Nutter not blowing
any smoke

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Michael Nutter believes Philadelphia’s crime problem has reached the crisis stage.
The murder rate is on the rise, and he doesn’t believe officials are doing enough.
"Our city government has failed the people by a lack of leadership and a lack of action," he said.
Nutter, a Democrat running for mayor, has risen dramatically in the polls in recent weeks.
Perhaps voters are taking a liking to his "Safety Now" plan to fight violent crime.
The candidate wants to declare a limited crime emergency in targeted enforcement zones. He’d aggressively enforce arrest warrants against fugitives, install 1,000 more surveillance cameras and use stop-and-frisk tactics.
Some of his opponents have questioned the constitutionality of such tactics, but he replies that law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right not to be shot. He said a similar program has worked well in New York.
The crackdown will be supplemented by the hiring of 500 police officers.
"Safety Now is not just a slogan," he said. "It’s a commitment."
Nutter, who served 15 years as a city councilman representing the 4th district in West and Northwest Philadelphia, contends his focus on crime is not new. In Council, he lobbied for money to hire 100 police officers and secured funding for a violence-reduction program.
In the mayoral race, he has stressed that he has the experience and integrity to lead Philadelphia.
Last summer, he resigned his safe Council seat to make a bid for mayor. He has little backing among party leaders and no union support, but has almost caught Tom Knox in polls thanks, in part, to solid campaign commercials and media endorsements. He raised about $3.4 million by the end of April.
His supporters seem to like his plain-spoken ways. He wants to govern a city where people are inspired by government, not embarrassed by it.
Nutter has embraced The Shame of a City, the movie that chronicles the 2003 mayoral race, in which supporters of Mayor John Street tried to argue that an FBI listening device found in the mayor’s City Hall office was planted by Republicans looking to topple a Democratic mayor.
Conversations picked up by the device led to guilty pleas and convictions for several city officials and the people with whom they did business.
Nutter is hoping voters are looking to shed the city’s image of being a "corrupted and contented" place.
As a councilman, Nutter introduced legislation that led to approval by voters creating a Board of Ethics. He also sponsored campaign finance legislation that limits donations to candidates for city offices.
"I want to carry that standard into the mayor’s office after fifteen years of demonstrating it personally in City Council," he said.
As mayor, he would require political candidates to disclose four years of tax returns, conduct random financial audits on elected and appointed city officials, ban the use of city-owned facilities for political fund-raising purposes and increase funding for the district attorney’s office to investigate corruption.
"On City Council, I fought to end the corruption that is holding our city back. As mayor, I’ll finish the job," he said.
To keep Philadelphia strong financially, Nutter wants to work with unions to redesign the pension and health benefits for city employees.
The candidate believes he knows city government better than his opponents, having helped write and vote on budgets while on Council.
As mayor, he would establish a Rainy Day Fund to create cash reserves for periods when revenues fall, include the public in meaningful budget talks and try to maintain and attract residents and businesses by continuing the scheduled reductions in wage and business taxes. The wage tax is set to drop to 3.25 percent for both residents and non-residents by 2015.
To help pay for his initiatives, Nutter would collect back taxes, expand citywide recycling, reduce energy costs, identify government waste and sell Philadelphia-brand clothing and products.
While it remains to be seen whether voters will ultimately embrace Nutter’s ideas, he has become a sort of media darling. He has been endorsed by the Northeast Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia magazine, City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com