Philly mayoral candidates say the city botched its response to the chemical spill. Here’s what they’re saying.
Some of the candidates to replace Mayor Jim Kenney took the opportunity to tell the public they think they could do better.
The candidates running for Philadelphia mayor saw a new opportunity this week to criticize Mayor Jim Kenney’s ability to handle tough situations — and suggested they could do better.
A handful of the 11 Democrats running in the May 16 primary election to succeed Kenney said the communication coming out of City Hall Sunday amid a chemical spill that could have threatened the city’s water supply was haphazard, leading to confusion among residents who raced to purchase bottles of water.
“This weekend displayed the dangerous lack of leadership in our city,” former City Councilmember Derek Green said in a statement Monday. “What ensued was chaos: a public panic that saw families rush to grocery stores and empty the shelves. This was a direct consequence of a failure in crisis management.”
Kenney did not speak publicly about the situation until a virtual news conference late Monday afternoon, more than 24 hours after residents were first told their tap water may be unsafe. The mayor said he worked through the weekend, and said he wasn’t concerned about the opinions of political candidates.
“I’m not going to react to people running for office and what they say,” he said.
Former City Councilmember Allan Domb — who has aired campaign ads contrasting himself with Kenney — said the mayor should have been “front and center” Sunday when alerts went out to residents. Domb recalled seeing former Mayor Michael Nutter at the site of a deadly train crash in 2015 and feeling that he was “in control of the situation.”
”I would have been there communicating to every resident and business the plan to solve the problem,” Domb said. “That’s what leadership is about.”
Helen Gym, another former City Council member, said in a statement that there is “no circumstance” under which the city should have announced that tap water might be unsafe two days after learning of the spill — and then not communicated a plan to provide safe water.
“The Mayor in particular sets the tone for the way the City handles emergencies,” she said. “He must reassure families that the city, no matter what, will guarantee access to something as fundamental as safe drinking water. Delayed, mixed messages don’t just risk inciting panic, they risk undermining public trust.”
» READ MORE: Live updates: Philly water is safe to drink until at least Monday night, officials say
Rebecca Rhynhart, the former city controller who has been critical of the Kenney administration’s response to emergencies, said Monday that the mixed messages on when water would be safe to drink created confusion and “distrust of government.” She said the city needed to communicate not only that people shouldn’t drink tap water — but where they should go to find bottled water.
“This was not handled in a way that is a best practice in any playbook,” she said.
Jeff Brown, a grocer who has never held elected office, took a slightly different approach. He used social media Sunday and Monday to reassure residents that ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores (his family owns a dozen) as well as Acme locations would have newly stocked bottled water this week.
He said grocery chains weren’t notified ahead of time that the city would be directing residents to purchase bottled water, despite the spill happening two days prior. Brown said a “properly functioning city” would have communicated plans to get safe water to people who are homebound, indigent, or financially unable to purchase bottled water.
“This is not how I would manage this,” he said. “I don’t know who is in charge, and it doesn’t appear that proper steps are being taken quick enough.”
Not all the candidates took a swing at the Kenney administration.
Cherelle Parker, a former Council member, said “angry statements for political gain don’t help us address this issue.”
“We should be laser-focused on ensuring public trust, health, and safety by making sure that we have all the facts before jumping to conclusions,” she said. “Philadelphians have a right to know that their water is safe to drink, cook, and bathe with, and that should be our only priority right now. They’re trying to play politics with a public-health crisis.”
Inquirer staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed.