Michael Nutter Lost My Vote Tonight
I went to the Irish Pub tonight to particiapte in a “meet the candidates” event, featuring two of the contenders for Mayor, former Councilman Michael Nutter and Jonathan Saidel. Before I get into the meat of the matter, I want to say that this event was like being on a farm: there was that much horsehit slung by both candidates.
I’m not going to write too much about Saidel, other than to say he was engaging, funny without being mean, and at least seemed to be in touch with normal people.
Mr. Nutter on the other hand lived up to his reputation for being high-handed, arrogant, and condescending. I was not impressed.
The back room was filled with people: my neighbor Lew was there, as were a number of Drinking Liberals. I rasied my hand to ask a question and someone passed me the microphone.
“It is a fact that SEPTA has the highest fares in the country,” I began, “and it is also a fact that the company has acted in bad faith with the City of Phoiladelphia and its riders. It promised to reopen the Germantown Avenue Line a decade ago and is now paving over the rails illegally. The same fate I understand is in store for the Erie Avenue Line. None of SEPTA’s board members live in Philadelphia [an error on my part: 2 city representatives are on the Board, but the majority are from the suburbs. Ed.] It is my understanding that more rate hikes are on the way, and that we are facing a possible transit strike in the fall.
“Mr. Nutter: when SEPTA was to re-open the Route 15 line on Girard Avenue, your colleague Carol Campbell tried to block this project saying that her constituents didn’t want to go back to parking on one side of the street: they have been parking on both sides illegally. You backed Ms. Campbell. I want to know how you and Mr. Saidel propose to fix the SEPTA problem, and whether you will both commit to riding SEPTA to work every day.”
The mention of the Route 15 clearly set Mr. Nutter’s hackles on edge: I could see it. He turned to me and said “The issue with the 15 trolley was that SEPTA did not communicate with the community at all.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said, and with good reason. News of the revived line had been in the newspapers for MONTHS. The construction on Girard Avenue was obvious, taking place in the middle of the street. Unless the residents of 59th and Callowhill are deaf, illiterate, and blind, the revived line was impossible to miss. This is a project that cost taxpayer $82 million dollars, and Mr. Nutter is telling me that no one knew this was coming?
“I don’t care if you don’t believe me,” Nutter said. “As for riding SEPTA every day, I will not have you force me into pandering to you. I will not commit to that.”
I turned to Lew, and muttered, “Mayor Bloomberg in New York rides the subway. Even when the subways were under terrorist threat.” Bloomberg’s a billionaire, who could probably afford to teleport to work if the technology existed, a guy who took a pay cut to govern New York City, and Michael Nutter, this guy from Wynnefield, won’t deign to take the same shitty transit his constituents have to deal with every day? Give. Me. A. Break. Not that a mayoral presence would necessarily fix the clusterfuck of problems we call SEPTA, but a pissed off Mayor of a major American city tired of waiting for a 34 trolley that runs on a timetable all its own would certainly do more good than harm.
Rather than answer what were valid questions, the candidate for Mayor chose to attack this potential voter. His statements about the Route 15 notwithstanding (and which I doubt hold up to examination), Nutter chose to treat my question as “pandering”, treating my concerns with contempt, talking down to me as if I was retarded. I am to take a politician at his word, because you see, politicians NEVER lie or distort the truth to their own political advantage, especially in Philadelphia, a city with representatives who are beyond reproach, pure as the driven snow, more innocent than little baby Jesus. Of course I must believe Mr. Nutter, because he says so. Excuse me while I retch.
No one on the SEPTA board takes SEPTA regularly, if at all. For that matter, our current Mayor does not ride SEPTA, choosing instead to drive to work. Nor does he stand up for riders
Not a single major Philadelphia politician showed up Tuesday to protest SEPTA’s proposed cuts – not Mayor Street, not Councilmen Frank DiCicco, who serves on SEPTA’s board, or W. Wilson Goode Jr., who chairs City Council’s transportation committee. Yet Philadelphia’s whole economic strategy is predicated on encouraging industries that employ transit-dependent workers: the medical technicians who staff the hospitals, the cleaners who keep hotels sparkling. The city’s new gambling industry won’t get off the ground without transit.
If Mr. Nutter had been listening to anyone other than himself, perhaps he would have entertained follow-up questions such as “How can citizens expect the mayor to be fully invested in mass transit if he/she isn’t a rider? If you don’t ride, SEPTA’s inadequacies are an abstract idea.
While Saidel also dodged the question as to whether he would commit to riding SEPTA daily, he did so in a much more casual and less offensive way: I didn’t like his nonresponse, but I also didn’t feel like my question had been utterly dismissed. In fact, he referenced it later in the discussion, as he talked about the travesty of tax abatements surrounding Comcast’s tower in Center City (a company apparently near and dear to Nutter’s heart I might add).
