Why Mayor Parker is taking her time | Morning Newsletter

Feeling some déjà vu? It’s Friday once again, but it’s also Groundhog Day. A bit of rain may fall early in the morning, but overall, it will be a mostly cloudy day with a high near 46.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has been in office for a month, but her administration is still missing key officials, including the leaders of most operating departments. Our lead story explores what impact this has on city operations and morale in City Hall.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Thursday marked exactly one month since Mayor Cherelle L. Parker took office as the city’s 100th mayor. That milestone came with the announcement of 10 new appointments to senior roles in her administration.

Most of the appointments that Parker has announced so far have been for top jobs in her cabinet, and others are newly created positions that signal how she intends to reshape city government.

But she has still not named commissioners to head a majority of the city’s operational agencies, including the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Health Department, and the Department of Human Services.

This means that during Parker’s first month in office, the city has largely been run by holdovers from former Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration.

Parker is aware she is taking her time filling the positions. She has touted her rigorous search and vetting process, and has been open about the fact that she largely waited until she won the November election to build her administration.

In her own words: “We’re being purposeful and deliberate with our decisions, because it’s vitally important to me and my senior team that we put the right people in the right positions to best serve our customers — the citizens of Philadelphia,” Parker said in a statement.

Behind closed doors: Some employees have privately expressed frustration at the pace of hiring. Still, Parker’s administration contends that city services have not been disrupted during the transition.

Learn more about the new hires and positions and the impatience building among City Hall employees who say they are yearning for clarity about their future.

As Inquirer reporter Stephanie Farr puts it, Groundhog Day is an “extremely strange and entirely silly holiday.”

Here in Philly, we rely on Tinicum Tim. On Saturday, hundreds of people stood around a hole at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge to serenade the groundhog puppet out of his burrow by singing “Wake Up Little Timmy.”

He apparently did not see his shadow, thus, signaling an early spring.

The holiday’s influence runs deep in Pennsylvania, with Punxsutawney Phil, the undisputed grand master of groundhogs, expected to give his annual prediction from atop Gobbler’s Knob every Feb. 2. But if you think that guy is odd, just wait until you hear about the other, lesser-known festivities across the Keystone State and North America.

For example:

🗣️ In Harleysville, Pa., a stuffed animal groundhog named Harleysville Hank, who only speaks Pennsylvania Dutch, tells his prediction to a groundhog whisperer in a top hat who translates it for the crowd below. Then, everyone eats scrapple and shoofly pie.

🕺 In Dover Township, Pa., Dover Doug the groundhog mascot delivers his prognostication through interpretive dance. He even has a LinkedIn page, but it turns out he has done absolutely nothing else with his career besides serving as the township’s “Chief Groundhog.”

🦞 In Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada, they look to Lucy the Lobster. That’s right, a lobster. Her forecast is based on whether she sees her shadow when she crawls out of the ocean.

See the full list of 16 bizarre celebrations.

Groundhog Day events in Milltown, N.J., have been canceled for the third year in a row since the death of their local groundhog in 2022. Organizers have yet to find a suitable replacement that complies with state wildlife regulations.

What was the beloved groundhog’s name?

A) Max

B) Mel

C) Mat

D) Mog

Think you know? Check your answer.

🥪 Learning: More about the owner of Tokyo’s Philadelphia-themed cheesesteak restaurant.

🎤 Cheering on: These Philly noms up for Grammys this Sunday.

😋 Trying: Torito, a creamy Mexican cocktail that a mother-daughter duo are bringing to Philly.

Hint: West Philly’s Colman Domingo is to direct and star in a biopic of this chart-topping jazz crooner.

ANGELIC KNOT

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Jan Dalina who correctly guessed Thursday’s answer: City Connect.

That’s all for now. Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you again on Sunday with the latest news.

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