Michael Nutter

ALL NORTHEAST Philly hospitals are closing their maternity wards because of liability issues and because they are not as profitable as orthopedics and cardiology. The NE has zero maternity wards. Jeanes (Temple) and Frankford Torresdale (Jeff) are closing or have closed. I'm expecting in April. I'm scared that I'll have to drive many miles while in labor. It is dangerous for a residential community to be without a maternity ward because of complications. Melissa Suszynski, Philadelphia Rating the candidates There were six mayoral candidates at a March 15 PFT forum I attended.

WE CAN APPRECIATE the sense and sensibility of Philadelphia's city charter, which mandates that members of City Council must resign if they want to run for mayor. It's the kind of good-government restriction that helps guard against conflicts of interest. Still, we feel a twinge of regret that as smart and effective Council member as Michael Nutter must step down from one office to run for another. It's too early to tell how effective a mayor Nutter will be, especially in comparison with his likely rivals for the job. So far, only businessman Tom Knox is officially in the race.

Maybe the city banks figured that playing ostrich was the best way to deal with a City Council bill aimed at prohibiting automated teller machine charges at so-called city bank depositories. Only United Bank, the spunky community bank that has targeted the minority community, testified yesterday at a hearing held by Council's commerce and economic development committee. But committee chairman Michael Nutter said the banks are playing a game of chicken. To prove it, Nutter's committee unanimously reported out the bill, setting up a final vote on June 18. And with the names of 15 Council members on the bill, its chances have to be judged good - despite vigorous opposition from the Rendell administration.

I am a young African-American male - and we are the ones that are dying on the streets of Philadelphia. We need help, but does anybody care? As I read the newspaper the other day and saw that the murder total was 159, it occurs to me that something has to be done. To decrease the murder rate and crime, you need action. And stop-and-frisk is the action we need in the streets of Philadelphia today. You know how many lives that can be saved. I believe that is one of the reasons Michael Nutter won the primary.

IT WAS a cheeseburger, not a cheesesteak, that helped mold Michael Nutter into the man he is today. Gino's, during the company's heyday in 1960s and '70s, wasn't just shelling out burgers and chicken. The burger giant was a major contributor to the Catholic school system in Philadelphia, and the reason Nutter was able to attend St. Joseph's Prep. "It was a total big deal," the mayor told the Daily News last week. " The scholarship was tremendously helpful. Going to St. Joe's Prep turned out to be one of the greatest learning experiences for me and, ultimately, set me on the path for what I do today.

I MAY BE THE last publicly pessimistic person in Philadelphia. It's the fashion, since the primary election victory of Michael Nutter, to stifle one's pessimism and berate any hint of it detected in others. The chorus is everywhere: We've turned a page, reform is on the rise, and the only thing we have to fear is the fear of success. It's as if the city were caught in some kind of EST coma, taking the corn-flake cure and chanting about the power of positive thinking. No one dares spoil the moment.

When Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. halted the public-comment period of Thursday's Council meeting to ask the previous speaker to return to the lectern, there was that feeling in the chamber of two combatants about to square off. The previous speaker was Ori Feibush, the feisty Point Breeze developer, and he had just spent three minutes blasting a bill to create affordable housing as a bad plan and a waste of money. Goode, who can be downright prosecutorial with witnesses, asked Feibush if he thought the 10-year tax abatement on new construction was a waste of money as well.

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.

WHILE MAYOR Nutter was at Yale University on Monday talking about gun violence, his anticrime efforts back in Philly took a beating from the city's top prosecutor. At a City Council hearing, District Attorney Seth Williams lambasted Nutter's proposed budget for the D.A.'s office of about $32 million, similar to the current year's funding. Williams said a flatlined budget would, in effect, be a cut for him because he's taken on new responsibilities and costs in recent years. "What we do is simply not valued by the mayor," said Williams, who is asking for $2.8 million more.

Michael Nutter began his City Council career as willing pupil and follower of then-Council President John Street. He ended it last year as Mayor Street's prime antagonist and foil. Today, he stands positioned to succeed Street on the second floor of Philadelphia City Hall. Those who have known Nutter are not all that surprised that he has come this far. "He's a leader," said Jerry Taylor, who taught him history at St. Joseph's Prep during the 1970s. "That was evident right from the beginning.