Heard in the Hall

Lunching today at the Capital Grille on South Broad, a hatchery for political schemes of all stripes: Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, who says he is running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010; former City Controller Jonathan Saidel; Common Pleas Judge John Younge of Philadelphia, a Democratic nominee for Superior Court in the Nov. 6 election; Republican consultant Aaron Cohen; and Democratic operative Charles Breslin, a confidant of Gov. Rendell.

Heard in the Hall hears that among the items on the menu was talk that Saidel might run for lieutenant governor three yeras hence, perhaps in alliance with Cunningham.

At-large GOP City Council candidate David Oh was interviewed last night by Young Philly Politics. Apparently they talked for over an hour, which is easy to believe. In addition to knowing how to have a good time, David Oh can jaw it out with best of them.

Oh tells YPP that if does manage to pull off a victory in November's election (which itself would have to be considered at least a minor upset), he'll eventually run for Mayor.

Young Philly Politics continues to go after Councilman Darrell Clarke for allegedly getting his primary opponent's empty-lot cleanup contract cancelled. They've got photos...

Would a Mayor Nutter have Chief of Staff Jim Kenney as his right-hand man?

No chance, Councilman Kenney says, shooting down a rumor that was first publicly floated in a City Paper article the other day.

“If he asked me I’d be flattered, but I’m not interested,” Kenney said. “It’s too much work. It's like being mayor."

Kenney and Nutter worked well together as council members, and they are often of similar minds when it comes to policy. But Kenney thinks he can accomplish just as much — and put in a few less hours at the office — by staying on Council.

“I’m going to be loyal oarsman for the next administration,” he said. “People expect council and the mayor to be on the same page. For a lot of reasons that hasn’t happened, but we have a new chance to get our act together.”

Nutter of course isn’t yet saying who he will ask to serve in his adminstration. It's premature, there's an election in November, so forth and so on.

The Daily News takes a look at a pair of possibly competitive City Council races in the 8th and 10th districts, where longtime incumbents Donna Reed Miller and Brian O'Neill face legitimate challengers. Most district council members will have an opponent in November's election, but with the exception of the 8th and the 10th the challenges are merely token.

Miller might set a record for most challengers-dispatched if she survives (as still seems likely) this round's three-headed challenge. She narrowly defeated three challengers in the primary, and she's routinely faced multi-candidate fields since taking office. The number of candidates willing to run against Miller speaks to some significant dissatisfaction in her leadership, but it plays into her hands as they split the "anti-Donna" vote. Her base sticks with her through thick and thin, and the three less-than-well-funded minor party candidates going after her this time will have virtually no chance to beat her unless they can set aside their differences and settle on a single challnger.

Republican Brian O'Neill has a different problem. He represents a district that's trending Democrat at a time when Republicans nationally aren't getting much love. The Daily News reports that O'Neill will outspend challenger Sean McAleer by more than 2-1, which suggests he's worried.

Other critical reading: Inga Saffron's report from yesterday's Planning Commission meeting. Members got their first look at the PennPraxis waterfront development plan, and they seemed underwhelmed. It's this whole revolutionary "street grid" concept that's catching the most flak. PlanPhilly also has an account.

Elsewhere, Democratic at-large City Council candidate Bill Green does a Q&A with Young Philly Politics, in why he proclaims: "Bikers are my core demographic." ... Pity the indicted State Senator trying to unload a Florida vacation house in a tough market. ... Metro takes a quick look at the low property tax bill on Fumo's Art Museum manse, which is listed here ...

Ok, you can't miss this. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has a stand-up comedy routine, and I'm afraid to say that he gets a little raunchy in it. A sample joke, the target is his friend Bob Dole.

I called him last july 22nd on his 84th birthday and I said, 'Bob, congratualtions how do you feel?'

And he said, 'Arlen I feel like a teenager. But the problem is I can't find one.'

