December 06, 2016
Former Philadelphia mayors John Street and Michael Nutter are locked in a, shall we say, urination match.
In case you missed it last week, it all started with a portrait-hanging event at City Hall on Thursday for Mayor James Tate. Current Mayor Jim Kenney was asked about Street's and Nutter's portraits. He didn't know what was going on with Nutter's, but said Street had been "waiting" for him to hang it, noting that he had made peace with Street despite past political differences.
The "waiting for me" comment seemed a bit odd, but made more sense when the fireworks started to fly.
"I had major disagreements with all the mayors but we maintained a fundamental respect for each other and the magnitude of the office. Mayor Nutter proved to be a petty, incompetent micromanager. I don't really like or respect him."
Nutter fired back:
"That's one big difference between him and me, honesty and integrity," Nutter wrote. "I can't even imagine having the FBI bug probe to deal with while governing, since governing is hard enough."
Nutter said Street had "some unresolved anger issues and possibly feels underappreciated."
Damn.
It's already public knowledge that the two don't like each other, dating back to Nutter's run for mayor in 2007. He focused ample campaign energy on pointing out the corruption scandals of his predecessor. During Nutter's tenure, Street said Nutter is "not a black mayor" and needled him on a variety of issues.
They clearly don't like each other, but we'll let you be the judge. With both of their tenures in the rearview mirror, who was the better mayor: John Street or Michael Nutter? Vote in our poll, and let us know who you picked and why in the comment section below:
