Inquirer Editorial: Diversion tactic

Former Mayor John F. Street's decision to end his self-imposed silence on the performance of his successor came at the very moment a load of criticism was directed at him for his role as board chairman of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

Coincidence?

Too bad it took Street more than two years to say what he really thinks about Mayor Nutter, something he never seemed to have trouble doing in the past. Had Street spoken up earlier, perhaps his observations now wouldn't be written off as a desperate attempt to shift the public's focus from his PHA work.

Maybe only a cynic would think Street is trying to divert attention from his board's lack of stewardship during the years when fired PHA Executive Director Carl Greene was accused of serial sexual harassment and contracting with politically connected law firms to keep scrutiny of his operation to a minimum.

Unfortunately for Street, Philadelphia is full of cynics. People are cynical because they have seen too many public officials successfully divert attention from what should be watched more closely. Some believe Street pulled just such a stunt to win his 2003 election amid a federal corruption investigation of City Hall.

But that's water under the bridge. Philadelphians now need to stay focused on the PHA board's apparently unwitting enabling of Greene's alleged offenses. It's clear the board was so happy with the results of Greene's tenure that it didn't question his methods. In doing so, Street and the board failed the public.

Their failure is so egregious, they should resign and make way for new appointments. If Street would do that, he might even find more people willing to listen to his complaints about Nutter, including his accusation that the mayor has ignored his fellow African Americans. That's a political assessment, and one that carries weight in a city with a long tradition of ethnic politics.

Nutter's problem, though, isn't so much that his administration hasn't benefited African Americans as it is that, unlike Street, he hasn't been vocal about it. There are blacks in key jobs in the Nutter administration, but you don't hear him repeating Street's boast as mayor about the brothers and sisters being in charge.

To a fault, Nutter seems reluctant to relate his efforts to improve the city to the impact that work is having on poor and mostly black neighborhoods. And his reluctance comes across to some blacks as being fearful of antagonizing white voters who have supported him. They want the mayor's words to reflect his roots.

That may or may not happen. Nutter has to be true to himself; and if it's not in him to make race part of his narrative, that's fine. As Nutter has said repeatedly, he is mayor of all of Philadelphia, not just the black neighborhoods. As everyone's mayor, however, there are things he must do better, some pointed out by Street.

Start with Nutter's performance as a fiscal manager. Sure, he was dealt a lousy deck of cards with the recession. But he could have used the situation to put the city on better financial footing for the future, and didn't. His spending cuts were meek and his temporary tax hikes don't address structural problems in the budget.

As Nutter nears the beginning of his fourth year as mayor, it's still questionable whether his administration has the best people or if he would be better served by a different cast. He's also raised questions about his being tough enough to fight municipal unions and withstand public outcry when he makes unpopular but necessary spending decisions.

Such questions are legitimate, even if you believe the source and timing of them are not. Nutter's response should be in his performance, not his rhetoric. There's no need for him to reply verbally to the personally expedient charges by Street. But others have offered constructive criticism that Philadelphians should expect Nutter to recognize, and use in working harder to be a better mayor.