Inquirer Editorial: Nutter is far better

Mayor Nutter has done a good job in difficult economic conditions and deserves to be renominated for a second term.

Nearly four years ago, Nutter took control of a city government that was the butt of jokes for its corrupt ways. Although the entrenched Democratic machine is still alive and well, Nutter has succeeded in setting a new tone of ethical behavior in City Hall.

He has led reforms against pay-to-play politics. He has made some city bureaucracies, such as the Licenses and Inspections Department, more customer friendly. He led the charge for a citywide vote on needed changes at the dysfunctional Board of Revision of Taxes, which determined property assessments haphazardly.

Along the way, Nutter has demonstrated his commitment to creating a more livable city. He has put Philadelphia at the forefront of the sustainability movement, from green buildings to solar trash cans to more bike lanes.

On public safety, the mayor took a crucial step when he persuaded Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey to stay on the job (the persuasion included a hefty raise). Ramsey is the gold standard for urban law enforcement - honest, blunt, a superb communicator, eager to root out bad cops, and on top of the most effective crime-fighting tactics.

Nutter's opponent in the Democratic mayoral primary is a sideshow. T. Milton Street Sr., the former state lawmaker and older brother of former Mayor John Street, is on the ballot. Street was recently released from federal prison after serving 26 months on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file tax returns.

At his sentencing in 2008, Street was ordered to pay $413,000 in back taxes, most of it owed to the city. That alone should disqualify Street from serious consideration. Yet Street has won actual endorsements, and he may be gaining some traction among some African Americans who are concerned about the city's lack of jobs and Nutter's stop-and-frisk police policy.

Street was endorsed by the firefighters' union, in part by promising to restore cuts that Nutter imposed on fire companies. Street also received the endorsement of District Council 33, the city's largest blue-collar union, representing trash haulers.

Street's union support is an indication of the level of unhappiness with recessionary budget cuts. But Nutter has received some union endorsements, too.

The mayor has done a good job, but there's room for improvement. There have been disappointments. His bid to close city libraries was a divisive, prolonged distraction that wouldn't have saved the city significant money. He could have used the crisis of a recession to forge a top-to-bottom restructuring of entrenched city government, but he never provided a bold vision.

Instead, Nutter raised taxes two years in a row. He says it was necessary to preserve core city services in tough times, and that an improving economy will enable the city to again cut taxes in 2014. After pushing to abolish the BRT, Nutter has been slow to implement a new property-valuation system. And he has yet to tackle the city's pension crisis, a problem handed down from mayor to mayor.

But it hardly seems necessary to repeat who is the best candidate. In the Democratic primary, The Inquirer endorses MICHAEL NUTTER.