And he said, 'I just came down for breakfast and I said to elizabeth I just shaved and I feel 10 years younger. And Elizabeth frowned and said, 'why didn't you shave last night?'

Here's another one. He's talking about Moses and the 10 Commandments.

"For example when he came down from Mt. Sinai, he said there's good news and bad news. We got the number down to 10, but adultery is still there."

Lord preserve us. You can watch it yourself on Philly.com here.

Meet campaign aide Jamie Fleet, 28.
His old boss was Jonathan Saidel, the former City Controller who was going to run for mayor until U.S. Rep. Bob Brady got into the race, squeezing Saidel out. Fleet, without a missing a beat, left the Saidel campaign for the Brady one.

Meet spokeswoman Kate Philips, 33.
Her old boss was Gov. Rendell, who last February kindly granted her a leave from Harrisburg so she could handle reporter inquiries for the Brady campaign.
Now meet Jamie Fleet and Kate Philips - a couple soon to be wed.

Philips spilled the beans earlier today, showing reporters (including the Inquirer's Harrisburg-based Angela Couloumbis) the ring that Fleet gave her last night after dinner at Le Bec Fin.
Philips noted that Brady took credit for getting the pair together.
She also said that Brady called their match the only good thing to come of his mayoral campaign.

Never let it be said that Vern Anastasio shies away from a fight. The South Philly Democrat, fresh off a brutal May defeat at the hands of Councilman Frank DiCicco, appears to be contemplating a challenge against none other than Congressman Bob Brady.
We haven't yet spoken to Anastasio, but he's emailing supporters to let them know he's considering it.

Update: Brady didn't talk to us directly, but here's what he told press secretary Karen Warrington: "The congressman says, 'let him run, the more the merrier, join the party.'" Still no word from Anastasio.

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

CONFIDENTIAL. DO NOT FORWARD.
October 19, 2007

Hello Friends:

First, I want to thank you, again, for joining Leslie and I in last Spring's primary. As an official member of GFOV (Good Friends of Vern) you helped us do about as well or better than any challenger against any elected incumbent in City Council. We sure did have fun.

I have some exciting news. I wanted to let you know that a small group of supporters and I are exploring an exciting opportunity -- getting involved with next Spring's Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District seat in Pennsylvania.

We're now exploring this opportunity as we gauge what it might take to stand for such an important post.

Why would I run?

(rest after the jump...)

Another great YouTube moment, posted first over at Metropolis. Democratic traffic court nominee Willie Singletary - he of the suspended license and $11,000 in moving violation fines - appeals to a crowd of bikers for their financial support. Singletary pretty much comes right out and tells them he'll be their friend if he's elected and they find themselves in his courtroom.

At 2 p.m. today, a City Council committee will take up a signature piece of Michael Nutter's proposed mayoral agenda: Allowing officers to stop, question and frisk people suspected of carrying concealed weapons.

It's the first official hearing on this contoversial proposal.

Nutter himself won't make it into Council chambers as he did last week to testify on two bills.
He is instead sending UPenn law professor Wendell Pritchett, one of his campaign policy advisers.

Others expected to chime in include City Controller Alan Butkovitz; Bob Eddis and John McNesby of the Fraternal Order of Police; and at least criminal justice professors.

More to come later.

No surprise here. Democratic Mayoral nominee Michael Nutter has said in the past that he's got a good relationship with new DC 47 president Cathy Scott. He'll need it. Scott and Nutter will soon be sitting on opposite sides of the table, trying to hammer out a new labor deal that works for DC 47's members and solidifies the city's shaky financial position. It's going to be a major challenge for the next mayor.

In his first address as mayor elect, Michael Nutter hearkened back to John F. Kennedy's call to public service and asked for the city's "best and brightest" to join his administration.

I want people to start thinking about changing their lives and changing their careers, to come into the government of the City of Philadelphia. Whether it's an executive loan program for experienced executives or also the rising stars in your company. We need your help in order to turn this government around, to change our policies and practices, to have new ideas and new ways of doing business in this city... We need your help and support to show us some of the things you do in your companies to drive value, to enhance shareholder value, to drive revenue up, cut costs and make your bottom line work.

