, the poll volunteer had some other aspects concerning her decision.

“The judge for Superior Court is the most important one to me,” she said, “Being black and there being only two black people running for Superior Court, I want them elected.”

A visit from John Milton Younge today at her polling station also seemed to help her in her decision, “He(Younge) spoke with me today and influenced me to vote for him and him being from Philadelphia also has something to do with my decision,” she said.

Overall, many seem unhappy with the way things have been run in the past. The overall consensus is that as long as Nutter is the mayor everything will be better.

Tiffany Miller is a junior, broadcast journalism major at Temple University. Tiffany focuses on the statewide judicial races attempting to find out how informed voters are about these races and why voters don’t seem to know or care who the people are who make some of the most important decisions affecting their lives. What do people do when they don’t know the candidates? Will they vote their party or vote for some other reasons?

Want results of city races? We'll get you results of city races! Keep a close eye on our main page, www.TheNextMayor.com, for the latest election results -- all night long!

And it's probably a good time to say this.

We've been working on The Next Mayor project for two years now. And when we get a mayor-elect, we're not going to rest.

We'll keep covering the news of the transition -- and the issues that are shaping the next mayor's term -- until that guy takes office ... and beyond.

So stay with us at The Next Mayor. And, from Dan and me, thank you for reading. We've enjoyed bringing the news of the election to you, and look forward to the next chapter!

We'll be posting results as soon as they come in.

for the 5th and 9th District Council races.

I'm going out on a limb but I'd say that Darrell Clarke and Marian Tasco will win their uncontested races.

More to follow from the city and the suburbs.

With this message, sent via e-mail:

Congratulations Mayor-Elect Nutter and new and returning members of City Council. Philadelphia Forward and our Constituency for Change stand ready to work with you to move the city we love in a positive direction.

And Forward goes on to say:

In recent weeks, the media has been filled with accounts of the looming fiscal crisis that Mayor-elect Nutter will inherit when he takes office in January. On newsstands now, Philadelphia Magazine offers an article with a title that blares, "Congratulations, Mayor Nutter: Boy, are you screwed." Citypaper echoed, "Congrats, Mayor Nutter (Now let's show him what he's won...)." However, rumors of the city's fiscal collapse have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, while the city certainly has short- and long-term budget issues to face, the city's fiscal state is enviable, not a crisis.

With 4 of 1681 voting divisions checking in, Michael Nutter leads Al Taubenberger by 96 percent to 4 percent. In absolute terms that's 407 votes to 15 votes.

It's early yet, of course.

The AP has just called Michael Nutter the winner of the mayor's race in Philadelphia. Here's the text:

BULLETIN (AP) -- Michael Nutter, Dem, elected Mayor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

With 9 divisions reporting, Nutter is holding onto an 88 percent to 12 percent lead.

In the Supreme Court race, the Democrats are taking an early lead (probably fueled by the Philadelphia returns). With 19 of 9,267 precincts reporting we have:

Seamus McCaffery, Dem 2,027 - 48 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 1,754 - 41 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 278 - 7 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 184 - 4 percent

VERY early yet on that.

Nutter just spoke to a crowd of reporters at the Warwick Hotel in Center City, his hangout for the evening. Catherine Lucey was there, too. (As were pols including Lynne Abraham and Angel Ortiz.)

"I feel pretty good," Nutter told reporters. "I don't have any solid numbers, obviously, the polls closed a little while ago. [But] it feels like people are ready for change."

And he promised just that: "I am going to change the way we do business in Philadelphia," he said.

Reporters also asked if he had spoken today to Al Taubenberger, his buddy on the campaign trail through so many earnest and well-meaning appearances and debates. "I have not," he replied. "Today is perhaps the only day I have not spoken to Al Taubenberger."

With 25 divisions reporting:

NUTTER [D] - 3,582 - 87%(X)
TAUBENBERGER [R] - 531 - 13%

Holding steady in the high 80s. Predictions anyone?

In City Council meanwhile:

KENNEY [D] 2,753 18%
GOODE JR. [D] 2,664 17%
GREEN [D] 2,621 17%
BROWN [D] 2,522 16%
GREENLEE [D] 2,358 15%
RIZZO [R] 872 6%
KELLY [R] 611 4%
OH [R] 551 4%
KERWICK [R] 241 2%
MATTERN [R] 288 2%
HART [O] 26 0%
ROBERTS [G] 55 0%

Edited to add:

DiCicco and Verna are both running away with it. DiCicco 85 percent to 15 percent over Seidenberg (wasn't he a defenseman for the Flyers?) and Verna 87 percent to 13 percent over Black.

Since the Mayor's race has been called, I'm going to leave it to Wendy to handle the "Margin Watch." Check it out on the main page. I'll be here posting results from City Council, statewide and suburban races as I get them.

Mayor Philadelphia
70 of 1,681 precincts - 4 percent
x-Michael A. Nutter, Dem 9,430 - 85 percent
Al Taubenberger, GOP 1,691 - 15 percent
John Staggs, SWP 32 - 0 percent

Supreme Court Justice
73 of 9,267 precincts - 1 percent
Seamus McCaffery, Dem 8,860 - 47 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 7,351 - 39 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 1,537 - 8 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 960 - 5 percent
2 to be elected.

Supreme Court Retain Saylor
2 of 9,267 precincts - 0 percent
Yes, 338 - 69 percent
No, 150 - 31 percent

Superior Court Judge
73 of 9,267 precincts - 1 percent
Christine Donohue, Dem 7,555 - 30 percent
John Younge, Dem 7,114 - 28 percent
Ron Folino, Dem 6,707 - 27 percent
Cheryl Allen, GOP 1,456 - 6 percent
Jackie Shogan, GOP 1,334 - 5 percent
Bruce Bratton, GOP 1,093 - 4 percent
3 to be elected.

Again... VERY early for some of those races.

Supreme Court Justice
479 of 9,267 precincts - 5 percent
Seamus McCaffery, Dem 56,900 - 43 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 46,938 - 36 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 16,654 - 13 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 11,160 - 8 percent
2 to be elected.

McCaffery and Todd are holding on to their early lead but it seems as more of the rest of the state report in that it's starting to erode what was, most likely, a lead fueled by southeastern PA votes.

Supreme Court Retain Saylor
310 of 9,267 precincts - 3 percent
Yes, 17,947 - 72 percent
No, 6,977 - 28 percent

Superior Court Judge
344 of 9,267 precincts - 4 percent
Christine Donohue, Dem 34,723 - 27 percent
John Younge, Dem 30,202 - 24 percent
Ron Folino, Dem 29,940 - 23 percent
Jackie Shogan, GOP 12,168 - 9 percent
Cheryl Allen, GOP 12,051 - 9 percent
Bruce Bratton, GOP 9,057 - 7 percent
3 to be elected.

Again, continue to check out the margin-o-meter at the main page for the latest on Mayor and Philadelphia City Council.

Supreme Court Justice
1,078 of 9,267 precincts - 12 percent
Seamus McCaffery, Dem 126,438 - 39 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 110,468 - 34 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 53,921 - 17 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 35,625 - 11 percent
2 to be elected.

Superior Court Judge
1,006 of 9,267 precincts - 11 percent
Christine Donohue, Dem 99,502 - 25 percent
Ron Folino, Dem 90,265 - 23 percent
John Younge, Dem 82,420 - 21 percent
Cheryl Allen, GOP 44,747 - 11 percent
Jackie Shogan, GOP 44,152 - 11 percent
Bruce Bratton, GOP 32,084 - 8 percent
3 to be elected.

Supreme Court Retain Saylor
961 of 9,267 precincts - 10 percent
Yes, 69,941 - 70 percent
No, 29,949 - 30 percent

COUNCIL AT LARGE
46.52 % 782/1681 Precincts Completed.
KENNEY, JAMES F DEMOCRATIC 81841 16.06 %
GOODE JR, W WILSON DEMOCRATIC 77219 15.15 %
GREENLEE, WILLIAM K DEMOCRATIC 66434 13.04 %
GREEN, BILL DEMOCRATIC 81267 15.95 %
REYNOLDS BROWN, BLONDELL DEMOCRATIC 71845 14.10 %
RIZZO, FRANK REPUBLICAN 38542 7.56 %
KELLY, JACK REPUBLICAN 31286 6.14 %
OH, DAVID REPUBLICAN 29668 5.82 %
MATTERN, PATRICIA A REPUBLICAN 14407 2.83 %
KERWICK, PHIL REPUBLICAN 13291 2.61 %
BROWN ROBERTS, JACINTH GREEN 2723 0.53 %
HART, OSBORNE SOCIALIST WORKERS 1062 0.21 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 1ST DISTRICT
67.86 % 114/168 Precincts Completed.
DICICCO, FRANK J DEMOCRATIC 14271 81.96 %
SEIDENBERG, MICHAEL L REPUBLICAN 3137 18.02 %
Write In 5 0.03 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 2ND DISTRICT
45.00 % 81/180 Precincts Completed.
VERNA, ANNA C DEMOCRATIC 9655 88.00 %
BLACK, WILLIAM REPUBLICAN 1314 11.98 %
Write In 2 0.02 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 3RD DISTRICT
27.75 % 48/173 Precincts Completed.
BLACKWELL, JANNIE L DEMOCRATIC 5374 92.34 %
HAIRSTON SR, KEITH A REPUBLICAN 445 7.65 %
Write In 1 0.02 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 4TH DISTRICT
64.33 % 101/157 Precincts Completed.
JONES JR, CURTIS J DEMOCRATIC 16187 91.45 %
JOHNAKIN, MELVIN C REPUBLICAN 1506 8.51 %
Write In 8 0.05 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 5TH DISTRICT
53.69 % 109/203 Precincts Completed.
CLARKE, DARRELL L DEMOCRATIC 13242 99.82 %
Write In 24 0.18 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 6TH DISTRICT
55.00 % 88/160 Precincts Completed.
KRAJEWSKI, JOAN L DEMOCRATIC 11218 80.04 %
EBSWORTH, MICHAEL REPUBLICAN 2797 19.96 %
Write In 0 0.00 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 7TH DISTRICT
59.01 % 95/161 Precincts Completed
QUINONES SANCHEZ, MARIA DEMOCRATIC 7722 78.14 %
GRISAFI, GARY REPUBLICAN 2115 21.40 %
PINEDA, LUIS A INDEPENDENT 43 0.44 %
Write In 2 0.02 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 8TH DISTRICT

29.48 % 51/173 Precincts Completed.
REED MILLER, DONNA DEMOCRATIC 7404 85.31 %
RUDNICK, BRIAN GREEN 187 2.15 %
FOSTER, JAMES INDEPENDENT 123 1.42 %
BROWN JR, JESSE W VOTE JESSE BROWN 965 11.12 %
Write In 0 0.00 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 9TH DISTRICT
34.87 % 53/152 Precincts Completed.
TASCO, MARIAN B DEMOCRATIC 7395 99.96 %
Write In 3 0.04 %

DISTRICT COUNCIL 10TH DISTRICT
27.27 % 42/154 Precincts Completed.
MC ALEER, SEAN PATRICK DEMOCRATIC 4546 40.17 %
O NEILL, BRIAN J REPUBLICAN 6769 59.81 %
Write In 2 0.02 %

The mayoral election has been anticlimactic as expected and the AP has already declared Michael Nutter the winner.

Reporters have been filing their reports all night with updates from all over the Delaware Valley.

Larry Kane is here in the studio along with Cheryl Elias and they have had discussions with Sen. Vince Fumo, Nutter insider Jon Saler, Franklin and Marshall's Terry Madonna, and John Dougherty.

It's a little more hectic than usual on this Tuesday evening, but that's an election day for you.

Tim Jimenez is a senior broadcast journalism major at Temple University. Tim will be blogging from wherever he is assigned election night as a desk assistant for KYW News Radio.

Montgomery County Commissioner

4.85% reporting

Rep - Bruce Castor 3,140 or 26.84%
Dem - Joseph M. Hoeffel 2,944 or 25.17%
Rep - Jim Matthews 2,874 or 24.57%
Dem - Ruth S. Damsker 2,736 or 23.39%
Write-In 3 or 0.03%

Chester County Commissioner (Top 3 win)

With 2 percent reporting:

CAROL AICHELE (REP) . . . . . . . 523 or 28.88%
TERENCE FARRELL (REP) . . . . . . 476 or 26.28%
KATHI COZZONE (DEM) . . . . . . . 423 or 23.36%
BILL SCOTT (DEM) . . . . . . . . 387 or 21.37%
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 2 or .11%

Check it out on our results page. With 71% reporting, Jack Kelly leads David Oh by .06 percent! Down to the wire it goes.

