The savior of Philadelphia

Mingling with leaders on our national stage: just another part of the Columbia lifestyle. At least according to the literature sent out to prospects. If you are living the far more typical Columbia lifestyle of midterms and more midterms, Bwog has you covered. We sent correspondent and seasoned schmoozer Max Rettig to cover SIPA’s Global Mayor’s Forum with Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia.   

From the 15th floor of IAB, you can see the Empire State Building. From Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, you can see City Hall, with the statue of William Penn crowning the top. It is there that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter goes to work most every day, but it was on the 15th floor of the School of International and Public Affairs on March 4 that he talked about his work: Making someone’s life better each and every day.

After an introduction to the annual Global Mayors Forum by Dean Merit Janow, Ester Fuchs (SIPA Professor and the Chair of the Forum) formally introduced Mayor Nutter. As an advisor to former Mayor Bloomberg in New York, she talked extensively about Nutter’s accomplishments in Philadelphia and her own work with him. In between lauding Mayor Nutter, she took fun digs at him—”Your daughter Olivia [who attends Columbia College] is sick in bed today. Maybe it had something to do with you coming to speak.”

There were many other major political figures in the room, who were offered congratulations and thanks by Janow, Fuchs and finally the mayor himself. Among them were former New York mayor David Dinkins and several council members from Bloomberg’s administration. Mayor Nutter began by talking about New York as a model city for Philadelphia and many other cities across the country. He said, “There are more than a few ideas in use in Philadelphia that came from New York City.” Specifically, he cited the sharp decline in homicide from 20 years ago, when 2200 murders/year whittled down to around 400 today. If New York could decrease its murder rate as drastically as it did, Philadelphia could so the same, Nutter said.

The first initiative Nutter discussed was his effort to make Philadelphia the greenest city in America. Soon after his inauguration, Nutter introduced Greenworks, a project that he touted as great for the environment, but even better for job creation. One of the GreenWorks initiatives, the Office of Sustainability, was signed into law via executive order and voted in by popular referendum as a permanent office in the most recent November election. Overall, Greenworks has made Philly a more walkable and bikeable city with abundant green space. And in April, the city is launching a new bike-share program that, as Nutter said, will be the first to not require a credit card. More bikers will be able to take advantage of the over 500 miles of bi-directional bike lanes throughout the city. In addition, Philly is putting down more “permeable” streets and increasing its tree cover to better deal with stormwater management.

Education was the next issue on the Mayor Nutter’s docket. Philadelphia’s public school system has been the target of much criticism over the last few years, as well as many significant budget cuts recently. Perhaps for these reasons: a 52-65% graduation rate, and a 25% college attainment rate that ranks 71st out of 100 ranked school districts in the country. Nutter attributed the issues in the school district to an unsustainable charter school system and funding issues, but those funding issues could be helped by a promised $1 billion education stimulus on the part of recently inaugurated Pa. governor Tom Wolf.

Finally, Nutter got back to the problem of public safety. Philadelphia’s murder rate was rising before his tenure. He brought in police commissioner Charles Ramsey from Chicago, and the rate now sits at a 30-40 year low, with a 37 percent reduction in homicides during Nutter’s tenure. Nutter especially touched on the rate of murder and arrest in the large African-American community, leading into a discussion of the absolute necessity of police-community trust: “People want to be safe, officers want to be respected.” Nutter also wondered why there isn’t a solution in place—like the Dept. of Homeland Security for terrorism, a response to 9/11—for regular street violence. High violence rates are directly tied to education and poverty, two categories in which Philadelphia is notoriously weak.

In concluding remarks, Nutter went point-by-point on some Philly pride: Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in America (1.5 million people), and the population has been rising steadily since 2008, his first year in City Hall. Additionally, Philly is currently the largest city in America with an African-American mayor, and has had more African-American mayors (3) than any other city in America. He finally concluded: “New York is a great city. I love New York. I just happen to love Philadephia a little bit more.”

After enthusiastic applause, Nutter opened the floor to questions. About resources and the role of the federal government in resource assistance, the mayor answered that there’s no way Philadelphia could deal with its problems all by itself, but that the federal government looks like an idiot when it comes close to defunding things like the Dept. of Homeland Security. Channeling a sense of humor present throughout the lecture, Nutter answered a question on implementing garbage and effective waste management systems like those in Moscow and Stockholm by quipping, “I’m not going to model anything I do off of what’s going on in Moscow.” And with time running out, Mayor Nutter answered one more, about mayors not often going on to seek higher office:

 “There’s actually an assumption that this is higher office. I don’t mean to diminish what the Fed does, because it’s interesting stuff, but it’s a lot of philosophy. This, down here? It’s reality. I get the chance, every 24 hours, to make someone’s life better.”

Michael Nutter via Wikimedia Commons