Michael Nutter

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Michael Anthony Nutter
98th Mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 7, 2008
Preceded by	John F. Street
Chairman of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority Board
In office 2003 – 2007
Member of the Philadelphia City Council, 4th District
In office 1992 – 2006
Succeeded by	Carol Ann Campbell
Born	June 29, 1957 (1957-06-29) (age 52) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lisa Nutter
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania
Religion	Baptist

Michael Anthony "Mike" Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is the Mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is Philadelphia's third African American mayor, and Philadelphia is currently the largest city in the United States with an African American mayor. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was sworn in on January 7, 2008. Nutter is a former councilman of the city's 4th Council District, which includes the neighborhoods of Wynnefield, Overbrook, Roxborough, Manayunk, East Falls and parts of North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and West Mount Airy. He has served as the 52nd Ward Democratic Leader since 1990.

He and former mayor John F. Street clashed over policy and reform. On June 27, 2006, Nutter resigned from the council to run for mayor.^[1] Mayor Nutter endorsed Hillary Clinton for president during the 2008 Democratic primary, and often campaigned with the Senator. After Clinton's withdrawal Nutter became a vocal supporter of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political career 3 2007 mayoral race 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Philadelphia, raised in West Philadelphia Michael Nutter attended the prestigious St. Joseph's Preparatory School in North Philadelphia before moving on to earn a degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

[edit] Political career

In June 2002, as councilman, Nutter introduced a measure requiring college students under 23 years old in Philadelphia's Fourth Council District (students at Saint Joseph's University) to register their address, license plate, car registration and insurance with the University, which would then put a sticker on that car as a "student" car, subjecting the student to triple the usual fines for traffic or parking tickets or any other offense. The ordinance also forced students in off-campus housing to inform their landlords of their "student" status.^[2]

In September 2004, as councilman, Nutter introduced legislation creating an independent Ethics Board. In addition, he proposed changes to the City's Ethics Code to provide for routine training and education of all City officers and employees, the issuance of advisory opinions, the adjudication of violations, and the imposition of civil fines. These measures were adopted at the end of 2005. On May 16, 2006, voters approved the Ethics Board ballot question with over 81% voting “Yes,” and was installed November 27, 2006.^[3]

Nutter sponsored "The Clean Indoor Air Worker Protection Law," expanding the definition of "public places" where smoking is not allowed to include restaurants and many bars, which Mayor Street eventually signed into law.^[4]

Nutter's "Philly First" program, which took effect on July 1, 2004, gives preference to Philadelphia businesses in competitive bidding on City contracts greater than $25,000.^[4]

In January 2005, the City announced a library reorganization plan in which 20 branches would shift from full-day service to half-day service, and that many head librarians had been laid off. Library supporters rejected these changes and petitioned the mayor and City Council to restore service and staffing levels. Then-councilman Nutter called for an investigation to evaluate the Library System and explore alternatives to find additional funding in order to restore service.^{[citation needed]} City Council rejected the Administration's cut, funding was restored, and by the Fall of 2005 all library branches had full-day service, Saturday hours, and a head librarian.

He supports having the City of Philadelphia declare a "Crime Emergency" in selected areas of Philadelphia.^{[citation needed]} This would station more officers in certain areas of Philadelphia, limit the ability to gather on public sidewalks, impose a curfew for all residents, and limit the ability to travel in certain areas. The proposal includes a warrant-less police search technique known as "stop-and-frisk." Nutter claims that this approach is sufficiently similar to one that was found to be Constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1968 in Terry v. Ohio, but it still has not been determined if this specific exercise is in violation of Fourth Amendment rights.^[5]

Nutter supports the eviction of the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America from their headquarters on the Ben Franklin Parkway. In a televised debate on NBC 10 Live @ Issue he said, "In my administration, we will not subsidize discrimination."^[6]

Recently, Nutter has been criticized for taking action to close libraries and recreational facilities and cut funding for Philadelphia's traditional Mummers Parade on New Year's Day. The budget cuts came as a result of a newly projected $850 million budget deficit over the next five years (2009-2013).

[edit] 2007 mayoral race

Nutter has positioned himself as a reformer.^[7] On April 27, 2007, The Philadelphia Inquirer announced that it would endorse Nutter for the Democratic primary.^[8] Nutter has also been endorsed by the Philadelphia Daily News^[9], Philadelphia magazine^[10], Northeast Times^[11], Philadelphia City Paper^[12], Philadelphia Weekly^[13], Philly for Change^[14] (a local affiliate of Democracy for America), The Daily Pennsylvanian ^[15], the Penn Democrats^[16], and Clean Water Action.^[17] Nutter won the May 15 Democratic primary election with 37% of the vote in a five-man field, thus making himself the likely victor of the overall election in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

On November 6, 2007, Nutter was declared the winner of the general election. Nutter won in an historic landslide; receiving 86 percent of the vote; his opponent, Al Taubenberger, received 13 percent of the vote.

