Look to mayors past for a guide to Philadelphia’s future | Editorial

In less than 80 days, Philadelphians will effectively choose their next mayor. Since registered Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 7-1, whoever wins the May 16 primary will likely be elected Philadelphia’s 100th mayor in November.

This is a crucial election. Many challenges face the poorest big city in America as it emerges from the pandemic and continues to confront a gun epidemic, struggling schools, and an onerous tax structure. Whoever is elected will either help lead Philadelphia across this stunting morass or allow it to remain adrift.

Further complicating the stakes, voters will have to choose from nine viable Democratic contenders and one Republican. The diverse field of candidates has various strengths and weaknesses. Indeed, if Philadelphians could select qualities from each candidate, the result would probably be an excellent mayor, but it doesn’t work that way.

In thinking about what the city needs from its next mayor, it is instructive to look back at the tenures of some recent leaders. It is striking to see how each administration’s legacy is often a reaction to the previous mayor’s tenure. While the city has improved in some aspects, after billions of tax dollars and a generation of new initiatives and reforms, many of the same structural problems remain.

Let’s start at the top.

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Ed Rendell is widely considered one of the city’s best mayors. It helped that the bar was low when he first took office in 1992. At the time, municipal finances teetered on bankruptcy and the previous mayor had dropped a bomb on a West Philadelphia neighborhood.

Rendell led by example, cleaning City Hall bathrooms and diving into city pools. He brokered deals with the unions, lowered taxes — especially the city’s job-killing wage tax — and sparked a Center City development boom focused on tourism.

Rendell hired many strong administrators and let them run their departments. But when crime soared, he forced out the police commissioner and recruited John Timoney from New York in 1998.

Timoney was criticized for the unlawful arrests of hundreds of protesters during the 2000 Republican National Convention that resulted in lawsuits and undisclosed settlements, but his crime-mapping strategies modernized the department, held precinct captains accountable, and reduced crime and lowered murder rates.

Best of all, Rendell was a tireless cheerleader for Philadelphia. His can-do spirit transformed the trajectory of the city. But even one of the best mayors had his shortcomings.

Rendell was criticized for focusing mainly on Center City and derisively called “Fast Eddie,” in part for his freewheeling dealmaking. The Philadelphia Housing Authority was ensnared in scandal and taxpayers were saddled with a costly municipal worker retirement plan. A highly touted Empowerment Zone program, which included $100 million in federal funding for poor neighborhoods, barely made a dent.

In the end, Rendell left the city better off but failed to bring about lasting reforms. Buzz Bissinger, who detailed Rendell’s drive to revitalize Philadelphia in his seminal book, A Prayer for the City, concluded: “For all that the mayor has done, he has done so little.”

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John Street, first elected in 1999, followed Rendell and became the neighborhood mayor. He towed abandoned cars and focused on poorer parts of the city and communities of color that felt left out of Rendell’s development boom.

In 2001, with Street’s blessing, the state took control of the struggling Philadelphia School District. Over the next 10 years, the graduation rate increased from 48% to 56%. Progress, but far from enough.

Street’s signature cause was the $300 million Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, which aimed to remove blight, demolish vacant buildings, and pave the way for more affordable housing. NTI had flashes of success but was also somewhat scattershot.

Street finalized a $1 billion deal to build new stadiums for the Phillies and Eagles, as well as two office towers. But the number of homicides jumped to 406 in 2006, giving Philadelphia the highest murder rate among the 10 biggest cities in America.

Street continued Rendell’s fiscal discipline by lowering taxes and controlling spending. His tenure was marred by corruption and pay-to-play scandals that included the bombshell discovery of an FBI bug in his City Hall office.

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Michael Nutter followed Street and became the “ethics mayor,” largely in response to the corruption and pay-to-play culture that gripped City Hall. First elected in 2007, Nutter’s tenure was quickly upended by the 2008 financial meltdown. He responded by attempting to close libraries, which sparked a backlash and his apology.

