March 15–22, 2001
cover story
Dressed for Success
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Vantage point: Street with his wife Sierra and their 18-month-old son, also named Sharif. photo: Michael LeGrand | |
He likes to wear his father’s suits, but Sharif Street is working hard to tailor a future of his own.
When Sharif Tahir Street was growing up, John Street was the center of his world. "The highest compliment anyone could give Sharif was to tell him he looked or talked like his dad," recalls his mother, Helen Street. "Sharif was his dad’s shadow."
And now, years later, Sharif is so much his father’s son that he even wears his clothes.
"It’s Armani," he smiles, as he holds open his jacket during an interview in his law office. The dark green suit he’s wearing does in fact belong to his father, though the mayor’s got six inches on Sharif in the waist. Sharif prefers raiding his father’s closet to shopping for himself, and manages to carry off the larger size by pulling his belt "real tight" and allowing the pants to drape loosely.
Same suit, different style. In this and many other ways, the two have much in common — the younger man coming off as a more relaxed version of his father.
But if Sharif wants to carve out his own political identity in the town his father has dominated for the past 20 years, he knows it’ll be more than just a matter of borrowing his clothes.
Sharif Street jokes that while working as a legislative aide for state Sen. Shirley Kitchen last year, block captains and community activists would remind him, "I bounced you on my knee when you were just a baby. You better do what you can to help me."
It’s true that, every chance he got, the younger Street tagged along with his father to neighborhood meetings in the city councilman’s North Philadelphia district. While other kids spent their evenings playing Atari or reading comic books, little Sharif was enjoying a front row view of guerrilla theater.
Or, perhaps more fittingly, street theater.
Now that her son is 26 years old and contemplating a career in politics himself, Helen Street says she can’t imagine Sharif pursuing any other profession. (Helen and John Street separated around 1982 and officially divorced in 1988, when Sharif was 14.)
"That’s what he’s all about," she says.
Because of his recognizable last name, every move the younger Street makes is apt to attract attention. Recently, his decision to help raise money for Bob Casey, Jr.’s gubernatorial campaign grabbed newspaper headlines for a week. The press couldn’t resist speculating on whether Street was taking a slap at former Mayor Ed Rendell — Casey’s potential rival for the Democratic nomination — for comments he made during his father’s 1999 mayoral race.
The buzz is likely to begin all over again this week. On Thursday, March 15, Street is co-hosting a $500-a-head fundraiser for Casey at the Vesper Club. The other sponsors include Marty Weinberg, chair of the law firm Obermayer Rebmann and one of Mayor Street’s opponents in the Democratic primary; the Philadelphia Young Democrats; Mitchell Rubin, a Pennsylvania Turnpike commissioner who is tight with state Sen. Vince Fumo and U.S. Congressman Bob Brady; and NextGen, Street’s political action committee (PAC).
Even the mayor suspects that members of the press corps will shift their curiosity to Sharif now that his controversial Uncle Milton no longer holds elective office.
As for Sharif’s political ambitions, people may question what he brings to the table beyond the fact that he is the mayor’s son. Does he feel a sense of entitlement in the world of Philadelphia politics because of his last name? Will the Street family strive to create another local political dynasty in Philadelphia, where second-generation Goodes and Rizzos already hold office?
Even as a second-year associate in one of Philadelphia’s most influential law firms, Wolf Block Schorr and Solis-Cohen, Street’s days have a political cast. He has existing relationships with many of the firm’s powerful clients, a familiarity that can serve as an "equalizing" force.
But you’d be hard-pressed to find another corporate attorney in town — or elected official, for that matter — who sports dreadlocks practically down to his butt.
"I’m not going to run for office until it’s the right time," Street says.
At the beginning of last year, Street seriously kicked around the idea of challenging Pennsylvania State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, who has represented the 181st District since 1989. His North Central Philadelphia district spans roughly from Sixth to Broad Streets, and from South Street to Susquehanna Avenue.
The possible challenge was made even more intriguing by the fact that Thomas and John Street have a contentious relationship. Thomas backed Julie Welker when she twice ran unsuccessfully against Street for the 5th District City Council seat, and again last spring when she challenged Street protégé Darrell Clarke.
Thomas also accused John Street of recruiting community activist Paula Taylor to challenge him in the Democratic primary in 1996. At the time, Councilman Street denied he was behind Taylor’s bid for office.
Sharif Street says the timing wasn’t right for him to throw his hat in the ring for the 2000 elections.
"For a lot of reasons — including because I had to make a decision like five days after my dad was sworn in — I decided not to run," he says. At the time, he had been married for just weeks and had a five-month old baby.
Should Sharif Street successfully run for the Pennsylvania State House, he would need to be prepared to take on his dad once in awhile. As mayor of Philadelphia, Street occasionally clashes with state lawmakers. Although the mayor has "made nice" with Harrisburg for now, the issues of public school funding and Philadelphia’s right to sue gun manufacturers have sparked battles in the past.
