John F. Street
John F. Street | |
---|---|
Mayor of Philadelphia | |
In office January 3, 2000 – January 7, 2008 | |
Preceded by | Ed Rendell |
Succeeded by | Michael Nutter |
President of the Philadelphia City Council | |
In office January 6, 1992[1] – December 31, 1998 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Coleman |
Succeeded by | Anna Verna |
Member of the Philadelphia City Council from the 5th district | |
In office January 7, 1980[2] – December 31, 1998[3] | |
Preceded by | Cecil B. Moore |
Succeeded by | Darrell Clarke |
Personal details | |
Born | John Franklin Street October 15, 1943 Independent (since 2011) |
Other political affiliations | Democratic (until 2011) |
Children | 4, including Sharif Street |
Relatives | Milton Street (brother) |
Alma mater | Oakwood University (BA) Temple University Beasley School of Law (JD) |
John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is an American
Street floated the possibility of being a candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania. In light of corruption scandals, those prospects never materialized.
Biography and early career
Street was born in
Inspired by his brother's successful election in 1978, Street made his initial foray into elected politics in 1979, when he challenged incumbent Fifth District Councilman
Street was chosen unanimously by members of the Council to serve as President in 1992, after incumbent Joe Coleman retired, and was re-elected in 1996. Street, working closely with former Mayor Ed Rendell, was instrumental in crafting and implementing a financial plan that passed Council unanimously, and turned a $250 million deficit into the largest surplus in city history. Despite decreasing the business and wage tax four years in a row, Philadelphia still has the 10th largest tax burden in the United States. This is due to the financial burden to run the city's prisons, pay debt service, and employee pensions and health benefits.[7]
Mayor of Philadelphia
Elections
1999
Street was elected in one of the closest elections in Philadelphia history, defeating Republican Sam Katz by a margin of fewer than 7,500.[8]
In an unusual circumstance, the City Council President at the time, Anna Verna, was briefly in the position of running the city before Mayor Street was sworn in, as Rendell resigned the post in December 1999 to become the head of the DNC (per Article III, Chapter 5, Section 3-500 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter). In 2001, he was named runner up "Politician of the Year" by PoliticsPA.[9]
2003
Street was once again challenged by Sam Katz in the 2003 mayoral election. Despite an ongoing FBI investigation, Street was aided by Pennsylvania Governor and former Mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell endorsing and campaigning for him.[10] He was named the 2003 Politician of the Year by the political website PoliticsPA, because "It takes an extremely shrewd and effective politician to turn an FBI bugging of the mayor's office into a positive but that's exactly what Mayor John Street did."[11] Street won with 58% of the vote for reelection.[12]
The race was covered in the documentary film The Shame of a City.
Policy
His relationship with the City Council was tenuous at best. He and former councilman Michael Nutter, who became the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia, often engaged in public political sparring. Regardless, Street ultimately agreed to a 2005 revision of Nutter's New York-style smoking ban (after much public criticism over his failure to support a smoking ban in Philadelphia).
During Street's first term, much emphasis was placed on the "Neighborhood Transformation Initiative." The Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI), which was unveiled in April 2001 was an unprecedented effort to counter the history of decline in the City of Philadelphia and revitalize its neighborhoods. The program was designed to revitalize and restore communities, to develop or restore quality housing, to clean and secure streets, and to create opportunities for vibrant cultural and recreational facilities.
Initially, opponents raised objections to the program's emphasis on demolishing abandoned buildings rather than seeking re-use or restoration of the sometimes historic properties.[citation needed] Others hailed the program for bringing much-needed investment to the city's many poor neighborhoods.[citation needed] However, initial results have been positive. Since 2000, the average home in Philadelphia has appreciated[when?] by approximately 30 percent. The housing market continues to thrive, and developers have created more than 4,880 market-rate apartments and condominiums in the past several years.[when?][13]
Street also made children and their welfare a focus of his first term in office. In his first inaugural address in January 2000, Street officially proclaimed the year 2000 "The Year of the Child" in Philadelphia. He sought to increase funding for after-school programs, and formed the Philadelphia Children's Commission, a diverse group of government, civic, business, and faith-based leadership, whose job it was to advise Street on policies and programs that would have a positive impact in the lives of Philadelphia's children. He also sought to fight truancy among school aged children.[14][15]
The city's public schools were among the worst in the country when Street took office, and much of his attention early on went into difficult decisions about the schools. In November 2001, a compromise between Street and the Republican-controlled General Assembly allowed for the privatization of the Philadelphia Public Schools. Edison Schools took over day-to-day operations of some of the worst-performing city schools, while a small number were taken over by other institutions, primarily area universities.
