Philadelphia needs a change in direction.
Incumbent Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney, who is term-limited and cannot seek reelection to a third term, failed to provide the leadership necessary to move the city forward.
Polls show that most Philadelphians believe the city is moving in the wrong direction.
The top issue in the city is public safety.
Residents are right to be concerned.
In 2021 and 2022, the city recorded more than 500 homicides each year. Several businesses including Wawa have closed stores because of crime. Some retail stores and gas stations have hired private security to improve safety.
There is a sense of disorder fueled by crime and people openly using drugs, especially in Kensington, where children walk by drug paraphernalia and bodily fluids while walking to school.
“Police have estimated that there are as many as 80 blocks where open-air drug sales bring in thousands of dollars a day,” reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia needs a change from Kenney’s overly lenient course. The city needs a leader who will get the city back on track.
We endorse Democrat Cherelle Parker in the Nov. 7 general election for mayor because she has the intergovernmental experience, track record of being a collaborative leader and realistic plans to make Philadelphia safer, improve public schools and grow the local economy.
The Republican nominee David Oh has some sensible proposals for improving the city, including a greater emphasis on vocation education and using zero-based budgeting to curb wasteful spending. He is right to urge caution on deploying the National Guard in helping to clean up the drug problem in Kensington and has warned about the potential for abuse by police in regards to constitutional stop and frisk or Terry stops. The deployment of these controversial strategies must be targeted and limited.
However, the former councilmember does not have a strong track record of actually getting others on board to support his ideas, especially when compared to Parker.
While some of this can be attributed to Democrats holding a 7-1 voter registration advantage and most of the city’s elected officials being Democrats, Oh projects a low-energy go-it-alone approach that hurts his effectiveness in politics and makes him a less attractive candidate for mayor.
In his public statements and interview with the Tribune’s editorial board, Oh leaves the impression that as mayor he can coerce other elected officials including progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner through the budget process to move in his direction.
By contrast, Parker said she plans to hold people in her administration accountable through goal setting and bring elected officials together to solve problems.
Parker separated herself from a crowded Democratic field in the primary because most voters believed as we did that she is a proven leader with the qualifications and vision to make Philadelphia better. She is energetic and smart and has a history of getting others to support her ideas.
Parker would bring a unique skill set to the mayor’ office. She has served in the General Assembly in Harrisburg representing the 200th District from 2005 until 2015, where she rose to become the elected chair of the House delegation in 2011 and then to City Council, where she rose to become majority leader. She has also served as chairwoman of the 16-member board that oversees operations of the bi-state Delaware River Port Authority.
Parker grew up in a modest home in the Northwest section of the city. She is a Lincoln University graduate with a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Before entering politics, Parker worked as an English teacher and later worked on former Councilmember Marian Tasco’s staff and eventually rose up the ranks to lead the office.
She has a wide range of legislative victories in Harrisburg and City Hall that have increased funding to public schools and helped homeownership retention and small business development in Philadelphia.
Council President Darrell Clarke praised her for shepherding legislation that provided tax relief to Philadelphia homeowners.
“It would not have been able to happen, frankly speaking, had she not been able to reach across the aisle,” Clarke said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Parker says increasing public safety will be her top priority.
She plans to implement her comprehensive Neighborhood Policing and Community Safety Plan focusing on protecting our families and reducing gun violence across Philadelphia. The plan includes hiring 300 more officers.
In an interview with the Tribune, Richardson Dilworth, head of the Department of Politics at the Center for Public Policy at Drexel University, said Parker appears to have the ingredients needed to build the alliances she discusses.
“She is pretty popular with neighborhood corridor folks such as the business improvements districts, and the Economy League. She is very moderate on, but actively supportive of, policing and public safety, and I think basically very pragmatic on policy. She seems to me like someone who has the personality, temperament, experience and networks to build large coalitions.”
Parker has proved she knows how to collaborate and is willing to work with other groups, as she did with Republicans in the General Assembly.
Parker plans to give more people, particularly Black and brown residents, access to good-paying jobs in building trade unions, to financially assist low-income families with home repairs and to revitalize commercial corridors.
Her plan for schools to stay open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a mix of academics and extracurricular activity “so parents can get to work without worrying about before- and after-school care,” should help student engagement and proficiency, as well as create more economic opportunity.
Philadelphia needs someone who can lead, with competence and compassion.
