No Street cred: Unfortunately for Clinton, the mayor's endorsement doesn't mean much.

J.S., iPhone Home

What’ll it take to make the mayor pick up?

by Kia Gregory

Mayor John Street recently endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. It’s too bad for Clinton that Street has zero credibility among Philadelphia voters.

In 1999 Street won City Hall touting himself as the neighborhood mayor. With his valiant Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, he vowed to revitalize the city’s forsaken neighborhoods by leveling blight, building affordable housing and securing violent, crime-ridden streets.

Seven years and seven months later, with more than one murder a day, Philadelphia is the nation’s murder capital. And not surprisingly, in a recent poll, voters overwhelmingly called crime, drugs and violence the top problems facing the city.

Someone should remind John Street.

Amid the city’s swirling crises—gun violence, poverty, transportation, education, affordable housing, morale—Street has been in his own lame duck world.

Days before sentencing in the Pier 34 trial, he carelessly wrote a letter of support—not for the families of the three young women who were killed in the accident, but for Michael Asbell, one of the two wealthy, powerful men who admitted responsibility for their deaths.

As the city marked its 200th homicide for the year, Street sat in a lawn chair outside the AT&T store, starting at 3:30 a.m., and staying on-and-off in the intermittent rain for about 14 hours, waiting to get his hands on a new iPhone.

When it comes to the people who suffer in this city—especially those killed—and the families and communities forever fractured by the related violence, I’ve been waiting for Street to act as boldly as he did in 1999. I’ve been waiting for him to attend some of the funerals of the 2,500 murder victims since he took office. I’ve been waiting for him to preach from a drug-infested corner instead of a church pulpit. I’ve been waiting for him to lead the city in one of its darkest moments. I’ve been waiting in vain.

When it comes to the city’s gun violence, Street has pointed his finger everywhere from here to Baghdad—everywhere but his own administration. I’ve been waiting for Street to say what he, as this city’s mayor, is going to do.

I’ve been waiting for him to say that even though his last term is coming to an end, he’s committed to stopping violence in the city—his city—over the long haul. That would be commendable.

Instead, nearly a year ago, in a public service announcement, he told criminals to take a deep breath before using a gun to settle a dispute. And last Friday at City Hall he unveiled yet another soft-shoe antiviolence initiative called the “Put It Down” campaign.

The campaign is a collaborative effort between community organizations, churches, and music and entertainment promoters. It includes T-shirts, posters, fliers, billboards and red-and-black bracelets imprinted with the “Put It Down” pledge to be distributed in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Lately, I’ve found myself in the weird position of defending John Street. I no longer can.

Recently, a friend of mine in Atlanta saw Street on a nightly news program about the city’s escalating gun violence. He thought the scenes of Street were from archival footage. No, I said. That’s our mayor—the guy with the Lionel Jefferson haircut.

When one of my mom’s nurses saw Street on television during the city’s annual Fourth of July ceremony outside Independence Hall, she asked me bitterly: What’s wrong with this guy?

I just shook my head.

That morning Street talked about the importance of liberty—yet there are places in Philadelphia that are enslaved by violence.

Over the last six months we’ve suffered some 200 murders—and the year’s only halfway over. Even with his political clock ticking, I don’t accept that there’s nothing John Street can do. At the least he could express a sense of outrage, a sense of urgency, a sense of crisis. But instead it’s politics as usual.

Street left City Hall long ago, cutting class like a student with senioritis, even though he’s failing miserably, even though there’s still plenty of work to do.

During the May primary his approval rating was the lowest of the five Democratic candidates at a dismal 21 percent.

Street obviously doesn’t want his job anymore. In fact, while the city is in crisis, he’s already gone. And that—outside of the bug, the bloody streets, the red ink and his shiny new iPhone—is the saddest testament to his mayoral legacy.

>> The issue: John Street’s lame-duck status.

>> The question: Is it tolerable when the city’s in crisis?

>> What’s next: With John Street, who knows?