John Street

HOW IS IT that ex-Mayor John Street was persecuted, ridiculed, character-assassinated and denigrated by the media's witch-hunt, and still to this day is clean of all false accusations? But Vince Fumo, on the other hand, found guilty of stealing taxpayer money, is given compassion, felt sorry for, accumulates massive supportive letters and is handed a sweetheart deal by Judge Buckwalter and the public. Isn't that a major contradiction? The public, including the media, should be forever on their knees praying and apologizing for the hate they wrongly directed at John Street!

John Street was walking to his car when the limo eased to a stop beside him. George Bush stepped out and greeted him warmly. The newly elected mayor had met the then-Republican presidential candidate's flight into Northeast Airport. Street saw it as a mere formality in his role as host of the Republican Convention. Street was working hard to crush Bush in Philadelphia, costing him any chance of winning Pennsylvania's electors. Bush knew that. But he also knew that Street could be as important as an ally as he had been as an opponent.

FOUR YEARS AGO, the Daily News endorsed Sam Katz over John Street in the race for mayor because we believed Katz had a pro-growth vision for Philadelphia that was compelling. Katz still has that vision. But in the few years that he has been mayor, John Street has amassed a record of achievement in Philadelphia neighborhoods and in the lives of residents that is impressive, even inspiring. Given that record, it is the Daily News' judgment that John Street deserves to be re-elected on Election Day, Nov. 4. He has this paper's enthusiastic endorsement.

Today, John Street rises from his bed as Philadelphia mayor. Tonight, he sleeps unelected - for the first time since 1979, when BlackBerrys and iPhones were still years out of his reach. What will be toughest for Street as he gives up the throne and returns to private life? No more ribbon-cutting invites? No more frequent opportunities to remind people to drink their water? No more microphones shoved at him for him to announce that he's having a great day? Well, nothing that specific, says Carl Singley, former mentor and current antagonist of the outgoing mayor and ex-City Council president.

IF JOHN STREET wins re-election it will, in large part, be in spite of his campaign team. Has there ever been a candidate as ill-served by his staff as Street has been by the Frank Keel/Mark Nevins/Dan Fee triple threat? For some reason, these guys can't help becoming the story and obscuring the mayor's message: First it was Keel with his wife's less-than-truthful letters to the editor. Then it was Nevins who had to take responsibility for Street getting warm and huggy with a drug felon during a photo-op.

According to the polls, many of you are still undecided about who to vote for in next week's mayoral primary election. We don't blame you. Given where Philadelphia has been and what is at stake, this will be one of the most import votes city residents will ever make. But after heavy consideration, we have five words of advice for you: John Street. Vote for him. We don't say that easily, but we say it with the total conviction that of the five candidates running in the Democratic primary for mayor, John Street is the most qualified to lead this city.

First Milton, now John: Mayor Nutter is officially Street-free. Being Philadelphia's mayor was a "thrilling experience," John F. Street told The Inquirer in an e-mail Wednesday. But it's not one he wants to repeat. For now. "I decline to run, not because I feel too old or lack the energy," said the two-term mayor, 67, who in April switched his registration from Democratic to independent. Street then taunted Nutter by hinting that he might challenge him in November's general election, or run for City Council.

At one time, The Inquirer Editorial Board tried to referee local political campaigns by calling football-style penalties. A low blow in an attack ad might earn the perpetrator 15 yards and a loss of down for what we might term an "illegal chuck. " The system never really worked - we couldn't actually impose a penalty - but I found myself wondering what kind of call we would have made on Marty Weinberg's current "shove ad" showing John Street pushing TV reporters out of his office in 1981.

Now the real hard work for John Street can begin. Following last night's "Thrilla in Phila. " victory, Street will likely take some time off. A campaign such as the one Street waged - focused, issue-driven, nonstop - would grind most people into a fine powder. But once back, Street will have some heavy-duty wooing to do. As the unofficial election returns indicate, a sizable number of Philadelphians did not find Street a convincing replacement for Mayor Rendell. If he hopes to defeat Republican candidate Sam Katz come November's general election, Street will have to win over white voters who preferred Marty Weinberg, black voters more comfortable with John White and voters who couldn't get past some legitimate concerns over Street's personal finances and stewardship of the 5th District.

John Street is 6 1/2 weeks away from becoming the Democratic nominee for mayor. Unless he shoots himself in the foot. Unless his opponents launch the perfect attack. Unless Marty Weinberg gets thousands of Republicans in the Northeast to switch parties. And even then, Street might have a shot. "I don't have any complaints," he says. He shouldn't. Without spending a dime on television commercials, without making heavy use of his endorsement by Ed Rendell, Street retains a comfortable lead in the polls.

POLITICS in Philadelphia is often a family business. That can mean one generation trains the next for public office. It can also lead to family feuds. Consider the 197th state House District in North Philly, a vacant seat since Jewell Williams left it last month to become sheriff. Six Democrats filed nominating petitions yesterday to get on the April 24 ballot for that seat. One was the sheriff's daughter, the similarly named Jewel Williams , who works for the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

TUESDAY'S ELECTION answered some questions and asked others. Answered: Who "leads" us for the next four years. Asked: Who leads City Council? The selection process is under way (under the covers) and those still steamed about DROP - the Deferred Retirement Option Plan - have a stake in this. Contenders for the president's chair, vacated by the long-serving Anna Verna, are all Democrats - 5th District Councilman Darrell Clarke, 9th District Councilwoman Marian Tasco and at-large Councilman Jim Kenney (who would win if everyone he's ever feuded with voted for him)

YOU COULDN'T tell it from the ballot yesterday, but the race is now on for the city's second-most-powerful position - City Council president. With current President Anna Verna retiring in January, the job will be open for the first time in 12 years. It's a gig with major clout. The Council president controls substantial staff and budget, oversees the legislative process and is first in line to succeed the mayor should something happen to the chief executive. No public vote is cast for Council president.

The Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission is investigating former Mayor John F. Street's role in awarding millions of dollars of Philadelphia Housing Authority legal work to his son's former law firm, according to documents and interviews. Street became chairman of the PHA board in 2004 and voted on at least five occasions to give PHA contracts to Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen L.L.P., records show. His son, Sharif, billed PHA more than $700,000 while working as an attorney assigned to the PHA account at the now-defunct firm.

FORMER MAYOR John Street has chosen teaching and traveling over tormenting Mayor Nutter. Street, a high-profile critic of Nutter, has ruled out running for mayor or City Council at large as an independent this year. Street toyed with the notion for months, clearly enjoying the platform it gave him to attack Nutter on issues such as property-tax increases and a proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Street said he encountered "a great deal of very enthusiastic support.

First Milton, now John: Mayor Nutter is officially Street-free. Being Philadelphia's mayor was a "thrilling experience," John F. Street told The Inquirer in an e-mail Wednesday. But it's not one he wants to repeat. For now. "I decline to run, not because I feel too old or lack the energy," said the two-term mayor, 67, who in April switched his registration from Democratic to independent. Street then taunted Nutter by hinting that he might challenge him in November's general election, or run for City Council.

John F. Street - the former mayor, former City Council president, and former person of interest in at least two federal probes - just might form a mayoral campaign this week. The professional name-caller in me relishes the prospect. Imagine the possibilities:   Nutter vs. Street, Part XVII, The Final Reckoning, Redux. The inevitable racial tension. The bitterly flung accusations of corruption and incompetence. The sheer visceral disdain of two powerful men who have fought it out for years going at it one more time.

BACK IN 2003, there was a popular country song called "Have You Forgotten" by Darryl Worley that garbled the history of 9/11 and Iraq but spoke to a broader truth: Our amazing capacity to forget events - especially political events - that happened just a couple of short years ago. Especially in Philadelphia. Consider the case of John Street, ex-mayor and now - apparently when I wasn't paying attention - political elder statesmen. For several months, the media here have drooled over the Street-fueled notion that the Democrat-turned-independent, in City Hall for most of the 2000s, is getting back in the game - either challenging longtime nemesis Mayor Nutter or running for City Council at-large, a ploy that could actually work because of a quirk in the city's election law. But few if any of the stories have stressed what should be the headline: That Street presided over one of the most corrupt administrations in Philadelphia history.

Although Mayor Nutter captured the Democratic nomination Tuesday, the nettlesome fact remains that a recent convict who owes nearly $800,000 in taxes snatched one of every four votes from a reformist mayor who four years ago drew crowds to City Hall just to shake his hand. Nutter interpreted the 24 percent of voters who backed T. Milton Street Sr. as a reflection of an electorate angry with a shortage of jobs and rising costs, a ripple effect of the national economic crunch. But one person with a different view is John F. Street.

One brother in the Street family was defeated at the polls yesterday. Will another be on the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election? Former state legislator T. Milton Street lost his primary-election challenge to Mayor Nutter, shifting the focus to former Mayor John Street, who switched his voter registration from Democrat to independent just in time to make a run in the fall. Street has said that he is "keeping a variety of options available as a matter of good politics. " That could mean another run for mayor or for one of the two City Council at-large seats set aside for top vote-getters who are not a part of the majority party.