Hillary thinks Philly is 'fabulous,' says Kenney

Mayor Kenney on Friday applauded the city's preparations and performance during the Democratic National Convention - particularly the complete lack of arrests of protesters by the Philadelphia Police Department.

"I want to thank Philadelphians for being such wonderful hosts," Kenney said at a news briefing and curtain call for the four-day convention. "I had so many people stop me on the streets and say how friendly Philadelphians really are, and that's the best advertising in the world."

Hillary Clinton also was impressed, Kenney said.

The Democratic nominee for president "came right up to me and gave me this huge bear hug," Kenney said, recalling their meeting at a rally Friday, "and she whispered in my ear, 'This city is fabulous!' "

Given the heightened tensions over law enforcement nationwide and an expected influx of demonstrators, concerns for the city's first national political convention since 2000 were high, Kenney said.

But in the end, the event was remarkably peaceful. Police issued 106 citations, a tiny figure given the more than 13,000 protesters who exercised their free speech rights this week. A law passed before the convention decriminalized certain nuisance crimes, allowing police to avoid making arrests by briefly detaining demonstrators for civil violations punishable by $50 fines.

Eleven people face federal charges for breaching a Secret Service fence outside the Wells Fargo Center.

"We were able to work this system and it worked even better than we thought it would," Police Commissioner Richard Ross said. "People were processed in record time. I think they were getting out so quickly, their heads were spinning."

Ross said the department, which is accustomed to responding to protests in the city, continued a reliance on officers on bicycles.

"That's a difficult thing, to ride a bike at that speed, which is virtually just balancing the bike, because the pace of the marches is so slow," Ross said.

Twelve officers sustained minor injuries, most due to heat exhaustion.

The Fire Department saw a 10 percent increase in fire and EMS calls, Commissioner Adam Thiel said. About 250 incidents were related to the convention during the week.

The Office of Emergency Management, which provided water and medics at demonstration sites, kept a centralized incident command center open for the longest consecutive period in its history - 140 hours.

As for the cost of the convention, Kenney said he was optimistic the city will not have to foot any of the bill.

"Fund-raising is on track. I don't anticipate anything at this point, so we're OK," he said.

A ban on Broad Street median parking was lifted Friday, to the disappointment of a group circulating a petition to make the ban permanent.

The practice is technically prohibited, but that is not enforced.

"I know it's an anomaly for many neighborhoods to see that," Kenney said. "It's been that way since Richard Dilworth tried to stop it many years ago before I was born, but anything that would change would be done in conjunction with community."

jterruso@phillynews.com

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