Former Mayor Street believes the Rev. Goodman can run

THOUGH SOME believe the Rev. Keith Goodman's bid to become mayor will fail because he doesn't meet the residency requirement, he has at least one prominent Philadelphian speaking up for him.

Former Mayor John F. Street, now an adjunct professor at Temple University, this week proclaimed Goodman's candidacy to be good by him.

"Under a liberal interpretation of the applicable provisions of Pennsylvania and municipal election law - which I believe is required - Pastor Goodman is fully qualified to run for mayor in the municipal primary election of 2015," Street said by email.

"I have great respect for Pastor Goodman and have been asked to talk with him about his candidacy. I intend to do so," said Street, who like Goodman, is a graduate of Oakwood College, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Huntsville, Ala.

Street added that he is now a registered independent, does not know whom he will vote for and it is "unlikely I will be a part of any mayoral campaign."

Goodman, 42, said he took exception to comments attorney Chuck Goodwin made in Wednesday's Daily News about whether he was eligible to be on the May 19 Democratic primary ballot.

Goodwin, whose Center City practice includes election law, said the reverend wasn't eligible because he just moved back to Philadelphia last month after living in Chester since 2003.

Goodman previously lived in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2003.

The city charter states that the mayor has to have been a city resident for at least three years "preceding his election."

Goodman, pastor of the North Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church since 2006, cited the case of former state Sen. John Pippy, a Republican from Allegheny County, to bolster his case.

In 2003, U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab ruled that Pippy, who was on active duty as a captain in the Army Reserve, could remain on the ballot to fill a vacant Senate seat despite federal law prohibiting an active member of the military from serving in federal or state elected office.

Prior to the ruling, Pippy won a special waiver from the U.S. Defense Department to stay in the race, which he won. He retired from the Senate in 2012.

Although their cases are not apples-to-apples, Goodman draws inspiration from Pippy.

"I live - and have lived - in the city. I have continued to work in the city. The intent of the law is more than satisfied. I welcome the challenge. I think those who wrote the charter were smart people and if they meant 'continuous' or 'immediately preceding' they would have included such language," he said.