Reaching beyond the boundaries

Sept. 16, 2007
Chris Satullo
Inquirer columnist

Some joke about it as Philadelphia's "foreign policy."

Inside that quip about the city's relations with its suburbs and the state capitol lurks a long history of woe.

Not to mention an array of challenges for Philadelphia's next mayor.

The prickly exchanges shoot regularly across City Avenue, and from the Schuylkill to the Susquehanna. It's a ritual dance of disdain. It's only grown worse in recent years.

Philadelphia and the rest of the state do seem like hostile, alien powers. Each clutches a litany of ancient grievances:

"You stiff the city and its schools because they're full of people of color!"

"You whine. We send money. It goes down a rathole. Then you whine some more."

What's needed to alter this dance's well-worn steps? Leadership. It could come from either side of the divide.

But realistically, the city of Philadelphia - which faces the more urgent risks - must take the first steps. Somebody has to be the adult here, to curb the old reflexes.

If Philadelphia is to do that, its mayor has to lead the way.

It won't always go smoothly. There is no quick fix for decades of anger and mistrust. And the political fact is, Philly-bashing works as a tactic for many suburban and statewide politicians. They will be slow to give it up.

But the next mayor has no choice but to try. If Philadelphia, its region and its commonwealth are to thrive in a globalizing world, they must make common cause in new ways. The old habits waste too many resources, blow too many opportunities.

The good news, say many engaged observers, is that several trends create virtuous momentum. Some think, based on early returns, that Democratic nominee Michael Nutter, the presumptive mayor, looks like someone who can ride those waves.

What are those trends?

First, elected officials around the region are grappling with huge issues that it makes most sense to address regionally. "For example, air quality knows no boundaries," observes David Thornburgh, a Philadelphian who just stepped down as head of a national organization devoted to regional alliances. "It doesn't care whether you're in Upper this or Lower that."

Second, the Select Greater Philadelphia initiative has begun at last to train the region's leaders to think of business attraction as a vital joint effort, rather than a dog-eat-dog war among counties.

Third, many suburbs are feeling more acutely some of the ills long linked to Philadelphia: blight, crime, homelessness. That could create stronger impetus to cooperate. Also, the gospel of "smart growth" has taught some suburban leaders that a strong urban core is a key ally in avoiding the ills of sprawl.

Finally, the political map of the region is changing, no longer a core of deep blue surrounded by a sea of red. Democrats are winning legislative seats and township councils in new places. If they don't behave in wildly partisan fashion, on some issues they could find allies in the suburbs' many moderate Republicans. Partisanship won't magically disappear, but it could become less likely that two little letters, D and R, will strangle every impulse of city/suburb cooperation.

So things once impossible now seem plausible. But they remain long shots. The poisoned history is deep.

What leadership moves can turn the plausible into the real? What can a mayor do?

First, just show up. Be engaged. "What does that mean?" said Jeff Jubelirer, a city-based communications consultant. who heard the other side of the story nightly growing up. His father is former powerhouse Republican state Sen. Robert Jubelirer of Altoona. "Go up to Harrisburg. Walk the halls, go to hearings, meet with lawmakers who aren't from the city. Don't just tell them what you want. Ask them what they're worried about."

The same is true with suburban leaders, said Steven Wray, head of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. His organization led local civic leaders a few years ago on a field trip to Chicago; they came back raving about Mayor Richard M. Daley's deft, I'll-sit-back-while-you-guys-talk leadership of the region's effective Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

"The skeptics thought Daley was just dragging them in to browbeat them about expanding O'Hare Fumo guy." Several people said he'd be wise to act on a proposal to create an in-house lobbying staff, to replace the city's ineffective squad of paid lobbyists. It would seem a reformist blow against pay-to-play, and might better enable a mayor to "herd cats," to get the city's many freelancing pols to speak with a clear voice on a short list of priorities.

Another challenge: The sometimes surly and clueless citizens of Philadelphia often don't help their case. A mayor might train them by example not to couch their pleas for more money in insulting words such as "callous," "racist," "gun nut," and "hick" As Great Expectations forums sometimes showed, Philadelphians have a remarkable ability to assume that people outside the city never notice the very things that city residents grouse about: the litter, the crime, the truant students, the corruption.

And they don't seem to notice, or say thanks, when the state actually comes through for the city, whether it's for the Avenue of the Arts or the schools takeover, which raised per-pupil funding to much higher levels than most Philadelphians seem to know.

Finally, many say, the city has to be frank about its need to clean up parts of its act.

They watch the news in Harrisburg, too, and lately it's been too full of indictments and chaos at City Hall.

Dan Fee, a political consultant, put it this way: "The message has to be: We have a plan to fix things. Here's how we'll spend the money. Real goals, real benchmarks, real follow-up."