With 76% of the divisions reporting, there have been 222,066 total votes cast in the mayoral race.

Extrapolating to 100% results in about 292,000 total votes. Given the registration data that's available on the state's website, that works out to roughly 29.4% voter turnout.

How does that compare to past, open seat elections?

In 1991, the official election turnout was 60.8% or 484,575 voters participating out of 795,957 registered voters. In 1999, the official turnout of registered voters was 44.8%, with 441,981 voters participating out of 985,912 registered.

Of course, it's very unlikely that with the population of the city shrinking as it did during the 90s that the total number of actual registered voters increased so dramatically. The absolute number of votes cast declined by about 9% which tracks pretty closely to overall population loss. What does that mean? Probably that despite the difference in turnout percentage, the two races were pretty close in actual voter participation.

Now... 8 years later... the number of absolute votes cast looks like it'll be about 292,000 for a drop of about 34 percent (!)

So yes, turnout looks like it will be a record low for an open seat race. To put it in perspective, Ed Rendell's re-election in 1995 had an official election turnout was 38.6%, with 327,863 voters participating. So it's looking like this year's walk-over will top Rendell's walk-over in it's overall effect on voter interest.

The latest on the judicial races:

Supreme Court Justice
5,088 of 9,267 precincts - 55 percent
Seamus McCaffery, Dem 612,182 - 32 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 547,250 - 29 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 415,551 - 22 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 322,315 - 17 percent
2 to be elected.

Supreme Court Retain Saylor
4,714 of 9,267 precincts - 51 percent
Yes, 470,518 - 66 percent
No, 239,597 - 34 percent

Ok. Looks like Saylor will hold on and avoid being the second Supreme Court Justice ever to lose a retention vote.

Superior Court Judge
4,754 of 9,267 precincts - 51 percent
Christine Donohue, Dem 509,571 - 22 percent
Ron Folino, Dem 440,645 - 19 percent
John Younge, Dem 401,040 - 17 percent
Jackie Shogan, GOP 356,250 - 15 percent
Cheryl Allen, GOP 355,056 - 15 percent
Bruce Bratton, GOP 286,909 - 12 percent
3 to be elected.

Returns from the rest of state look like they're starting to swing things towards the Republicans but the Democrats still cling to thing leads.

“Overall, it was a pretty light election and a pretty well behaved election,” said Chris Sheridan, director of voting rights and election reform for the Committee of Seventy.

There were a lot of complaints about electioneering from the 8th councilmanic district, where incumbent Donna Reed Miller is battling Jesse Brown, Jr. in a competitive race, he said. But other than that and a few “garden variety issues,” of late poll openings and machine problems, Sheridan said, “it was pretty quiet.”

The story in the media will be that national discontent with the Republican party seems to have cooled a little too much to carry over into these local races. With varying percentages of the votes counted, it looks the GOP will retain control of the Commissioner's Office in Bucks, Chester and Montgomery Counties and keep their unanimity on Delaware County Council.

The Delco website is a little difficult to interpret since it's broken down into each borough and township and doesn't provide a definitive countywide count, but as far as I can tell, the numbers look like this:

Democrat David LANDAU 39,480
Democrat Ann M. O'KEEFE 38,206
Democrat John F. INNELLI 36,099
Republican Christine FIZZANO CANNON 56,153
Republican Thomas J. MCGARRIGLE 53,901
Republican Andy LEWIS 52,891

So far, it looks like the three Republicans will fill the three contested seats on county council, shutting out the Democrats.

In Montgomery County, Joe Hoeffel may be returning to a position he is familiar with, having served as the minority commissioner for two terms in the 1990s:

40.05% reporting
Rep - Bruce Castor 31,594 or 27.28%
Rep - Jim Matthews 29,224 or 25.23%
Dem - Joseph M. Hoeffel 28,709 or 24.79%
Dem - Ruth S. Damsker 26,285 or 22.69%

Top three move take it with control going to the party that gets the top two.

In Chester County, a similar story:

WITH 53 OF 224 PRECINCTS COUNTED (23.66%)
CAROL AICHELE (REP) . . . . . . . 8,656 or 29.38%
TERENCE FARRELL (REP) . . . . . . 7,795 or 26.46%
KATHI COZZONE (DEM) . . . . . . . 6,742 or 22.88%
BILL SCOTT (DEM) . . . . . . . . 6,253 or 21.22%

And the same in Buxco:
123 Districts Reported of 308 (40%)
Jim Cawley (R) 21310 or 26.4%
Diane Marseglia (D) 19925 or 24.7%
Charles H. Martin (R) 19115 or 23.7%
Steve Santarsiero (D) 18013 or 22.4%

With 92% reporting, David Oh leads Jack Kelly 58312 to 58187.

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME.

57928 to 57907!

Holy crap!

I don't think we're going to know a winner tonight.

Supreme Court Justice
7,091 of 9,267 precincts - 77 percent
Seamus McCaffery, Dem 845,315 - 30 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 778,959 - 28 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 656,288 - 24 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 505,434 - 18 percent
2 to be elected.

McCaffery looks like he might hold on and while the gap between Todd and Lally-Green is closing, it may not be closing fast enough for Lally-Green to overtake but it remains to be seen. I have no idea where the as yet uncounted 23% is coming from.

Superior Court Judge
7,018 of 9,267 precincts - 76 percent
Christine Donohue, Dem 763,243 - 20 percent
Ron Folino, Dem 651,830 - 17 percent
Jackie Shogan, GOP 636,691 - 17 percent
Cheryl Allen, GOP 618,956 - 16 percent
John Younge, Dem 595,906 - 16 percent
Bruce Bratton, GOP 532,017 - 14 percent
3 to be elected.

While Donohue looks like she'll be at least one Democrat to win statewide for Superior Court, the other two spots are way too close to call.

With about 93% reporting, Kelly - 59208 to Oh - 59036.

Supreme and Superior Court results coming soon.

Jack Kelly - 59925

David Oh - 59835

If my math is correct... that's 90 right? It's getting late and I'm getting punchy.

David Oh - 59666
Jack Kelly - 59645

Wow. That's all I got... Wow.

The AP has called it for Judge McCaffery.

With 83 percent reporting:

Supreme Court Justice
7,685 of 9,267 precincts - 83 percent
x-Seamus McCaffery, Dem 944,034 - 30 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 837,601 - 27 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 744,088 - 24 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 576,503 - 19 percent
2 to be elected.

x- declared winner.

Todd is holding onto that lead. She's got about 93,000 on Lally-Green.

David Oh - 60089

Jack Kelly - 60045

This has to end soon, right?

Nutter won. Surprise.

According to Josh over at the Metro's blog, the folks at the Board of Elections have headed home for the night having counted 96% of the votes. Apparently that's just about all of the votes they can count tonight with the rest either still in the machines or in absentee ballots. So for tonight, margin between David Oh and Jack Kelly remains 44 votes with Oh holding the edge. It could be a while before we know the final outcome.

With about 87 to 88 percent of the votes counted in the statewide judicial races, it looks like the Democrats will take both of the open Supreme Court seats - a pretty historic feat in this state. Expect a lot more to be said about that in the next few days. Here are the results for that race and the latest Superior Court races:

Supreme Court Justice
8,190 of 9,267 precincts - 88 percent
x-Seamus McCaffery, Dem 1,027,036 - 30 percent
Debra Todd, Dem 905,273 - 27 percent
Maureen Lally-Green, GOP 828,684 - 24 percent
Mike Krancer, GOP 647,286 - 19 percent
2 to be elected.

Superior Court Judge
8,132 of 9,267 precincts - 88 percent
Christine Donohue, Dem 911,298 - 20 percent
Jackie Shogan, GOP 801,401 - 17 percent
Cheryl Allen, GOP 795,948 - 17 percent
Ron Folino, Dem 771,974 - 17 percent
John Younge, Dem 705,058 - 15 percent
Bruce Bratton, GOP 680,357 - 15 percent
3 to be elected.

The are on their way to taking 2 out of the 3 available Superior Court spots.

In the burbs:

Not much has changed. Republicans seem to be on their way to retaining control in Bucks, Chester and Montgomery and monopoly in Delaware. Here's the latest I can find.

76 percent counted in Chester County, we have:
COUNTY COMMISSIONER

BILL SCOTT (DEM) . . . . . . . . 24,450 or 20.73%
KATHI COZZONE (DEM) . . . . . . . 26,223 or 22.24%
CAROL AICHELE (REP) . . . . . . . 35,110 or 29.77%
TERENCE FARRELL (REP) . . . . . . 32,051 or 27.18%

With 94% counted in the Delaware County Council race:

CANNON [R] 56,153 20%
MCGARRIGLE [R] 53,901 19%
LEWIS [R] 52,891 19%
LANDAU [D] 39,480 14%
O'KEEFE [D] 38,206 14%
INNELLI [D] 36,099 13%

In Bucks, with 90% counted:

Jim Cawley (R) 51593 or 26.3%
Diane Marseglia (D) 48909 or 24.9%
Charles H. Martin (R) 46210 or 23.5%
Steve Santarsiero (D) 44407 or 22.6%
Jay Russell (Const) 5258 or 2.7%

And finally, in Montgomery with 80% counted:

Rep - Bruce Castor 72,233 or 27.63%
Rep - Jim Matthews 66,885 or 25.58%
Dem - Joseph M. Hoeffel 63,827 or 24.41%
Dem - Ruth S. Damsker 58,483 or 22.37%

Don't forget: We've got all the city races (mayor, council, row offices) up on our results page. It's up to date with the last information posted by the city tonight, and we'll keep it up to date in the days to come.

Michael Nutter wasted no time on issuing his first call as mayor-elect: He's looking for "the brightest and best individuals" to come work for him.

These aren't necessarily paid jobs. And there's a strict screening process (read the FAQ here).

Still, it's a pretty inspiring help-wanted ad, and, as I predicted, it's full of his well-foreshadowed "New Day" theme:

Michael Nutter believes that there is a new feeling in this City; a growing sense that if we all work together, if we expect more of ourselves, if we are dedicated to making Philadelphia better for everyone, we can make our City one of the truly great cities of the world.

Michael is looking for the brightest and best individuals who are committed to rolling-up their sleeves and working for his Administration to bring about the changes that the Citizens of Philadelphia have elected him to make.

(bumped to the top for the duration of the show)

Live blogging... most recent comments appear at the top.

10:59 AM - Check back here in about an hour for a link to the podcast of this episode.

10:57AM Nutter finishes by saying that he wants to restore the pride. That the city has a self-esteem problem, an inferiority complex. He even refers to Baltzell's book about "Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia" (correctly pointing out that most of us weren't alive when those conditions existed). He ends by exhorting everyone to start by being civil to each other. "Just say hello," says Nutter, "just... say... hello."

I really feel like I've heard all of these questions and answers before. Are there any new questions out there?

10:56AM - A caller brings up a question about retaining the people who come here for college but most of whom go to other cities. Nutter responds that many of them leave, not because they don't like the city, but because there aren't jobs for them here.

10:54AM Caller wants to re-frame the question of leadership. Can the people in this city be led? Can you bring them together and get past apathy and the difficulties that many people have in their daily lives? Nutter: "When you have hopeful people... you can get them to take more responsibility for their stuff," (ie for the part they play in affecting change).

10:50AM Marty - "We've talked about a number of issues. Can you do it all?" Nutter: It won't all happen on the first day and for many things it'll come down to whether we'll have the money. He wants to pick up something, anything, in each of these areas that can be done to get the process started.

10:48AM A caller named Larry brings up the interesting point of supporting smaller arts and culture organizations. This brings up the large point about leadership on arts and culture in general. "Participatory arts are critical," says Nutter, "I want to see to it that art and music are restored as standard in the school curriculum." He continues by talking money and finances and cites the Cultural Alliance study that points to the return on arts and culture investment. He'll be working on trying to establish a regional arts fund since arts and culture is a regional issue.

10:46AM Marty asks if there has been a leadership void in Philadelphia, "no one willing to stand up for change." Nutter responds that his victory in the spring, against all odds and when no one thought he could win, could signal to people that change is possible. How contracts are awarded will be different, according to Nutter.