In an interview last year, Mayor Street told City Paper he can’t foresee any conflict of interest if his son were in the State House.
"I think he’d probably support me," he predicted.
At the same time, it would be invaluable for Philadelphia’s mayor to have a strong ally in Harrisburg. One of Ed Rendell’s shortfalls was his failure to recruit candidates who would toe the line for him in City Council and the State House.
"As a result, Rendell’s ideas would get squashed," one political insider says. "The only way to get stuff done around here is by having support in the General Assembly."
But, clearly, Thomas’ seat is not Sharif Street’s only option. Even though he considers state Rep. Jewell Williams (197th District) "a friend," and state Rep. Angel Cruz (180th District) "an ally," all is fair in love, war and politics. Street says he would consider making a grab for their seats.
"My father had to decide whether to file to run for City Council while Cecil B. Moore was still in office," Street says. "He made the determination that [Moore] wasn’t doing any good for the neighborhood from his hospital bed."
Moore died before the election, sparing John Street from actually having to challenge him in the Democratic primary.
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High profile: Sharif Street and the mayor refuel after a workout (circa 1998). | |
You can learn a lot about Sharif Street’s values by checking out his law office, perched on the 22nd floor of an Arch Street high-rise just blocks from City Hall. The photographs that line Street’s office walls are particularly telling.
A black-and-white picture of a somber John Street — snapped the day he resigned from City Council in anticipation of his mayoral bid — hangs above his son’s desk.
Several inches over from that is a laminated photo obviously clipped from the newspaper depicting a group of hippie-ish protesters. In the foreground is a young Shirley Kitchen.
Another photograph shows a smiling Street shaking hands with former Vice President Al Gore. Street lets you know that he met Gore "way before" he ran for president. That may explain why Street hustled so hard to get Gore elected to the presidency last year. Through his PAC, NextGen, Street recruited other local Democrats to work on the campaign, as well.
A photo of his mom, Helen Street, shows a woman who looks much younger than her 52 years. Two years ago, she left North Philly to live on the Main Line with her fiancé. Helen Street has taught in the Philadelphia Public School District for the past 27 years. Currently, she teaches first grade at Sheridan Elementary.
Wedding photos and pictures of his son, 18-month-old Sharif Olu, also decorate the office. Street and Sierra Thomas, 27, were married New Year’s Eve 1999 — just in time to start the new millennium together — at the church Mayor Street grew up attending, Ebenezer Seventh Day Adventist. Sharif Street and his wife met while they were law students, at Penn and Temple University respectively.
John Street chose the name Sharif when his own son was born 26 years ago. The mayor would have liked it for himself but had enough foresight not to change his moniker just before seeking elected office. Sharif means "honest, noble and distinguished" in Arabic. The translation has particular meaning for the new dad now that he is a practicing Muslim.
Street’s oak desk at Wolf Block is shaped like a horseshoe, and its entire surface is piled with papers. Who has time to file, anyway? But Street is extremely apologetic for the mess and urges his visitor to follow him into the conference room for a chat.
While Street has never held an elected office that paid the rent, he has spent his entire life in politics, not even counting those community meetings to which he accompanied his dad.
Street was vice president of his third grade class at Samuel Gompers Elementary School in West Philly. (He learned quickly that politics can be cruel when the little girl whom he had a crush on ran against him. Not surprisingly, that romance never went anywhere.) Along with his best 9-year-old pal, who was president of the class, Street helped start Gompers’ first programs to plant trees and paint the school.
Street recalls surviving another tough race when he ran for treasurer of Central High. His sister, Rashida, may have thrust him to victory with the election posters she created. One featured Street on the track field and told classmates, "Street is running for treasurer. Won’t you support him?" A slightly less tasteful sign featured a picture of a toilet, and said something about Street deserving to win the seat. Appropriately enough, that poster was hung in all the school bathrooms.
Street’s opponent, however, had the audacity to run a smear campaign.
"He accused me of not being bright enough to be treasurer," Street says, indignation clouding his voice even now. "But his strategy blew up in his face when that turned out not to be the case."
A similar dynamic has fueled John Street’s political ambitions. When political rivals denounce him as incapable, he is that much more motivated to prove them wrong. Clearly, John Street’s "can-do" attitude has been a major influence on his son’s ability to persevere. Street grew up with a belief that his father was nearly invincible, and John Street went out of his way to reinforce the notion.
John Street routinely told his son stories about how he beat up Superman. Sharif Street also has memories of his dad sticking his hand in a fire while he stoked it.
"When I was kid, my father sliced his knee with a chainsaw while cutting through a log. He took off his shirt and wrapped the wound," Street says. "As a kid that was amazing. As an adult, that’s stupid — if you cut your leg, go to the hospital."
But watching his dad go on, as if unhurt, "was empowering," Street adds. "My father used to tell me… he had no limits. It was very impressive to a young boy."