The campaign was a success and was seen by many political commentators as humanizing the candidate.^[18] The New York Times deemed Nutter "the Seabiscuit of this year’s urban politics."^[19]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michael Nutter

• Office of Mayor Michael Nutter official website
• Michael Nutter for Mayor official campaign website

Political offices
Preceded by John F. Street	Mayor of Philadelphia 2008 – present	Incumbent

v • d • e Mayors of Philadelphia (chronologically) Morrey • Shippen (I) • Morris (I) • G. Jones • Willcox • Stanbury • Masters • Hill • Carter • Preston • Dickinson • Roch • Hill • Dickinson • Fishbourn • Logan • C. Plumsted • Norris • Hudson • Read • T. Lawrence (I) • Griffitts • T. Lawrence (I) • Allen • C. Plumsted • Griffitts • Morris (II) • Roberts • Hasell • C. Plumsted • Till • B. Shoemaker • Shippen (II) • Hamilton • Attwood • C. Willing • T. Lawrence (I) • W. Plumsted • Strettell • B. Shoemaker • T. Lawrence (I) • C. Willing • W. Plumsted • Shute • T. Lawrence (II) • Stamper • B. Shoemaker • Duché • Harrison • T. Willing • T. Lawrence (II) • J. Lawrence • I. Jones • S. Shoemaker • Gibson • Fisher • Rhoads • Powel • vacant • Powel • Miles • Barclay • Clarkson • Baker • Wharton • Inskeep • Lawler • Inskeep • Wharton • J. Barker • Wharton • Keppele • J. Barker • Geyer • Wharton • J. N. Barker • Wharton • Watson • Dallas • Richards • Milnor • Richards • Swift • Roach • Swift • McCall • Swift • J. Jones • Gilpin • Conrad • Vaux • Henry • McMichael • Fox • Stokley • King • Smith • Fitler • Stuart • Warwick • Ashbridge • Weaver • Reyburn • Blankenburg • Smith • Moore • Kendrick • Mackey • Moore • Wilson • Connell • Lamberton • Samuel • Clark • Dilworth • Tate • Rizzo • Green • Goode • Rendell • Street • Nutter

v • d • e Mayors of the 50 largest cities in the United States     Michael Bloomberg, New York City, NY Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, CA Richard M. Daley, Chicago, IL Bill White, Houston, TX Phil Gordon, Phoenix, AZ Michael Nutter, Philadelphia, PA Julian Castro, San Antonio, TX Jerry Sanders, San Diego, CA Tom Leppert, Dallas, TX Chuck Reed, San Jose, CA Dave Bing, Detroit, MI John Peyton, Jacksonville, FL Gregory A. Ballard, Indianapolis, IN Gavin Newsom, San Francisco, CA Michael B. Coleman, Columbus, OH Lee Leffingwell, Austin, TX Mike Moncrief, Fort Worth, TX W. W. Herenton, Memphis, TN Pat McCrory, Charlotte, NC Sheila Dixon, Baltimore, MD John Cook, El Paso, TX Tom Barrett, Milwaukee, WI Thomas Menino, Boston, MA Greg Nickels, Seattle, WA Karl Dean, Nashville, TN John Hickenlooper, Denver, CO Adrian Fenty, Washington, D.C. Oscar Goodman, Las Vegas, NV Jerry Abramson, Louisville, KY Sam Adams, Portland, OR Mick Cornett, Oklahoma City, OK Bob Walkup, Tucson, AZ Shirley Franklin, Atlanta, GA Martin Chavez, Albuquerque, NM Ashley Swearengin, Fresno, CA Bob Foster, Long Beach, CA Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, CA Scott Smith, Mesa, AZ Mark Funkhouser, Kansas City, MO Frank G. Jackson, Cleveland, OH Will Sessoms, Virginia Beach, VA Jim Suttle, Omaha, NE Manny Diaz, Miami, FL Ron Dellums, Oakland, CA Kathy Taylor, Tulsa, OK R. T. Rybak, Minneapolis, MN Lionel Rivera, Colorado Springs, CO Charles Meeker, Raleigh, NC Muliufi "Mufi" Hannemann, Honolulu, HI Robert Cluck, Arlington, TX

v • d • e Mayors of cities with populations of 100,000 in Pennsylvania     Michael Nutter (Philadelphia) Luke Ravenstahl (Pittsburgh) Ed Pawlowski (Allentown) Joseph Sinnott (Erie) State capital: Stephen R. Reed (Harrisburg)