10:44AM A caller brings up public transportation issues. "If we're going to pay the highest fare in the nation, we should probably have the best service," says Nutter. He says that he's not certain that SEPTA understands that aspect of their mission.

10:38AM: Making the city a green city - Nutter says it's not just about the environment but it's also a matter of money. "I want Philadelphia to be the number 1 green city in America," says Nutter. That includes changing the zoning code and building code to encourage green building.

10:34AM: Nutter WILL NOT negotiate the union contracts on Marty Moss-Coane's radio show. Good to know. We'll see what happens in the heat of battle when both sides are trying to get their messages out. Marty presses with the difficulties of the pension fund and health care benefits. Nutter responds by saying that he's in the same boat with all of the city employees since he's also vested in the pension fund. He's not going to put off the changes needed to secure the union benefits and make them sustainable.

10:31AM: Conversations turns to the Parking Authority. Nutter feels that the control of the Parking Authority should eventually return to the city but that the mayor can't do it. When Marty presses him and says that the state took over because the city couldn't manage the PPA, Nutter says that "it's a new administration" he'd like to demonstrate that he would be different.

10:29AM: Marty asks about whether Nutter favors the education system that includes the School Reform Commission.

10:28AM: The conversation turns to casinos. Nutter says that when the governor called him to congratulate him, he told the governor that there a number of things he wanted to talk to him about, including gaming.

10:25AM: In response to a caller, Nutter repeats his call for a "new day" and sustaining the momentum of the campaign. Marty follows up with a question about "what concrete steps" or "early actions that people can actually see" will Nutter use to demonstrate change. Nutter responds with his idea of a citywide clean up shortly after his inauguration.

Marty Moss-Coane welcomes mayor-elect (finally we can officially say that) Michael Nutter to Radio Times on WHYY 91FM at 10am today.

Here are instructions on how to listen live on your computer at 10am. Or check back later for a link that you can use to download the entire episode.

Feel free to call in or comment on this post as you listen.

Michael Nutter made his call for public service clear in his first speech as mayor-elect in an event sponsored by the Committee of Seventy this morning.

It was inspirational message, and it is a powerful first act.

"I want people to start thinking about changing their lives and changing their careers to come into the government of the City of Philadelphia," he said.

Actually, he started that sentiment by harkening to President Kennedy's call to public service in the 1960s, including his famous statement that "no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best."

But he put the message in a context that's purely Philadelphia in 2007:

"We need your help in order to turn this government around. Change our policies and practices, to have new ideas and new ways of doing business in the city ... we are going to clean up this government, but also change the way we do what we do."

Thanks to the Daily News' Bob Warner, we have a transcript of the key parts of Nutter's speech. Check below the jump, and when your resume is dusted off, the Web site is www.nutter2007.com.

(edited to add) If you prefer, you can watch the speech here.

Wow. With 98.57% of the precincts in, David Oh is hanging on to the seventh at-large council seat by...

TWELVE VOTES.

Jack Kelley: 60,241
David Oh: 60,253

Wow.

Around 7:30pm at Jenkintown High School, people were quickly getting their votes in before the polls closed down. I had the chance to interview four people.

The first voter I interviewed was Frank Leskis. Frank told me his main concerns were against the increase of property tax and voted Republican for the Montgomery Commissoner's position. He also said he voted across the board on other issues.

The second person I interviewed was a mother named Cristin Eichert. She said her main concerns were over the local school board and the abortion issue. She categorized herself as pro-life. Eichert's vote was for Castor.

The third person I interviewed was Nicholas Pettinati. Pettinati was not too concerned with the county government races, but voted for Castor due to Hoeffel's history of assessing property taxes.

The last person I intervied was Gregory Cooper. Cooper said there weren't too may local issues that concerned him. His vote was for the Democratic Party.

My last stop of the evening was to the club house where the Republican victory party will be held.

Mathews and Castor were unavailable to speak, but I did talk to Stephen O'Toole, Press Secretary for the Matthews-Castor Campaign. O'Toole spoke about some of the main issues facing the Republican party. They were: property tax and reassessment, education, and health care. He said they were completely against raising property tax and property reassessment

(The Republican party says the Democratic party originally moved in favor of property reassessment and then later changed their standing).

For education, O'Toole specifically spoke of reforms for the Community College. Republicans are looking to expand two-year technology programs, to four-year programs hoping this will help students earn degrees.

On health care, O'Toole says Republicans are against expanding services to illegal residents. However, they are looking to provide other services for Montgomery County's citizens.

O'Toole says he can guarantee both Castor and Hoeffel will win. The main tension comes from who will win the third seat, equaling a majority in the County government. (Matthews would end up beating Damsker - ed.) O'Toole also says most of the campaign and voter turnout operates on word-of-mouth. Therefore, he's not expecting a rush of Democratic votes.

At both campaigns' headquarters, politicians are monitoring key poll locations. There are about fifteen of these key locations that are located mostly near the Philadelphia border and on the other side of Montgomery County.

Stephanie Ramirez is a junior at Temple University majoring in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Political Science. Stephanie talked to voters and candidates in Montgomery County about the County Commissioner’s race, which according to pollster Terry Madonna of Franklin and Marshall College, was being watched around the country as a bell weather for national trends.

As a budding young journalist, I got my first chance to cover a local government election tonight.

I went to Republican candidate Al Taubenberger's Northeast Philly headquarters at the Knowlton Mansion. The mansion, of course, was gorgeous, and there was an open bar and a huge buffet (filled appropriately with very German food choices) and a large main hall that acted as a polling place/Al's speaking space.

Mr. Taubenberger was absent for the first two hours after the polls closed (8pm) but then returned at 10 to deliver his concession speech in sync with Michael Nutter's victory speech.

While doing my live shots, I really got to feel the pressure of the deadline and the importance of being descriptive. It was an amazing experience for me, and I look forward to covering many more elections in the future.

Adam Ford is a Senior Broadcast Journalism major at Temple University. On weekends, Adam serves as the news anchor for WRTI Public Radio. Adam will be personally producing a radio newscast at Temple’s WRTI radio station and blogged about his coverage of the Taubenberger Election Night party.

Michael Nutter's celebrated his victory party at the grand ballroom of the Warwick Hotel. Nutter spoke to a small crowd of mostly reporters around 8:30pm emphasizing the fact that, "Philadelphia is ready to make a change," and he would be the one to do that. He said he plans first to attack the problem of crime, then education, jobs and cleaning up the city. After his speech, he shook hands and took photos as he left the room.

At the same time, his supporters purchased "Nutter for Mayor" shirts that said "He says he's going to change Philadelphia and that's what we wanna see." They said that they know Nutter will need support and that's what the people will have to give.

Donald Birts said, "today's a day to party but tomorrow is time for politics." By the time Nutter left, the crowd had almost tripled and people anxiously awaited the results. The whole crowd was cheering and excited about Nutter's victory.

Lauren Y. Greene is a senior Broadcast Journalism major and Psychology minor at Temple University. She plans on becoming a radio and television news anchor after graduation. Lauren blogged from Michael Nutter’s Election Night party on Tuesday night.

(Moved up due to relevancy and timeliness)

So says the press release that just went out. And no, it doesn't say what that announcement is.

(Also, looks like Nutter has changed the slogan that ran with his Nutter for Mayor logo from "New Leadership. New Direction. A New Philadelphia." to "A New Day. A New Way.")

(edited to add) Any guesses about what the "major announcement" might be?

...in the new administration. That was Nutter's major announcement. Dubow, as you know, is now head of budget watchdog PICA. Congrats, Rob!

Well, if you guessed "name his finance director," you were right. Doesn't look like anyone had finance director so the prize rolls over and doubles (doubling zero still gets you zero).

Today at the northwest corner of City Hall, Michael Nutter announced that Rob Dubow, executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (or PICA) would be the first of the "best and brightest" to answer the call. Dubow will be the Finance Director for the new administration.

More to follow soon.

(edited to add) (Here's a little more about today's personnel announcement.)

Stepping up to the podium at 10:57, mayor-elect Michael Nutter wanted the crowd of reporters to remember it and credit it to him against tardiness to future press events. As his aides handed out press packets with the biography of his new finance director, Nutter got right to the point and announced that Rob Dubow, executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, would be filling that position.

Nutter called the announcement symbolic in that it sends the message that getting the city's long term fiscal issues would have to be his first priority before he could begin to find the money for all of the other several programs he has proposed. Citing the need to "invest in infrastructure, continue wage and business tax cuts, develop a new budget and new 5-year plan, and negotiate fair and resonable contracts for each of the city's four municipal workers unions," Nutter said that Dubow was "the best persion I could find in the city, if not the entire United States" to help him do those things.

Nutter also referred repeatedly to the citizens of Philadelphia as "shareholders," slightly altering the traditional characterization of the "customers," possibly to send the message that they have an even greater stake in the success or failure of the city.

After Nutter's introduction, Dubow took the podium and in a very lowkey and brief speech that was barely audible above the traffic circling City Hall, he mentioned that he was "excited" for the chance to work on the city's financial future.

Upon retaking the podium, Nutter drew a laugh from the crow when he said that Dubow is "tremendous on numbers and financial analysis but not on speechmaking."

Dubow, with a quick glance to Nutter, deflected questions about the performance of the Street administration and whether they were at fault for the serious long term financial difficulties that Dubow, as PICA chief, has been warning about for several months. He did credit the current administration with its work in the short term on creating a "healthy fund balance."

Noting that his administration would need to look everywhere in the budget "to find where the money is buried," Nutter said that "no one has buried money better than Rob Dubow."

Some interesting observations from this morning's event:

- Only after about 10 questions for Nutter and Dubow did one of the assembled reporters bring up the recent criticism that Dubow received from a representative of the municipal worker's unions. When that question was asked, I wrote in my notes, "someone did their homework." The question was an insightful one that asked whether appointing Dubow, in the face of that criticism, sent a signal to the unions about the stance the administration would be taking during negotiations. Nutter, not suprisingly, deflected from that question.

- Nutter probably should have stopped about two questions before he did. Channel 6's Vernon Odom, probably sensing that a story about the "finance director" would be a difficult sell for television news, brought up a point made in the this morning's Daily News:

Nutter does seem to have been editing some of his campaign pledges. In his public-safety plan, he promised to declare a crime emergency in some of the city's worst neighborhoods on his first day in office.

"I would expect that after having named a police commissioner, the commissioner and the department will come up with a game plan that significantly addresses the crime issue in Philadelphia," Nutter said. "Whether it's the first day, second day or a week later, it will be done in a way that the citizens of Philadelphia understand what the game plan is."

Odom asked Nutter whether he would be declaring a crime emergency "on day one." Nutter replied by saying that he'll be appointing a police commissioner soon and will leave it to that appointment to help him come up with a crime strategy.

Another reporter followed up with a more pointed question, in essence asking whether if Nutter is already backtracking from the "Day One Crime Emergency" pledge, it that means that all of his policy promises are works in progress. Nutter's answer pretty much repeated the quote referenced above.

I'll be curious to see if the story in either Daily News or on television news becomes less about the finance director appointment and more about the crime emergency.

City Finance Director-elect Rob Dubow was one of the participants in our Issues Forum about the city budget and taxes. Check it out here:

The Nutter campaign transition team has posted video of today's annoucement.

(edited to add) Meanwhile, what are John Street's plans? According to Heard in the Hall, he'll be replacing "Mayor" with "Professor."

I'm a frequent critic of the quality of television news reporting in this market when it comes to politics, government and public policy issues.

But I have to give credit to CBS 3 for an interesting, albeit short, package, in which "Bucks County reporter" Lesley Van Arsdall interviews folks in Doylestown for their reactions to Nutter's election.

Check out the transcription and the video here.

However, given the short length of such a piece, it becomes up to the judgement of the reporter to figure out what the storyline will be given the soundbites that she has at her disposal. It's pretty clear here that the reporter wanted to include the oft-told story of suburbanites who are afraid of the big bad city:

Many are waiting and hoping that his term will bring positive changes to a city in crisis.

"I would like to experience Philadelphia without wearing a bulletproof vest," Jim Wentzel of Doylestown said.
...
When the new mayor takes office at Broad and Market some aren't sure if they will be safe leaving State and Main, especially with children.

"I would be nervous to take these guys [gesturing to her kids] into the city but if it changes I would love to," Philippa Krautheim said.

The rest of the bites are basically impressions - mostly good - that folks have of the city's amenities and of Nutter.

