I think this city would be better off with Jonathan Saidel as its mayor. I am glad to hear that he is running. Mr. Saidel is a great speaker and I've seen him at our block parties and parades every year. He is genuinely concerned with every citizen and this city. No other potential candidate has demonstrated such dedication to this city as Mr. Saidel. I will be glad to support him in all his ventures.

Marty - can you tell us why, after 16 years in Citywide elected office, John Saidel would deserve to be voted into the Mayor's office? Seems to me like he's got little to show for his tenure. In fact, the City's "watchdog" was asleep for one of the biggest scandels in modern history.

Marty - can you tell us why, after 16 years in Citywide elected office, John Saidel would deserve to be voted into the Mayor's office? Seems to me like he's got little to show for his tenure. In fact, the City's "watchdog" was asleep for one of the biggest scandels in modern history.

You're kidding, right? Saidel has saved this city hundreds of millions of dollars during his 16 years in office. He is respected by elected officials statewide and nationwide for his accomplishments and contribtions to urban centers. He has devoted his entire life to serving the city of Philadelphia. Also, do you think the explosion of Philadelphia in the 1990's under Rendell was just because of Rendell? No, I am sure Rendell would credit a lot of his success to Saidel.
Phantom - have you read his book? The first or second edition, recently released?
Have you ever even met the man? If not, I'll bet you are the only one.

No, I am not kidding. His book was awesome and represents the excellent work of his staff. Sure I've met him - he reminds me a bit of the comedian John Lovitz. You didn't tell me what any of his accomplishments were, beyond saying that he's saved the City "hundreds of millions" of dollars. What had he done exactly? Can you rattle off a list of accomplishments? Can you answer my question about why he's been silent and unengaged while corruption has festered during this mayoral administration? And again, his book is awesome - I truly mean it - but I give most of the credit on that to his staff. Did John sit there and write the book himself? How could he, every time I saw him he was in the SEPTA concourse talking to somebody in Passeros Coffee. Give me facts, not platitudes about Saidel - I know that "he's a great guy and he's funny", but I think that we're all interested in a bit more substance and - in particular - what the has he done for the last 16 years besides running around the City, being a politician, slapping backs, and making friends?

Hasn't everyone running been "running around the City (or DC), being a politician, slapping backs, and making friends" though? Nutter, Evans, Fattah?

After reading this: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/politics/15336488.htm (with such inspiring passages as "Statewide, more than $1 billion above current spending is required simply to avoid service cuts and to maintain infrastructure in a decent state of repair, the report says. Far more is needed for even modest improvements, let alone expanded service.") , I think I'm willing to listen to any candidate with radical plans for SEPTA...

Joseph - some people have been doing their jobs while back-slapping. Nobody seems to be able to tell us what Saidel has done during his 16 year tenure. What are his accomplishments? I'm open-minded, I've just never been able to figure out what he's done.

PP:
Jonathan Saidel has been a leader on issues and ideas throughout his 20 years of public service. Unlike Nutter, obviously your choice, he hasn't just come out in recent days to fight crime for the campaign's sake. I won't try to convince you that Nutter is the wrong guy or Saidel is the right guy because it's clear you have already drank Nutter cool-aid. But nonetheless, I will try to enlighten you.
In 2005 he issued an extensive report on the police-fire communications that this city was spending over $50 million on that doesn't work. He recommended changes and upgrades to the plan to make it more efficient and protect public safety. Unfortunately, Council did not heed his recommendations. Even the Police agreed with Saidel's report.
Saidel has also recommended setting up a city office for homeland security and issued a report on federal grants the city could apply for to save money in protecting its citizens from terrorist and other attacks.
Saidel also took the initiative to overhaul PHA in the early 1990's.
Since Saidel was elected, he has made hundreds of recommendations and proposals for the city to save money and cut the deficit this city finds itself in year after year.
I also read an article where Rendell said that he could not have saved the city of Philadelphia, during his terms, without Jonathan Saidel.
Saidel has also been an integral party to every union contract negotiation since he was elected. Anyone will tell you that these are no walk in the park.
It was the job of your buddy, Nutter, to implement these recommendations. If he can't do that on City Council, how will he do it as mayor? Simply turning down the city issued car is not enough. Certainly not enough to convince me he can handle the job...

