Nutter Moves With Grace and Wisdom In First Weeks
It is early, but let’s call it like we see it. Mayor Michael Nutter has shaken up City Hall with a few initiatives that have already paid off.
The new top cop published the 150 most wanted, and nabbed 20 suspects in the first week. The murder rate is down significantly. Pre-hiring residency requirements for cops have been thrown out. The new budget is balanced and offers a bond issue for municipal worker’s benefits. The Mayor wants new taxes on parking, a great boost to mass transit, and mainly a tax on the upscale. The new Mayor has lured people from all over the nation to be part of his New Day/New Way regime.
In one area, this Mayor has mastered a great challenge. It took John Street seven years to realize he was challenged in the art of communication. Maybe he didn’t want to. After all, most times Mayor Street acted like a man running a government from an outpost, answering to no one. That was a recipe for failure.
Nutter walks through his schedule with grace, listening to the people around him, communicating with the council, and so far, restoring a sense of pride to City Hall.
The early days of new leadership are always filled with great hopes. Sometimes the hopes fade. But Nutter seems to revel in the art of command leadership that is goal-oriented. In a short time, he has some results. Six weeks into office, that is remarkable in itself.
He does face a tricky April, politically, as the primary approaches. The Mayor will be supporting Hillary Clinton at a time when Barack Obama, the first black candidate with a real chance to gain the Presidency, is campaigning in Pennsylvania. He’ll handle that with class but there will be tremendous pressure to break ranks and support Obama.
Don’t hold your breath. Nutter is loyal.
Comments(8)
hello Larry,Nutter backs Clinton because he said ‘she is the Best candidate’ not the most popular candidate or the most black candidate.
i hope Nutter does not break his loyalty to Clinton,just as i hope he keeps his loyalty to the taxpayers of philadelphia.
GO-NUTT-GO!!
Hopefully Mayor Nutter will not ultimately be judged by who he endorsed for President in the PA Primary.
Mayor Nutter would be wise to follow the lead of Mayor Cory Booker in Newark. He has a vision, spirit and determination to take back his city from the thugs, hacks and drug cultured that has ruled Newark for years. Same problems in Philly only bigger city. Most new mayors have had similar rhetoric or try to turn things around but it’s a daunting task. Let’s hope Mayor Nutter is for real and has the stomach to persevere because it will be a long and bloody fight trying to retake the City of Brotherly Love.
Nuttter is really a major upgrade for Philadelphia. He wisely consulted Mike Bloomberg for ideas before taking office and he also appears to want to be mayor to all of the citizens. Street’s comment that “the brothers and sister were in charge” indicated that politcial patronage rather than talented people controlled who he hired, and since white mayors like Frank Rizzo ruled with white patronage its was now his time to even the score with black patronage. In contrast, Nutter is truely trying to find the best people and is listening to many interests. Coatsville PA instituted stop and frisk yesterday, hopefully it works without violating civil rights and gets adopted in Philadelphia. Nutter’s support of Hillary shows he doesnt racially bias his support, (although he may have made the wrong choice there) it is refreshing to have a mayor who can finally bring Philadelpia out of the shadows to become the world class city it once was.
JR, 4AM? Does Hillary know she has a 24/7 campaign manager in Philly? I do admire your tenacity and resiliency albeit misguided.
I am white flight. My first home is a row, in Mayfair that I bought in my late 20′s when I made in the mid 30′s annually. 13 years later, I now make more annually than I paid for this house. Next logical step, the ‘burbs. Why? I have no kids, so I am not being attracted by a better school system. The property taxes of most of the communities I’ve looked at combined with the wage taxes of their respective counties actually prove more expensive is you annualize my total tax obligation. My car insurance savings will be spent on the increase in my homeowner’s coverage, so that is a wash. And ultimately I will have to pay sewer as well as water, and for trash pickup.
So why flee the fair city after having been raised in Somerton as a kid and living in Mayfair as an adult? Why leave such a centrally located area that affords me a 20 minute commute to the sports complexes, 15 to center city, 20 to New Jersy, 25 to the airport, and in 30 I can be well into either Bucks or Montgomery counties.
Because I see blight creeping into the farthest corners of my neighborhood and I have no tolerance for it. I could care less what color my neighbor is, how much money they make, what kind of car they drive, what religion they practice if any, and what their political views are.
What I do care about is that if you are having children, then raise them. If you want a dog, then be a responsible pet owner. If you like loud music, then buy headphones, and regardless of how much money you have, a broom at the dollar store pretty much will cost you a dollar. Buy one and sweep up out front.
I view Nutter as the best thing to happen in Philly since Rendel. My gripe with Ed is that he focused on center city and neglected the neighborhoods. Michael, you have this year, 2008. I call it giving Philadelphia “anutter” year. If things get better, you can keep me and my tax dollars, and if not, then Bucks county gets a new resident.
My suggestion, drop the hammer. Enforce the laws that are on the books, and do so with religion. Somebody throws a lit cigarette out of a car window, hit them with a littering ticket. Some absentee landlord is renting a house without the right documentation, shut it down immediately, no notice to comply. Someone is playing music so loud in their car that someone else’s is vibrating, hit them with creating a public nuisance ticket.
I love my house, and my street, and alot about my neighborhood, but I am not blind. I have seen more than enough to give me pause. What is really sad, is that everything I see wrong, has a really simple remedy. Better behavior.
Jim P,I agree with you,it is better behavior.I fled the city after trying everything I could to better my neighborhood, I was a block captain for Phila. More Beautiful,I cleaned my street,which was not easy,because it was a high traffic area with Septa buses,but I would not give up,I planted flowers,
helped people who wanted trees,it was no use,the mind set was not there.After 30 years in a house I loved and a neighborhood that I gave my soul to,I left
I still miss Philly,guess I always will,but I now live in a beautiful,clean
spot and I still clean everyday.
WOW , a lot of well reasoned and street level passion for the city. I hope the new mayor gets this kind of feedback.
I left Philly years ago but my heart still aches for the ills that I see and the place that I know it can be. I hope Nutter can pull this off.
Larry how unusual. You normally “say it like you see it”. Mr Nutter does appear to be more than meets the eye, from his rapping talent to his openness in governing. I like the start of his “new way”. What is odd is the fact that one of the most wanted was found teaching in a Philly school. How did the former regime miss that one? About that murder rate, I wouldn’t be praising him so soon. There were three bodies found yesterday. Anyway GOOD LUCK Mr. Nutter