I want you to start thinking about it. Whether it's time for you to make a change, take a detour. And I understand that public service may not be for everyone for the long haul. There is no higher calling, there is no better way to serve your fellow Philadelphians and people in the region then to consider coming into public service. I need your help and I'm asking for your support.

Nutter's remarks seem tailored to the audience, a large group of business leaders who'd asembled for a traditional post-election Committee of 70 breakfast. His speech was mellower than many he has delivered recently, and he spent plenty of time talking about what executives could do to help his administration.

Still, he was received like a rock star ("Bad to the Bone" was played as he entered the ballroom at the Bellevue Hotel where the event was held), and he drew plenty of applause in his 20-minute speech with lines like this: "We need to get over ourselves at a certain level, and stop being so envious of other places. ... We are Philadelphia, and we need to be proud of that."

More to come later.

Update: Want to apply. Nutter is taking resumes over at www.nutter2007.com.

When Mayor Street becomes Professor Street next year, guess who's going to join him behind the lectern as a guest speaker? None other than mayor-elect Michael Nutter, a guy who's locked horns with Street perhaps more than any other public figure in the city. In an interview this morning (which you can read all about in Sunday's Inquirer), Nutter said that Street asked him to speak to his class, and Nutter quickly agreed. "I think that'd probably be one of the most well-attended classes that he gives," Nutter said.

The mayor-elect also praised Street for moving quickly to set up transition meetings.

"He wants things to be as smooth as possible and I greatly appreciate that," Nutter said. "We’re two very deeply passionate caring public servants, and from time to time we might have a difference of opinion about some public policy sisues. It’s not personal. And I think Mayor Street wants to make sure that the city of Philadelphia ... functions and operates well after his term is up."

So far, Michael Nutter is getting what he asked for: Resumes.

Lots of them.

Nutter said this morning during a speech at Drexel University that he had received more than 1,000 resumes. Spokeswoman Melanie Johnson put a finer point on it: It's actually 1,119.

Nutter, who generally speaks without notes, was as jovial and relaxed as ever. Upon receiving a gift that was clock, he poked fun at himself for being a few minutes late to the event, saying, "Woody Allen really was correct: Apparently 85 percent of life is just showing up."

Also worth noting: He revealed that he actually got about one hour's worth of sleep Election Night. Seems he was having too good of a time at what he called "one of the best parties I've ever been to."

Sources say Nutter's choice for police commissioner is Charles H. Ramsey, who left his job as the top cop in the nation's capital last January, when a new mayor took office there.
Ramsey led a police force about two-thirds the size of Philly's.
Nutter is expected to make the announcement official in 50 minutes, at the YMCA on Chestnut Street and 51st Street.

It can't be easy being Michael Nutter (i.e., the Ethics Guy). He's about to become the first mayor to limit contributions to his inaugural party fund.
Legally, there are no restrictions concerning money raised for the swearing-in festivities.

The fund will be managed by an inaugural committee, which is being formed, Nutter said Friday. It will function as a nonprofit organization, and not a political action committee, which means it is not subject to the city's campaign-finance limits.

That means that legally, donations of any size - $50,000, $100,000, $1 million should he get really lucky - are acceptable.

But ethically . . . Nutter won't allow it.

"We are being consistent with what we did during the course of the mayor's race, even though the law does not apply," he said. He talked about how the spirit of the law was to reduce the overall impact of individual and business contributions.

The bottom line: If you want to support Nutter's inaugural fete, you can give up to $5,000 if you are an individual, or $20,000 if you are a political committee. Same old rules.

So where's the party going to be?

"I'm not on the site selection committee," Nutter said. "There are a whole group of people working on that. They will figure out a real good location, what food to have, which band to pick."

