Philly’s getting a new mayor and Council president, and they’ll have to get along to get things done | 100th Mayor Newsletter
This week, we’ll dive into what we know about the relationship between Cherelle Parker and Kenyatta Johnson, who are most likely to take on those roles next year.
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House Republicans aren’t the only ones involved in a messy leadership battle.
There’s one that’s been going on in Philly for months behind the scenes (though we admit it’s less dramatic than whatever is going on in Washington). And it appears close to resolved.
Last week, we reported that City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson appears to have won enough commitments from his colleagues to become the next Council president. So today, we’ll talk about what that means for the city’s 100th mayor, and why a mayor’s relationship with their Council president can make or break their agenda.
We’ll also discuss year-round school, reminisce about a 20-year old FBI bug, and have a little geography lesson.
A quick note: We think Philly is better off when everyone has the facts needed to make an informed decision about this election. If someone forwarded you this newsletter, sign up for free here.
There are 21 days 🗓 until Election Day. Let’s get into it.
— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh
Democratic mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker has a close relationship with Council President Darrell Clarke, who is at right above. But Clarke didn’t seek reelection, meaning the brand new mayor will have to work with a brand new Council president next year.
A mayor needs to have a working relationship with the head of the city’s legislative branch, because he or she wields a ton of power over what policies the city adopts and how programs get funded. We’ve seen what happens when the relationship sours: late in his tenure, former Mayor Michael Nutter (in)famously couldn’t even get a signature piece of legislation introduced.
So let’s discuss the future, with some caveats. The mayor’s race isn’t over. Neither is the race for Council president. But Parker is the favorite to be Philadelphia’s 100th mayor — and Johnson is now the favorite for Council prez.
Can they forge an effective partnership? The two have plenty in common:
As district Council members, both exercised tight control over development in their districts.
Both are on the moderate side of the ideological spectrum.
Both have prioritized public safety. Parker ran on her community policing plan, and Johnson is a longtime antiviolence advocate.
But neither has been talkative about their preexisting relationship. Here’s what we do know:
What Parker has said: Parker has said publicly that she’s staying out of the race for Council president. Johnson’s chief rival, Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., has been a key political ally for Parker. He stood alongside her when she unveiled her signature crime plan, and he endorsed her run for mayor.
Meanwhile, Johnson was one of the only establishment Dems who didn’t endorse in the primary. And we think Parker noticed. During an August fundraiser for Jones, Parker made a joke — in front of Johnson — about how “most” of the people in the room backed her in the primary. She said of Jones: “I wouldn’t be here without you” and added: “Trust and loyalty mean a great deal to me.” 🤔
What Johnson has said: During a summer interview, Johnson said one of the reasons he’d be a good pick for president is that he not only served with Parker in Council, but also worked alongside her in Harrisburg. Both were state representatives before being elected to Council and served together as members of the Philadelphia delegation.
He said he looks at the Rendell-Street era (former Mayor Ed Rendell and then-Council president John F. Street) as a model. The two had a notably good working relationship.
The bottom line: Wanting the same things isn’t all it takes — the relationship between a mayor and a Council president requires trust. We’ll be watching to see how this partnership might play out.
This fall, we’re highlighting policy proposals that Parker campaigned on. This week, we’re looking at her plan to keep schools open year-round. Here’s what to know:
Parker wants public schools to stay open year-round from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The current schedule, she says, “means that kids miss out on extra curricular activities” and “does not work for working parents.”
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. appears to support the idea and proposed a pilot program for year-round schooling this year, but has since delayed implementation.
Under Watlington’s proposal, the school year would be four stints of nine weeks, followed by a three-week vacation. Researchers believe that approach, which was piloted at one Philadelphia school 20 years ago, would reduce learning loss that students experience over summer break.
Parker also wants schools to provide social services and become places where kids can learn fundamentals like cooking, balancing a checkbook, and entrepreneurship.
But Parker, as mayor, wouldn’t have direct power to implement the plan. The mayor’s primary influence over education is to make appointments to the school board, which hires the superintendent. It’s good news for Parker that Watlington appears supportive.
Parker would likely have to convince lawmakers on Council and in Harrisburg to vastly increase spending on the district while competing with other priorities, such as the billions needed to improve the district’s crumbling school buildings. On the local level, that could involve increasing taxes or moving money from elsewhere in the budget.
💥 The key takeaway: Parker has laid out an ambitious plan. But as mayor, she would have little direct power to make it happen, and she hasn’t spelled out what it would cost or how it would be funded.
Mayoral history moment: The bug that upended an election
It was around this time in 2003 when that year’s Philly mayoral election went haywire. It was already a close race between incumbent Mayor John F. Street and Republican Sam Katz, but then everything changed when an FBI bug was found in the ceiling of Street’s City Hall office.
Our colleague Chris Brennan talked recently with some of the key players to offer a fresh look two decades later at how the political spin unfolded behind the scenes. Here are our three favorite quotes he got about the historic moment:
“I honestly thought this would end the mayor’s political career.” - Barbara Grant, then the communications director for the Street administration, was the one to tell colleagues that she heard a bug was in the mayor’s office. Who told her? She won’t say — but we have a good guess.
“The entire idea was mine.” - Frank Keel, the spokesperson for Street’s 2003 campaign, said he came up with the idea to claim the Department of Justice under former President George W. Bush was involved in election interference.
“Street and I are pretty good friends. We talk about a lot of things. We don’t talk about this much.” - Katz, who says he and Street became pals after the election but don’t really talk about the bug. Go figure.
There are a lot more tidbits, archival photos and video footage, and more in the fun deep dive. Don’t miss it.
Data dive: Where the WFP performs best
🎤 We’re going to pass the mic to data reporter Aseem Shukla, who’s got a breakdown this week about the upcoming Council race.
The 2019 at-large City Council race was defined by the Working Families Party’s success dislodging Republicans from one of the two spots winnable by minority parties (in Philly, that always means “people who aren’t Democrats”).
Four years later, the WFP thinks they can take both seats.
To pull it off, they’ll want to expand their 2019 base of support, which was strongest in South Philly, University City, parts of Fishtown and Kensington, and splotches of Germantown. They even managed to rank in the top five finishers in some precincts — meaning that a WFP candidate actually outperformed at least one Democrat.
These areas are home to the city’s most progressive voters. But pockets where left-leaning Dems cluster are even bigger than the precincts where the WFP ranked highest in 2019. That means they have room to grow.
How do Republicans fight back?
The GOP has strongholds in the Northeast and parts of South Philly. But in national races, they’ve shown strength elsewhere. In 2020, Donald Trump outperformed in majority-Latino precincts in North Philly (and parts of South Philly, too).
If citywide Republican candidates can harness more of those voters, they might have wind in their sails.
What else we’re reading
Lawmakers tried to move the 2024 presidential primary election to avoid conflicting with Passover. That effort appears to have failed.
Trouble in paradise? Sounds like there’s friction within the building trades coalition, and it centers on a Council race in the Northeast.
Joe Biden can’t stop coming to Philly. (Can you blame him?) This time, the prez was in town to talk about a big influx of federal cash the region will see as part of a push to build a hydrogen energy network.
Scenes from the campaign trail
Earlier this month, Parker joined members of 32BJ SEIU who were announcing that a new contract deal had averted a strike.
That’s all for us this week. Thank you so much for reading, especially now! October can be overwhelming for us all. Except Bryce Harper.
See you next week,
Anna and Sean