Michael Nutter - Mayor of Philadelphia
Michael Nutter, after a long stint as a Councilman in the city of Philadelphia, won election as Mayor of the same city last year. After 8 years of John Street’s reign of terror, Nutter is a breathe of fresh air. If his first year is any indication, he is more than willing to address the problems that face the city in a direct and honest fashion. Whether or not he can resolve the issues remains to be seen.
He has worked hard with the police department to implement policing techniques to reduce a murder rate that skyrocketed during Street’s term. He has taken the cesspool of DHS (Department of Health Services) and completely changed the direction of the division with the courageous hiring of Anne Marie Ambrose. Also, I have long admired Nutter for his fighting spirit. Over and over again Nutter pushed for a smoking ban in restaurants and nightclubs. Time and time again he was defeated due to a lack of support from Mayor Street. Finally, Nutter (partially) won the battle and now there is a smoking ban (with exemptions) in Philadelphia. He is also clearly a man of the people, which is the direct opposite of John Street whose style was autocratic to say the least. Not that he is perfect, mind you. After the Republican National Convention, Nutter, in a televised press conference called it the “Repulsive National Convention”. If a Republican mayor of a large city made such a comment about the Democratic National Convention, the main stream press would have called for his/her resignation. Of course, it is hard to find any Republican mayors of large cities these days.
Mayor Nutter must address huge challenges facing the city of Philadelphia. Hopefully, he will be up to the task. It is in the best interest of the city and state that he succeeds in tackling the obstacles ahead. Let’s examine some of the issues facing the city today. I won’t pretend to have solutions for every problem. If easy solutions to the cities problems existed, they would have been implemented by now.
Nutter is faced with a budget crisis that is making the one Ed Rendell had as a new Mayor in 1992 look like a tea party. In short, the city is broke and there is no help on the way from either state or federal government. The press, who has given Nutter almost 100% positive coverage thus far in his term, is now beginning to turn on him. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News have not taken well to Mayor Nutter’s secret negotiations with City Council regarding the budget.
I cannot blame Nutter for keeping the negotiations under wraps. The only meaningful budget cuts that will help Philadelphia’s fiscal crisis will have to come from the unions, specifically the union’s pension plans. In Philadelphia, unions still hold great influence over the city and politicians, much more so than any other city in the country. These plans have been overly generous for decades and are one of the main reasons why the city is in dire straits. Given the unions influence, the necessary changes will not come easy. The pension plans will be discussed in detail in a future post at All Things Pennsylvania.
Mayor Nutter cannot simply raise taxes to alleviate the crisis. Although the wage tax has decreased over the past 15 years, at 4.2%, it is still the highest amongst the major cities. Since 1980, Philadelphia has lost approximately 20% of the cities population and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Raising taxes will only serve to drive the remaining tax base out of the city.
The fiscal crisis is far from the only issue affecting Philadelphia. The public schools showed some minor improvement over the past 10 years, however they are far below any standards are considered to be proficient. Paul Vallas, who held the position of CEO of Philadelphia schools, left his position after being continually thwarted in his attempts to reform the system. It remains to be seen if the meager gains will be held without Vallas, who is now the head of schools in New Orleans.
Nutter must also address the rampant crime taking place in some parts of the city. The murder rate, which rose dramatically under Street, is still too high. Good people are intimidated by thugs and remain afraid to help the police rid the city of the vermin who commit these murders.
DHS, although under new leadership, has long been a problem area for the city. It has also served as a useful political tool for political hacks like Lynne Abraham, who use DHS to distract the citizens from their own failures. Nutter is going to have to be patient with the new leadership at DHS and not succumb to the easy temptation of using Anne Marie Ambrose as a convenient scapegoat. Ms. Ambrose needs, at minimum, 2 years to turn around DHS.
They are numerous other issues that Nutter will have to deal with for the next 3 (and probably 7) years. For the good of Philadelphia and the region, we should hope that the Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, is successful in his efforts.
MDefl