There was a time when I believed that Nutter’s reputation for being, well, an arrogant asshole was because of his lousy relations with the media: get on a reporter’s bad side, and you don’t come out looking pretty. After tonight’s Q&A, I feel comfortable saying that Michale Nutter is exactly as he’s portrayed: has a superiority complex; he believes he knows what’s best, does not want to entertain questions or concepts that conflict with his image as civic hero, and is condescending and arrogant when dealing with constituents and voters. I saw this repeated throughout the evening on any number of topics. His answers on gun violence were predictable and boring. His answers on taxes were evasive. All were delivered with the air of someone who knows better than you.
You know, I voted for Mayor John Street twice, even though I have no use for the guy now. Put it this way, if you like Mayor Street, you’ll just LOVE Mayor Nutter. More of the status quo, and with a penchant for social engineering to boot. Oh and guess who thinks wi-fi shoudl be left to the private sector? That’s right, Michael “best left to private-sector entrepreneurs who know what they’re doing. This is not our business” Nutter (warning pdf), always looking out for the little guy.
Michael Nutter will not get my vote.
August 16th, 2006 at 8:05 am
[...] Brendan showed up a few minutes late and took a seat right by our table. He asked a question regarding SEPTA and their broken promised through the years and the ever increasing fares. Nutter's response lost Brendan's vote. Saidel's response had some surprising balls to it. He called for the SEPTA board to be dissolved. That they were all rich suburbanites and didn't understand the demands of the average commuter. No actual answers/solutions though. [...]
August 16th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
I simply loved this part: “I don’t care if you don’t believe me,â€
That speaks volumes.
August 16th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Reminds me of George Bush when he says “Civil war this, civil war that.”
He doesn’t care either.
August 16th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
That’s just stunning. He’s basically declaring that he intends to be as aloof and out of touch as he ever was, and if you don’t like it there’s, something wrong with you.
August 16th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Brendan – give me a break. You asked a jerky, immature, stupid question. Of course he’s not (nor will any other) candidate commit to riding SEPTA every day. Did you know what Nutter was one of only two or three City Councilpeople not to take a City vehicle during his tenure on Council so as not to burden the taxpayers with his transportation costs? Please, keep your mind open.
August 16th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
PP:
I’ll ignore your childish insult.
All I have to say my friend is that if Mayor Bloomberg can ride his city’s public transit, ours should and can as well. Does anyon know if Daley rides the Chicago trains?
If the mayor or city council had to regularly deal with the bullshit SEPTA deals out on a daily basis, you can bet the riders (and the city) would have a louder voice, and hoepfully better transit. Also, it would be great PR for the mayopr, as it has been for mr. bloomberg.
Nutter was one of only two or three City Councilpeople not to take a City vehicle during his tenure on Council so as not to burden the taxpayers with his transportation costs?
I do as a matter of fact, and I give the guy credit for that. But that’s not the gist of my question, which was about fixing/improving SEPTA, not saving taxpayer dollars.
The mayor and City Council, by riding SEPTA regularly, could set an example for other philadelphians to use public transit instead of driving into the city (imperatrive, to my mind, in a time of sky-high gas and oil prices that aren’t coming down soon).
There’s a real problem in this city in which public transit is treated as a last resort or for people who can’t afford cars. It shouldn’t be that way. It’s certainly not that way in NY or Chicago.
August 16th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Gov. Dukakis used to ride the T every day to work in Boston. Our current git douchebag Governor Romney very predictably won’t set foot on a subway train. Not sure about Mayor Menino.
August 16th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
[...] and Albert review a couple of the Philadelphia mayoral candidates. Permalink| [...]
August 16th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
I went to a rally for SEPTA in Harrisburg about a year and a half ago, and Street gave just about the most embarrassing speech I can remember about the time he decided to ride a SEPTA bus like “regular people” (actual words, or something very similar). It was awful. Plus, it was raining this cold February rain, and everyone just wanted to not have to stand there anymore, and he went on and on and on (he was standing under an overhang, of course).
But anyway, while I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to demand that any candidate ride SEPTA to work (there’s lots of places SEPTA really isn’t convenient, among other things), it is really important to have a city government that actually cares about public transit, and wants to do something about it. Nutter soundss like he doesn’t give a fuck.
August 16th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Brendan – thanks for ignoring my childish insult. Just being defensive, as I’m a Nutter supporter. Sorry the interaction didn’t go well, I really mean it. But of course he’s concerned about SEPTA and will be talking about it more in the campaign. Please keep an open mind.
