Rebecca Rhynhart for Mayor

She's Up to the Job

The Others Aren't

I've volunteered on a bunch of political campaigns, and many of the stories on my blog are political, but I've never endorsed a candidate on the blog before. First time for everything.

Why now? Because I see something that I think a lot of people are missing: I think Rhynhart is the only candidate who actually knows how to fix the bureaucracy. That's because she's the only one who's been inside - in the belly of the beast, if you will.

And yes, she's smart, she's worked in the private sector, and I think she has the tenacity and dexterity to tame the beast. 

A lot of people think that being on City Council is a good background for a mayor. I would argue the opposite. In City Council you learn City Council. And of course your focus is on city politics, not city administration.

And other people still think - in the age of Trump - that experience in the private sector is sufficient. Just run it like a business, they say.

Well, the city administration is not a business. It is a bureaucracy, and it shares that piece of its identity with large corporations. But it does not exist to make money, which is what businesses do.

Just take a look at Jeff Brown's lawn sign, at the top of this story. It says, "Fix the damn potholes!" A lovely sentiment, and Jeff seems to be a very capable businessman. But he's just skating on the surface. 

Let me bring in a military analogy. There's an old saying: Amateurs talk about tactics and strategy; professionals talk about logistics.

If you want to fix the potholes, you need to fix the streets department. And you need to ban non-performing contractors. None of that will be easy, and there will be a lot of complaining and whining and phones calls to City Council members.

Which brings me to my last point. We need to fix City Council. No mayor can do that alone. City Council really needs to step up and fix itself. And for that we need Council members who understand how the city works, and care about making it work better. I'm voting for Eryn Santamoor and Job Itzkowitz.

See also Ron DeSantis Comes to Philly, Rousseau and the Filibuster, A Message from Philly, The People Screaming Were White, Quo Vadis, Philadelphia?