Last July 4th, our mayor quit on us. This July 4th, let’s declare our independence from public officials who don’t deserve to lead.

Across the city, Philadelphians are preparing to observe the anniversary of American independence.

But amid the festivities and fireworks of the Fourth of July, we have another reason to celebrate: our fast-approaching freedom from a mayor who declared his early independence from leading our city.

Because July Fourth isn’t just the anniversary of when our nation broke free from Great Britain. It’s also the anniversary of the night Jim Kenney broke our trust with a now-infamous gaffe after a shooting on the Parkway.

Kenney’s cringey comments — “I’ll be happy when I’m not here, when I’m not mayor, and I can enjoy some stuff” — may have been analyzed as much as the Declaration of Independence. They will probably make his obituary one day. I’m surprised they’re not already included on his Wikipedia page.

But just as the document signed in Philadelphia in 1776 served as a catalyst for our nation’s freedom, the words uttered by Kenney 246 years later — for which he later apologized — should serve as similar motivation. To break free from the cycle of officials who prioritize ambitions over service, comfort over duty, and who forget — they always forget — the public part of being a public official.

Philly, it is time to declare our independence from elected officials who quit on a city that deserves more.

And that includes every person privileged enough to be chosen to sit in a position of power, from row offices to City Council.

We elected you. It is an honor — with a good salary, and an outrageously generous summer vacation package for councilmembers, who get a 12-week summer recess. At the very least, we expect you all to do your jobs to the fullest every day.

No doubt Kenney faced unprecedented challenges as mayor of the poorest big city in the nation: a global pandemic, a racial reckoning (that mostly wasn’t), record gun violence that has affected hundreds of families. But in another startling admission last July, Kenney said he mostly hadn’t met with the families of homicide victims since he was first sworn in as mayor in 2016. He later tried to clarify that, too.

Too late.

And boo-hoo.

Being in charge is hard, and unforeseen challenges are all part of the job that Kenney ran for — twice. So is being the city’s biggest cheerleader. But even when things went right in Philadelphia, Kenney still struggled to even crack a smile.

When an ebullient Gov. Josh Shapiro celebrated the reopening of temporary lanes on I-95 12 days after a tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline crashed and burst into flames, taking out a chunk of the highway and claiming the life of the truck’s 53-year-old driver, Shapiro turned to Kenney.

“Mr. Mayor, they said it couldn’t be done.”

“They say a lot of things,” Kenney responded.

I’ll admit, the quip made me laugh. Kenney’s always been good for a one-liner. But what he’s not good at is fulfilling the most basic of expectations; instead, he scowls or gets defensive or just disappears when the city needs him most.

Two years after the start of the pandemic, he described going to City Hall as a “trudge” when reporters asked for in-person meetings, and he was mostly absent after the city was plunged into a bottled-water-buying panic in March after some pollutants from a chemical plant made their way into the Delaware River.

Forget “Where’s Waldo?” “Where’s Kenney?” could have easily turned into a citywide pastime.

That’s a legacy Kenney will have to live with. But it’s also one that has left a lasting impact on a city that — just six months before Kenney exits City Hall — often feels unstable, unsafe, and uncertain of its future.

So now it’s up to us to forge a path forward by electing a mayor who is unwavering in their commitment to the progress of the city — on its best days, and on its worst. We need a mayor who will demonstrate the kind of dedication desperately needed to regain our sense of security and pride.

Maybe that person will be Cherelle Parker, who in May won the Democratic primary and is poised to make history as the city’s first female mayor. Or maybe — although not likely in a mostly Democratic city — it will be David Oh, the uncontested Republican candidate who will face Parker in November, and who would also make history as Philadelphia’s first Asian-American mayor.

Whoever is lucky enough to become Philadelphia’s next mayor needs to be all in — all of the time.

In remarks after her victory, Parker talked about her approach in the run-up to the general election in November.

“You all know I will not take my foot off the gas,” Parker said.

I like that. We need to demand that kind of sustained intensity from whoever leads our city next — someone who will show the same commitment to serving the people of Philadelphia on their last day as mayor as on their first. Our city deserves nothing less.