All hat, no saddle...that's what Saidel's record suggests to me. "[H]e issued an extensive report"..."he recommended"...lots of talking, not a lot of doing. Saidel is a smart cat, but as the campaign goes forward, his main difficulty will be articulating to the voters why - after 16 years in Citywide office and not much to show for it in terms of actual results - he deserves their vote. His staff did a lot of stuff - wrote reports, wrote a book even - but Saidel himself did little to use the bully pulpit of his office, his stature as a Citywide elected official, and his considerably large staff to accomplish anything of substance. He'll also have some explaining to do about the Feds interest in some of his business and campaign dealings, but that's an issue for another day.

The Nutter cool-aide? It's delicious. When Saidel's campaign folds, or when he steps aside to make way for his "good government buddy" Bob Brady, you might consider taking a swig or two :)

As for Rendell's comments about Saidel, I love Rendell - what a great Mayor and Governor, but he throws out the compliments like it's going out of style.

And another thing - do you understand the "Strong Mayor" form of goverment? It's not City Council's job to implement Controller's recommendations (it's actually nobody's job, as they're just recommendations). If anything, it was up to Saidel's good buddy, Mayor Street to put some of those recommendations to action. I refer to Street as Saidel's good buddy, because given Saidel's deafening silence during the worst municipal corruption scandal in years, the City's "watchdog" has been strangely silent.

Ok you don't seem to understand the Office of City Controller. He can't implement those suggestions. I don't know if you understand the way the city works. Saidel's "large staff" does nothing, unless he directs them to. They are his ideas. Ask anyone on his very loyal staff and they will testify to his great leadership and initiatives. No other City Controller took the reins like he has. Even the current City Controller is lagging far behind. Saidel wrote his own book. They are Saidel's ideas. Saidel teaches his own classes at UPenn. Saidel is nationally renown for his knowledge of municipal government. Ask Nutter, he would agree.
And by the way - you babble on and on about "the biggest scandal" in this city's history (was MOVE nothing?). The City Controller can't regulate Len Ross or Ron White - they are private citizens. As for Corey Kemp, it's not in the Controller's purview to watch individual employees. That's for personnel and human resources. You can't pawn corruption off on Saidel. By the way, Nutter's reforms seem to be floundering. They aren't doing anything, and in fact, Saidel filed preliminary objections and won. You should really go after Fattah on this one - he's the one who refuses to abide by the limits. Not only that, but the shody campaign finance law wouldn't have prevented Corey Kemp, Len Ross or Ron White from breaking the law. Instead of a smoking ban, why not propose some laws on health care reforms. If you are really concerned about the employee's health...

I understand the strong mayor form of government, but as councilman, you must contribute and try to fix the problems. When Nutter stands up now and says "this is what I would do..." I want to ask him..."why didn't you try to do anything like that while you were in office?" While he can't sign the law, he can help legislate. It's not getting implemented until it's proposed.
Nutter has done nothing but put miniature band-aids on huge potholes.

oh and about Rendell...he could have thrown any number of complements. Saidel was a great Controller. Saidel is a great person. Saidel would make a great mayor - all true. But on an issue that he could have hogged all to himself and not given any credit, he chose to bestow that on Saidel. Truth is, he couldn't have done it without Saidel. Saidel advised him on many of his initiatives. The city could have gone bankrupt and never got out of the red, but with Saidel's assistantce and recommendations, the city was reborn.
Unfortunately, I've never heard such glowing remarks from anyone about Nutter. I wonder why?

I understand Philadelphia government and what it means to be a leader and I know that Saidel’s campaign staffers and supporters make the excuse that the Charter only gives the Controller so much power. Hogwash. I know that Saidel squandered a huge opportunity – one that lasted for 16 years. He had the stature, the staff, the bully pulpit to do much more, but chose not to. Yes, I’ve “babbled on” about the CORRUPTION SCANDAL, not talking about the MOVE crisis or the Yellow Fever epidemic, for that matter. Your guy will have to explain to voters why he’s done nothing and said nothing about it. I suspect it’s got something to do with his lack of independence (he’s kind of a party hack and Bob Brady acolyte) and his own “alleged” scandalous activity. Don’t get me wrong, Saidel’s not bad – he’s definitely the second best out there.

Your candidate is not exactly out of the woods. What was the pandering for Carol Campbell earlier this year? What was the deal with the Septa trolley? How about calling the Sheriff for Campbell's no bid contract that paid $80,000? All of that pandering and she still doesn't like him...
Read up on the charter...Saidel did more than any other Controller ever did or could.
While you blast Saidel and go negative already, you aren't really going positive for Nutter. How long was he in office? What did he do? Did he make anyone safer? Did he cut taxes? Did he get anything done...
Nutter seems very nice and smart, but smart, is just not enough. Don't get drunk on the Nutter-aid, save some room for the Saidel-juice that's on it's way.

