The 76ers arena is now the next mayor’s problem | 100th Mayor Newsletter

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll be doing a little time travel.

First, we’re going back to the Democratic primary, which Cherelle Parker won in May. And then we’ll fly forward to 2024 and see what the next mayor will be up to after he or she (she) takes office.

We’ll also explain a dynamic in Philadelphia politics that somehow feels to exist outside of time: the eternal debate over “councilmanic prerogative.”

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— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh

Cast your mind back to early April. The mayor’s race appeared to be anyone’s game. The first TV debate among the top Democratic contenders was about to happen.

Then the Philadelphia Board of Ethics dropped a bomb.

The board filed a lawsuit accusing a “super PAC” backing candidate Jeff Brown of illegally coordinating with him because he had raised money for it shortly before launching his campaign.

Well, that case just ended, and it’s safe to assume Brown, who finished fifth in the primary, wished it wrapped up sooner. Common Pleas Court Judge Joshua Roberts last week dismissed the lawsuit, saying that while Brown did indeed raise money for the PAC, which is supposed to operate independently from his campaign, it was OK because the fundraising happened before he announced his candidacy. 🤷

Just goes to show you that although the race ended four months ago, some have been litigating it ever since. 😬😬😬 Dad jokes aside, where does that leave us?

Shane Creamer, the board’s executive director, hasn’t yet said whether it will appeal the ruling. And don’t forget that Brown said during the campaign that he was considering legal action against the ethics board. Brown did not respond to request for comment Monday on whether he will sue. 👀

Something tells us we haven’t heard the last of this controversy. … But for now let’s fast-forward to what happened in City Council last week and what it means for next year.

The first major test of a new administration usually comes in early March, when the rookie mayor unveils their first budget proposal in a high-profile address to City Council.

That first budget usually includes some of the mayor’s most ambitious policy goals, (Google “Jim Kenney soda tax”) and the fight to push it through Council can set the tone for an entire administration (Google “Michael Nutter libraries”).

But for Philadelphia’s next mayor, the first test is likely to come sooner thanks to the 76ers.

Last week, the team announced they are no longer sticking to their self-imposed deadline of winning Council approval by the end of 2023 for their plan to build a new arena in Center City. 🏙️

The announcement came hours before lawmakers were set to gavel in for a lame-duck fall session in which the arena was going to lead the headlines. The shift to a “winter legislative process,” a term the 76ers appear to have coined, means the proposal will likely be one of the first major issues taken up by the next mayor after they take office in January.

As the Democratic nominee in deep-blue Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker is the odds-on favorite to beat Republican David Oh and succeed outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney.

Both Kenney and Parker appear to be in favor of the arena. Not coincidentally, both have benefited immensely from campaign cash from the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, a coalition of unions that will be getting a lot of work if the $1.55 billion arena gets built.

💥 The key takeaway: Should Parker prevail over Oh, she’ll walk into office in the middle of a fight that involves some of the biggest political heavyweights in town (Comcast is not jazzed about the arena plan), has the potential to sour a whole neighborhood against (Chinatown also not fans), and will require delicate negotiations with Council (which will have a new president).

Makes you wonder why anyone even wants to be mayor. 😏

Somehow, this year wasn’t the first time that a Philadelphia mayoral candidate found himself at odds with a guy named Shane Creamer.

In 1971, the candidate was Frank L. Rizzo — who had recently resigned as police commissioner to run for mayor — and Creamer (the father of the current head of the ethics board that we talked about earlier) was the state attorney general. And they had their own mini-spying scandal. Woodergate, if you will? Here’s what went down:

It would be tempting to draw more parallels to the current drama involving a Creamer and a mayoral contender… But we don’t think Brown wants to be cast as Rizzo or Creamer in a story that would end with his resignation.

Three big news stories came out of City Hall last week, and all of them had to do with a unique Philadelphia tradition called “councilmanic prerogative.” Before you close this email because your eyes glazed over, let us explain.

Basically the idea is that Council members who represent one of the city’s 10 geographic districts have near-total control over land-use decisions in their districts because other members just defer to them. Some examples from just this past week:

Proponents of councilmanic prerogative say district Council members know their neighborhoods best and should have the most say in how they evolve. But critics say it creates a weird patchwork of inconsistent rules.

What’s this all mean for the mayor’s office? Parker is a former district Council member who used councilmanic prerogative to maintain tight control of development in her district. Critics said she was anti-growth, but Parker said she was just giving her constituents a voice.

We’ll see how accommodating she is to neighborhood interests once it’s her turn to govern the city as a whole.

Alfred Klosterman, a 30-year resident of the Harrowgate neighborhood, raises his fist after speaking during an unusually combative public comment period at City Council’s first meeting of the fall last week.

Klosterman spoke in favor of a bill to prohibit supervised drug consumption sites across most of the city. It passed 13-1.

Thanks for time-traveling with us. Here’s hoping the Phils are getting ready for October like it’s 2008.

— Anna and Sean