BREAKING: RAMSEY TO STAY
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BREAKING: RAMSEY TO STAY
Catherine Lucey and David Gambacorta
UPDATE 5:03 PM.: Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey today annonuced that he is staying in Philadelphia, after weeks of speculation that he was considering the top cop job in Chicago.
"I would like to just stay right here," Ramsey said to thunderous applause, during a press conference in City Hall. Ramsey said he informed Nutter of his decision last night.
Mayor Nutter, who has been vocal in his desire to keep Ramsey, said he has offered the commissioner a raise that will bump his pay from $195,000 to $255,000, an amount Nutter said was appropriate for a big-city police chief.
Ramsey said three factors played into his decision to stay: the potential of the department to improve, his relationship with the families of the fallen police officers and Nutter's vision for the city going forward. "I want to be a part of it," he said.
Ramsey said he was "totally prepared" to go back to Chicago and noted the emotional pull of his hometown. He said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was aware of his decision, although he declined to detail their conversations.
BREAKING, 4:03 PM: PhillyClout sources confirm that Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey will stay in Philadelphia.
Ramsey has been wooed by new Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as top cop there. A Chicago native, Ramsey was clearly interested in returning to his hometown where served for more than three decades.
Mayor Nutter has scheduled a 4:15 press conference to announce the news.
rats.— Roger Podacter- And the beat goes on. Too bad for Philly.— dogman5
What this city needs is Ray Kelly. Maybe he angered people but he made my old city alot safer. it's gonna annoy the people who are doing wrong but....I have no problem with Kelly at all.
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It's almost Cliffmas!— Earl J- That's good news, he's done a good job.— ProudRepublican
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- Thanks for staying, Commissioner Ramsey!— Echo
- Bring back Timoney!— john44562
- Thanks— Elizabeth C
- Awesome news!— gho_matt
- Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Commissioner Charles Ramsey, too greedy to obtain his hometown dream job...even though the job would have paid over $100K more than his current job.
Why are we in Philly so acceping of a guy who was just out the door but didn't like the offer? He's a morale killer who fixes stats to lower crime rates.— Philadelphians for Ethical Leadership - foey!!!— MrBigDizzle
- Philadelphians for Ethical Leadership: what a profound, completely contradictory statement.— gho_matt
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- He was too greedy to leave town for a better offer?
He's the Cliff Lee of municipal services.
This guy is kicking asses in the police dept, it's great to keep him here.— BarryG - Told you he wasn't going. We all wanted it too much.— Trident252
- they shoulda let him go - the city doesn't have any money - they keep this guy - just let him go. he hasn't done anything and won't!!
— truthrising - Here we go again, if they can't get into the DROP Program to steal our money, just give him a raise of sixty thousand; and then, yet they at City Hall say that we are broke, and need to raise taxes; what we need is, the State Government, to come in here and take over; give the people a fair count. Help us get these trees out of here.— thomas j barnes
- can anyone explain with all this city's financial problems that nutter can give ramsey a $60,000 pay raise.the money seems to always be there for poltical & city officials pay raises,but not much for anything else pertaining to the citizens of philadelphia.— lfran55
- Budget crisis and this guy gets a$60,000 pay raise in a time of recession.— uandwhosearmy
- Chicago offered him 310,000, Philly offered 255,000, thats a no brainer......right? Wrong, if he had accepted Chicago's offer he would have lost 40,000 a year. How you ask? Mr. Ramsey already collects a pension from Chicago for 95,000 per year, ad that with the 255,000 the City offered comes to a grand total of 350,000. Had he gone back to Chicago, he would have lost out on that 95,000 pension, so when he said that his son played a part in his decision to stay, ask yourself this, who do you consider you son, Ulysses S. Grant or Benjamin Franklin?— sgarcia
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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