You must be a paid staffer, based upon your level of anger. I'm very comforatable with Michael and what he's done; he's got a great record of legislative accomplishments like on tax reform and tax competitiveness (Jonathan was AWOL at the public hearings for this, remember?) and on ethics and campaign finance (again, Jonathan was AWOL on this). I don't recall the Feds ever looking into Nutter's business as they've done with Jonathan, right? Remember that thing with the girfriend, the house she bought and the money from the campaign? How about the big money he's made from outside employment to firms that are connected to the City's business?

I'm not blasting Saidel, like I said, I think he's the second best out there. If he had more of a record of accomplishment and was truer to his convictions during his 16 YEARS IN OFFICE and had some political courage to stand up to the party bosses and the power that be, I'd probably be a supporter of his.

Saidel is not under any federal investigation and has been cleared of any wrongdoing. He has testified at every single budget hearing as to the changes this city needs to make, especially with regards to taxes. Saidel was not silent during his 16 years of office - do a google search and you can see for your own eyes what he has done. Nutter standing up and talking about tax reform is nice and all...but where's the action? He's all talk and no results. The fact is, this city is no better off because Nutter served. And the truth is that Saidel made major contributions to this city and it would look vastly different if he hadn't been a part of the government.
Not a paid staffer...he doesn't have to pay me for this. I truly believe and soon you will too.

Oh, one more thing. Saidel doesn't have authority to grant contracts. He is legally earning a living from a law firm, as he is an attorney. There is no law that says he can't be an attorney, is there? Nutter is certainly making enough cash off the Convention Center. Shady?!?!?! Don't throw rocks in glass houses....

Now you're being silly...the City isn't better off because Nutter served but Jonathan Saidel's 16 years of "service" have put us in a much better place? If you can't appreciate Nutter's contributions to important issues like tax competitiveness, ethics reform, and economic development, then there's no hope for this conversation. Good luck with Saidel (or Brady).

Saidel was under federal investigation for "allegedly" accepting a combined $500,000 from two law firms to help them recruit clients, clearly leveraging the stature of his office to do so. Good stuff for the "fiscal watchdog" to be doing, huh?

What "cash" is Nutter making at the convention center? Handn't heard about that one.

Look, I like Nutter. He's a fine man and clearly very intelligent. I just don't think he would make a good mayor. I just don't see how you think Saidel hasn't done anything during his 16 years as Controller. Dragging his name through the mud now, years after he was cleared of ANY AND ALL wrong doing, is serving no purpose. Saidel is currently under no investigation for wrongdoing. He was in no way involved in any of the Ross/White/Kemp fiasco. Saidel is an upstanding citizen who has served this city well during his long illustrious tenure as controller. He is held in high regard and seen as a man of the people that would do a lot of good for this city. He can communicate with the average citizen far better than Nutter who has correctly been portrayed as arrogant (affirmed by the Septa incident at the forum with Saidel).
You are not going to change my mind...

Nor will you convince me that Saidel deserves to be elected Mayor. He's a smart guy, no doubt and has attracted some fine people to work for him, but he's not earned my respect (or vote) because he didn't use his power and stature to do much more than be a cheerleader. You characterize Nutter in a way that I don't agree with - how about I characterize Saidel as a goof-ball? He's sort of a silly-ass, always making jokes. He's kind of like the "class clown" of the mayoral hopefuls. The "SEPTA Incident" - wow, I'd rather that my guy have a "SEPTA" incident than a "Federal Invesistigation" incident. How about when his campaign loaned his girlfriend that money? That's the guy who should be mayor? Talk about poor judgement.

To get this back on track, it started with me asking what has Saidel done in his 16 years. Aside from platitudes and generalities, I still don't feel like I've got an answer to that one. Saidel's campaign will largely be about "what he's going to do" rather than "what he's done". That is, unless his polical patron and Democratic machine party boss Bob Brady decides otherwise.

Jane - Saidel's involvement in the Street/Kemp/Ross/White/Ali, etc. scandal isn't as a direct participant, but as the City Controller - the City's fiscal and ethical good government watchdog, Saidel has been disappointingly silent. He's not spoken out about the corruption, not because he's directly part of it, but because he's a partisan hack who doesn't have the independence or self-confidence to go it alone. And let me say this, I know that I'm being harsh on him, but I say this out of a profound disappointment that somebody of Saidels intellect, vision, and passion would not jump into the fray and do the right thing.

You'll note that the paid staffers only work during the week :)