Mayor Cherelle Parker’s budget address made history. Here’s what Clout saw.

The mayor’s budget address to City Council is one of the biggest days on the Philly politics calendar, and Clout has seen some unique iterations of the high-profile speech over the years.

There was the time in 2013 when city workers shouted down Mayor Michael A. Nutter amid a yearslong contract impasse. Then there was 2021, when Mayor Jim Kenney delivered the address in a prerecorded video message because Council was still meeting virtually.

On Thursday, we saw another novelty: Philly’s first mayoral budget address delivered by a woman, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.

Parker is well-known for her oratorical skills, and she didn’t disappoint on that front Thursday, with a lengthy and vigorous speech laying out her $6.29 billion budget proposal.

Here’s what Clout observed on the history-making occasion:

Biggest applause line: Parker drew big applause when she talked about ending the city’s “Filthadelphia” nickname by cleaning up trash-strewn streets. But one aspect of that plan sent a very particular subset of the audience — the 10 Council members who represent geographic districts — into a frenzy.

Parker said her administration would dedicate a trash team, with equipment, trucks, and a point person, to each of their districts. Upon hearing the news, Councilmember Mike Driscoll, whose 6th District includes parts of the River Wards and the Lower Northeast, enthusiastically banged on his desk with two open palms. Others clapped in approval.

The idea is that members will only have to communicate with one person to help constituents with trash-related issues. Parker used to be a district Council member herself, so it’s no surprise she knows what they want. Clout has a feeling this line item will make it into the final budget deal.

Special guests: The room was chock-full of politicians, sure, but Parker also gave shout-outs to a few guests with a little less name ID: cops.

The first, Officer Jerald Moody, was one of two police officers Parker got to know when she was a state lawmaker representing part of Northwest Philly. She said they knew everyone on Wadsworth Avenue — so much so that she was a little jealous.

“They got invited to more block parties, baby showers, and graduations,” Parker said. “I was a state rep — I needed the votes! They didn’t need the votes!”

To show her commitment to recruiting more officers amid the Police Department’s staffing crisis, Parker also called out two officers-to-be.

Maria Do and Tyreek Cooper, cadets in the Police Academy, got an enthusiastic standing O, including from their future boss: Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.

Nary a hater: Parker is undoubtedly in her honeymoon period, and no Council members aired significant concerns about the budget on Thursday. That won’t last forever.

It’s likely some centrist members of Council will push for cuts to the wage and business taxes. Progressives, meanwhile, are likely to put a microscope on Parker’s tough-on-crime plans.

Hot take: Kensington is going to be the story of the year.

The new mayor has put a lot on the line by pledging to end the neighborhood’s open-air drug market, and the way she emphasized that commitment in her first budget address may make it a legacy issue for her.

Whether Parker can get that done — and how her administration goes about it — may end up defining her first year in office.

Robocalls of President Joe Biden’s voice telling voters in New Hampshire not to vote? AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump with fake Black supporters? Biden and Trump doing a salsa?

Artificial intelligence is already wreaking havoc on the 2024 election.

Before AI takes Clout’s job (and maybe your job, too), state lawmakers want to block political campaigns from using AI-generated voices. State Rep. Doyle Heffley (R., Carbon) said he plans to introduce legislation to ban the practice, saying “technology can create fake voices that are incredibly close to that of the original subject.”

And it’s very easy to do. Use any online AI generator, and you can get a believable rendition of a U.S. president saying anything you’d like. (We’ve come a long way from presidential lip dubs.)

At least one major AI-image generator is considering banning the software from making political images of Biden and Trump to avoid misinformation about the election.

AI has already made its way into Pennsylvania politics. An AI robot named “Ashley” is being used to make calls for Democrat Shamaine Daniels’ congressional campaign. Daniels, who is vying to challenge U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.), was among the first candidate in the world to use the technology.

Like teenagers and parents across America, New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy and U.S. Rep. Andy Kim are at odds over whether TikTok should be banned.

Murphy and Kim are competing in the New Jersey Democratic primary to replace the legally-troubled Sen. Bob Menendez. Murphy went after Kim for missing Wednesday’s vote to pass a bill that requires TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese company or be banned nationally, a policy Murphy supports.

“Instead of joining every other Democrat in New Jersey’s Congressional delegation and taking action, Andy Kim couldn’t be bothered to show up and vote,” she said.

But Kim’s “action” wouldn’t have helped the bill. He said he would have voted no if he was able to attend because he believes Congress should take a more comprehensive approach to protecting data and privacy online.

“If we are concerned about what TikTok can do with accessing and controlling Americans’ data, I’m concerned about what any corporation or entity can do with it,” he said in a statement.

It’s unclear why Kim couldn’t attend the vote, but it is clear that it’s easy to lose track of time scrolling through TikTok. Maybe it’s a coincidence.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.