August 16th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
Gavin Newsom in San Francisco rides the Cable Cars to work every day. It’s not too much to ask a mayor to get out of his car and among the people.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Mayor Daley riding the El? Surely you jest. He is driven around town, and famously claimed about a decade ago that “there is no constituency for transit”–tell that to the hundreds of thousands of daily riders–and consequently ignores transit except when there is a crisis. And heads NEVER roll following a crisis.
His handpicked president of the Chicago Transit Authority, Frank Kruesi, does ride the El and buses, supposedly, but that’s the only thing he does well. (And he must have his eyes closed the whole time he rides, because I can’t imagine he would like what he sees if they were open.)
He’s been caught trying to pad his own pension, fiscal crises are now a yearly event (with the usual threats of higher fares and/or service cuts–so far, thankfully, it’s only been higher fares), and has already succeeded in mismanaging a $600 million reconstruction project for one of our El lines just months after it finally began. It’s already behind schedule and over budget, and he repeatedly lied to residents and businesses about the need for station closings.
Kruesi is so abrasive and unpleasant that state legislators have told him not to travel to Springfield to lobby them–he makes things worse.
Did I mention his qualifications for the job? He was Daley’s roommate when the mayor was a mere state senator. By our town’s political logic, therefore, of course he should be in charge of one of the most important agencies to ordinary Chicagoans!
In summary: Chicago feels your pain, Philadelphia. Good luck whipping SEPTA into shape–and once you do it, can you let us know how?
August 16th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
@John- “there’s lots of places SEPTA really isn’t convenient, among other things” – exactly. I have no idea where Nutter lives, nor any of the other candidates, but I wonder how convenient it would be for any of them to commute, via SEPTA, to City Hall once a week. They’d better understand what their neighborhoods are going through with this horrendous transit system.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
As Albert responds to John, that is EXACTLY the problem: SEPTA is inconvenient.
For that matter, where could be easier to commute to than City Hall? It’s served by the El, the Borad Street Line, and the Subway Surface.
Nutter lives in Wynnefield, which is served by the 10 trolley, a regional rail line, the 15 trolley, and buses.
It would be throwing a populist bone to the voters. It’s basically saying “I am one of you. Your problems are my problems.”
Mayor Street won’t take SEPTA either. It’s embarrassing.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Chicago Jason: “Mayor Daley riding the El? Surely you jest. He is driven around town, and famously claimed about a decade ago that “there is no constituency for transit”"
Thanks for answering my question. Maybe Daley and our mayors should go bowling together…
August 16th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
well, I love nutter for the smoking ban, but I forgot about his septa issues re: the 15 trolley.
Shit, next time could you just ask him if he would consider requiring septa stations to MAKE FUCKING CHANGE?????
August 17th, 2006 at 12:36 am
Change! Yes, that’s another big friggin’ inconvenience of SEPTA.
Another one? How about the fact that the place is overrun with homeless people and every station reeks of stale piss and shit?
“Philadelphia is a wonderful city. Up and coming! Really clean! Our citizens love our city so much.”
So much they have to shit and piss all over it.
August 17th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Phillybits: If the city would invest in public toilets, even coin-operated, that wouldn’t be a problem.
I’m not gonna scorn the homeless though: they gotta go somewhere, ahnd there aren’t enough shelters in Philly.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:46 am
Laying down a transit usage litmus test for a prospective Mayor is silly.
August 17th, 2006 at 5:17 am
Grow up:
A) where did I lay down transit usage as a litmus test? If you’re going to claim that my objection to Nutter is based on his refusal to use public transit, you’re sadly mistaken. I won’t support the guy because he acted like a condescending dick to a potential voter, like my question (which was valid) was contemptible. That says a lot about how the candidate views his potential constituency.
B) if mayor bloomberg, mayor newsome, and dukakais while he was governor could take public transit, so can our representatives. Strengthening public transit is highly important in this time of oil shortage and high fuel costs. The mayor sets an example for the citizens.
C) it would also be good PR for the candidate. Stes him up as the candidate who’s really in touch with the people. If the mayor’s late for council because of SEPTA, his complaint will be a lot more effective than that of Joe Sixpack, and may even lead to better service.
By the way, Philly Phantom, apology accepted. Politics gts the blood riled up, and that’s a good thing. what we have remember is its not about the candidate, its about the best vision for philadelphia. Nutter has his strengths, no doubt, but the way he dealt with me was flawed. And his refusal to consider taking public transit to work is a problem for me.
August 17th, 2006 at 5:19 am
ooh, part of the respoinse EPUed.
I also said “maybe he could commit to taking SEPTA twice a week.” Thta’s not asking a lot, and he’d still get a sense of what we deal with. Also, he’d get face-time with constitutents, which is good for both the mayor and the citizenry!
