John Street (politician)

Street

John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943 in Norristown , Pennsylvania) is an American politician. He was the 97th mayor of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. His first term began on January 3, 2000. In 2004 he was re-elected for a second term. He is a member of the Democrats . Prior to being elected mayor, he served on the Philadelphia City Council for 19 years, including seven years as chairman. He gave up his office for his candidacy for mayor. He succeeds Edward Rendell as mayor. On January 7, 2008 Street was replaced by Michael Anthony Nutter as mayor.

Life

John Street was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania and grew up on a farm. He attended Conshohocken High School , Oakwood College in Huntsville , Alabama , and studied law at Temple University . After graduating, he was initially u. a. Employee at the US Department of Justice. He was also an English teacher at a primary school.

As a member of the Philadelphia City Council, and later as its chairman and mayor, he always tried to represent the interests of the low-paid. Street was first elected to the city council in 1979. There he was u. a. City budget expert. In 1992, Street was elected chairman of the council. At the time, he worked closely with his predecessor, Rendell, and they managed to turn a budget deficit of $ 250 million into the largest budget surplus in Philadelphia's history. Street and Randell managed to turn the Philadelphia labor market through tax cuts.

John Street is a passionate Democrat. He had the opportunity to rise to the board of the party's state executive committee. However, this possibility no longer exists since a corruption scandal. Given this scandal and investigations by the FBI, his reputation with the city council has declined sharply. His reputation has also suffered in his own party. Michael Nutter , a former member of the city council and also a democrat, has announced that he will also run for mayor's office.

Time Magazine's April 17, 2005 issue lists Street among the top three worst mayors in the United States. Critics doubt the credibility of the poll, claiming that this place was only created because of the scandal and completely ignores Street's successes as mayor. Other reviewers noted that one of the top mayors on the list, Richard M. Delaney , was also involved in a corruption scandal.

He is married and has four children.

George W. Bush and John Street (July 4, 2001)

His politics

During his first tenure, Street focused on the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI). This initiative, which was launched in April 2001, aimed to stop the decline of the city of Philadelphia. The program was a success. The number of inhabitants in the inner city grew by 14 percent between 1990 and 2000.

Another goal of his first term was to draw more attention to children and their wealth. During his inaugural address in January 2000, Street officially proclaimed the year 2000 the "Year of the Child." He improved the funding of childcare services and founded the Philadelphia Children's Commission, whose task it was to advise him on all decisions that should have a positive effect on the lives of children.

The Philadelphia public schools were among the worst in the country when Street took office, so early in his tenure he had to pay close attention to the difficult decisions about the future of the schools. In November 2001, a compromise made it possible to privatize schools.

The Philadelphia homicide rate reached a 7-year high during his tenure. There were 330 murders in 2004 and 380 one year later, 45 percent of which were under 25 years of age.

The corruption scandal

During his re-election campaign against Sam Katz , the FBI announced that it had placed wiretapping devices in the mayor's office as part of the investigation into Shamsud-din ali. A corruption intrigue was uncovered in which Street's friend Ron White, who helped fund his election campaign, was involved. White died before he could be tried. Former City Treasury Manager Corey Kemp, a member of the Street team, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after convicted of 27 corruption cases in May 2005. John Street was never charged, and evidence of involvement in the corruption affair was never found.

Web link

• Biography on citymayors.com (English)