As a former suburbanite/current city resident, I'm still both amazed yet unsuprised by the impressions that many of the region's residents have of the city. I'm amazed because I get the feeling that they must think that people like me have bars on our windows and don't go out after sundown (the second part is true but not because of my fear of crime, more because of my fear of spending money). I'm unsurprised because of course the "if it bleeds, it leads" news coverage that they watch is going to make an impression.

Anyway, to supplement an interesting piece by a commercial news station, I figured I'd point out the work we did to get opinions and impressions of the city from all over the 'burbs. These ran as part of our "Counter Intelligence" series. Click on the links to see what we heard in all of these different areas:

Central Jersey | Princeton

Bucks County | Newtown Borough

Delaware County | Holmes

South Jersey | Cherry Hill

Wilmington, DE

Chester County | Kennett Square

Their words, not ours.

Well, folks, I'm going to go and get myself married on Saturday and then take a few days off from work. I'll be back on Thursday, Nov. 15th.

Wendy and the good folks at the Daily News will hold down the fort on this blog for the week so keep checking in for the latest with the Nutter transition effort.

Soon to be:

Mayor-elect Michael Nutter has made it clear that he's interested in learning from other cities. He's paid visits to cities including New York, Baltimore and Pittsburgh to learn how they've tackled some of the challenges he's about to face.

So some clever students at Fels figured they'd help Nutter cut down on the traveling a little bit.

They researched 44 good ideas that he could borrow from 17 different mayors (some of whom are no longer mayors, a couple of whom are no longer alive).

Ten of these ideas were in the Daily News this morning. The rest can be found here...

None of these are gigantic reforms; most are just smart innovations that would take very little effort to replicate in Philadelphia. But each has made a difference in their city, by making government more responsive to citizens, or by helping young people, or by keeping each mayor accountable for his or her promises.

Now that Michael Nutter has been elected, what will The Next Mayor do? Cover the heck out of the transition, of course!

He's still the next mayor, after all.

So Tuesday, what's the Nutter-elect up to? He'll be continuing on his lecture circuit, one that begun after he won the primary and has only intensified since. Nutter plans to speak at Drexel (keynote speaker, National Distance Learning Week Awards Ceremony) and at the opening of the new Franklin Institute exhibit called "Identity: An Exhibit of You." That's where he'll be talking about “The Identity of the New Philadelphia,” which is something that you can expect him to talk about a lot between now and the inauguration.

City Council is going to wait for the next administration before taking on new city ethics laws, the AP reports. From the story:

Philadelphia City Council is putting off debate on new ethics reforms until 2008, after mayor-elect Michael Nutter takes office.

The political watchdog group Committee of 70 had authored four ethics proposals that deal with lobbyists, gifts to city workers, moonlighting, and nepotism.

The measures were scheduled to be argued on Tuesday, but the hearing is being delayed until Nutter and three new Council members are sworn in.

Director Zack Stalberg says The Committee of 70 is pushing the bills but asked for the delay because there is ``very little time (this year) to hold a hearing, amend the bills if necessary, and get them passed.'' He also thinks there is a greater chance of passage in the next council term.

UNBELIEVABLE. This from the AP:

2 Phila. officers shot
Eds: NewsNow.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two Philadelphia police officers are being
treated for gunshot wounds.
Both officers were shot Tuesday evening as they were trying to
serve a warrant in the Torresdale neighborhood. No arrests were
immediately made.
One of the officers was shot in the hip and the leg. It was not
immediately clear where the other officer was wounded. Information
on their conditions was not immediately available.

Edited to add: The Daily News is reporting that the cops were serving a narcotics warrant on Josephine Street near Orthodox Street when a suspect shot at them through a door.

Most important, they are both reported to be OK. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

Just in time to make cities an issue in the 2008 presidential race! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked U.S. Rep. (and former mayoral candidate) Chaka Fattah to lead a Congressional coalition of the nation's largest cities.

Fattah has been named Chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus, which will "unite House Members who represent the nation's largest metropolitan areas to formulate ideas on how best to address the challenges faced in America's urban communities," according to Fattah's press release.

It would be excellent if Pelosi, Fattah and Co., or for that matter, anyone, could force cities front and center as the presidential race heats up.

Michael Nutter, who was giving a speech at the Franklin Institute tonight, took a moment to react to the unfathomable shooting of two Philadelphia Police officers tonight.

From the Inquirer's story, by George Anastasia, John Shiffman and Robert Moran:

"The message has got to get out that you can't shoot a Philadelphia police officer," Nutter said.

A half-hour after the officers were shot, Nutter delivered an address on Philadelphia's "new identity" to an audience at the Franklin Institute. In it, he said the city needed to discard its gritty, scrappy Rocky-style image; embrace opportunity and education; and do a better job of telling the world about Philadelphia's successes.

When he mentioned the wounded officers briefly toward the end of his remarks, members of the audience let out small groans.

"It is an unconscionable situation," Nutter said from the lectern.

After his speech, as he was flanked by the plainclothes Philadelphia police officers on his security detail, Nutter at one point paused, looked toward the ceiling of the Franklin Institute, and shook his head.

"It's just not going to be tolerated," he said.

Yo, Mike. Did we hear you dissing on Rocky?

Yup, in a speech about Philadelphia's identity at the Franklin Institute last night, Nutter said the city needs to get over the iconic Sly Stallone film Rocky, about the south Philly boxer with a dream.

Say what?

"We are entering the post-Rocky era in Philadelphia," the mayor-elect said. "I think it's an identity that doesn't serve us well."

Nutter -- who did say he enjoys the movie -- continued: The movie had a Cinderella quality about it. If you had no skills somehow you could be great."

He went on to say "We need to stop celebrating low skills and start working on an identity where smart is cool and going to college is the norm."

If any cynics harbored any doubt about how much Philadelphians want a working, enjoyable, well-planned waterfront, that should be erased by the attention paid to PlanPhilly's release of its carefully developed plan for the Delaware waterfront last night.

(If you haven't paid attention, PlanPhilly is a project of PennPraxis, which is the practical arm of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design. They have taken on the challenge of planning Philadelphia -- starting with the waterfront. Yes, this is usually a function of government. However, and despite some good people in the departments that are supposed to plan the city, Philadelphia's planning process has become fatally bound up by a combination of toxic forces: bureaucracy, the influence of developers, councilmanic privilege and NIBMYism. PlanPhilly has sought to skirt this bottleneck by providing advice directly to the citizens and government, with an emphasis on inclusion. They have a good Web site here.)

But back to last night's presentation of the waterfront plan, which was attended by 1,500 people. The plan is an attempt to create better, more liveable neighborhoods in that area; the Inquirer describes it as "open space, walkable streets, and a grid of blocks reaching down to the waterfront." There is an emphasis on walkability, bikeability and green, tree-filled spaces. (You can watch the presentation here.)

Personally, I had sorta admired PlanPhilly's earlier big idea to bury I-95 in a tunnel and finally connect the waterfront to the nearby neighborhoods. But PlanPhilly, which is interested in actually getting this plan implemented, has offered alternative approaches that are more affordable and more likely to happen.

If there is one concern about the plan, it was voiced by Daniel Gallagher, president of Local 1242 of the International Longshoremen's Association, who said there was little attention paid to economic development. That's been one of the big questions of Philadelphia's waterfront: Is it solely the province of docks, shipping and industry, or can those uses share the water with homes?

The other big spoiler of the plan could be two planned casinos on the riverfront. PlanPhilly has been realistic about them: One of PlanPhilly's maps of how this redevelopment would work with them; one removes the casinos. But last night, the anti-casino forces were present in force. And really, do the current casino plans -- big, windowless boxes -- lend themselves to neighbors?

Still, this is an enormous step forward for a forgotten part of the city. Plan Philly deserves a big congratulations. They've gotten the attention of the city: Mayor Street and key councilpeople including Frank DiCicco were there last night. Let's hope the city can do planning right this time, and work from what PlanPhilly has done.

New announcement from the Nutter for Mayor people: The Mayor-elect will be making a "major announcement on crime" today at noon at the YMCA at 5120 Chestnut Street.

Sounds like a police commissioner to me, though we have no confirmation of that from the tight-lipped Nutter folks.

Check back here soon after the event is over for video of Michael Nutter's "major crime announcement." Everyone is speculating that he'll be revealing his choice for Police Commissioner. Given the amount of attention that has been paid to this appointment, I'm surprised that I haven't seen more leaks about the identity of this person.

If this is indeed what we can expect today, does anyone want to take a guess? Use the comments. Your comment will have a time stamp so you can say, if you get it right, that you knew before everyone else.

Wendy will update with the announcement and I'll follow with video - hastily shot and edited video, no less.

The speculation is that Nutter will announce today that the new police commissioner is Charles H. Ramsey, former chief in Washington, D.C.

Edited to add:

Now, that's just speculation. But Ramsey has been considered a top candidate for the job. (Here's our look at some potential commissioners, including Ramsey.)

Edited to add comment from today's press announcement.

Michael Nutter has made today's big announcement, and, as speculated, it's former D.C. Chief Charles Ramsey.

Said Mayor-elect Nutter at the announcement: "I am confident that with Ramsey as Police Commissioner of this city we can bring down our homicide rate."

Said Ramsey: "I wouldn't have been interested in the job I didn't think it was a challenge. I have my critics and my supporters, and that's the way life is. I am a big boy and I can handle it."

Ramsey was asked at today's announcement about Nutter's "stop and frisk" (or, as he calls it, "stop, question and frisk") proposal to search people for illegal weapons. Ramsey said it has some appeal. "Stop and frisk is a viable tactic if you have reasonable suspicion," he said.

Ramsey is the former chief of the D.C. police department, where he served from April 21, 1998 to December 28, 2006, the longest tenure ever of a D.C. chief since the district began Home Rule.

He's said to be a big believer in community policing, which he also championed in his hometown, Chicago. He joined the Chicago force as a 18-year-old rookie, and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Superintendent of the Bureau of Staff Services before heading to D.C.

But Ramsey has been known to throw down a crime emergency, the latest in July 2006 after a wave of shootings that was, frankly, far less serious than the one Philly has lived in for two years.

It's important to note that Ramsey's crime emergencies are very different from what Nutter has discussed. Ramsey's merely gave him the ability to change police deployment and require overtime, which cost the district quite a lot: $14 million for Ramsey's emergency in 2006.

Nutter said at today's announcement that he would leave the decision whether to declare a crime emergency up to Ramsey (you will recall that Nutter's crime plan, issued during the primary, said he would declare a crime emergency "on day one" of his administration).

(Now, it would be appropriate to discuss whether Ramsey's strategies in DC were working if he was forced to announce a crime emergency. But, for now, back to the bio.)

Ramsey has had his critics in D.C. When he left, here's how the Post said about him:

Ramsey, a career cop who got as much attention for his personality as his policies, leaves office today as the city's longest-serving chief in more than three decades. As a master of the sound bite, he often spouted off about crimes and railed about topics that were beyond his control, including irresponsible parents and failing schools.

...

His critics -- in the police union, on the D.C. Council and in some crime-ravaged neighborhoods -- view him as a showboat. In many parts of the city, residents say that they don't see enough officers on patrol and that crimes are not investigated quickly or thoroughly. Inside the agency, morale is low, with officers saying that Ramsey overworked them by declaring crime emergencies that took away days off and lasted for months.

Ramsey also drew the attention of Human Rights Watch for his handling of protesters of the World Bank in April, 2000. Apparently, most of the protests went well, but there were glaring exceptions.

We asked a former D.C. resident, fellow blogger Jonathan Tannenwald, for his opinion on Ramsey. He was mixed, noting that a journalist, David Rosenbaum of the New York Times, was murdered in his old neighborhood and the investigation was botched.

Please discuss...

In this episode of Transition Watch (which I just came up with a few seconds ago) we'll be meeting new commissioner, Charles Ramsey. The clips that I've chosen are intended to give you a little insight into Ramsey's style, his way with the media and some unedited answers to specific policy questions.

I've also included a few clips of mayor-elect Nutter so that we can get to know him a little better too. I'll put a few clips here and the rest after the jump.

In the first clip, newly appointed Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey answers questions about his opinion on the "stop and frisk" tactic that became such a flash point during the election.

In response to a question about whether he would look inside the police department for his top level appointees or go outside, newly appointed police commissioner Charles Ramsey discusses his strategy and near term plans.

Click "Continue Reading" to see the rest of the clips.

