May 13–20, 1999

primary '99

City Paper Mayoral Endorsement

John White Jr.

The decisions made inside the privacy of a voting booth are a hybrid of research and prejudice, solid reasoning and gut feelings. Inside City Paper's voting booth—the editorial conference room—writers and editors brought all these influences to bear in deciding whom to endorse for the Democratic nomination for mayor. It wasn't an easy decision—supporters of John Street and especially Dwight Evans made strong arguments for their candidates—but finally, we decided on one man as the strongest choice for mayor: John White Jr.

Of any of the candidates, John White has the widest breadth of government experience. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State House in 1976, where he served until joining Philadelphia City Council in 1981. Gov. Robert Casey appointed him head of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) in 1987, and he stayed with the administration until 1991. He took on the job of resuscitating the Philadelphia Public Housing Authority (PHA) when he became director of the agency in 1993.

First, the tangibles.

If the next mayor is to forge effective partnerships between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, he needs experience in both city and state government. White possesses that experience, not just as a legislator but as a manager. He has also had experience in the private sector through his work with Ujima Development Corp., a real estate and consulting company, where he has been vice president for the past year and a half.

White's record as a manager—despite some notable blemishes—is largely an impressive one. At DPW, he saved the state $6 million by bringing in a company called HMA to manage its health maintenance program.

By the end of his tenure at PHA, conditions had improved significantly, with federal ratings rising from 20 points to 60 on a scale of 100—enough (though just barely) to move off the feds' "troubled" list.

In outlining his stands on the lead issues in the mayoral campaign, he strikes a comfortable balance between fiscal responsibility and maintaining social services. He has been admirably wary of making promises he can't keep, specifically criticizing Marty Weinberg's promise to reduce the wage tax to 4 percent and refraining from any commitments to personnel or municipal union salaries.

There remain concerns about White's record: his choice of John Cresci as PHA police chief (whose tenure was marked by millions in lawsuits and severe racial strife); the PHA subcontracts awarded to a company owned by a former White aide (neither the City Solicitor nor the PHA's Inspector General found anything shady about the situation); and White's possible obligation to labor unions that have endorsed him. In that context, it's important to note that Rendell won many of the same endorsements and still drove a hard bargain when it came time for contract talks.

These concerns seemed finally of less significance than the strength and breadth of White's experience—and even more important, his qualities of leadership.

In debates, in private interviews, even on TV ads, John White has demonstrated composure under fire, passion for what he believes in and a genuine concern for all of the city's people. Of all the candidates, his leadership style stands the best chance of uniting this highly diverse city as it faces the challenges of the next century. His wide-ranging base of support—black, white, straight, gay, business, labor, rich, poor—suggests that many Philadelphians agree.

Choosing from among the four qualified candidates in the race was a challenge. The editorial board agreed, however, that Marty Weinberg was the one unacceptable choice: a throwback to the worst-governed administration in modern times; a tool of State Sen. Vincent Fumo and other powerful interests; a candidate who tried to buy the election with a slick TV ad blitz, and tried to manipulate the electorate with scare tactics and mud-slinging.

Each of the other contenders has much to recommend. Happy Fernandez is a likable candidate of great integrity, but her agenda finally seemed too narrow. John Street has grown into a mature, able leader in his 19 years on City Council. However, the connection between contributions to his campaign and the awarding of contracts (DisneyQuest, developer David Grasso) is a matter for concern. Questions also remain about how pivotal a role he played in the city's business successes, about the slow progress in his own district, his disregard for constituents as a district councilman and his tendency to make decisions according to how the political winds are blowing (sidewalk behavior ordinance, domestic partnership benefits) rather than on deeply held beliefs.

The proponents of Dwight Evans on our editorial board made a strong appeal for Evans as a mayor who could bring fresh ideas to city government. Unfortunately, his campaign presented him as a candidate with only one idea—gun control—that he consistently turned to, no matter what.

While we believe that either Evans or Street would be a far better mayor than Weinberg, we feel that White is a better alternative to both. Just as importantly, he can beat Weinberg.