Phil Goldsmith takes the hard line on Mayor Nutter saying that past Philadelphia mayors have accomplished more in their first two years. Gee, Phil, tell us what you really think. Goldsmith’s views are worth thinking about even if you don’t fully agree. This is after all a major global recession that has hit every level of government hard. But still he provides a perspective that shouldn’t be ignored. Goldmsith is someone who has seen Philadelphia city government from the inside out. He a past interim director of the School District of Philadelphia, acting Executive Director of Fairmount Park, past Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and served as the Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia (under John Street). He currently serves as President of Ceasefire PA.

Q&A with Phil Goldmsith

WHYY: The Nutter administration. Two years in – Two years to go. Half Empty / Half Full?

Goldsmith: I think the next four or five months will tell where the glass stands. I think he got off to a late start and the world sort of changed on him. I think he’s now starting to pick things up a bit. So I’ll probably answer a little differently today than I would have four or five months ago when I thought they weren’t making as much progress as they should. I think how he goes through the next budget cycle and we still have the union negotiations out there are two big things that have to be resolved.

Do you like how Michael Nutter is handling the union contract negotiations?

Goldsmith: I don’t see what’s being done. It’s very difficult to know what’s being done because it’s done behind the scenes, which is understandable. I thought the FOP deal was a very rich deal, which will hurt the city in the foreseeable future and I think the benefits are a long way for fruition. One of the other things that make this FOP award so costly aside from the pay increase is the ruling that will allow police officers to live outside the city because the ripple effect is that will apply to all of the other city workers.

A lot is said of how big the city’s population is. It is really not how big the city is population wise it. It is the composition of the population and here when you lose your middle class that is a significant drain from the city. So it is the type of people that are leaving or that have the ability to leave also, which is the critical thing. Here you are talking about people with middle class incomes.

You have said, that even considering the current recession past Philadelphia Mayor’s have overcome similar challenges and accomplished more in their first two years than Michael Nutter. Is that accurate? Do you believe that?

Goldsmith: Yeah, I do believe that. Let’s go back to the FOP contract. In 1980 (a year) I’m familiar with because I was deputy mayor under Bill Green. He had a terrible financial situation. Not as bad as this one. But a significant one. This contract coming under much more difficult financial circumstances is a much richer contract than in 1980.

But I think if you look at some of the tangible stuff that’s been done under prior mayors in the first two years there seems to have been more tangible progress. Now that’s not to say that this administration and the mayor won’t accomplish a lot in his four years or eight years whatever the case may be. But I think when you look at what others have done up front I think it’s striking that it’s been much more significant.

I think this administration has been into analysis and the actual decisions seemed to have not resulted in much tangible stuff.

Go back to the Green (mayoral) administration he had to layoff police and firemen and we had the contract negotiations, significant issues with the (Philadelphia) school district that were taken on deadly force policies that he implemented..

Go to the Wilson Goode (mayoral) administration where he changed the height limitations that really changed the skyline that we have today. Governor Rendell who came in (as mayor) with the city tottering going after big time union savings and go to (mayor) John Street who got two stadiums built, negotiation union contracts, started the N.T.I. (Neighborhood Transformation Initiative) those are all things that were done in the first two years and I’m not sure I see that type of stuff that’s been done in Mayor Nutter’s first two years.

He’s done some things very well but I don’t see anything of that magnitude and I still have an issue of what’s this administration’s agenda. What does it really stand for? It’s clear if you look at Rendell it was getting the city back fiscally strong and focusing on economic development. I think the last administration (Mayor John Street) was about neighborhood rejuvenation. I’m not sure what this administration’s signature cornerstone is about.

You are President and Board Chairman of CeaseFire PA, on gun violence in Philadelphia. Is Michael Nutter and his Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey making the city safer?

Goldsmith: I think they are doing the right thing. That’s one of the things I credit the mayor for. I think he has been an excellent champion on the gun issue. I think they made progress. One of the things we have to caution about is the cycles that go on with homicide. Right now it’s dipping and hopefully that’s a trend that will continue but I think he’s been a great advocate on the gun issue. I think that by his own admission we have a long way to go to make the city safe and as the (Philadelphia) Inquirer series showed recently that the criminal justice system, which really isn’t a system, has an awful lot of failures in it. That’s going to require concerted leadership by the mayor and the district attorney (Seth Williams) to really seen if we can’t make some progress of creating a system out of a system of a bunch is disparate organizations that everyone wants to do it their own way. The only one that’s winning is the criminal.