At his police chief announcement today, a production company appeared to be setting up backdrops, hanging banners and hooking up the microphone. Four guys wearing shirts labelled Proof Productions Inc. did the job.
They even had a red velvet rope blocking off the entry way.

Edited to add link to podcast of the show.

Here is the promo copy for today's first hour of Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane:

PART ONE
We get reaction to yesterday's announcement that former Washington D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey will become the new Police Commissioner in Philadelphia. Our guest is JOHN TIMONEY the Police Chief of the Miami PD and a former Police Commissioner in Philadelphia.

PART TWO
We talk with JONATHAN SIMON author of Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear. Simon is a professor of law at Berkeley University.

You can listen live on your computer by clicking here at 10am and selecting one of the options. Later today, I'll put a link to the podcast of the show in case you missed it. Podcast is now available. Just right click on the link and choose "Save Link As" (or for Mac users, Control-Click) and you can download the entire hour. If you care to participate in today's show, you can call 1-888-477-WHYY (1-888-477-9499) or make comments on this blog post.

Where to begin?

The media in Philly have been all over this Ramsey story, starting yesterday with the speculation by some of the television news stations and an early "sources say" article in the Inquirer. Turns out they got this one right.

CBS 3 and Channel 6 have a ton of video to go along with the copy from the Associated Press. Channel 29's Bruce Gordon, target of some of Michael Nutter's trademark biting wit, gives a full rundown, including his conversation with House Speaker Dennis O'Brien about the choice.

For the straight up reporting on the announcement event, you have your choice. Daily News gave the story the cover treatment today. Inquirer goes front and center with it. The Evening Bulletin also covered it.

The Washington Post provides the perspective of the media in Ramsey's former city. The article is pretty light and doesn't offer too much additional insight.

There are the sidebar stories. Most of these deal with Ramsey's record in DC and the criticism that he has gotten over the years (more on that in a sec). (Inky, Daily News, CBS 3 - with video). WHYY's Susan Phillips also examines the civil rights-related controversy that Ramsey stirred up during his time in Washington. (.mp3)

Philly's "opinion havers" also weigh in on the choice, including an Inquirer Editorial. Elmer Smith of the Daily News says that Ramsey talks about a lot of things that Commissioner Johnson has been talking about for a while - but with a little more confidence. He says if you're expecting "tough talk" then Ramsey's not your guy.

And of course, there are the reaction stories - the articles that try to find anyone on the PPD or in the FOP who will say that this appointment was a bad idea. Inquirer found a bunch of cops who were disappointed that the pick wasn't from inside the department, but they also seemed willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The most stinging criticism of the Ramsey choice comes on the blogosphere, led by Attytood's Will Bunch who is a bit uncomfortable with a police commissioner who, at times, has played a little fast and loose with civil rights. Reaction over at Young Philly Politics, where the politics lean a little to the left, is surprisingly mixed given the incidents brought up by Bunch. DCist gives me a little of what I was hoping of from the Washington Post - a voice from DC who can opine on the quality of the guy who's coming here. And Philly Mag's Daily Examiner concedes that Ramsey "is, at least, an outsider with a mission to wake up an insular department."

It's worth pointing out that with all of this attention over the selection of the police commissioner, one voice in the local media, Mike Newall at the City Paper, is keeping on the story of the inadequacies in the fire department and the possible need for a new fire commissioner. Nutter offered him no comment about the likelihood of replacing Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayer. It's worth a read if only to remind us that flaws in "the system" mean loss of life for more than just victims of crime.

I wonder if Nutter's choice for Revenue Commissioner will get this much coverage.

And he's not bad.

Click here to see it.

If you missed Wednesday night's presentation of the Central Delaware waterfront plan, PlanPhilly.com has everything you need to catch up.

Especially impressive is this introductory video which tells the story of the planning process and includes interviews with many of the stakeholders. It also includes some great footage from many of the community meetings, giving some real insight into how the sausage is made.

John Childress of the African American Chamber of Commerce sums it all up perfectly when he says:

At some point, some generation has to stand up and say 'I may not see all of the benefits of this plan but my children will and their children will' and then that's how you make a city better over the long term.

Each generation tends to feel like it's always them making the sacrifice. That they're the ones who have to forgo seeing the outcome of their hard work. But if we look hard, I'm sure we can see great things that exist in Philadelphia today that weren't there one or two generations ago. We tend to take such things for granted because for us, they were always there. We also tend to focus on the big projects that a previous generation put a lot of hard work into but that didn't really turn out all that great (*cough* Gallery *cough*).

For some reason, this waterfront issue has been particularly tough, mostly because it depends on the coordination of so many stakeholders - government, private sector, developers, communities, businesses, non-profits, the environment. It's not like building a Convention Center or baseball stadium. It's essentially building (or coaxing others to build) a whole new neighborhood about the size of all of Center City.

So what can a mayor do?

First step would be educating this current generation about the sacrifice that they'll have to make and convincing them that it's worth it. He'll have to tell folks that they're never going to see many of these benefits but that they have to get behind it anyway.

Second is to get behind the parts of the process that the city government can affect - passing the laws, doing the zoning, doing the planning, setting up the financial and tax incentives for the right kind of development.

Third - sell, sell, sell! Once it's in place, he'll have to spend the rest of his time finding the developers, employers and residents who will be willing to build and populate this area. He's got to put every resource at his disposal behind bringing those folks in - whether they be actual tax incentives or soft-sell marketing and public relations strategies. He's also gotta convince current landowners and lease holders that this new vision can increase their value or that (and don't laugh) for the greater good, they have to consider selling their parcels to developers who have bought into the vision. This will be a much better way to go than just taking their land through restrictive zoning and ending up in court.

Fourth - pass it on. Ed Rendell cut ribbons at buildings that were started under Wilson Goode. John Street has enjoyed the benefits of many of the policies that started under Ed Rendell (though, admittedly, as City Council president he had a lot to do with those policies). Michael Nutter may yet harvest the fruits of neighborhood transformation. And so, Nutter must impress upon the city and the field of people who will seek to follow him that this process must be carried on to its end, even if it requires 8 more years of very incremental progress.

There will be very few ribbon cuttings. Progress will be measured by row homes, extended streets, infrastructure and parks not by skyscrapers, convention centers and baseball stadiums. But some day, when two new neighborhood hold a block parties in a waterfront park and the mayor is able to ride along Delaware "Boulevard" in a light rail train from one end to the other to get to both parties, everyone will wonder what it was ever like before that all existed.

And hopefully, they'll already be planning the next generation's great new thing.

Honestly, Bob Brady may be doing as much good in the world on Capitol Hill as he could have accomplished as mayor. Check this story from WUSA9 in D.C. out - and note the defense of pastrami patronage in the last graph:

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- When Republican Indiana Congressman Mark Souder left a Capitol cafeteria after a twenty minute wait and without the sandwich he had ordered, he didn't know the man who tried to make his sandwich was about to be fired.

Souder ordered a grilled pastrami on rye. Cafeteria worker Kennison Battle reportedly offered up a pastrami on rye, but toasted instead of grilled. In the confusion that followed, Souder ran out of time and left without his meal.

Someone apparently reported the exchange, and Battle was fired. Souder's office says Souder never complained about Battle and never asked that he be relieved of his job.

That's where the Chairman of the House Administration Committee, Democrat Robert Brady of Pennsylvania entered the picture. "I don't think that grilled or toasted should be a reason for someone to lose their job," he told 9NEWS NOW.

The company that hires cafeteria workers told 9NEWS NOW that Battle was fired simply because he was no longer needed. Brady decided to act.

"I went down to talk to all the people who were involved. They told me he (Battle) was courteous. They said he was extremely courteous. People who worked with him said he was a very courteous man, and I just didn't think it was right for him to lose his job. I went to our House Administrator and I told him we should be doing something for this man, he shouldn't be getting fired. I understand his manager in the cafeteria right there liked him a lot and said he was courteous. And then it went to the district manager, I guess, it is next in the chain of command and they said he should be dismissed. And I went to our House Administrator and I told him he needs to reverse that and he did, " Brady said.

Battle will now get a new job working for the House of Representatives with full pay and benefits, but not in the cafeteria. Souder's office says Souder supports the decision to hire Battle.

Brady is happy with the outcome. "I'm never going to lose sight of where I've come from (and will) reach out to help people the same way people reached out to help me," he said.

The folks at Radio Times know a good idea when they see it. Today at 11AM, they'll be discussing the outcome of a collaboration between The Next Mayor and the Fels Institute of Government at Penn - 44 smart innovations that would take very little effort to replicate in Philadelphia. Wendy mentioned them a week ago and provided a link to all 44 ideas (in case you want to prepare for today's show).

Here's the promo copy for the show at 11 AM:

Expectations are high for mayor-elect Michael Nutter’s administration. In preparation for his new job, Nutter visited several cities for ideas on how to tackle some of the problems common to urban centers. Today, we discuss some of these ideas and if they might work in Philadelphia. Our guests are RANDALL MILLER, political analyst and history professor at Saint Joseph’s University and ALLISON BRUMMEL, Director of Projects at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania which came up with a list of 44 programs used by mayors from other cities.

As always, you can listen live on your computer. Just click here and choose one of the several options for streaming through the internet. Later today I'll put up a link that you can use to download the entire show as a podcast. If you missed the chance to hear it live, you can use this link to download the podcast. Simply right click (or, Mac users, Control-Click) and "Save Link As" to get the .mp3.

If you're interested in calling in at 11 AM, the number is 1-888-477-9499. You can also comment on this blog post. I'll make sure to get it to Marty and her producers.

Enjoy. Morning round up, coming up soon.

Transition watch continues and expectations keep building for mayor-elect Michael Nutter.

In today's Daily News, Dave Davies explores Nutter's relationship with a guy who wields a good amount of power in these parts - Governor Ed Rendell. Clearly, these two are ambitious men with healthy egos, otherwise they wouldn't have achieved the success that they each enjoy. Of course, with such personalities, conflict is inevitable. At least it seems that when there's been conflict between the two, it's about business, nothing personal. Davies also gets Rendell and Nutter to evaluate each other.

Heard in the Hall shows that Nutter is nothing if not consistent when it comes to being on the ethics message - even when it comes to raising money for his inaugural festivities. Any chance that any extra money raised for this event can go to charity?

The Daily Pennsylvanian finishes off the wall-to-wall coverage of Nutter's police commissioner appointment with an article of their own. There's includes feedback from Penn's own Lawrence Sherman who likes Ramsey for being "part of a growing number of police executives who focus resources as precisely as possible."

The Metro does some follow up to the Ramsey story with a one-on-one with new FOP President John McNesby (if you're keeping track on your scorecard, that's McNesby in for Bob Eddis). McNesby's comments aren't surprising, including that he wishes that the choice for top cop had come from within the department. (By the way, the blog post on Ramsey's appointment over at Young Philly Politics has exploded with comments. Join in the fun!)

Did you know that Michael Nutter has already started to try to build relationships across the region? He traveled to Chester County last week. Nothing like traveling waaaaay out there to kick it off. The Inquirer's Chester County section wants feedback from that county's residents on how they feel about Nutter and his proposals. (This is where I remind everyone that The Next Mayor project already traveled out to Chester County to get this kind of feedback - albeit, long before Michael Nutter was even close to getting elected.) Regional cooperation is also the theme of today's edition of KYW 1060's "Setting the Nutter Agenda." The Inquirer was also able to work Nutter's Chester County visit into an editorial on Saturday that celebrated the award of grants that hope to increase regional development of arts and culture. Seems like regionalism is getting the kind of traction that is hasn't seen since early in Wilson Goode's first term.

Oh yeah. And more people were murdered over the weekend including at Front and Chestnut. Sigh.

The numbers that caught my eye this morning are both cited in editorials in the Daily News and Inquirer.

Talking about the Parking Authority (as they should, until we get this issue sorted out), the Daily News cites the work of the recently-released statewide "costing-out" study which revealed that:

The average cost per student to achieve proficiency (note, not excellence) in math and reading in Pennsylvania is $12,057.

The state actually spent $9,512 per student in 2005-06. That's a total shortfall of $4 billion.

Be prepared to hear those numbers thrown around A LOT.

