Mr. Michael A. Nutter will, after his role as Mayor of Philadelphia, vigorously campaign for the former Secretary of State.
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When addressing the news media for the last time as Mayor of Philadelphia last week, Mr. Michael A. Nutter was dressed more casually than usual.
He didn’t wear a tie and the top two buttons on his purple shirt was undone. Mr. Nutter wasn’t flanked by his executive staff, though they, some dressed down, were in the room.
The outgoing Mayor, before going back to his office to do a clean-up that’ll make his grandmother proud, enumerated the successes he and his Administration achieved over the last eight years.
Philadelphia’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% in November, Mr. Nutter shared, noting that, in addition to more Philadelphians working now than any point in the last 25 years, more jobs are in the City than in any point in the last 15 years.
Philly is safer now, Mr. Nutter stated, than the day before his inauguration in 2008. And, though the education system seems to be in a perpetual state of begging, there’s been more educational funding support from the city than in any point in time, the Mayor bragged.
Mr. Nutter, who’s two-term reign included the establishment of the Ethics Board, was equally proud of the fact that he helped to “change the culture in government around corruption.”
But not every day in the Mayor’s Office was a high point, as one would expect when you’re in charge of a 7.3 billion dollar operation with 1.5 million customers, 28,000 employees and a longstanding poverty rate that’s hovered around 20 percent since the late 1970s.
If the city was ranked like a Fortune 500 company, said Mr. Nutter, it would be the 360th largest company in the United States of America.
“It’s a big job; a lot of responsibility,” he said, adding later that whatever your faith is, “you’ll fall back on it more in this job, as some days that’s all you have.”
The West Philadelphia-born politico has kept the Bible from his first inauguration, and, without a prompt, his staffers would often write on paper random scriptures to help him get through the day.
Even the first black Mayor of Philadelphia, Rev. W. Wilson Goode, Sr., has come to City Hall to pray with Mr. Nutter.
“My faith has bought me through some of the toughest times,” he admitted.
Over the last eight years, “something has happened” that Mr. Nutter can’t quite explain. At times, for no particular reason, he’ll be on the verge of tears.
Mr. Nutter has become much more emotional, and he, as a result of the job which often requires him to notify families that their loved ones have been killed in the line of duty, has a greater appreciation for the challenges and difficulties people in Philadelphia face.
If he was granted another four years, Mr. Nutter would try even harder to get illegal guns off the street, though, by his own admission, his and others’ hands are tied in terms of drafting legislation by Harrisburg.
But he can’t run again, and now Mr. Nutter finds himself in a moment that’s he never experienced before: wide-open time with various sectors reaching out for his expertise.
For a man used to performing “nine days of work in seven,” Mr. Nutter’s next step is to rest, campaign hard for Ms. Hillary Clinton, and attend, as a lead delegate, the Democratic National Convention.
Keep a look out in January 2016 for an NPR Music documentary starring Grammy Award-Winner Mr. Christian McBride and co-starring Mr. Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™