CITY LIMITS: Fast Eddie

Mayor Ed Rendell has propelled Philadelphia and himself into the national spotlight. The Phillies may not have won the World Series, but Mayor Ed Rendell just might be in a league of his own. From the tip of William Penn's bright red Phillies cap to the bottom of the city's coffers, Rendell has made his presence felt in Philadelphia. But it's not just Philadelphians that have gone out of their way to express their brotherly love of Rendell. In magazines and newspapers around the nation, Rendell has been lauded as the mayor that turned this city around – the person who did what no one else could. But is Philadelphia finally the City on a Hill, that other cities can look to and learn from? While there are those who say the city still has a long way to go, others seem to think Philadelphia's closer than it has ever been before. · When the University alumnus – and former Pi Lambda Phi brother and University student government leader – took office in the fall of 1991, the city was crippled by a $230 million deficit in a $2.3 billion budget. But Philadelphia ended its fiscal year last month not only with its first balanced budget in six years, but also achieved a $3 million surplus thanks to a $112 million reduction in government spending. Aside from the cold, hard numbers, fellow politicos credit Rendell's success to his well-directed drive. "What people appreciate most is that he's done everything he said he would," said Neil Oxman, the media coordinator for Rendell's mayoral campaign. Oxman said that while the City of Philadelphia still has a skyrocketing wage tax, threats of strikes from municipal workers among other problems, Rendell has met them head on. "When you're dealing with a budget deficit of half a billion dollars, every decision is tough. It's very hard to do anything," Oxman said. "He's made tough decisions to keep the city from going bankrupt. "He said he'd get our house back in order, and that's what he's done," Oxman said. "For once, a politician has delivered what he said he's going to stand for." Rendell's press secretary, Kevin Feeley – though hardly an objective source – agrees. "I think the mayor has, from the beginning, told people what he was going to do and then gone ahead and done it," Feeley said. "He said he'd do whatever it took to balance the budget, to make sure that Philadelphia was put back on the road to fiscal recovery, to work with the [City] Council. Having done that, people around the country have begun to notice it." · It's a worst-to-first scenario. A city that has sunk into the depths of debt and hopelessness is resurrected from the urban grit by a personable and powerful savior. This is a publicist's dream – a clear case of good versus evil, with light finally winning out over darkness. And, with this happily-ever-after fairy tale dangling in front of the media, editorialists, columnists and journalists around the country are biting. Last month, City & State magazine named Rendell the Most Valuable Public Official in the nation. USA Today went so far as to say that Rendell's popularity "almost rivals Phillies' first baseman John Kruk's." Even the Toronto Star, with perhaps a mite of sarcasm, credited Rendell with his dignity?after he graciously refused to kiss Blue Jays pitcher Todd Stottlemeyer's butt. Mayors around the country have applauded and emulated Rendell. "The Mayor has a very high opinion of Mayor Rendell," Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's press secretary Jim Williams said. "Mayor Daley considers Ed Rendell an ally and an effective spokesman not only for Philadelphia, but all American cities." Feeley said he believes Rendell follows in the steps of such well known mayors as Boston's Ray Flynn, Los Angeles' Tom Bradley and Detroit's Coleman Young. Newspapers have drawn similar analogies, both to current mayors like Cleveland's Michael White and to New York Mayor-elect Rudolph Giuliani's potential. Rendell has become a media touchstone to gauge the merit of mayors across the country. "He's done terrifically," Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page Editor David Boldt said. "I concur with his own analysis of what he's done. He came to the city at a time when it was suffering from a gunshot wound and terminal cancer. He's healed the gunshot wound, and now he's dealing with the cancer. "He's [brought] the city back from the precipice of insolvency, bringing about effective settlements with the unions, balancing the budget and most importantly, communicating to the city a spirit that it can accomplish great things," Boldt said. Media experts credit Rendell and his staffers with press savvy not usually seen in municipal officials. Annenberg School Assistant Dean Phyllis Kaniss, an expert on Philadelphia politics and media, said when it comes to the media, Rendell knows how to play the game. "I think the image of Ed Rendell on his knees cleaning up a City Hall bathroom shows that he understands the power of visuals – the mayor determined to clean up city government," Kaniss said. Kaniss said the media is extremely susceptible to simplistic images, and seizes the opportunity to forward the idea that a city's problems can be solved with strong leadership. But Kaniss said this can be both good and bad. "I think a good image for the mayor is an unquestionable plus for the city, when it comes to encouraging state and federal government to give us money for different types of programs," she said. "On the down side, any public official who is so successful that they can successfully deflect criticism or scrutiny of areas is not so wonderful." · Philadelphia politicians, however, offer a harsher litmus test of Rendell's impact on the city. In both city and state government, Rendell has both ardent supporters and vocal detractors. City Councilmember Angel Ortiz had nothing but praise for Rendell's impact on Philadelphia's image, but emphasized that Rendell has healed only the city's most superficial wounds. "I think Ed has definitely had a positive effect in the image of the city across the United States, and has been able to give a feeling that the city is dealing with the basic problems," Ortiz said. "But I think the basic problems of poverty and education have to be addressed, and the needs of poor and working people in the city." Ortiz said he believes the hype about new municipal projects along the lines of the new Center City convention center takes attention away from where it ought to be paid. "We have to move our priorities from just concern about who comes into the city to concern about who is living in the city," he said. Fellow Councilmember David Cohen said he believes Rendell "doesn't even know the cities and the neighborhoods exist." "I think that he has been obsessed by how to make Philadelphia an attractive location for hard-line businesses, how to help businesses make money," Cohen said. "His concept of privatization is to try to work with any businessperson or friend that he knows about who can do city work and make a profit out of it for a lesser price to the city." "I think he is being made into some kind of urban hero because he is giving an element of respectability to a very tough policy of saying that human beings have to take care of their own responsibilities and the government owes them nothing," he said. Cohen said he believes the positive coverage Rendell has received in the media is due to the politics of the media itself. "The media loves any government official who says, 'business Yber alles,' " Cohen said. "They worship him for that reason." But Councilmember Thacher Longstreth, a long-time Republican, said Rendell's reputation is well-deserved. Longstreth said he "picked the Wilson Goode administration full of holes without even trying," but has only has praise for Rendell and his co-workers, City Council President John Street and Chief of Staff David L. Cohen. "Those three guys make a triumvirate that have made a lot of things happen," Longstreth said. "We stopped doing a lot of our spending, we increased some of our revenues, we made some contracts with the unions. "He gave the city a class," Longstreth said. "He has a class the way he does things, and the way that he has presented Philadelphia to the rest of the country. He really hasn't made a mistake yet?and this is coming from a Republican." And State Sen. Chaka Fattah said while Philadelphia still has its problems, Rendell has taken it a step closer to solving them. "In this world, I don't think any one person can address all problems," Fattah said. "Now, he's started to focus on more issues – children's service issues, public housing – he's started to focus on some of the social issues in this city." Even Rendell's supporters don't see him as a savior. "It's still true that 60 percent of the children born in Philadelphia are being born to women who aren't married, 50 percent of high school kids are dropping out, jobs are leaving the city at a rate of 1,700 a month and the bureaucracy of the city's government is not and may never be under control," Boldt said. "But I think he's done as much as is humanly possible, and maybe even more. It's a question of whether or not he can keep up the momentum."

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