Street’s legacy actually very much in effect
Yesterday the Inquirer had an article saying that Michael Nutter basically put a turd in John Street’s punch bowl of legacy projects, but Nutter would probably be thrilled if that was all it took to get rid of John Street’s legacy in Philadelphia. It’s easy to talk about the new projects he started like NTI and the proposed WiFi network for the City, but when assessing Street’s legacy it’s just as important to talk about the things he didn’t do as the things he did do. Consider three quick things that happened on his watch as captain of this ship:
A. When the Ron White / Corey Kemp corruption scandal erupted in 2004 John Street wanted no part of it. He could have said “I am the leader of this city, corruption like this is unacceptable, we will do everything possible to make sure this never happens again,” but instead he threw up his hands and said “It wasn’t me, leave me alone.” And then when Nutter and others tried to address city corruption by instituting the ethics board and other measures, Street was the strongest opponent. The whole episode made us trust our government even less, feel that they were even more unaccountable than we thought, and that it was happening at all levels of city government from the top on down. Some voters might have seen the 2007 mayoral primary as a city referendum on political corruption with the good guys winning, but for many the mistrust still lingers.
B. Violence got WAY out of hand, public schools are getting worse, and little was done to stop it or even address the problem head on. There was no accountability from the mayor. His famous beginning of each press conference: “I’m having a great day today” is fine for most days, but in the wake of brutal teenage killings it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that our leader even knows what’s going on much less that our problems are being addressed.
C. Street was the only American mayor who did not appear in person to pitch his city as a potential host to the United States Olympic Committee. While it’s a long shot for any city to host the Olympics, Philadelphia could’ve put in more effort. It’s probably not possible to underestimate how hosting the Olympics could’ve boosted Philadelphia’s place as a destination city for commerce and tourism. Does our leadership care?
Of course no administration is perfect, but it says a lot that it was probably very simple and easy to put an end to NTI and Street’s other positive legacies, and yet it will take years and years to undo some of the negative legacies of the Street administration. Unfortunately, these are the legacies that will remain.