In August 2001, the lucrative Philadelphia Parking Authority was taken over by the Pennsylvania government in a compromise designed to help the Philadelphia School District out of its fiscal crisis. Many believed that the Parking Authority's revenues were politically insubstantial in comparison with the high-profile patronage positions on the Parking Authority's board that were transferred from Democratic to Republican hands in the move.
Drawing ire from
Street created the Office of Health and Fitness after the city was named the fattest city in the nation by Men's Fitness magazine in 1999. The magazine cited the low number of athletic facilities and high number of fast-food restaurants. Street also signed into law a smoking ban on September 12, 2006.
Street also advocated the construction of a citywide Wi-Fi network. The network is to be run by the non-profit organization Wireless Philadelphia in partnership with the city and commercial internet service providers. Opponents of the plan suggest that government involvement will quash innovation. Supporters hope that the plan will help bring information access to poor Philadelphians and make the city more attractive to young and educated people.
In a 2002 address at a convention of the NAACP, Street said that "the brothers and sisters are running the city. Oh, yes. The brothers and sisters are running this city. Running it! Don't you let nobody fool you, we are in charge of the City of Brotherly Love. We are in charge! We are in charge!" This observation attracted some criticism and charges of racial divisiveness.[17]
The murder rate in Philadelphia hit a seven-year high during Street's tenure, but the overall trend was significantly lower than in the 1970s under Frank Rizzo.[citation needed] In 2005 there were 380 murders, up from 330 in 2004. Forty-five percent of those murdered were 25 or younger. 2006 saw 406 murders in the city, including a Philadelphia police officer.[18] This murder trend continued to escalate into 2007, with 127 murders occurring by the end of April, 2007, a rate far in excess of the larger cities of New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.[19] At least one commentator referred to Street as being "strangely silent" in his efforts to reduce the city's murder rate.[20]
On July 27, 2006, Street launched the Adolescent Violence Reduction Partnership (AVRP) as a way to prevent high risk youth (target age 10-15) from being victims of combat violence. He also expanded the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP) into the 19th Police District in West Philadelphia.[21]
On September 12, 2007, Philadelphia
Controversies
City Hall corruption scandal
During the re-election campaign against
In September 2005, a prominent Muslim clergyman, Shamsud-din Ali, in Philadelphia was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on racketeering and other charges. Prosecutors said the cleric, who was once a member of Mayor John F. Street's transition team, used his political connections to obtain dubious loans, donations and city contracts. Ali was sentenced to 87 months in prison.[27] His conviction was affirmed on July 18, 2007, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (493 F.3d 387).
Leonard Ross, a lawyer and close advisor of Mayor Street, who led a committee trying to develop a crucial piece of city-owned property, was charged with fraud and conspiracy in December 2005, and later pleaded guilty to the charges.[26]
The 2003 Philadelphia mayoral election was captured in the documentary film The Shame of a City by Tigre Hill, which gave viewers an inside look at the campaign and portrayed Street in a negative light.
