I have a piece due to run Sunday on leadership -- specifically the kind of leadership we expect from the next mayor.
I divide the recent mayors into two categories: ones who engendered optimism, those who engendered pessimism.
But, it got me thinking. How would you rank the mayors, from best to worst, in the last half-century? Just to list them, we had: Richardson Dilworth, James H.J. Tate, Frank L. Rizzo, William J. Green 3d, W. Wilson Goode, Edward G. Rendell and John Street.
Here is my ranking, from best to worst:
1. Rendell
2. Dilworth
3. Green
4. Tate
5. Street
6. Goode
7. Rizzo
The ranking is skewed by the fact that I was a kid when Dilworth was mayor and have no memory of him in the job (which he quit in 1962 to run for governor). I do remember him as head of the School Board, though.
It's appropriate that Tate is in the middle of the pack because he struck me as well-meaning and competent, if not inspiring. I don't know if this is a coincidence or significant, but Tate (along with Street) became mayor after serving as City Council President. And both were stiffs as public leaders.
After Street comes Goode, who was well-meaning but incompetent. The MOVE fiasco brought that into focus. But, even aside from that, Goode -- who entered the job as a hands-on manager -- turned out to be a poor manager. In his second term, bereft of political support, he let the city's fiscal situation fall into something approaching bankruptcy. By the end of his second term in the late 80's, the city was in the civic equivalent of depression.
Whatever else you do as mayor, to rank high on my list, you must run the government wisely and well. Don't overspend. Don't overtax. Make sure city services are delivered honestly and efficiently.
That's why Rizzo ranks last. A lot of folks dislike him because he was a divisive figure, who ran race-based campaigns. That's not why he ends up on the bottom of my list, though that is a contributing factor. Rizzo's racialism wasn't sincere. It was a posture he adopted to get elected. And -- like George Wallace -- after the numbers changed, and it became impossible to win in Philly without black support, he changed. Not that he ever convinced black voters that he was their friend.
No, Rizzo ends up on the bottom of my list mostly because he ran the city poorly at a time when it needed good leadership the most. The fact that the city was in a freefall -- in terms of population and job loss -- wasn't of Rizzo's making. But, he exacerbated the situation by pandering to the fears of whites and by over-spending and over-taxing. He made Philadelphia a place you really wanted to leave. And a lot of folks did.
I remember after he left office Rizzo got a talk show on WCAU-AM for a few years and would field calls from folks, all of whom had the same message: "Frank, you were a great mayor and we loved you." Inevitably, those calls would come from folks in Jersey or the Philly burbs. Ex-Pats who fled the city.
In fact, the Rizzo tax increases and the Rizzo labor contracts that did lasting damage to the city. To a degree, we are still trying to overcome decisions he made and actions he took in the 1970's. That's a lot of damage done by one man.
When it came to charisma, though, Rizzo was No. 1 (with Dilworth a close No. 2).
The guy could fill a room with his personality. He was truly larger than life. It is no wonder he mesmerized so many voters.
-- Tom Ferrick
Comments (2)
I think that Street and Goode should be ranked ahead of Green and Tate because they both were public leaders with clear public agendas in a way that Green and Tate were not.
They also deserve credit for governing in a very inclusive manner, personally attending numerous events, and laying the basis for a politics that minimized racial conflicts.
They strived to be mayors of the whole city, and stand in contradistinction to Mayor Richard Hatcher of Gary or Mayor David Dinkins of New York, each of whom was somewhat paralyzed by identity politics. Nutter's victory owes something to the non-threatening precedents that Street and Goode established as to how a black mayor functioned as Mayor of Philadelphia.
Posted by Rep. Mark Cohen | September 16, 2007 6:53 PM
Posted on September 16, 2007 18:53
I do think Rizzo deserves some credit for, strangely enough, economic development with the Gallery. There never seems to be enough of an appreciation for that, considering that it was against his political instincts.
I also think Street would be more thought of, for his first term, due to his explicit focus on neighborhood politics, if he didn't have the issue of having followed Rendell.
And finally, doing something on the web highlighting the mayors since Home Rule would be good to educate about those prior to Rizzo since Tate and Dilworth would fall into them realm of "history".
Posted by David R Smedley | September 17, 2007 12:55 PM
Posted on September 17, 2007 12:55