Nutter also ended the cuts to the wage tax and implemented a “temporary” property tax increase that was everything but temporary. He overhauled the city’s property tax system, yet it remains beset by problems, including uneven and often exorbitant backdoor tax hikes issued through reassessments.

Nutter’s appointment of Charles Ramsey as police commissioner led to a reduction in crime and the lowest murder rate in 50 years. But Nutter’s support for “stop-and-frisk” resulted in a disproportionate number of Black Philadelphians being stopped for no reason.

Under Nutter, the city’s poverty rate climbed to 28% before easing some toward the end of his tenure. Violence plagued the public schools, though the graduation rate showed a significant increase to 70%.

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Jim Kenney was first elected in 2015 and followed Nutter. Kenney, a former City Council member who, like his predecessors, spent his life in government, entered the race late but emerged from a divided field once progressives and labor unions coalesced around him.

Kenney got off to a flying start in his first year by passing a soda tax, but he seemed miserable in the job and largely faded from his public-facing role. The soda tax revenue went to fund pre-K instruction and upgrade parks, recreation centers, and libraries. Worthy ideas, but progress has been sluggish on Kenney’s vaunted $400 million Rebuild program.

To his credit, Kenney has been a strong champion for democracy and welcoming immigrants in the face of the harsh policies and rhetoric unleashed during the Trump era.

However, Kenney’s tenure has been overshadowed by the pandemic and record shootings and murders. Meanwhile, the Police Department is awash in scandals involving officers ensnared in scams, crimes, and wrongful convictions while fewer murders are solved despite large increases in funding.

After a decade of slow but steady population growth, the city lost almost 25,000 residents between July 2020 and July 2021, the largest one-year drop since 1975. Meanwhile, the poverty rate of around 23% is slightly higher than it was in 2000.

Under Kenney, the city’s annual budget has ballooned nearly 25% to more than $5.1 billion. The emphasis on lowering taxes — which helped transform the city during the Rendell and Street years — resumed, but has not been a top priority. There has also been little talk of improving efficiency, despite Philadelphia being ranked among the worst-run cities in the country.

The current administration seems aimless, with a distinct lack of energy and leadership. Kenney’s comments last summer about being “happy” when he is no longer mayor underscored the feeling he has checked out.

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One basic requirement for the next mayor would be to do the job for the full term. Beyond that, whoever leads the city should lay out a bold vision that inspires Philadelphia to reach its full potential and lifts all boats.

In looking back, three big issues continually hold the city back: crime, schools, and taxes. The fact is those issues are interconnected and the reason why families and businesses leave or do not move here, as well as for the persistent poverty.

The next mayor should make fixing all three their lodestar.

That’s obviously easier said than done. The problems are complex and demand short-term action and long-term strategy. Philadelphians need a chess champion, not someone who can only play checkers.

We also need someone who can set a high bar, attract great talent, hold department heads accountable, and not be afraid to shake things up.

That means a mayor who can reduce crime and reform the Police Department. That means a mayor who can invest in public schools, rightsize the School District, and hold teachers accountable. That means a mayor who can deliver efficient city services and reduce taxes.

We need a mayor who can bolster Center City and the neighborhoods. We need a mayor who can work with City Council and Harrisburg. We need a mayor who values taxpayers more than they do lobbyists and donors.

We need a mayor who can unify Philadelphia and not pit one group against the other. We need a mayor who looks out for the most vulnerable and can work with the business community.

We need a mayor who is honest and engaged but can also dream big and manage the little things. In short, we need a bold mayor who can do it all — or at least put the best people in place and then lead and inspire them.

Is that too much to ask? Perhaps, but nibbling around the edges is not a winning strategy. Neither is doing the same thing over and over. The city does not have the luxury to tackle one issue at a time, or only achieve incremental change.

Philadelphians should aim high and demand the best from the next mayor.

We want to hear from you: Send us your letters detailing what you would like to see from the next mayor. Letters may be sent to letters@inquirer.com, and should include your name, address, and phone number where you can be reached.