The Inquirer editorialized about the steps being taken by LaSalle University to help revitalize its neck of the woods in East Germantown and Ogontz sections. Citing numbers from Select Greater Philadelphia, they mention that:

The overall impact of the 88 area colleges and universities is felt in the:

$12.3 billion spent on annual operating expenditures
213,000 full-time students, including 80,000 in the city (that's a lot of pizza money - to the tune of $2.2 billion spend by students outside of school)
85,267 employees or 2.8 percent of the region's total employment
Employees who get $5.2 billion in wages and salaries

How do these numbers all fit together. Think about your tax money. If invested wisely to bring per pupil spending in Philadelphia (and the region) up to "proficiency" levels (and possibly, down the road, "excellence" levels), that money could lead to even greater numbers of students from this area attending colleges and universities in the area. Not only would this position them better for jobs in the new economy, thereby diverting them from social services, but it would also signal to potential employers about the richness of the region in terms of its labor pool.

For now, just remember the numbers and keep track of how many times the mayor-elect uses them to reinforce any particular point that he's trying to make.

A relatively slow day in the Nutter News watch but that's only compared to the blistering pace of public events that he's kept up recently.

The Metro offers some insight into Nutter's "be everywhere" philosophy:

Nutter has had speaking engagements scheduled almost daily since the Nov. 6 election, at events ranging from political to mundane, even offering “brief remarks” at the National Dog Show this past Saturday. Being ubiquitous, it seems, is part of his plan before taking office in January.

“It just makes sense for a new mayor to be very visible,” said Melanie Johnson, Nutter’s spokesperson throughout the campaign. “It’s very much how he wants this administration to be: accessible, transparent and out among the people.”

One commentator says that by being more accessible that his predecessor, Nutter "will seem to be a breath of fresh air." Talk about setting the bar low. He could be more accessible than the current mayor simply by walking over to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch a few times each week.

Other than that, Nutter's name pops up in a couple of other interesting stories.

He attended the groundbreaking for the expansion of the Cira Centre complex on the west bank of the Rue Schuylkill.

He also lent a comment to a November sweeps story on NBC 10 about a camera that gets attached to the gun of police officers so that whenever they discharge their weapons, the whole incident is closely recorded. The goal is to remove all doubt about the circumstances surrounding the discharge of a weapon so that uses of deadly force by cops can more easily be investigated. Nutter doesn't seem sold on it, nor does the FOP. Thanks, NBC-10 for the cool videos, though. Nice effort.

KYW 1060 continues its "Setting the Nutter Agenda" series with a minute-long story about the city's impending fiscal woes. Former Rendell wunder-aide David Cohen puts it best when he explains Nutter's biggest problem when he tries to deal with this issue - you and me and our ignorance:

...Nutter's task is tougher because the public does not yet perceive a crisis:

"He's going to have many of the same fiscal challenges, but without the widespread knowledge and acceptance of the crisis and emergency nature of those challenges."

If only everyone in Philadelphia went to The Next Mayor on a regular basis... If stations like KYW 1060 could do a minute or 90 seconds about this issue everyday for the next 6 months then maybe there would be "widespread knowledge and acceptance of the crisis." Heck, if television stations did stories about that - at least once or twice a week - rather than cool gun gadgets that we'll probably never use here (because we can't afford them... because of the impending fiscal crisis), maybe everyone would know about it. (If you're reading this, you probably already know about it.)

Speaking of television news, I have to give credit (again) to Fox 29's Bruce Gordon for taking a seemingly complex and mundane story about city worker benefits, specifically the DROP program, and doing a nice little package about it. He even got everyone's favorite raspy-voiced councilwoman, Joan Krajewski, to lend her pipes to the story by phone. Make sure to check out the video and get to know Councilwoman K (and her pronunciation of the word "legal") a little better. For more about this issue, check out this Inquirer article and this story in the Allentown Morning Call.

So the city's Ethics Board, which has been doing a pretty bang-up job ever since Mayor Street finally announced all of his appointees, came to a decision that rules governing the political activity of city employees also apply to members of certain Boards. These people work part time and get paid a certain amount for every meeting they attend.

At the time of that decision, the Daily News pointed out that there are a few Board members, particularly on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, who stood to lose out on a lot from if forced to give up their political activity:

The individual most clearly impacted is political consultant Eleanor Dezzi, who's been a member of the Zoning Board for close to eight years while continuing to run her consulting firm, the Dezzi Group.
...
Others who could face conflicts include several organized-labor leaders whose unions have been politically active.

Nor did Wayne Miller, business manager of Sprinklerfitters Local 692, who sits on the city's Board of Building Standards.

In today's Daily News, Bob Warner followed up on this story with a little "Where Are They Now" look at the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Turns out... they're right where they've always been:

Eleanor Dezzi, a local political consultant, and Samuel Staten Jr., treasurer of a political-action committee set up by the Laborers' Union, have both continued to attend and participate at Zoning Board meetings, in spite of the Ethics Board decision a month ago.

Neither Dezzi nor Staten would explain their actions. Neither returned calls from the Daily News over the last two weeks.

Granted, Warner also indicates that it's possible that both have given up the political activity that the Ethics Board found so troubling, but there's nothing out there to indicate that they have. The article also points out that the "part time" money they get for their roles on the Zoning Board can add up to some nice spending money:

The Zoning Board posts are part-time jobs, appointed by the mayor and usually paying $400 or $500 a week. The official pay is $100 per meeting, with four or five meetings usually spaced out over two days each week.

Both are coming to the end of their terms on the ZBA assuming Michael Nutter decides to go in a different direction with his appointees to the Zoning Board (and every other Board and Commission). No word yet on any decisions by the Nutter transition on any of these appointments.

I've been poking around the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter and the city's website a lot today, trying to get a handle on what jobs Nutter needs to fill.

It's enough to make me, who happens to think that government can do good things and have a positive effect on people's lives, start to think like a libertarian. There are just. so. many. pieces.

Take a sec to check out the city's website and read the descriptions on the pages that link to Administration, Agencies, Authorities, Boards, City Services, Commissions, and Justice/Public Safety. See if you come away with the same impression.

Today, Michael Nutter will be honored by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau at their annual membership lunch. He'll share those honors with his good pal John Street who once reminded us that Philly is more fun when you sleep over. Another fun fact from the article: did you know that among his tourism-related accomplishments, John Street is being recognized for "Committing $2 million to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.'s "uwishunu" online campaign aimed at younger travelers?" Hey, City of Philadelphia, I'll do a tourism blog for you for $60k!

Daily News columnist Jill Porter wants to make a personnel suggestion for a very important post in the Nutter administration - fitness czar. Her nominee is a former Chargers and Eagles linebacker who happens to be a personal trainer at her gym and, judging from the picture, could probably bench press at least three Michael Nutters. I'll use the second to last line of her column to spark a discussion today:

You can argue whether or not the city needs a fitness czar at all.

Well, go ahead. Argue about it.

Some Daily News letter writers have some harsh words for Al Taubenberger and some concerns/suggestions for new Police Commissioner Ramsey. Poor, Al. First he loses by the curvature of the earth (a term we used to use during rowing races to denote a margin of victory that was so large, you couldn't even see the other boats over the horizon), an now he's got one of his fellow Republicans saying:

We can win, but only if we nominate good candidates. The fact is, Mr. Taubenberger proposed no new ideas and didn't issue even one policy paper. On behalf of Republicans who actually want to win, please, Al, never run for office again!

With one fifth of the total population of registered Republicans in the city saying such things about him, maybe Mr. Taubenberger should consider switching parties.

Another fifth of the Republican party in Philadelphia, Al Schmidt, deputy director of the Republican City Committee (does that mean he gets paid to be a Republican or is that a volunteer position?) takes a different view, pledging in the City Paper's Political Notebook to continue the Philly GOP's tradition of being a vigorous opposition party that keeps the majority party on its toes (I almost got typed that with a straight face):

"This year's race for mayor does say a lot about our city. It suggests that Philadelphia voters are ready for change," [said Schmidt] "And when the Michael Nutter administration fails to deliver on its promises and brings more of the same, we will be waiting in the wings to offer Philadelphians meaningful change for the better."

Philadelphia Weekly Editor Tim Whitaker offers his commentary on Mayor-elect Nutter's big speech at the Franklin Institute shortly after his victory. He takes issue especially with Nutter's suggestion that the media needs to report more on "the good news," saying:

Good grief. No! What will make this city strong is an aggressive media, Mr. Mayor-Elect. One that goes after wrongdoing like a pack of wild dogs, and reports on corruption and violence and criminality in passionate and thoughtful ways.

Save the good-news stories for the brain dead in Gladwyne.

To which I would add: and a media that doesn't shy away from engaging people to act on the news that they're hearing and holds EVERY elected official in this town accountable for the work they're doing (or not doing).

Finally, it appears that Nutter is already getting dragged into one of the city's most nationally recognized embarrassments - the performance of Philly International Airport. According to the AP, he's trying to put the best face on the problem:

In the meantime, Philadelphia's mayor-elect urged travelers to be patient and beseeched them not to allow delays at the city-owned airport to tarnish Philadelphia's image.

"None of these challenges are insurmountable," Michael Nutter said the morning after he was elected Nov. 6. "I'd like to remind many of you that the city of Philadelphia does not handle baggage, nor do we fly airplanes."

But it could if it would just let Milton be Milton.

Sources close to the Nutter campaign say to look for another transition announcement on Monday.

Nutter has selected a police commssioner and finance director, but hasn't announced his transition team yet. Could that be what he's rolling out?

Now that the saga of Jack Kelly and David Oh is nearing to a close, it seems like a good time to take a moment and collect your thoughts on a race that normally wouldn't merit 2 or 3 lines of copy at the bottom of an election results story. I mean, we are talking about two guys fighting for one of the two seats that their party gets on City Council because of the Home Rule Charter's version of the "mercy rule."

Yet, due to the closeness of the race and the drama surrounding its eventual outcome, the public has gotten a slightly bigger dose of candidates Kelly and Oh than it otherwise would have gotten. We learned that Oh, seeking to become the first Asian-American on City Council, worked hard to cultivate a more independent image and seemed to be running as a Republican not necessarily because of his strict adherence to a traditional Republican platform but because it guaranteed him a slot in one of the first two columns on the ballot. As such he gained a lot of "cross over" appeal (the buzz phrase for the 2007 elections), earning the votes of Democrats in many of the city's traditionally liberal areas.

We learned that Kelly, champion of the animals, took a lot of heat from some active Republicans in his strong areas in Northeast Philly for his support of the city's decision to hold the local Boy Scout council accountable for discriminatory policies against gays. We also learned that Frank Keel will work for Republicans as long as they're not named Sam Katz.

But can we take away anything else away from this race? Was Oh's success a signal for the Republican Party that it should get away from the machine politics (albeit on a smaller scale than their Democratic counterparts) that it has used for decades to shuffle candidates up for "higher offices?" Or did Oh just benefit from crazy low turnout that meant that Oh-motivated voters turned out in high percentages? What about the implications for City Council in general?

Can similar insurgent campaigns, who are willing to put in the hard work and do the tough campaigning take on other entrenched office holders and, at the very least, keep those office holders on their toes?

Does Oh's apparent "cross over" appeal mean that there could be space in this town for a vigorous independent or third party to spring up and give voters a choice that isn't the straight ticket D's or "holding their noses" to vote for an R?

Or maybe it was just one of those fluke things.

Thanks to the Daily News, I, the taxpayer and parking meter feeder, am in line to see a savings of almost $1.4 million that was formerly used by the Parking Authority to let mid-level managers drive company cars home each night and to pay the salaries of managers who were sooo important that they aren't even going to be replaced after they retire. (Inquirer has coverage too.)

If only there were some kind of prize for top-notch investigative journalism that exposes waste and abuse by public agencies.

This amusing picture is, obviously, Nutter at the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

But it's even more amusing once you know that this clown is actually Ronnie Polaneczky, columnist for the Daily News, who volunteered in the clown brigade.

How about a city where the schools not only prepare students for real jobs in today's tech-driven economy, but also teach manners and life skills to children who aren't getting such lessons at home?

How about a city with a zoning board of professionals who believe deeply in listening to both builders and citizens?

How about a city that runs WITHOUT sweetheart, no-bid contracts?

For the past year, the Great Expectations project -- our sister project at the Philadelphia Inquirer -- has challenged citizens to dream of what Philadelphia could be. They have created an impressive Citizens Agenda of ideas like those above, on issues from crime to poverty to planning and zoning to taxes.

What's interesting about many of these ideas is not that they are bold, but that they are basic. They are what sensible citizens of any city would want: Government that pro-actively works to give the city what its residents need.

