Friends, not foes

Let's see. The Friends of Pennypack Park and the Friends of Poquessing Watershed have been around since Michael Nutter's pre-politician days when he was spinning records at parties. For decades, environmental activists from these two Northeast-based Friends groups, and others, have been local caretakers of the Earth by, among other things, removing a shamefully high volume of debris from the parks and creeks of the Great Northeast.

Normal people, therefore, would likely expect that one or two environmental crusaders from the Northeast groups would have been tapped by Mayor Nutter for membership in the newly created Parks and Recreation Commission.

In selecting the composition of the commission, Mr. Nutter, the guy who campaigned for mayor on the promise of cleaning out City Hall - and who, when he took office 18 months ago, proclaimed "A new day, a new way" in Philadelphia - appears to have stiffed the Northeast, which voted for him in 2007 in overwhelming numbers over one of their own. Two of the nine members of the new commission, Anthony Langford and Carlos Rodriguez, supposedly live in the Northeast, but their biographies make no mention whatsoever of activism in parks in the Northeast.

With all due respect to Mr. Langford and Mr. Rodriguez, they don't cut the mustard. Mr. Nutter is no stranger to the Northeast; he knows full well that the Friends do wonderful things for the Northeast's great outdoors and that their direct input would enhance the parks commission, and yet he froze them out.

What gives, Mr. Mayor?

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