August 17th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
You wrote that part of your question was “I want to know … whether you will both commit to riding SEPTA to work every day.†And then you wrote “I turned to Lew, and muttered, ‘Mayor Bloomberg in New York rides the subway. Even when the subways were under terrorist threat.’ Bloomberg’s a billionaire, who could probably afford to teleport to work if the technology existed, a guy who took a pay cut to govern New York City, and Michael Nutter, this guy from Wynnefield, won’t deign to take the same shitty transit his constituents have to deal with every day? Give. Me. A. Break.”
Now you claim that your objection to him is not based on his refusal to take the subway. And maybe that’s true — even though you spent a chunk of your post writing about it. I’m just pointing out that picking on any Philadelphia mayoral candidate for not taking the subway, and then making apples and oranges comparisons to Mayor Bloomberg, is ridiculous. A good mayor does not need to ride the subway or use all the other city services that need improving. What he needs to be is ethical, hard working and intelligent. Whether Nutter fits that bill is an open question, but the Septa usage issue is a red herring.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
And it makes sense to think about the other Mayoral candidates (or would-be candidates), particularly those who are in Congress and discuss what – if anything – they’ve done to address the leadership vacuum at SEPTA, the lack of a dedicated funding source, etc. Also, I wonder how many of them ride SEPTA? Ever see Chaka Fattah on the El? I haven’t.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Grow up:
Now you claim that your objection to him is not based on his refusal to take the subway. And maybe that’s true — even though you spent a chunk of your post writing about it.
My objection was his condescending attitude toward me and my question, which I clearly pointed out from the very beginning of my piece and referred back to several times over the course of the post. If “riding the subway” was a litmus test, I wouldn’t have given Saidel half the pass I gave him for his refusal to respond.
I wasn’t “picking on” anyone: the candidates appeared to answer voters’ questions. I was not satisfied with the candidates’ responses.
even though you spent a chunk of your post writing about it.
Well yes: if I didn’t provide the context of the question, the post would make no sense. It would be like reading in the newspaper “A deadly explosion happened” but without providing the where, when, who, why and how. These are basic concepts of writing. You’re confusing context with subject.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
PP: “And it makes sense to think about the other Mayoral candidates (or would-be candidates), particularly those who are in Congress and discuss what – if anything – they’ve done to address the leadership vacuum at SEPTA, the lack of a dedicated funding source, etc.”
PP, I want you to know that I believe ALL of the candidates should address the SEPTA issue, and if Fattah, Brady and the rest of the yet-undeclared candidates were there, i would have proposed the question to all of them as well.
“Also, I wonder how many of them ride SEPTA?”
I do not believe anyone in City Council takes SEPTA on a regular basis if at all. I could be wrong about that.
“Ever see Chaka Fattah on the El? I haven’t.”
Well,, considering most his work is in DC, that doesn’t surprise me that much.
And again, it’s not so much about SEPTA, but with the way he answered my question. Saidel’s response was equally evasive, but he didn’t treat the question as if it was stupid.
August 17th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Can you give him another chance? Chalk it up to a miscommunication? I just hate to see forward thinking, progressive folks like yourself writing off one of the good guys like Nutter who is in this business for the right reasons.
August 17th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
one person who does take public transport, or walks, everywhere is babette josephs. she’s got her share of flaws, but as long as we’re talking septa, i’ll applaud her for doing so.
August 20th, 2006 at 12:24 am
I also attended the event and as I remember it Councilman Nutter answered the hostle question to the best of his ability and UNLIKE Saidel stayed long, long after the event to field more questions and talk to attendees. He pledged NOT PANDERED to take and support SEPTA within the best of his ability.
August 21st, 2006 at 3:41 pm
“He pledged NOT PANDERED to take and support SEPTA within the
best of his ability.”
Uhh yeah, whatever you say pal. Albert was there too, sitting right next to me, and will tell you the opposite.
This comment is more than a few days late by the way, and if this is some sort of “i got the last word” effort, well I gotta call bullshit.
August 27th, 2006 at 12:35 am
I’m going to have to come back and check this out. Arrgghh.. too many bookmarks to follow up on!
August 27th, 2006 at 4:56 am
How did Saidel dodge your question? No quotes from him? Could it be that you plan on voting for him?
BTW, why should we take advice from somebody who voted for Street twice? Ack!
January 6th, 2009 at 10:15 am
[...] to services that help working class people and the poor, but it’s totally in character for the man who nearly bit my head off for pointing out his disgraceful stance on public transit and sug…: “Mr. Nutter: when SEPTA was to re-open the Route 15 line on Girard Avenue, your colleague Carol [...]