It's really not enough to be a city known for its absence of corruption or for keeping most of its citizens from being killed. That's the least we can do.

Hence the name of the project -- even Philadelphia could have Great Expectations.

And what's interesting about the project is that it is built on the input of citizens. Citizens created the agenda -- in person in forums and online, in blog posts, essays and even movies -- and then commented on the final set of ideas.

Citizens will get one more big chance to weigh in on the agenda this Sunday, when Great Expectations hosts its Citizens Convention at the Convention Center. You should join them; registration information is here.

Our city is ushering in a new administration with high goals, and our citizens have pinned our high expectations on those new leaders. At a time like this, citizens have a responsibility to help shape the city's agenda.

Sunday's a great time to do just that.

What better way to start a rainy, post-holiday Monday than to see this letter in the Inquirer. The Inquirer reported and editorialized about a recent visit by the mayor-elect to our neighbor to the south, Chester County.

It doesn't appear that they got much of a response, and the response they did get is an indication of how hard Mayor Nutter is going to have to work to foster that sense of "we're all in this together" with the 'burbs.

So, defenders of regionalism (and opponents, I welcome all perspectives), feel free to comment on why this letter is wrong or right. Here's my attempt:

The common problems listed in last Sunday's article such as education, transportation, taxes and open space are local issues. As such, each area needs to deal with its own problems since each solution will only be suitable for its individual area.

(Me) Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. EDUCATION is only a local issue because of the screwed up way that state funding for schools has made districts so dependent on local sources of money. If the entire Southeastern PA region could get together and demand that the state fund it to the level that the state's own study says it should, then the quality of a child's education wouldn't depend on his or her zip code. TRANSPORTATION is also a very regional issue. No small town, or even city, can support it's own public transit system. Without a vital public transit system to move people from city to suburb and from suburb to suburb, counties will be forced to plan for more roads and highways. Those roads and highways will continue to be congested and once quiet, leafy suburban streets will be choked off by cars. And when it comes time to pay for the necessary infrastructure improvements, education funding, traffic lights, road repairs and everything else that comes with sprawl, guess who's TAXES will be going up? That's right. Everyone's. And why are the surrounding counties finding it necessary to borrow huge sums of money to preserve OPEN SPACE? Ignoring the issues of the core city and the older, more densely populated inner-ring suburbs has led to a mass exodus from those areas - to the developments that occupy formerly idyllic pastures and woodlands.

In contrast, gun control, robberies, killings and related violence are where Mayor-elect Nutter should concentrate on improving/curing the problem first and proving himself before venturing beyond city limits.

(Me) If he's going to have any success, Mayor-elect Nutter will have to be able to attack several issues at once and see that many of these issues are so intertwined that they have to be dealt with at the same time. He doesn't have the luxury of creating a check list and checking off the top of the list before moving on. In fact, if the suburbs cooperate, they may find solutions to their problems - congestion, underfunded arts programs, strained infrastructure.

Local governments have enough difficulty dealing only with issues of area importance, let alone involving outside area governments as well as state and federal governments.

(Me) So does that mean such cooperation shouldn't be attempted? If the people represented by each of these "outside area governments" demanded that their elected officials start working together or face retribution on Election Day, that "difficulty" would disappear pretty quickly. The same goes for demanding that the state and federal government step up and start dealing with issues facing major metropolitan areas.

Basically, issues within Philadelphia only affect suburbanites when they enter the city. In reality they affect only a minor number of non-Philadelphians.

(Me) I won't even get into how many "non-Philadelphians" travel into the city on a regular basis to work, visit a restaurant, see friends and relatives, take in a show, use Fairmount Park, tour historical areas, travel from 30th Street Station or the Airport, and go to one of the many colleges and universities. I'm pretty sure it's not a "minor number."

Let's focus on someone who truly never travels to the city. Every time parkland or open space near that person is used to build a new corporate office center, they're affected by a "Greater" Philadelphia issue (taxes, transportation, building and zoning, etc.) Every time air quality reached dangerous levels or they're stuck in a traffic jam on West Chester Pike, they're affected by a "Greater" Philadelphia issue (again, transportation, environmental regulations).

A. Schantz
West Chester

Thanks, A. Schantz, for sparking today's conversation. To the comments!

Republican City Council candidate David Oh says he’s found evidence of voter fraud in the November election, and is prepared to challenge the results to keep his investigation of the shenanigans alive.

Oh lost his race for City Council-at-large to incumbent Jack Kelly by the razor-thin margin of 122 votes, with the difference in the election coming from absentee and provisional ballots.

Oh says he knows of voters who claim they never voted, but for whom an absentee ballot was cast. He’s asking the City Commissioners to delay the certification of the election and allow him to continue to investigate.

But Kelly's camp fired back, saying in a statement today: "It is deplorable that Mr. Oh is attempting to disenfranchise so many Philadelphia voters with his vague and baseless accusations. This electoral process was open, transparent and above-board. Oh lost - period. The Judges of the Board of Elections' certified Councilman Kelly's 122-vote margin of victory earlier today. We believe the court will deny Oh's request for waiver of the required $50,000 bond and dismiss his meritless appeal."

Oh’s allegations recall one of the greatest election scandals of Philadelphia history, when a federal judge overturned the 1993 election of Democratic ward leader Bill Stinson to the State Senate after concluding there was massive absentee ballot fraud.

That's right, folks. Reform and Harrisburg! Or, more accurately, why reform and Harrisburg seem to mix together like oil and water.

Today at 11am, Marty Moss-Coane will be welcoming in a bunch of folks to give all sides of the stalled reform efforts in the state's capital. She'll have the sardonic wit of Daily News columnist Jon Baer, who I imagine has worn the letters off of his keyboard from pounding on it in frustration during his years covering the state capital. (By the way, he made some pretty brilliant points in yesterday's column about the gun legislation process. You should check it out.)

Marty will also speak with idealistic, young, talented and recently-deified-by-Philadelphia-Magazine, Josh Shapiro. State Rep. Shapiro has been at the forefront of these efforts since the beginning and probably looks forward to the day when certain colleagues of his decide they want to spend more time with their families.

And she'll welcome Tim Potts from DemocracyRisingPA, who's next step may be to nail his own 95 Theses to door of the capital building. (Thesis number 1: Scrap the whole government and start over.)

Of course, you can listen live by tuning your radio to 90.9 FM at 11am or stream the show live over the web with one of WHYY's many options. The podcast will be available here later today.

Discussions about the activities of our state legislators always seem like a good way to get the blood boiling. Feel free to take out your frustrations in the comments section if you can't get through to Radio Times by calling in at 1-88-477-WHYY. Maybe you can call in and ask whether Harrisburg will ever realize that Philadelphia is part of Pennsylvania.

Well, it seems like the news tip that we had just before Thanksgiving will play out this afternoon at 2 pm in the Mayor's Reception Room at City Hall. Michael Nutter will be making some sort of announcement.

Here's the press release.

Once again, any guesses about what this might be?

Check back soon for the answer. We'll also have video a little later on.

The Inky is reporting that Nutter's big announcement is a new chief of staff:

Mayor-elect Michael Nutter is expected to name Clarence D. Armbrister, senior executive at Temple University and a former city treasurer, as his chief of staff this afternoon. A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. in City Hall.

At Temple, Armbrister is widely regarded as a highly capable and well-liked administrator. He was hired by former Temple President David Adamany in 2003, and promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer on Jan. 1 of this year by new Temple President Ann Weaver Hart. Armbrister has oversight over virtually all non-academic university operations.

Hey, check this out -- Nutter and Armbrister together on a No Child Left Behind panel at Wharton in Dec. 2006.

Also, if that last name is familiar, it could be that he is married to Denise McGregor Armbrister, a senior vice president of Wachovia Corporation and a member of the school reform commission.

Edited to add quotes from the press conference.

Michael Nutter today named Temple exec (and former city treasurer) Clarence Armbrister as his administration's chief of staff.

The mayor-elect said Armbrister would wield the power of the mayor's office: "Clay will be a driving force in the administration," Nutter said. "When you're talking to the chief of staff, you're talking to me."

Replied Armbrister: "I am very humbled by your confidence in me. I am really pleased to offer the service I can."

Armbrister is a former city treasurer (1994-1996), and a guy with experience in the school district, Temple, in the Episcopal Diocese of Pa. (and that's real high finance) and on the city tax commission.

I think we can rest assured that beans will be counted and counted well.

From his bio, which is found in several places online:

Clarence D. Armbrister is Senior Vice President of Temple University. He is responsible for the overall management, planning and control of the University's administrative units and programs, including Student Affairs, Facilities Management, Campus Safety, Intercollegiate Athletics, Computer and Information Services, Enrollment Management and Capital Budgeting.

Mr. Armbrister received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. degree in political science and economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Armbrister has held a variety of prominent positions in the public and private sectors. Prior to coming to Temple, Mr. Armbrister was Director of UBS PaineWebber's Municipal Securities Group based in Philadelphia. From 1996 to 1998, Armbrister served as Managing Director of the School District of Philadelphia, where he was responsible for all non-instructional aspects of the 215,000-student public school system, including the district's $1.5 billion budget, its finances and operations.

From 1994 to 1996, Armbrister served as Treasurer of the City of Philadelphia, where he was responsible for the city's cash management, investments and debt issuance. Before his appointment with the city of Philadelphia, Armbrister was a partner in the public finance department of the law firm of Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul in Philadelphia where he practiced for 12 years. Armbrister is also active in a variety of professional and civic associations. Among his nearly two dozen affiliations, Armbrister recently concluded his three-year term as President of the Board of Directors of the National Adoption Center, and has also served as Treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

He was also appointed by Mayor John F. Street to serve on the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission, which was charged with analyzing and making recommendations concerning Philadelphia's tax structure.

As promised, here is some video from today's announcement of Clay Armbrister as Chief of Staff for the Nutter administration:

It seems pretty clear that Nutter gets annoyed at, or at least has little time for, comparisons to the Rendell administration (or any past administrations). A couple of reporters referenced the relationship between Rendell and his chief of staff, David L. Cohen to which Nutter either replied with very terse answers or the answer he gave in the video.

Given his background, the selection of Armbrister seems pretty solid. A chief of staff is a lot like a baseball umpire though, if he's doing his job well and if things go smoothly with the administration, you'll hardly know he's there. They only get noticed when they screw things up. Nutter mentioned that Armbrister will speak for the mayor in his absence and will be as out in the public as he wants to be. One thing that will be interesting to observe will be how public Nutter lets (or, conversely, requires) his high level staff be.

Nice work, City of Philadelphia. Nothing like letting a couple of political insiders derail what could have been a pretty cool event.

And before people start commenting about how I don't know all of the details about the logistics of such an event, all I can say is that other cities make things like this work. Austin has been thrown around as the poster child for attracting young, smart, creative types, mostly because that city was willing to think outside the box and reinvent itself as a place for them to be.

Our city will continue to be held back as long as we keep seeing excuses like this:

"The Fairmount Park Commission worked tremendously hard," [C3 partner Charlie Jones] said. "I had full confidence that it was going to happen. We just ran out of time. . . . Unfortunately it got caught between the current administration and the new administration, and for whatever reason, it kept getting tabled. But we're still in a venue where we can service Philadelphia and its surrounding communities."

and especially this:

C3 partner Charlie Jones: "We were going through the process with the city and the commission was very motivated and excited about having this done. But, unfortunately, some of the political things that happened in Philadelphia got bogged down with the current administration."

Dan Gross had more about those "political things":

We were the first to report on the proposed concert and the drama and politics behind the scenes after C3 approached the Fairmount Park Conservancy.

We told you that Wolf Block partner Alan Kessler - longtime attorney for Electric Factory and its chief Larry Magid - was lobbying city officials and the Park Commission to support the EFC proposal.

Good morning, everyone.

Transition watch continues and now we have an actual transition team to watch. According to his latest press release, Michael Nutter has welcomed the following people to his transition efforts:

Honorary Chairman, Reverend Albert F. Campbell of Mount Carmel Baptist Church is joined by Committee co-chairs:

Tricia Enright, Nutter’s former general election campaign manager will serve as the Executive Director of the Committee and Richard Hayden, a lawyer with the firm Saul Ewing, was named Counsel to the Committee.

(Full bios are in the press release.)

So there's a little something for everyone here - people of all races and backgrounds. Most of these folks are not what you'd call "the usual suspects" of political insiders. Though, that isn't to say they're not connected to the community in many different ways. They each wield a fair amount of influence in their own spheres and are either responsible for large organizations or have worked with diverse groups of people.

