Nutter's task will take time

Sept. 2, 2007
Chris Satullo
Inquirer Columnist

There can be such a thing as too-great expectations.

As Michael Nutter lies in bed at night, after another pell-mell day of meetings with policy wonks, would-be staffers, and citizens eager to pump his hand, he must have his anxious moments.

He wanted this impossible job, being mayor of Philadelphia. He's this close to getting it, after a year of uphill work. His worthy November opponent, Republican Al Taubenberger, has little chance of winning in this, the bluest of American cities.

But Nutter, a very smart guy who worked for a long time inside that ornate pile of stone called City Hall, knows something that eludes some of his giddy fans.

No one could achieve in short order all the things folks now blithely expect him to do. The challenges are too big and varied, the money too short, habits at City Hall too entrenched. He plans to do big things, but he knows that will entail another long, hard climb. The worry is: Will his supporters' patience fray long before he even spies the top of the hill?

God knows, they have reason to be impatient.

These are the citizens for whom loving Philadelphia has long been a triumph of hope over experience. Unlike so many in town, they weren't willing to settle for Loserville ways, to shrug at the grubby same-old, same-old of city politics. They dream stubborn dreams of a great city.

In the May primary, Nutter was their guy. They didn't really think he'd win. The people who ran the shabby status quo told them flatly that the bald dreamer with the goatee had no chance. But Nutter closed like Smarty Jones down the stretch, coming from far down in the polls to first place - all in one, stunning month.

His win was about much more than himself. It was an overdue, gratifying repudiation of the politics of pettiness, defeatism and money-grubbing. It tore down Loserville. It made so many fond hopes - green development, tax reform, clean politics and on and on - seem doable, not quixotic.

This year, The Inquirer Editorial Board, partnering with the Project on Civic Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, sponsored a civic dialogue aimed at helping citizens weave this kind of ambitious dream for their city. We called the effort Great Expectations.

Now, great expectations have become both Nutter's reward and his burden.

His is no caretaker vision. He has grand goals, and as the campaign continues, he's getting better and better at laying them out in language that ordinary people can understand.

Listening to this guy inspires hope. And hope is far richer fuel than cynicism.

But remember this, too: The new mayor will not, upon taking the oath, be handed a wizard's wand. He will be handed a Byzantine, encumbered, undernourished city budget. He will face a sullen workforce, spoiling for a fight in contract talks that will begin as soon as the photo of daughter Olivia goes up on his new desk. If he doesn't get the contracts right, he has no prayer of delivering on his core promises about improved services and lower taxes.

He will inherit national scorn and local panic over a frightening homicide rate. No man could reverse this statistic in a year, but he must appear to be mastering it or his other initiatives will pale. He'll have to deal, somehow, with the leadership meltdown in a school system that is vital to all of his long-term plans.

Sound like enough to do in your first 12 months in a new job, when you don't have a single day of executive experience on your resume?

So here's the rub: Will Nutter's fans give him time to sort through all that, or will they grow impatient?

Nutter's surprise win gave many issue advocates a sense of personal vindication and participation. They feel they saddled up the issues - from zoning reform to tax reform to ethics reform - that he rode to victory.

So they feel owed. Not in the old Philly sense of jobs, favors or contracts. No, the payback they expect is for Nutter to deliver swift, effective action on their altruistic wish lists. But he can't do that. Not all of it, not right away.

So, to govern well, Nutter is going to have to disappoint a lot of people who supported him.

It is not in the nature of advocates to notice how much legitimate competition their pet issue has for the time and resources of government. It is not in their nature to say, "Well, we understand there are valid competing interests; we are willing to wait in line." Impatience is their DNA.

In year one, as he copes with the hairy issues that will plague him whether he likes it or not, Nutter will have to stay engaged rhetorically on those other progressive goals. He'll have to offer baby steps and gestures as down payments on his promises: an anti-litter push, if not a full "green" agenda; a small business-tax cut, if not a repeal.

Will that mollify the full-throated advocates? If they want Nutter to succeed, it had better.