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With Kenney in hot water, candidates swear to do better

Here’s a taste of what several candidates are saying about Philly’s is-it-safe-or-not water situation.

The candidates for mayor have spent the last several weeks trying to separate themselves from the pack.

But they agreed on something this week: The city flubbed its response to the chemical spill threatening Philly’s water supply, and several contenders took the opportunity to tee off on the sitting mayor.

Also this week: We’ve got details on how residents want the next mayor to deal with the opioid crisis, a look at a legendary Philly Democrat, and a rundown of the inexperienced City Council the next mayor will work with.

Just 49 days 🗓 left until the election.

— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh

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They saw a failure — and swear they’ll be different

“Unacceptable” was the word two mayoral candidates used to describe the is-it-safe-or-not water situation in Philadelphia over the past two days. A handful of the contenders slammed the City Hall response to the problem, saying the communications were haphazard and the mayor was AWOL Sunday as panicked city residents scrambled for bottled water.

They of course vowed that — if elected — they’d do things differently. Here’s a taste of what they’re saying:

  1. Helen Gym dashed off a statement Sunday night saying there’s no reason the city should have announced the problem two days after learning of the spill “without a plan to provide safe water to every resident.”

  2. Jeff Brown tapped into his inner grocer and used social media Sunday to reassure residents that ShopRite stores (which his family owns nine of) and Acmes would have restocked bottled water this week.

  3. Rebecca Rhynhart said the city’s communication created a “distrust in government” and that the administration shouldn’t have told people to avoid tap water without specific information on where to go for bottled water.

  4. Derek Green said the situation showed there is a “dangerous lack of leadership in the city” and said he spent the day Monday pressing the Water Department for updates.

  5. Allan Domb said Kenney should have been “front and center” Sunday, saying being mayor is a “24/7 job.”

Altogether, the last 48 hours were something of a lesson in crisis management for the 12 people trying to become Philadelphia’s next mayor: When in doubt, at least show your face.

Spotlight on: The opioid crisis

“Using classic tools from the war on drugs isn’t the right approach to take. We need a public health approach to the problem, and the mayor should realize this is a public health issue, not a law enforcement issue.”

That’s what Megan Reed, a public health professor at Jefferson, told The Inquirer in response to recent polling that shows Philadelphians are rejecting policies that criminalize people with addiction.

As our colleagues Aubrey Whelan and Kasturi Pananjady report, more than half of Philadelphians think addressing the opioid crisis should be a top priority for the next mayor — and that city leaders should focus on offering mental health and addiction treatment instead of arresting drug users, according to a Lenfest Institute for Journalism/SSRS survey.

Several mayoral candidates have released plans specifically related to the opioid crisis. Most prioritize arresting drug dealers — not users. Dig deeper into the analysis of what Philadelphians want from the next mayor. 🔑

📮 What does a public health approach to the opioid crisis mean to you? Keep your responses to 50 words or less for a chance to be featured in an upcoming newsletter. Email us here.

The 90th mayor of Philadelphia: Joe Clark ushered in the Democratic reign

Former Philly Mayor Joseph S. Clark Jr. — who’s seen here on the left laughing with Richardson Dilworth, his eventual successor — is something of a legend in Philly Democratic politics.

Republicans had a grip on power in Philly for 70 years until 1952, when the city adopted the Home Rule Charter, a document that’s akin to a constitution and created the form of government the city still operates under today, which includes term limits for mayors. Only Democrats have been elected to the mayor’s office since. Here are some fun facts about Clark:

  1. Clark was a vocal proponent of civil rights. He took pride in his work reforming the Police Department, and made it possible for Black Philadelphians to be hired as city workers. He once took Black guests to the Philadelphia Cricket Club, where they were not allowed, as a means of challenging a long-lasting, racist tradition.

  2. When he was campaigning, he used to carry around a broom to symbolize how he’d clean up City Hall and “sweep out” corruption.

  3. After serving as mayor, he was a United States senator for two terms starting during the Eisenhower administration.

Data Dive: An inexperienced City Council

🎤 This week, we’re going to pass the mic to our colleague Aseem Shukla, a journalist with our data-driven storytelling team who examined the turnover in City Council. Not only is Philly going to get a new mayor next year, it’ll also have a historically inexperienced City Council, the part of the government that can make or break a mayor’s agenda.

Here are some eye-popping factoids from Aseem:

  1. Today, the median length of service on Council is just three years — that’s less than a full term. That’s the shortest median tenure since 1983.

  2. Only six members have served longer than three years, and one of them, Council President Darrell L. Clarke, is set to retire at the end of the year.

  3. Politicos disagree on how much that matters. Some say an inexperienced Council won’t be as effective at deal-making, while others say an infusion of fresh ideas could unstick the wheels of government.

  4. Council will also be pretty young. Today, the median Council member is 52. Not exactly spring chicken territory, but still a lot younger than in 2011, when the median age was 62.

Dive deeper into the analysis with us. 🔑

What else we’re reading

  1. You’re gonna start seeing TV ads about Helen Gym and crime. And they weren’t funded by her campaign.

  2. An ex-cop who was a longshot candidate got out of the mayor’s race. Here’s why that’s good for Cherelle Parker.

  3. In one of the weirder things to happen this election cycle, there’s only one Democrat running to represent City Council’s 5th District. Six others got kicked off the ballot.

On the calendar this week

With fewer than seven weeks ‘til election day, the candidates have events and forums almost every night. Here’s the lineup this week:

  1. Tonight in West Philly: Crosstown Coalition is hosting a mayoral forum about trash, schools, and more.

  2. Wednesday in Center City: The candidates will talk about the environment and quality-of-life concerns at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

  3. Thursday in North Philly: The topic is arts and culture as the mayoral candidates gather at Taller Puertorriqueño.

  4. Friday at Temple: The candidates will talk safety and mobility at a forum hosted by the Bicycle Coalition.

🧠 Trivia time 🧠

Question: Three mayoral candidates worked for former Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, a legendary figure in Philly politics. Cherelle Parker and Derek Green were two of them. Who was the third?

A) Rebecca Rhynhart

B) Maria Quiñones Sánchez

C) Amen Brown

D) Helen Gym

Find out if you know the answer. 🔑

Scenes from the campaign trail

Rebecca Rhynhart (left) was chuckling at an education forum last week alongside the Rev. Warren Bloom, a perennial longshot candidate with zero shame who said, “Everybody up here has great ideas, and I’m going to adopt a lot of these ideas.”

Thanks for hanging with us this week. We’ll be back next Tuesday, when we’ll mark the beginning of April: the final full month of the campaign. It’s gettin’ real.

Anna and Sean