Nutter also lays out his plan for the role he intends these folks to play:

The transition team will include an Operations Team that will review the City’s operating departments and also evaluate successful ‘Best Practices’ programs from other city governments. Nutter also wants the team to determine if there is an effective customer service model in place for each city department.

That seems easy enough. This Operations Team should just try to call the City themselves and try to get some mundane tasks accomplished. They could note the treatment they got during the process and how long the process took (if it even was completed). They would probably get a much more accurate assessment if they, say, tried to get a permit for something or report a code violation, than they would if they just talked to the folks in charge of those processes.

Any thoughts on this announcement? Do you have anything that you'd want to tell this transition team? Let 'em fly in the comments.

We continue our summary of what a Google News search for "Michael Nutter" turns up on a daily basis (placed here for you convenience with other important news items). Given the news about his new chief of staff, the harvest is fruitful.

WHYY, the Daily News, the Inquirer, the Metro, CBS 3 (with video!) and the Daily Pennsylvanian provide ample coverage of the latest Nutter appointment. In searching for some outside comments about Mr. Armbrister, these news reports went to his former employers, people who have worked with him and outside observers of the government.

The Daily News turned up the following phrases and adjectives: "praised [his] contributions to [Temple]," "a level-headed, genial man with a ferocious work ethic," "represented Temple with distinction, developing and maintaining important relationships with our neighbors, community leaders and elected officials," "perfect temperament for the job," "a smart guy," "not a know-it-all," "not in your face," "a really good disposition," "a great work ethic."

The Inquirer had "highly respected and well-liked executive with impeccable credentials," "smart... hardworking... completely above reproach... a straight shooter... a very solid guy," "everybody respects... looks up to... a role model," "persuasive... tries to engender a sense of cooperation and teamwork," "won't suspend good judgment in favor of political considerations," "politically savvy," and "capacity to be the heavy when he needs to be... capacity to motivate people so that you don't need a heavy."

It goes on like this. Basically, Nutter appointed the second coming of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Joe Torre, Buddha, Gandhi, Solomon and your mother to be his chief of staff. How can he go wrong?

Next up...

We have a little college challenge unfolding in the opinion pages of the newspapers of the City's two largest universities. Yesterday, an op-ed in the Temple News questioned the appointment of Charles Ramsey as police commissioner for, among other things, his questionable relationship with civil rights. Today, the University of Pennsylvania shoots back with an editorial in support of stop-and-frisk.

Next up...

In a story about Project U-Turn, and initiative to get school drop-outs back into the classroom, we find a quote from the mayor-elect in which he advocates for lowering the compulsory school attendance age from 8 to 6 years old. Imagine for a second that you have no way of detecting sarcasm and read this statement:

"It may have been understandable if this was 1807, but not in 2007," to only require students to attend school by age 8, Nutter said. "There's no wheat to be harvested in Philadelphia," he added, referring to the nation's agricultural past, when children stayed home from school to farm.

And finally...

KYW 1060's Mike Dunn was a veritable Nutter-story factory, squeezing 3 stories out of yesterday's event. He's got one about the Armbrister appointment, one about the flood of resumes to Nutter's "call to service," and one about Nutter's reaction to a New York Post story touting Philadelphia as a great place to Christmas shop.

Today, the Great Expectations project lays out recommendations on how the next administration can clean up city government (I had written "clean up City Hall" but then realized that we've already done the bathroom scrubbing thing) and improve the transportation system.

Chris Satullo, who has really put his heart and soul into this project, also invites people to comment about today's agenda items on his blog. So far, he's only gotten one response and it's from an astute reader who takes issue with Satullo's inclusion of Sugarhouse casino spokesperson Dan Fee among the folks who suggested ways to end corruption in City government. That attack seems a bit unfair. Fee may work for a lot of causes, people or organizations that many find disagreeable, but the man himself isn't corrupt and he has plenty of experience in government to know how things could be made better.

Anyway, shoot on over there and drop a comment or two. And don't forget to stay tuned for the news that comes out of the Great Expectations Citizen's Convention on Sunday.

The entire Citizen's Agenda can be found here.

...its rainwater back into the ground.

Via the 13th Floor, the blog of Governing Magazine, here's a story from Monday's New York Times about the Windy City's use of a new technology to relieve its overburdened storm water system and recharge the groundwater.

Apparently, there are such things as permeable concrete and porous asphalt which allow water to move through the street surface where it is filtered through a bed of stone before seeping back into the ground. And all this time, I thought I was just dreaming about such a thing. Aside from protecting waterways (since storm water runoff usually mixes with all kinds of chemicals and oils before moving through pipes and being dumped into the rivers), these new streets have other benefits:

The new pavements are also designed to reflect heat from the sun instead of absorbing it, helping the city stay cool on hot days. They also stay warmer on cold days. The green alleys are given new kinds of lighting that conserve energy and reduce glare, city officials said, and are made with recycled materials.

Add this to its commitment to green roof technology, and it looks like Chicago is well on its way to taking a major step towards reducing water pollution and mitigating drought.

Since that city is also in a particularly cold, winter climate, Chicago will also be a good laboratory for other cities to see how these new alleys deal with the freezing and thawing cycle that tears up traditional asphalt streets.

Well, along with not chasing away cutting edge music festivals, there are a number of things that cities can do to latch onto the "creative economy" wave and, in the case of Philadelphia, find those jobs that can finally replace long-gone manufacturing jobs.

As I continue dumping interesting links that I found at Governing.com, I offer this column, "Fueling the Creative Economy." Since I consider myself part of this creative economy, not because I'm particularly creative but because my job description seems to fit into the definition of C.E., I guess I'm the kind of person with whom these recommendations are supposed to resonate.

And some of them do. I particularly like number 6:

Employ social networking and marketing
Cultivating relationships with established business leaders is no longer enough. Creative communities use social media (blogs, podcasts, and even Facebook) to engage, listen to and respond to residents at all levels. Successful regions create a social "buzz" that galvanizes the community and supports residents' shared values and their vision for the region's future.

I don't think they're talking about Jack Kelly's MySpace page (which is a must-visit by Blondell Reynolds Brown's MySpace page) but it would be cool if the Nutter administration assigned some of their "best and brightest" to maintain an active, unfettered, honest and responsive presence on the web.

As an aspiring owner of a creative economy small business, I'm also a fan of number 7:

Use basic infrastructures and regulatory flexibility to support creativity
Creative companies are drawn to regions that can support their vision, and no data support the assertion that lower tax structures build better communities. Regions must "pay to play" in the new economy by combining tax and other revenues with regulatory flexibility to support mixed-use zoning and the development of nontraditional housing and arts districts.

Interesting point about the "lower tax structures." At the very least, the tax structure in this city needs to become more fair, easier to understand and has to make sense - especially for small and start-up businesses. Regulatory flexibility is also pretty key. We're not talking about removing restrictions against harmful, pollution-producing activities that damage the quality of life of their surroundings. Expediting permits for creative economy businesses or, dare we dream, reaching out to people to teach them how to start a business could go a long way in fostering this kind of entrepreneurship.

Since I already live and work here, I don't necessarily need to be attracted to this city, but I still love number 8:

Create sustainable, eco-friendly communities that attract creative companies and people
Affordable housing, good schools, user-friendly parks, bike paths, strong transportation systems and access to affordable telecommunications attract young, dynamic companies and their workers.

Admittedly, Philly is in a lot better shape with a number of these things than most cities but we could always use some improvement. And for goodness sake, can we get a batting cage within walking distance of Center City?

I've got one final link of note from my list of interesting Governing.com material today. And this one could serve as good advice for the Nutter team as they seek to build a new administration.

Ken Miller, author of We Don't Make Widgets: Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government From Radically Improving, writes that a city's hiring process may stand in the way of any attempts to change its work culture.

He asks, "what is the first experience a new employee will have with your agency?" and includes an insightful anecdote from a recently hired government employee:

"I had to fill out ridiculously long forms; I couldn't get hold of anybody to help me; I got notified of my interview a day before; was told the wrong place to go; had to take a test that reminded me of my drivers exam; and then I waited and waited and waited and called and waited some more. Finally I got the offer, showed up for work and goofed around for a month before I could get a phone, a desk and access to the computer system."

Does this sound familiar? If so, it's because you remember the story of Joan Hicken, a talented woman whose frustration with the way things work (or don't) in Philadelphia city government led her to resign from the post of recycling coordinator shortly after taking the job:

Others said that almost from the beginning, Hicken had been frustrated.

Nine weeks into the job, she still had no city e-mail address.

I was tempted to bring this example up in during the press conference with Clay Armbrister yesterday, just to get his reaction to this story and see to what extent he would work to make sure that new hires are up an running as quickly as possible, but I anticipated the answer would be of the "that kind of thing won't be acceptable" type.

Anyway, in his column, Miller says that episodes like this, starting in the hiring process and continuing through the orientation time, leave a terrible first impression on new hires. No matter how earnest and talented someone is, this kind of example makes it really easy for them to fall into the trap of just showing up, "goofing around," and drawing a paycheck. They may want to work but the city isn't letting them. How can any professional function without even an email address (for nine weeks!) and what message does it send when they have to use their personal email address or cell phone to conduct business?

Soon these enthusiastic new hires, the "best and brightest," just get caught up in the system. I read with shock as Miller recounted an conversation he had with a supervisor about the behavior of some longtime employees who regarded attendance at work as optional. See if you have the same reaction:

There wasn't anybody working. Or more precisely, most of the people weren't there, and those who were weren't really working. As I talked to the director, she nearly broke down in tears.

Do you have any idea how long it would take to replace them? It will take a year to get them removed and then almost another year to get them replaced. I can't go two years with no work getting done. I'd rather have two days a week than no days a week.

Granted, for appointed employees, the firing process is a lot easier but if the hiring process is so difficult, any supervisor could be tempted to make do with what they have. Also, please note that these examples are not drawn from Philadelphia city government (as far as I can tell) and don't reflect the known behavior of any city employees. They're more of an indictment of a bureaucratic system that leads to this kind of behavior.

Fortunately, according to Miller, these problems can be fixed and his column offers some examples of government agencies who have done that.

With over 3000 resumes to comb through and hundreds of positions to fill at all levels of government, the Nutter administration can't afford to ignore any problems with the hiring process. The hiring process itself should be the first task of Nutter's new transition team.

If you're looking for something to do after work tonight, test your knowledge of the region's mass transit system while you drink away the memories of the bad times you've had on the region's mass transit system:

Host: Young Involved Philadelphia

Any idea how many bus & trolley stops SEPTA has across the region? How about the time it takes the El to travel Market Street, from 2nd to 69th? YIP knows, and thinks you should too. Join us for a little post-turkey SEPTA Quizzo fun at Barrister's on November 28th at 5:30 pm. Winner's will leave bearing gifts, and all contestants will depart with nuggets of useless transit knowledge only YIP could provide. And who knows, after the happy hour specials, you may find yourself calling on SEPTA for a ride home. We hope to see you there!

I know there's a joke here somewhere but it's late in the day and I'm having trouble finding it... oh... and I'm not funny anyway.

Remember Tom Knox? I know it's been a while since his face was all over the airwaves talking about taking the "For Sale" sign off of City Hall. In this real estate market, who would want to buy it anyway?

Well, local humor website, The Philadelphia Turkey brought Knox back into the news with a cute story about his attempts to lay the groundwork for a potential run at governor - a story that was seriously covered by the Inquirer last weekend.

I just discovered that The Turkey also had a little fun with me for its Election Day issue:

The city's political community was buzzing over this morning's report that a Philadelphia resident had taken the time to get up off the couch, walk down the street, and cast a vote in the 2007 mayoral election. The Philadelphian in question, 47-year old James Williams, of Fairmount, entered his polling place in the Roberto Clemente Recreation Center shortly after 7:30 A.M. "When I got there, I didn't have to wait in line, but I didn't think much of it," he said to a throng of reporters in front of his Wallace Street home. "But to be the only voter in the whole city so far? Well, actually, I guess that's not really that surprising, either."

"For the last few weeks, there has been much discussion of voter apathy and a citywide lack of interest," said Dan Pohlig, overseer of The Next Mayor project. "But James Williams has shown how energized people really are by this election. I'm extremely pleased with the turnout so far."

In the words of Homer Simpson, "It's funny because it's true."