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John Street and the Politics of Live 8
Submitted by Ben Waxman on Mon, 07/11/2005 - 8:07am.
I think Tim Whitaker hits the nail on the head at the end of his column in the Philadelphia Weekly:
The theory here is this: Some in our city have come to hate the current mayor so rabidly, to such an irrational degree, that they'd rather see us drown in collective misery than watch him garner any credit.
Listen closely, and you'll hear variations on the Street-is-evil sentiment-sometimes artfully camouflaged, sometimes not. The frustration from the angered is visceral.
They wanted bigger City Hall fish brought down by the probe, and more public condemnation of Milton Street, whom they blame for everything from lost airport baggage to global warming. For them the world was more just when Rendell was mayor.
It sometimes seems as though those who come completely unhinged at hearing Mayor Street's name have other unresolved issues.
But let's not muddy the thesis.
Philadelphia's rep for being tough and cynical isn't going to change, and it shouldn't. It's who we are; it gets us through.
But when the toughness and cynicism turns shrill and self-defeating because of political animosity, or something cloaked as that, losing becomes self-fulfilling.
The sun was high in the sky last weekend, which made the shore a splendid place to be. But the vibe and sense of unity on the Parkway Saturday was a rare and singular Philadelphia treat. We defied the cynics, which made it all the more special.
I've never been the biggest fan of Mayor Street. On the other hand, I've always been somewhat surprised at the rabid hatred that many people seem to feel for him. I've heard from a lot of people that personally he can be very difficult to deal with, but I've always tried to separate my feelings about people's personalities from their politics. Frankly, I think Street cares a lot about the same things that I do and don't understand people who shorten their political analysis to personal attacks.
Sure, he should be criticized for the blind eye he turned towards the corruption that was right under his nose. And if it turns out that he actively encouraged it or benefited, he should go down. However, I rarely hear anyone talk about the accomplishments of his administration. While they don't lessen the corruption, they have to be discussed when weighing the pros and cons of his administration.
I think Street actually cares about poor and working-class people. Not in a bleeding heart, hand-wringing kind of way. In a way that seems to come from his gut. Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, while expensive and controversial, seems to have been somewhat successful. Safe Streets didn't turn into the civil rights disaster that many thought it would. Obviously, each of these are too complex to address in one post, but I always marvel at how both of them are totally left out of most discussions about the Street administration.
Seperating them is hard
Seperating personalities is pretty hard, especially with our media coverage. But, also, and this is with no particular backup... But, on the difference between our last two mayors:
Generally, even though he has a temper, Ed Rendell was willing to hire smart people, and let them work independently, and not have a huge ego when they were getting credit for things. So, at least from the people I have talked to, you saw most people happy to have worked for him. Also, because Rendell is someone who to a fault wants people to like him, he does not seem to hold politcal grudges for very long.
But, although I think you are generally right in that Street cares about City poverty, a lot of people have said that he, and some of his close advisors, can be pretty vindictive toward people that have once worked for them, or have "crossed them" in one way or another. My sense is this has really embittered some people.
That said, I think most Philly politicians, or a good number of them, would fundamentally like to see poverty alleviated. It is just that they are not able to get the job done; for many reasons they can control, and many they cannot. The key is to push in enough politicians, and/or to push the system enough so that it is clear who is up to the task and who is not.
People have covered Safe Stre
People have covered Safe Streets and NTI in great detail - are you kidding? Safe Streets was a police overtime program that helped Street garner votes; the program was discontinued one day...that's one day after his reelection. NTI has had some impact, but again, the program is now essentially over, with very mixed results. The Rendell/Street comparision? There is none. Live 8 - great day for the City, but why exactly should the Mayor be given credit for it? Because he took the Live 8 organizers' phone calls? History will show that this administration was one of the most fiscally inept and ethically challenged in the City's history.
Tim Whitaker
Whitaker really takes a jump from Live 8 (awesome event, I was there) to Mayor Street's detractors. Where's the nexus? The success of Live 8 isn't attributable to the Mayor, it wasn't the City's event, they didn't conceive of it, plan it, organize it, run it. They did a great job with policing and clean up, but the City's government merely contributed to an event that had an impetus and life all its own. Like so many things in Philadelphia during his tenure, Live 8 happened in spite of the Mayor, not because of him.
The Department of Street
Street is evil. Street is grossly incompetent. Street is an arrogant, egotistical bastard who makes no bones about how much the Office of Mayor is for sale to "the brothers and sisters." (No,..I'm not going to let him off the hook for that until the city lets me off the hook for "reparations.")
Live 8 worked IN SPITE of Mayor Street. Philly got picked over NYC and DC purely for sentimental purposes and lets not ever forget that fact!
And
Because that was more addressed to the Tim Whitaker piece, and not Ben per se, yes, I think there is a somewhat irrational dislike for Street. But, I think fundamentally, he is terrible at being the "big communicator," even when he does things right. And, I think, after thinking that the City government was going in the right direction under Big Ed (whether that was because of substance or style, it is irrelevant, it is the perception), people see more of the same old, same old, with the FBI probe, Milton's deals at the Airport, etc. bringing up a lot of memories of the bad old days.
And, of course, it is implied that part of it is because Street is black. I will not argue that. Reading the letters section of the PDN makes that pretty clear.