An early attack in Philly’s mayoral general election | Morning Newsletter
And another Sixers arena controversy
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The Morning Newsletter
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Happy Hump Day. We’re in for widespread haze and a high of 79.
Cherelle Parker is poised to become Philly’s next mayor. She clinched the Democratic nomination and became the odds-on favorite to win the general election in deep-blue Philadelphia.
Her Republican opponent, former City Council member David Oh, has begun an early attack, trying to tie her to the “defund the police” movement. Our lead story explains why selling that message could be challenging.
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— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Cherelle Parker ran as a relative moderate in the primary campaign and won by nearly 10 points over the second-place finisher.
The former City Council member made law enforcement a major part of her message on the campaign trail. Her winning primary campaign included a plan to add 300 police officers to the force. She also expressed openness to the controversial police tactic known as stop-and-frisk.
In her own words: “When others wanted us to lead with slogans like ‘defund the police,’ I introduced a plan that people told me could get me canceled,” Parker said on a debate stage in late April during the final weeks of primary election.
Despite this, her Republican challenger David Oh is trying to tie her to movement. He has repeatedly said Parker signed a “defund the police letter,” saying in an interview on CNN last week that “a year ago, [Parker] had a very different position.”
But the Philadelphia Police Department wasn’t defunded, and the letter Oh was referencing didn’t say Council wanted to do that.
Continue reading to find out how Oh defended his criticism.
A lobbying firm working to promote the 76ers plan to build a new arena in Center City admitted to filing incomplete disclosure reports about its efforts to influence city officials about the project last year, the Philadelphia Board of Ethics announced Tuesday.
CBL Real Estate, the lobbying arm of the team’s development company 76 Devcorp, agreed to pay $4,000 in fines with the board. It admitted to making commissions in two city lobbying reports from 2022 and has since filed amended reports with new subject matter — “Sports Arena.”
It last year lobbied members of Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration, Council President Darrell L. Clarke, and Councilmember Mark Squilla over the project.
Keep reading for a recap of the string of City Hall controversies caused by the team’s ambitions to build the proposed arena.
What you should know today
Vice President Kamala Harris called for increased home healthcare workers wages and decried “extremist” GOP leaders during her Philly visit on Tuesday.
A prominent West Philly activist pleaded guilty to helping to flip a police car during the 2020 racial justice protests. This comes after the city settled a lawsuit, agreeing to pay him and hundreds of other demonstrators $9.25 million to people teargassed, struck with rubber bullets, and detained by police during the protests.
Comcast’s CEO made 427 times more than the average Philadelphian.
Penn Medicine is closing an inpatient addiction treatment. Advocates are concerned for people without housing who rely on the program to stabilize themselves while recovering.
Philly City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson wants the city to spend millions more on anti-violence programs.
Gannett’s many newsrooms, two dozen of which staged a walkout this week, include several in the Philly region.
A Philly native and a Temple graduate who founded a New Jersey mortgage bank is joining the Phillies’ ownership group.
Once a month, Liz Grothe hosts dinner at Couch Cafe, also known as her living room.
On her day off from being a sous chef at Fiorella, she cooks whatever she wants for a dozen strangers and friends. She posts the menu in advance on Instagram and people pre-pay via Venmo.
Her last dinner in May, titled “Spaghetti Western” involved making four types of pasta from scratch, smoking seven pounds of crawfish, and whipping through three dozen eggs for lemon soufflés.
Informal supper clubs like Grothe’s operate out of chefs’ apartments and are advertised on social media. Think of it as a mix between a dinner party and a restaurant.
Continue reading to find out more about some of the most imaginative places to eat in Philly. 🔑
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
July 1, 1926 was the opening day of the Ben Franklin Bridge. On that first day, about 250,000 people walked across it.
How much was the bridge toll back then?
A) 10 cents
B) 25 cents
C) 1 dollar
D) 35 cents
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🎉Congratulating: Our Philly winners at the 2023 James Beard restaurant awards. Friday Saturday Sunday, Ellen Yin, and Chutatip ”Nok” Suntaranon all took home prizes.
📚Considering: Picking up Julie Sullivan’s debut novel, The World is Full of Champions. Sullivan is the daughter of Philly icon Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, who led Zion Baptist Church in North Philly for 38 years.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: Grab a hammock at Spruce Street Harbor Park
NED’S PLANNING
We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if you’d like. Cheers to Carlo Silvesti, who correctly guessed Tuesday’s answer: Jim Thorpe. Email us if you know the answer.
Photo of the day
Make the day count. I’ll catch you in your inbox at the same time tomorrow. 👋🏽