Street, Slamming Nutter, Had Popularity Problems Too
Former Mayor Street has been kicking up a lot of dust lately, questioning Mayor Nutter's job performance and encouraging Sam Katz and Tom Knox - who have both run for mayor in the past -- to take on Nutter next year.
Street, Slamming Nutter, Had Popularity Problems Too
Catherine Lucey & Chris Brennan
Former Mayor Street has been kicking up a lot of dust lately, questioning Mayor Nutter’s job performance and encouraging Sam Katz and Tom Knox – who have both run for mayor in the past -- to take on Nutter next year.
In today’s PhillyClout column, Street loudly drops the race card, saying the African-American community does not see Nutter as a black mayor.
Street does seem to be gleefully piling onto Nutter – who has faced criticism for unpopular budget cuts and strained relationships with City Council and municipal unions. But we thought it might be good to go back and look at how popular Street was when he ran City Hall. And so we turned to the last Franklin and Marshall/Daily News poll done before Street left office, back in October 2007.
It wasn’t pretty. At the time, Street had a 58 percent unfavorable rating, compared with a 26 percent favorable rating. And 60 percent of those polled said the city had gotten worse in the last four years, which was Street’s second term as mayor, and 73 percent felt the city was heading in the wrong direction.
So it seems Street knows exactly what he’s talking about when he discusses unpopular mayors.
Comments (15)
Well, aren't we clever today. And it took both of you to come up with what would be obvious to anyone who reads their news on-line and sees the virulent comments every day?— anodyne- Of course, Street may have 99 problems, but it's actually the Inquirer that's playing the race card.— kirwooderby
- All I can say is you can take the person out of the ghetto but you can not take the ghetto out of the person. John Street should have never become Mayor of the city of Philadelphia! And he does play the race card. Mayor Nutter is a man it has nothing to do with being black or white; it is what you show. I think that just like our President he was left with a mess and he's trying to clean it up as best as he knows how. I hear people call him uncle tom and all sorts of other things, I think it is very disrespectful.
John Street tore this city up and now look where we are!!!!— BlesstheLord 
Comment removed.- Now if only the Inquirer/Daily News would write negative articles about Nutter.— anti-tax
- Oh boy, just what we need, a black mayor who doesn't ACT black, whatever that's supposed to mean. Look at the mess his "brothers and sistahs" have made of the city to date. I remember Rev. MLK saying that he looked to the day when a man would be referred to as a man w/ot reference to his color. The meaning was he wanted color to be a non-issue. I'm white and I loved his message. It's a shame we have a preponderance of fraudulent money grabbing scum blacks who have risen to power and routinely ignore Dr. King's message, except when they're running for office or stirring the masses at a church function. Disgusting people who should be ignored by their own honest people. Street is the worst and Blackwell, Greene,etc.— stoneman
This is a black man killing a black man, an all too often phenomena and is also why a black mayor has yet to prove successful. Wilson Goode was a good managing director but lousy mayor. Street, while I have never liked him was a strong city council president but a lousy mayor who wasted millions and millions of dollars building what he called grass roots organizations but which were really "re-elect John Street" campaign offices funded by public welfare money managed primarily by his wife's organization, Safe and Sound. Nutter has proved himself to be anything but an effective mayor. His claim to be the mayor for all people has led to a mayor who is a mayor for nobody. He is a mild mannered version of street but no less egomaniacal or narcissistic.— nebulus- Street was a disaster. Nutter may not have accomplished what is needed, but he works in the public interest [as he sees it]. You could never say that of the Street family. Street family first - public second, maybe third.— IM
- People doing there jobs doesn't usually make the news. Some well known pol talking smack about another well known pol? Might even make the headlines. If John Street, who appointed himself to the PHA board so he and Jannie Blackwell could steal our money, hates Nutter that much all of a sudden, now that PHA is under investigation, then I think Nutter has my vote.— SirEdward
- One of the very 1st Duties as Mayor, is to protect the city from criminals. Mayor Nutter has betrayed us since he took office...period. Nutter was told that Rendell was shorting us on Public Safety by releasing every convict he could and NOT returning them to prison for Parole Violations since 2003! Nutter was told in time to save SGT.Liczbinski...he was told again in time to save SGT. McDonald,,,stop the Frankford Rapist, save that little 12 year old girl from being savaged, but no...he chose not to fight Rendell and let our loved ones and Heros die and families be destroyed. Ethically...Nutter should be investigated on charges of "Involuntary Manslaughter" and "Civil Rights Violations"...after 2 years of repeatedly being told in writing, with evidence and doing nothing (except walking at the head of COP Funerals)...ethically he just as guilty as Rendell. Now, before you start whoop'n on John Law...find out how many State Parolees are being released each month (the release rate = 55%, down from 67%... the national average is about 20%...Rendell is releasing up to 2,000 stone thugs per month!). How many State Parolees are being sent back to prison for Parole Violations per month? Minus absconders and new convictions...damn near ZERO! Questions?— John Law
- Comment removed.
- Street talking helps me remember just how awful it was before Nutter. Nutter hasn't been great, but Street was truly awful. tolerant of corruption, racist, and had a good day when people were getting killed left and right. go back to norristown john— dreinterests
- I think this is a case of not knowing what you had until it is gone. Street had the NTI, not important to this paper and its readership, but important to poor neighborhoods as he removed abandoned cars, cleaned lots, demolished dangerous building and attracted developers transforming several blighted areas to decent neighborhoods. He had afterschool programs, early education programs, truancy reduction programs and innovative services for poor people. He had two sports stadiums built and spurred further development in Center City and Northern Liberties. He had an agenda and executed on it. We voted for Nutter because we thought he had an agenda, but instead, he has whined, raised taxes, failed to right size government, failed to reduce expenditures, failed to negotiate union contracts to achieve savings, and has no agenda, and blames everything on the economy. These are tough times, but his lack of skill and failure to follow through on anything means as times get tougher, he is going to be even less effective. We can't endure another four years of this new day, new way baffoon.— btruth
- Is John Street now the official spokesperson for the African-American community? Did he appoint himself (like he did with the PHA board), or was there an election process. What place did Carl Greene come in?— tlee
- NTI was yet another way to funnel tax dollars to unions and the politically connected in exchange for political contributions and votes, all disguised as a feel-good program to help the poor. Why do you think Street and Blackwell are so dead-set on having those PHA board positions that don't pay a dime?— SirEdward
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Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns. E-mail tips to brennac@phillynews.com
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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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Follow Chris on Twitter
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
Follow Dave on Twitter.
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
Follow Jan on Twitter
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
Follow Sean on Twitter
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