Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier and Curtis Jones Jr. celebrating the Eagles Super Bowl LIX win in Council chambers. Photo: PHLCouncil
Now that the Philadelphia Eagles have won Super Bowl LIX, we’ve had our parade, and folks got a look at what perseverance looks like in a city that’s going to need it, it’s time to go to work.
By Denise Clay-Murray
If you’ve been watching Philadelphia City Council meetings over the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably noticed that Council Chambers have looked a little different than usual.
A Super Bowl run will lead you to do that.
In case you have been living in a cave with no available media over the last two weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles made it to the Super Bowl. And not only did they make it, they won it.
Yep. The champs are here.
Now, I was at last Friday’s championship parade with several hundred thousand of my closest friends. It was a nice vibe. Granted, I don’t think you should throw beer cans at moving buses, especially in front of Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, but you live and you learn.
(I wonder who hit Eagles GM Howie Roseman in the head with a flying beer? Seeing as he’s the guy who put this team together, did you really want to do that?!)
I saw a lot of elected officials on parade buses. I guess that hanging out with the Super Bowl champs is one of the perks of being an elected official.
But when Council returns to Chambers on Thursday, the balloons, signs and decorations will be taken down and replaced with the sense of urgency that comes with getting ready for budget hearings and trying to get a spending plan together for the city in the era of Trump 2.0 (This time it’s PERSONAL!).
It’s not going to be easy. There are things that Philadelphia wants to do that have federal funding connected to them and, as I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed, the current administration believes that it doesn’t have to follow the legislative rules that have governed America for, well, 248 years.
It could make getting that already promised funding kind of tough to come by.
So, Philadelphia is going to have to show off that grit and resilience that in the eyes of many it’s known for. Having the energy of something like a Super Bowl championship to work off of could help.
“I think [the Eagles Super Bowl win] gives us a sense of joy, a sense of unity,” Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said. “It brings everybody together to celebrate something really fun and amazing, but it also brings us together to tackle the challenges that we have.”
Like I said, we’re gonna need it. Just like the city itself needed the breather of the Super Bowl and the subsequent parade.
But now that the game has been played, the parade has happened, and the streets have been cleaned up and readied for the city to get back to work, the most important game Philadelphia City Government will play this year is about to start.
It’s a game the city really needs to win.
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