In November 2006, federal authorities charged that
Boy Scout controversy
On July 31, 2006, Mayor Street ordered the local
Post-mayoral career
John Street's mayoral tenure ended on January 7, 2008. Upon leaving office, Street accepted an adjunct faculty position in the
Street was Chairman of the
In 2011, he changed his voter registration from
Mayoral electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
John F. Street | 211,136 | 49.52% | -30.12% | |
Republican
|
Sam Katz
|
203,908 | 49.12% | +29.31 | |
Independent
|
Other | 5,376 | 1% | +0.46 | |
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Democratic hold
|
Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
John F. Street | 267,230 | 58.34 | +8.70 | |
Republican
|
Sam Katz | 189,357 | 41.34 | -8.28 | |
Socialist Workers
|
John Staggs | 1,291 | 0.28 | ||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Democratic hold
|
Swing |
See also
- Timeline of Philadelphia, 2000s-present
References
- ^ Maryniak, Paul (January 4, 1992). "An inauguration or a funeral?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ^ Freeman, Carolyn (January 8, 1980). "Green Becomes Mayor of Phila., Pledges Good, Clean Government". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ^ "STREET ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION, CLEARING THE WAY FOR A MAYORAL RUN \ THE MOVE IS EFFECTIVE DEC. 31. HE IS EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE HIS CANDIDACY IN JANUARY". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 11, 1998. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ^ Gibbs, Nancy (April 17, 2005). "The 5 Best Big-City Mayors". Time. Archived from the original on April 18, 2005. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- ^ Colaneri, Katie (15 January 2016). "Sharif Street launches Pa. Senate bid". WHYY Newsworks. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ Goss, Scott. "City". News and Opinion. Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- ^ To keep vital tax-cut vows, cut labor costs | Philadelphia Inquirer |11/26/2007
- ^ Democrats narrowly retain control of Philadelphia City Hall
- ^ "Sy Snyder's Politician of the Year 2001". PoliticsPA. The Publius Group. 2001. Archived from the original on 2002-08-03.
- ^ "The PA Report "Power 75" List" (PDF). Pennsylvania Report. Capital Growth, Inc. January 31, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2006.
"Governor Rendell's squeezing business not to support Republican nominee, Sam Katz, will help"
- ^ "Politician of the Year". PoliticsPA. 2003. Archived from the original on December 20, 2003.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "FBI bug helps Street win re-election as Philadelphia mayor".
- ^ "mapstats". 2007-09-09. Archived from the original on 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ [1] Archived September 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived October 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ LOVE Park, Philadelphia PA Archived 2007-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Northeast Times". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-23. Northeast Times
- ^ Philadelphia Police Take Aim At Murder Rate – Local News Story – WCAU |Philadelphia Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [3] Archived April 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [4] Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ For Immediate Release: November 1, 2005
- ^ Yahoo.com, Philly seeks 10,000 men to guard streets
- ^ "U.S. Bug in Mayor's Office Roils Philadelphia Race". The New York Times. October 9, 2003.
- ^ "White, Kemp, and 10 Others Charged in Philadelphia Corruption Case". Federal Bureau of Investigation. June 29, 2004.
- ^ "FBI Probes - Philadelphia Inquirer". www.philly.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-14.
- ^ a b "Street ally pleads guilty to corruption charges: The mayor's former law partner admitted using his position to enrich himself and raise funds". philly.com. December 14, 2005.
- ^ "Cleric Sentenced in Philly Corruption Probe". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ a b "Verdict mixed for Street: The ex-mayor's brother was found guilty on tax charges, but acquitted of any fraud". philly.com. February 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "Diaz seeks 'dialogue' with Boy Scouts". The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 25, 2006.
- ^ "Pennsylvania: City Cannot Evict Scouts for Gay Ban". The New York Times. 2010-06-24.
- ^ "Jury says Philly can't evict Boy Scouts for anti-gay policy | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/24/2010". Archived from the original on 2010-06-27.
- ^ "Philadelphia would sell building to Boy Scouts under proposed settlement | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/18/2010". Archived from the original on 2010-11-20.
- ^ a b "PHA to pay $8M, take back local control". Philly.com. April 27, 2013.
- ^ Housing and Urban Development. April 29, 2013.
- ^ a b "New local board for Phila. Housing Authority". Philly.com. April 27, 2013.
- ^ Jeff Shields (2011-04-19). "Former Mayor Street switches to independent, maybe to challenge Nutter?". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Gelbart, Marcia. "Nutter easily defeats Street in primary", "Philly.com", May 18, 2011, accessed August 5, 2011.