It was all hugs and kisses at this afternoon's annual hospitality luncheon - starting with who hosted the event.

Long coordinated by the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority for the first time joined in as a co-sponsor, which seemed a visible message that the sometimes-feuding organizations will try harder to play nice together.

That message was also underlined when Nick DeBenedictis, the chairman of the PCVB, and Buck Riley, chairman of the Convention Center, took the stage together for a dual presentation that was preceded by The O'Jays song, "Love Train."

Mayor-Elect Michael Nutter took to the stage as a different song played: "A Beautiful Day" by U2, presumably complimenting his new slogan (It's a New Day. It's a New Way).

While Nutter sounded all the right chords about "regionalism" and "working together," he also took time to praise Mayor Street, who was seated at the table with him and had talked a few moments before. With Nutter's prompting, about half the ballroom audience stood to honor the outgoing mayor. (And in case you're wondering, the song Street took the stage to: "Oh Happy Day.")

Or simply: Oh - no!
The Philly Board of Elections has just made it official - finally.
City Councilman Jack Kelly will return to Council in January. He beat David Oh by 122 votes.
That's the final count.

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.
Before joining Temple in 2003, Armbrister was director of UBS PaineWebber’s Municipal Securities Group in Philadelphia.

His public-sector experience includes stints as managing director of the School District of Philadelphia and city treasurer under then-Mayor Ed Rendell. His wife Denise McGregor Armbrister, is a member of the School Reform Commission.

Nutter spokeswoman Melanie Johnson declined comment.

In choosing Armbrister, Nutter again filled a high-level position with someone who is outside his inner circle and less known for his city political connections than his professional qualificiations.

Nutter’s two other picks to date include former Washington Police Chief Chuck Ramsey, who will become Philadelphia’s police commissioner, and Rob Dubow, a former city budget director who will resign as head of the state agency that monitors city spending to become Nutter’s finance director.

Well, that's three jobs done.

Rob Dubow, finance director. Chuck Ramsey, police commissioner. And as of a few minutes ago, Clarence Armbrister, chief of staff.

But there are still hundreds of jobs for Michael Nutter to fill, and he has received close to 3,000 resumes to help him choose.

Some of the work, though, will be done by Armbrister, Nutter said in an interview after announcing his new top aide at today's press conference.

Will he be an energetic, everywhere-man like Rendell's David L. Cohen? Or a behind-the-scenes master like Street's Joyce Wilkerson?

Nutter's response: "I expect that when public servants get a call from the chief of staff, they should respond like they're getting a call from me," Nutter said.

Sixteen years ago, he pushed through the legislation to create the agency. Now he wants to run it.

The who is former state House Speaker Robert W. O'Donnell. And the what is the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the state agency charged with monitoring Philadelphia's finances.

Rob Dubow, the agency's executive director, will leave at the end of this month to become city finance director under Mayor-elect Michael Nutter.

O'Donnell - who these days is a lobbyist by profession - is lobbying for his job.

"I'm extremely hopeful about the Nutter administration," O'Donnell said. "But I really think the city is on the verge of another financial crisis, and I think PICA will play a big role."

He described his efforts as "preliminary" at this point, and said he wasn't sure if it was a "doable deal."

If it doesn't work out, he said, "I'm still a supporter of Nutter, and I'll get through the night."

This intruiging op-ed in yesterday's Inquirer is generating a good bit of discussion in City Hall and elsewhere. In it, mayor-elect Michael Nutter rides to the defense of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who'd been derided in an earlier Inquirer editorial for, among other things, having a legislative record "thinner than Kate Moss." Ouch. Prompting the Inquirer editorial was recent word that a young doctor named Keith Leaphart who plans to challenge Brady is lining up big financial support.

Over at Young Philly Politics, they're wondering why Nutter would so publicly have Brady's back, and they're asking similar questions at the Next Mayor.

