John F. Street

John Street
File:John Street.jpg
97th Mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office December 21, 1999
Preceded by	Ed Rendell
President of the Philadelphia City Council
In office 1992 – December 17, 1998
Succeeded by	Anna C. Verna
Member of the Philadelphia City Council, 5th District
In office 1980 – December 17, 1998
Succeeded by	Darrell L. Clarke
Personal details
Born	October 15, 1943 Norristown, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic

John Franklin Street (born October 15 1943) is the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004. He is a Democrat and became mayor after having served 19 years in the Philadelphia City Council, including seven years as its president, before resigning as required under the Philadelphia City Charter in order to run for mayor. He followed Edward G. Rendell as mayor, assuming the post on January 3, 2000.

Notably, in an unusual circumstance, the City Council President at the time, Anna C. 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).

Biographical details and political career

Street was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and grew up as a member of farming household. He graduated from Conshohocken High School, received an undergraduate degree in English from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, and his law degree from Temple University. Following his graduation from law school, Street served clerkships with Common Pleas Court Judge Mathew W. Bullock, Jr. and with the United States Department of Justice. In his first professional job, Mayor Street taught English at an elementary school and, later, at the Philadelphia Opportunities Industrialization Center. He also practiced law privately prior to entering into public service. He is married and has four children. He is also a practicing Seventh-day Adventist.

As the councilman from North Philadelphia and Center City, as Council President, and as Mayor, he has sought to balance the interests of Philadelphia's low income citizens, and the interests of the city's business community. First elected to City Council in 1979, he served the city's Fifth Councilmanic District for many years, distinguishing himself as a fighter for fair housing, increased spending on education/public schools, and as a champion for working people and neighborhoods. Somewhat conservative in the context of the politics of Philadelphia's African-American communities, he also became well-versed in the city's budget process.

Mayor Street was chosen unanimously by members of the council to serve as president in 1992, and again in 1996. Street, working closely with former Mayor Edward G. 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. By cutting the business and wage tax four years in a row, Street and Rendell helped reverse the 30-year loss of jobs from Philadelphia. And, in the years since 1996, Philadelphia has actually gained jobs.

Street is very passionate on the importance of the Democratic Party. He once floated the possibility of being a candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania. Since some recent corruption scandals, those prospects have diminished.

In light of recent scandals and FBI probes, his relationship with the City Council are tenuous at best. He and former councilman Michael Nutter, an announced Democratic candidate for Mayor when Street's term expires in 2007, are engaged in a political sparring match. However Street did endorse and campaign for a 2005 revision of Nutter's New York-style smoking ban.

The April 17, 2005 issue of Time Magazine listed him as one of the three worst big-city mayors in the United States. Mayoral spokespersons have disputed the validity of the list, claiming it simply capitalized on the recent scandal in which the mayor has not been indicted, while ignoring the mayor's recent accomplishments. Others critical of the list have pointed out that one of the best-ranked mayors, Richard M. Daley, has also been surrounded by corruption controversies.

Often described as prickly, Mayor Street has frustrated citizens, City Hall insiders, and political allies with his personal style.

Policy

Street with President Bush in Philadelphia during Independence Day in 2001

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. Others hailed the program for bringing much-needed investment to the city's many poor neighborhoods. However, initial results have been positive. Since 2000, the average home in Philadelphia has appreciated by approximately 30 percent, and the population of Center City grew by 14 percent between 1990 and 2000. The housing market continues to thrive, and developers have created more than 4,880 market-rate apartments and condominiums in the past several years. [1]

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.

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 of 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 skateboarders, he banned skateboarding from the internationally famous Love Park after the city had hosted the X-Games in 2001 and 2002 at the Wachovia Center. In 2004 he turned down a $1-million offer from DC Shoes to maintain and renovate the park to allow skating. Instead the city spent $800,000 on adding obstacles to prevent skaters from skating in the park.

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 has also advocated for the construction of a city-wide 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.

The murder rate in Philadelphia hit a seven-year high during Street's tenure. 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.

On July 27, 2006 John 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.

City Hall corruption scandal

During the re-election campaign against Sam Katz, the FBI acknowledged that it had placed listening devices in the Mayor's office as part of an investigation of Shamsud-din Ali. The investigation ended up uncovering a corruption scheme led by Street's friend and fund raiser Ron White, who died before going to trial. Former city treasurer Corey Kemp, a member of Street's administration, was sentenced to 10 years in jail after being found guilty on 27 corruption-related charges in May 2005. Additional prosecutions of members of Street's administration were expected in the wake of the Kemp conviction. However, it should be noted that Street has never been charged with any crime, no evidence has ever been brought forward that he was involved with the corruption, and he has never been identified as having been a target of the long-standing federal investigation.

Boy Scout Controversy

On July 31, 2006, Mayor Street ordered the local Boy Scout's council, Cradle of Liberty Council, to admit gay scout leaders, vacate the city-owned building that it has occupied since 1928 or pay market rent. Although the city subsidizes rental space for more than 75 community and activist organizations, including 14 other youth organizations and several religious groups, the Mayor took the position that the Boy Scouts were not in compliance with the city's anti-discrimination ordinance.

The Bozo the Clown Incident

During January, 2007, the Philadelphia news media reported that the Wikipedia article on John F. Street stated that Street, for a four year period in the early 1980s, portrayed the character Bozo the Clown on a Philadelphia television station.[2] Representatives of Mayor Street were forced to issue denials after the story was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer and on local sports radio staion WIP. Eventually, the Wikipedia article was corrected.

External links

• Official Biography
• CityMayors profile

References

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