Kenney has no room for Nutter aide

IN "THE GODFATHER Part II," Michael Corleone offered what we've always considered to be sage advice: "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

Mayor-elect Jim Kenney, however, does not subscribe to the Corleone brand of politics.

We've heard that Mayor Nutter has been trying to secure a place for his Director of Communications and Strategy Desiree Peterkin-Bell in the Kenney administration.

Which is nothing short of hilarious to us. Kenney and Peterkin-Bell ain't exactly BFFs.

Remember last year when @JimFKenney and @DPBell were trading blows on Twitter? It was one sub-tweet after another. Open warfare!

First, Kenney criticized Nutter for failing to bid on the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Peterkin-Bell responded by sub-tweeting Kenney: "Funny the folks that take to twitter (once they finally decide to tweet and not pay someone else to do it) with misinformation."

Then Kenney sub-tweeted Peterkin-Bell: "Question: Who gets paid $150K to tweet for their boss?"

Uh-ohhhh.

Peterkin-Bell retorted: "Who finally learned how to use twitter after a front page embarrassing story? Such a shame! #Angry ArchieBunker"

Then Kenney reiterated: "$150K!" Seven minutes later: "Plus benefits!"

So, yes, we were intrigued by the possibility of Kenney doing Nutter a solid by hiring Peterkin-Bell. But, after doing some digging, we found out that Kenney isn't ready to extend that particular olive branch.

A Kenney insider tells us: "She is not staying, but it doesn't have anything to do with Jim's feelings about her." The source said there "was broad consensus among the city's business, government and community leaders that she fumbled the communications around the pope's visit and that she lacks the necessary working relationships to do any better for the DNC."

That's harsh. But, hey, elections have consequences.

Looks like #AngryArchieBunker has the last laugh in this Twitter war. Bye, Felicia.

Update: Perhaps we spoke too soon. The Great Twitter War continues, kind of like the Star Wars movies.

Nutter sent a long emailed statement over to Clout's office today, defending Peterkin-Bell against the above-mentioned criticism: 

"Desiree Peterkin-Bell is a consummate professional, highly regarded by the 4 different Mayors with whom she has worked, and has done a fantastic job on behalf of my Administration and the citizens of this City.

"As the person most responsible for writing the winning bid for Philadelphia to host the DNC next summer, her skills in working on complicated projects is evident.

"Desiree's leadership in managing communications for the complex array of partners for the WMOF/Papal visit is part of the reason we experienced such a successful and flawless event in Philadelphia.

"And because she is a great professional in her work, she has worked diligently to also ensure a smooth transition for Mayor-Elect Kenney's Administration, which I know he appreciates. I am sure that Mayor-Elect Kenney will not tolerate cowardly unnamed sources attacking his valued leadership team, and neither will I."

So that's that. Unless...no! There's more. 

Peterkin-Bell also responded to the anonymous criticism -- in style.

"It made me chuckle this morning. I'm on my way to D.C as a guest of President Barack Obama's Holiday Party," Bell wrote in an email to Billy Penn.

"I wish the new members of the Kenney Administration, the Mayor – elect and all my replacements a lot of luck ;-)"

Fin? 

Minutes - hell, probably seconds - after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired his police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, on Tuesday, cops and journalists began whispering about whether retiring Philly Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey would land the top job in the Windy City.

On paper, it makes sense. Like, a lot of sense. Ramsey is a Chicago native, and spent the bulk of his 47-year policing career there, rising from a beat cop to the upper ranks of the department before leaving in the late 1990s to run Washington, D.C.'s police force. He's suddenly going to have a lot of time on his hands next month, when his retirement becomes official.

And ol' Rahmer came this close to convincing Ramsey to take the job back in 2011, causing manic will-he-or-won't-he news coverage in both Philly and Chicago.

(Mayor Nutter ultimately saved the day by giving Ramsey a hefty raise to stay here, along with a handful of nice tchotchkes, including a baseball signed by the Phillies starting rotation . . . back when that was an item that someone would have actually wanted.)

We got Ramsey on the phone as soon as the rumors started circulating on Tuesday. So?

"No, no," he said. "I'm going to retire."

The commish said he would be open to working as a consultant, which is something Emanuel might want to consider. Chicago is the focus of national outrage over recently-released video footage showing a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke, shooting a black teenager, Laquan McDonald, 16 times last October. Van Dyke was recently charged with McDonald's murder.

Emanuel said he fired McCarthy because public trust in the police department had eroded, and widespread reforms are needed.

So yeah, expect Ramsey's name to still turn up in rumors about the job.

Whoa, look at Ben Waxman with the fat wallet.

By day, Waxman is spokesman for state Sen. Vince Hughes. But the ambitious 30-year-old is also looking to snag the state House seat held by fellow Democrat Brian Sims, who has his eye on Chaka Fattah's congressional seat.

Yesterday, Waxman's political-action committee, WaxPAC, filed a campaign finance report showing a healthy $74,000 cash on hand.

Although, upon further examination, that includes a $50,000 loan from Waxman's mother-in-law, Barbara Wertheimer.

But, still. It all spends, right? And if Waxman gets along with his mother-in-law well enough that she'll lend him 50 thousand smackaroos, that shows some political skill right there.

Sims plans to run for re-election and for Congress simultaneously, but Waxman is definitely prowling. We're keeping an eye on this race.

Daily News staff writers William Bender and David Gambacorta contributed to this report.

On Twitter: @wbender99

Email: benderw@phillynews.com

Phone: 215-854-5255