Heard in the Hall hears that Brady asked Nutter to write the op-ed, and Nutter acquiesced. The letter is bound to make some Nutter supporters uncomfortable, or at least those who are heavily invested in his "New Day" message. As Democratic Party Chairman, Brady doesn't exactly represent a new day, and his pro-patronage record wouldn't appear to match up real well with Nutter's ethics-first approach either.

But consider the other side. Brady bent over backwards following his defeat in the mayoral primary, rallying the party behind Nutter. And Brady is now chairman of a House committee, which will likely help him direct more federal money to Philadelphia. Plus, he's the city's resident labor mediator, and given the contract negotiations Nutter will face immediately after taking office, he could be a real asset to the next mayor.

The mayor elect's got a lot on his plate, and he seems to have concluded there's little to be gained in snubbing a party chairman who's had his back since the primary.

The weekend that Pennsylvania politicos have been awaiting all year finally arrived, with less intrigue than last year but as much liquor as ever.

Largely gathered under one roof - New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel - the annual schmoozefest known as the Pennsylvania Society got off to its usual start Friday night, complete with at least one stumblng figure carrying a bottle of eggnog down East 49th Street, outside the hotel, in the wee hours of the night.

But there was no drama like last year when Bob Brady suddenly surfaced in the hotel lobby as proof he was serious about joining the five-man race for mayor, while the then-underdog and now Mayor-elect Michael Nutter drew nary a crowd.

Last night, though, mixmaster Mike was mixing it up on the dance floor - arms out, hips grooving - at the reception sponsored by Local 98, whose leader John Dougherty is hardly known to be his best friend. Meanwhile, Nutter's two-man plainclothes security detail stood at the edge of the dance floor prepared for potential trouble. It was not something Nutter had to deal with when he was here before as a mere City Councilman.

Reprinted from today's print edition...

Digital eyebrows jumped when Mayor-elect Michael Nutter wrote an Inquirer opinion piece last week defending the congressional record and Democratic Party leadership of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady.

Did it signal that Nutter wasn't interested in reforming the city Democratic Party? Had he cut some deal with Brady? Those and other questions were raised at Young Philly Politics, a discussion blog favored by progressives who would like to see big changes in the city Democratic Party.

So how about it, mayor-elect?

"Reforming the party is a priority for me, and I don't think people should try to read any tea leaves or read too much into the letter," Nutter said Thursday from New York, where he was attending the annual Pennsylvania Society political pow-wow.

The former President is expected to speak at a fundraiser for his wife at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the National Constitution Center.

Mayor Street is also expected to attend, in what will be one of his last gigs on a somewhat national stage as Philadelphia mayor.

The days are quickly going.

Street has not been couped up in his office, though.

Here's a look at today's calendar.

EVENT: Mayor Street will offer remarks and present a ceremonial ReStore Corridors check to the Hispanic Association of Contractor and Enteprises (HACE). TIME: 11:00 a.m. LOCATION: El Centro de Oro, 2708 N. 5th Street

EVENT: Mayor Street will announce this year’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks Display.
TIME: 12:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Mayor’s Reception Room 202

EVENT: Mayor Street will offer remarks at the Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Token of Appreciation Event.
TIME: 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Mayor’s Reception Room 202

EVENT: Mayor Street will offer remarks opening of the City’s 11th Curfew Center.
TIME: 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Ken Crest Services, 901 E. Ontario Street

EVENT: Mayor Street will offer remarks at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton featuring former President William Clinton.
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street

One of Mayor Street's favorite nonprofits, Philadelphia Safe and Sound, announced an interesting pick today for its latest board member.

That person is Michael Pearson, president of a company named Union Packaging. According to the press release, the company "manufactures folding cartons in FDA regulated packaging industries. It is one of the fastest growing minority-owned packaging companies in the U.S."

But it's not Pearson's job that's so interesting. It's his position as a co-finance chair of Mayor-elect Michael Nutter's campaign committee.

