Consider these tips, Mr. Mayor

Jan. 19, 2008
Chris Satullo
Inquirer Columnist

Memo: How to govern your city

From: The Hon. Shirley Franklin, mayor of Atlanta

To: The Hon. Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia

Michael, sorry we didn't get more time to chat while I was in town this week. Every time we got started, you had to run to some event.

Ah, I remember those early days. Everybody wants a piece of your smile. Soon, everybody will want a piece of your hide. So enjoy it.

Michael, you seem smart and capable, like a lot of these young ones I see at the mayors' conferences. Maybe I can help you avoid the mistakes I often see them make.

Next time that Time magazine names the best and worst mayors in America, I want to see Philadelphia on that "best" list, along with Atlanta.

I'm a Philly girl, after all, Girls High and Penn. Help my old town get back its glitter and glow.

As it happens, I went down my whole list of tips for mayors in an interview with some writer from The Inquirer. Maybe you know him: glasses, bald spot, scuffed shoes. (What is it with these journalists? Is shoe polish against the First Amendment?) Has a funny name: Sarluto, Santelli or something.

Anyway, this Chris guy, the writer, he seemed a little wordy. I'm not sure he'll deliver the goods the way I would, which is straight, sharp, with some humor. So let me tell you what I told him, my standard advice to new mayors:

1. Do the hard things first; the rest falls into place. Some say to pick low-hanging fruit. I don't agree. If you can't fill potholes, you shouldn't be mayor.

2. Here's my biggest thing: Pick a couple of priorities, two or three, and stick to them. Talk only about them. If you talk about everything, you just confuse the public. If you invite the public to judge you on everything, you know what? They will. And it won't be pretty.

Me, my strength is focus. Where I hit my stride was sewers. Imagine that. It was a huge problem: sewage up to your ankles in the streets on a rainy day, millions in fines from the EPA, billions to fix it. No one wanted to deal with it. So I made it my priority. I talked sewers everywhere I went - to the Rotary, at bar mitzvahs, in line at the supermarket. I could quote you Bible verse on clean water. I was the Sewer Lady. That's why I got it done.

3. Don't take yourself too seriously. There was a mayor before you, and there'll be one after you.

4. Help your city find its emotional, spiritual center. I don't mean religion. I mean that a city has to decide what it really, really wants to become. Look forward, not back. The past can't tell you where you need to go. It's so much easier for people to coalesce if they share a vision of the future. That's what the Olympics bid meant for Atlanta.

5. Hire the best and the brightest. Worry only about quality, not political pedigree.

6. To end laxity on ethics, you have to work at it every day. You've got to fire people who let you down.

7. Don't be one of those mayors who's happiest when everyone thinks everything is the mayor's job. Get the private sector to help you. When business leaders call, I don't talk at them; I listen. I don't tell them my problems. I ask them what public problem they care about. Then I ask them to help me solve it. Lots offer to help, pro bono.

So I set up committees. Everything big I've done - sewers, affordable housing, transit - I've had a committee. Keep them small: six, seven people. Work them to death. Short time frame. Then, biggest thing, adopt their recommendations. Make those things happen. People see that, they'll keep giving you their time. Over time, those committees build a broader acceptance of what
has to be done.

8. Rally people with a big-enough vision. Don't be the mayor of the people who don't want to pay their own way. If it'll take $100 million to fix something, say that.

9. Surround yourself with people who'll argue with you. You're the mayor. Staff eventually will do what you tell them. So why not use an idea that's better than what you had?

10. Work on relationships. In the end, it's people who give you the license to do policy.

That's it, Michael. The secrets to my so-called success. Anytime you need advice, just call. This Girls High girl is always ready to help.