Mayor says Philadelphia will ‘no longer be a Tale of Two Cities”

(The Center Square) — Philadelphia’s 100th mayor, Cherelle Parker, swore her oath of office Tuesday as the first black woman to lead the city and promptly announced a 100-day action plan.

In doing so, she set her sights high.

“We will make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, and greenest big city in the nation with economic opportunity for everyone,” Parker said.

During her mayoral campaign, Parker emphasized the need to get more police officers on the streets. Voters responded to that rhetoric, but were ambivalent about the policies they supported to lower crime.

“There will no longer be a Tale of Two Cities in Philadelphia,” Parker said. “I believe in a city government that our citizens can see, touch and feel — visible actions that help people at the neighborhood level.”

In her plan, Parker focused on public safety, quality-of-life issues, housing, economic opportunity, education and a “roundtables” initiative to guide her tenure.

Police and crime

“We will restore a sense of lawfulness to the city — supporting those in need while prosecuting those who commit violence,” the plan read. “To deter violent crime, we will pursue systemic changes, including community policing and greater investments in neighborhoods.”

Parker declared a public safety emergency to address violent crime and plans to have more police deployed on the street. She’ll also instruct Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel to build a strategy to shut down the open-air drug market in Kensington.

The mayor also expects the commissioner to draft a plan for quality-of-life crimes like car theft, shoplifting, and illegal ATVs on city streets, which have been perennial annoyances to residents.

Clean and green

“We need coordinated city government efforts to clean public spaces and support community involvement,” the plan noted. “We must focus on aging infrastructure and the need for environmental resilience, especially in underserved neighborhoods. We must simultaneously address current issues and focus on long-term sustainability and carbon reduction goals.”

To that end, Parker’s plan calls for hitting carbon neutrality goals, improving public transit and planting more trees in the city. She aims to target problems like illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned cars and cleaning commercial areas more frequently.

Housing

“The Parker Administration pledges to enable increased housing production and preservation, supporting homeowners and renters,” Parker announced. “Every ounce of efficiency we generate frees up resources for more housing.:

The mayor wants to support housing production and preservation, ordering the Department of Planning and Development to create a plan for “affordable luxury” for low- and middle-income families.

To that end, she’ll order a review of the city’s land bank to get vacant lots into productive uses and offer a single contact for small landlords to get city improvement grants.

Economic growth

Concerns over economic disparities has the mayor pushing for a “streamlined, supportive business environment.”

Parker will order every city department to send the mayor’s office a list of all licenses, permits, and certifications it issues and which can be cut to make it easier to do business.

She also wants to remove more college degree requirements for city jobs and create an “Equitable Capital Table” of local and national investors “who commit to specific investment targets supporting local diverse businesses.”

Education

For education, Parker plans to create two working groups: one on full-day and year-round schooling and another on modernizing school buildings.

She also wants to do more to improve teacher retention by getting more feedback from teachers and finding potential members for the school board.

“The Parker Administration will bring a unified vision and organizing strategy to the Philadelphia education system,” the plan noted.”

Roundtables

The mayor plans a trio of roundtables to get feedback on making the city better: one on working with city, state, and federal office-holders to “speak with a unified voice and maximize resources coming to the city.” Another will be a business roundtable for economic concerns, and another will be for religious leaders to serve as a “touchpoint” for residents who otherwise wouldn’t interact with city government.

“The Mayor is calling for a revival at City Hall to bring out the best of Philly — a more efficient government that is an employer of choice and uses intergovernmental collaboration to bring more resources to our city,” the plan read.