Editorial for September 27, 2007 edition:


Oops, he did it again

As the race to pick his successor as steward of the city enters the homestretch, it should come as no surprise that once again, John Street has thumbed his nose at the law.

His past problems — bankruptcy, unpaid income and business taxes, failure to file tax returns — were embarrassing enough. Now it turns out that he paid his employer, the city treasury, $4,798.99 last week for unpaid taxes on properties he owns in North Philadelphia. It took a story in the Daily News to get Mayor Street to take such bold action. There is no excuse. The buck stops with the property owner. Could Mayor Frank L. Rizzo ever have gotten away with that? Or Bill Green? Or Ed Rendell? Or Wilson Goode? (Wait a minute, scratch that. Mr. Goode got away with PLENTY.)

John Street is basically a decent guy, and notwithstanding his checkered financial past, he seems to have redeemed himself fairly well by conducting the financial affairs of the city in a fairly satisfactory manner. As his second and final term as mayor winds down, he deserves credit for improving the economic climate and for agreeing, albeit reluctantly, to continue Mr. Rendell’s tiny but powerfully symbolic cuts in the despised city wage tax. But still, the knowledge that somebody with such an unsavory financial background can be rewarded by being elected the leader of a big city will always be an unsettling lesson that can and should haunt Philadelphia forever.

At least the two good men poised to take over as mayor have no apparent skeletons in their closets. Michael Nutter and Al Taubenberger seem to have a better handle on money.

When John Franklin Street becomes a private citizen in early January and Mr. Nutter or Mr. Taubenberger becomes mayor, Philadelphia will be off to a good start. ••

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