Nutter is no big fan of Safe and Sound, mostly because the nonprofit has tight ties to Street's wife, who at one time was its president. And for the last few months, Street has been working quietly but assiduously to transfer tens of million of city dollars there, to pay for youth-prevention programs.

That did not make Nutter happen, who told the Inquirer in June: "The next mayor should have the opportunity to structure the government as he wants to and should not be faced with a significant loss of general-fund dollars shipped off to organizations not within the control or oversight of the city government."

Is Safe and Sound trying to get on Nutter's good side?

Condolences to two Philadelphia state representatives - former Speaker John Perzel and Jewel Williams - who lost their mothers recently.

Word of their passing was announced on the House floor earlier today.

Has Michael Nutter made his first patronage hire?

To fill the position of "special assistant," the Mayor-elect turned to Jordan Schwartz - son of U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz. Her membership on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in Washington is probably something not lost on the man about to become mayor.

Nutter and the congresswoman go way back, as he pointed out. Schwartz, for instance, first ran for a seat in the Pennsylvania state legislature in 1990, a year before Nutter won his first election as City Councilman. Jordan, now 28, was 11 years old.

Jordan also interned for Nutter in his Council office about five years ago. "I've known him a long time," Nutter said.

His decision to hire Jordan also speaks to Nutter's recognition of an important base of his support: young reformers. Jordan is the former state director of the Pennsylvania Center for Progressive Leadership, a nonprofit that trains progressive politicos how to be political leaders. It operates programs in four other states.

What does his new job entail? "He travels with me, follows up on anything that happens in the course of the day or evening."

Philadelphia magazine editor Larry Platt, who had been weighing a challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, has decided journalism is better than politics.

What helped him make that decision? Attending last week's Pennyslvania Society weekend at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

"After being a prospective candidate for two days at PA Society last weekend," he said in an email sent to his staff, "I was so sick of my own voice, so tired of hearing me talk about me, that I realized this life change wasn't for me. When you're a journalist, I realized, you're interested in hearing and conveying other peoples' stories. When you're obsessed with your own story, you create your own little echo chamber inside your head. It's not fun."

Fun, after all, is what it's all about.

Mayor-elect Nutter and his new managing director, Camille Barnett, haven't worked together yet, but there's ample evidence they're already on the same page on perhaps the city's most pressing problem: crime.

Nutter, of course, recently selected Charles Ramsey as the city's next police commissioner. Nine years ago, Barnett did exactly the same thing, hiring Ramsey away from Chicago's police force to lead the department in Washington, D.C., where Barnett was chief management officer.

"He was a great choice for D.C., and seeing him here made me think Nutter knew what he was doing," said Barnett, who went to Chicago in 1998 with a member of the city's control board to woo Ramsey.

Though their paths quickly diverged (Barnett left D.C. within a year of Ramsey's arrival) and Ramsey didn't report directly to Barnett, they worked together frequently.

According to Philadelphia's charter, the police commissioner's boss is technically the managing director. How would Ramsey feel about working directly for Barnett?

"I don't know what Mayor-elect Nutter's setup is going to be, but I don't have a problem with that," Ramsey said. "We've got a very good relationship."

That doesn't mean Ramsey wasn't stunned when he learned Barnett would join him in Nutter's administration.

"You should have seen his expression when he saw me the first time in Philadelphia," Barnett said.

Mayor-elect Michael Nutter last week wholeheartedly threw his support behind Hillary Clinton in next year's presidential race.
"Philadelphia, we need a friend in the White House," he said at an Electric Factory fund-raiser for the New York senator, before a crowd of about 1,000 people - including former President Bill Clinton.

That might be.

But several months earlier, Nutter left the distinct impression that Philadelphia might need a different friend.

At a mayoral forum at Central High School in Philadelphia last February, each of the five Democrats running in the primary was asked to predict the next president.

Nutter's answer: "I'll go out on a limb. Sen. [Barack] Obama." His response triggered a round of applause and whoops from the young audience.

