City officials got played on the Sixers arena — and then they tried to play us

For a few surreal seconds on Monday, I wondered if I had tuned in too late to the city’s “major announcement” following the Sixers’ shocking decision over the weekend to abandon the Center City arena project.

Did I miss the part where Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and other elected city officials conceded to getting played by a bunch of billionaires? The same billionaires they were now … checks notes … extolling for abandoning two long years of negotiations with the city after two weeks of talks with Comcast Spectacor to stay at the South Philadelphia stadium district.

Did I also miss the part where they acknowledged — maybe even apologized for — the disregard and disrespect inflicted on the residents, business owners, and activists of Chinatown? People who tirelessly fought to stop the development from destroying their community.

Remember that September “I see you. I listened to you” video where Parker addressed Chinatown residents’ opposition — and then rammed the project down their throats anyway?

Midway through a marathon news conference long on words but short on details, I would have settled for a half nod to the contempt she and others exhibited toward the city’s citizenry with their gaslighting. (I, for one, will never forgive them for dragging national treasure Wanda Sykes into the mess.)

Maybe, I thought, as nearly an hour ticked by and no details of a new Market Street revitalization project were forthcoming, the specifics were released earlier — perhaps in code — in the odd press advisory sent from City Hall early Monday morning announcing, “Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, City Council, External Stakeholders to Make Major Announcement.”

But nope — we hadn’t missed a thing.

“There is no proposal,” Parker finally conceded during her filibuster, er, I mean, comments. But, she added without a hint of irony, she trusts the newly teamed-up Sixers and Comcast will follow through on a commitment to revitalize the struggling neighborhood.

Fear not, lowly citizens, your blood, sweat, and tears were not “in vain,” the mayor said.

For “this is a good day!” she insisted.

This was no flagrant foul. It was merely a “curveball.” (Wrong attitude. Wrong sport.)

A “win, win, win, win,” she said.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

Wooow, I countered while watching what felt like a fever dream.

Look, there’s no doubt that any public official who found themselves in this embarrassing situation would spin harder than a pinwheel in a hurricane.

And while it would still have been sickening to watch, if only they would have at least started where they should have — with some accountability, maybe a little humility and recognition of the reality before us — I would have tried to conjure up some begrudging respect. And maybe a little hope for what can still come next, because while this is a major blow, the game doesn’t have to be over just yet.

At least as long as we all agree on the score:

Billionaires: One.

Philadelphians: Zero.

But any time I thought any of the gathered public officials might have a crisis of conscience, they just doubled down on their disconnect.

City Council President Kenyatta Johnson had a fleeting moment of candor when he said, “I wish y’all would have got the deal done before we actually started the process.” To which Josh Harris, the Sixers’ managing partner, quickly responded, “All of us do.”

(Guffaw … or however rich people laugh.)

But Johnson was also quick to caution against any (literal in this case) Monday morning quarterbacking of coulda, woulda, shoulda.

No? Not even a little?

Because y’all coulda stepped up and been honest and humble about this mess. Because it woulda help maybe regain some of the trust from city residents you’ve lost during this process. Because, c’mon, man, you shoulda known better than to think you could get over on Philadelphians who can smell manure a mile away.

Perhaps sensing the bad press Parker always claims she doesn’t pay attention to, she said, “I don’t have the luxury, as the mayor, to allow my pride, my ego, or my emotions to drive my decision-making.”

That may be true, but her duty, always, is to the people of this city. And when she and others who cosigned this circus get played, the very least they owe us is not to then try to play us, in turn.

Parker is a talker. That’s not a diss; the award-winning orator has said so herself.

But on Monday, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the countless times she has said Philadelphians should not judge her by her words but by her actions.

You got it, mayor.