"He seems to be relying a lot on his ability to motivate people who don't have to do what he says," said Joseph P. McLaughlin, a professor of political science at Temple University. "Mayors aren't emperors. They don't control everything."
Nutter acknowledged as much during his inaugural address. He posed his goal to double degree attainment as a "challenge to all of us." And immediately after calling for a halving of the dropout rate, Nutter talked up the "mutual commitment" he and Gov. Rendell had made to improve the schools.
In a way, analysts said, the limits on the mayor's authority are irrelevant. The city needs something to reach for, and it's up to the mayor to articulate a vision, even if its not wholly within his ability to make the changes needed to reach it.
"Without daring and lofty goals, you only inch your way forward," said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster at Franklin and Marshall College. "He's looking at the big problems: crime, education and jobs, and those are the issues the city needs to address to move forward."
Although it may seem that politicians issue pledges and promises with abandon, Nutter's goals differ from most both in their scope and in the hard deadlines and specific numbers he used.
Former Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley made a similarly wriggle-free pledge when elected in 1999, vowing to reduce the total number of homicide victims in the city to 175 or less. He fell well short of that mark. The murder count in O'Malley's eight years never dipped below 253.
The Baltimore press often reminded citizens that O'Malley never met his mark, and it became an issue when O'Malley later ran for governor in 2006. But residents of Baltimore seemed to appreciate his achievements in other areas, and crime did fall, though not as sharply as hoped.