Of course, that was before the Illinois senator distributed an e-mail to the supporters of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, one of Nutter's rivals in the race, asking them to contribute to Fattah's campaign committee.

Asked last week about why it was Obama then and Clinton now, Nutter said: "That was during the election campaign, and I certainly wish him well. I wish him the best. That's what campaigns are about. They evolve over time."

It seems there will be at least one holdover from the Street administration: Chief Information Officer Terry Phillis.

The city's so-called techology chief has confirmed that he was approached two weeks ago by members of Mayor-elect Michael Nutter's transition team, who "asked me if I would stay on and be part of the Nutter administration."

He says he quickly answered yes. "I had been getting some calls about some other opportunities," Phillis said, "but I really didn't want to do that. I really like what I'm doing."

Phillis was named CIO in August 2006, replacing Dianah Neff, Street's hand-picked and well paid technology chief who left under a cloud because of her role in the failed water billing system project. He was hired as Neff's deputy the year before.

Phillis has his own difficulties ahead, namely dealing with Wireless Philadelphia, which has been marred by Earthlink's rethinking of its business strategy, i.e., wanting to get out of the municipal wireless business. "The experience with Earthlink hasn't been exactly wonderful to this point," he said. "We'll continue on, because we view it as a city asset. I don't know what the future will bring."

Who else will Nutter keep? Stay tuned.

Sharif Street - former Council candidate, real estate attorney, and the son of former Mayor Street - was the beneficiary of one of his father's last-minute flurry of appointments. His post? A seat on the Zoning Code Commission, which is rewriting the city's zoning code. Street had five slots to fill on the commission, but he let them languish empty for months. Team Nutter clearly expected to fill the posts itself. No word yet on whether or not Sharif Street was the only new member named, but we'll find out shortly.

Sharif Street confirmed the appointment himself following this morning's inauguration of Mayor Nutter. What'd he think of the speech? He said it was solid, and he appreciated the respect Nutter paid to former Mayors Street and Rendell.

With the notable exception of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, there haven't been a lot of local pols lining up to support Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid. That could change, of course, if Obama continues to challenge Hillary Clinton for front-runner status, but until now most local politicians have either backed Clinton (a la Mayor Nutter and U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwarz) or stayed on the sidelines.

But State Rep. Tony Payton, who beat the party endorsed candidate to become the youngest representative in Harrisburg, is pulling for Obama, and even went to campaign for him in New Hampshire. Still, we suspect this photo does Payton more good than Obama. How long until it's hanging on the wall of his office?

Update: As noted in the comments, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (who represents Bucks County and a pair of wards in Northeast Philadelphia) is also backing Obama.

Alan Butkovitz may be just a local government official - Philadelphia's city controller - but that hardly seems to limit him from trying to involve himself in national and world affairs.
Namely, the U.S. race for president.

From a press release just issued by his office:

Today, City Controller Alan Butkovitz called upon the Republican and Democratic Presidential Candidates, the Chairs of both the Democratic and Republican parties, and the hosts of future scheduled presidential debates, to bring up in the debate discussion of the ongoing tragedy of the genocide in Sudan.

To read a draft of the Butkovitz letter:

Mayor Nutter appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews tonight. Matthews, of course, is a Philly native, and he served as moderator for a debate during the mayoral primary. He seems to have taken a shine to Nutter, who was asked for his thoughts on the presidential elections. No video available yet, but you can read the transcript after the jump.

Nutter endorsed Sen. Clinton a few weeks ago, and he noted that in the interview. Nutter appeared to support Sen. Obama during the mayoral primary last year, but that was before Obama lent his support to Nutter mayoral rival Rep. Chaka Fattah.

Back to the interview. Matthews closed the segment by wishing Nutter and the city well.

"Good luck in your term as mayor of Philadelphia. We're all rooting for you. Anybody that gives thought or caring to Philadelphia wants you to make it, sir."

Click below for the full transcript.