With all the pomp and circumstance befitting a history-making day, Cherelle Parker was sworn in as the city’s 100th mayor at the Met-Philadelphia on Tuesday.
ABOVE PHOTO: Tuesday’s inauguration opened to a packed house — the lines of people waiting to enter the event at MET-Philadelphia wrapped around the corner. (Photo: [email protected])
By Denise Clay-Murray
On Tuesday, the changing of the City of Philadelphia’s political guard took place at the MET-Philadelphia theater when Cherelle Parker was sworn in as the City’s 100th mayor and a new Council took its oath of office.
The inauguration marked the end of the tenures of Mayor Jim Kenney, who was term limited and Council President Darrell Clarke, who decided to retire earlier this year after serving the city for 42 years. Clarke will be succeeded by Second District Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson.
With choirs from all over the city, prayers from almost every branch of the city’s religious community and a poem from Emmy-Award winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, the City celebrated the changing of the guard and the history made with Parker’s inauguration.
Sworn in by her Delta Sigma Theta sorority sister and federal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge with her son, Langston Mullins by her side, Parker took her moment in the sun to thank the women who helped her get to this place, most notable former City Councilmembers Augusta Clark and Marian Tasco, and to emphasize the 100-Day action plan that emphasizes her campaign plan to make Philadelphia the “safest, cleanest, greenest, big city in America with economic opportunity for all”.
As it was during the campaign, Parker’s initial emphasis was on the city’s crime problem. Decrying what she called “a sense of lawlessness” Parker announced that her administration, led by Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, will put together a plan that will make the city’s police more visible to residents.
While the thought of more police in neighborhoods that have experienced police brutality might be concerning, Parker assured residents that abuses would not be tolerated.
“We can’t get angry because people who live and work and own a business in our city have told us on many occasions that they don’t feel safe in their neighborhoods,” she said. “But this is what we can do. We can tell them that we have a right to do our best to work on rebuilding trust between our police departments, and communities by having officers engaged in community policing, walking the beat, riding their bikes, and being there as guardians and not warriors. Getting to know the people that they are sworn to protect and serve. They are there to build proactive relationships with you.”
The 100-day plan also includes a comprehensive review of the city’s Land Bank. The Land Bank is a repository of city-owned properties that have been acquired by vacancy or tax delinquency and are often either purchased by developers at a reduced rate or converted into community gardens in neighborhoods hoping to beautify the property or, in some cases, grow food in places where vegetables aren’t readily available.
Philadelphia’s lack of affordable housing is a longtime issue, and that these properties exist on the city’s rolls makes no sense, she said. Finding out the best way to develop these properties with everyone from developers to the owner of the community garden at the table is crucial, she said.
“I think it’s unconscionable that we can have city owned land and talk about having an affordable housing complex,” she said. “We have to do what I’ve learned how to do and bring everybody at the table at one time. That means we have to call our state partners and say please bring [Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency] to the table. We have to call our federal partners and say please bring HUD to the table. We need our Office of Planning and Development at the table and every office associated with the city.”
“And we have to be intentional about ensuring that the same old actors who have gotten an opportunity to develop these very own properties and build wealth by developing these properties in the land bank that long term owner occupants, particularly Black and Brown people who live in neighborhoods throughout our city, they too deserve access to the opportunity to become developers and build wealth in their City,” Parker continued. “It doesn’t have to be an either/or if we work together. It can be a both/and.”
Parker also put an emphasis on the city’s economic issues. Through the PHL Open for Business initiative, all of the city’s departments will take a look at their operations and get rid of any unnecessary red tape or permits that might make it hard for businesses to operate in the city. She also pledged to remove the college degree requirements for many city jobs.
While education helped her become self-sufficient economically, it’s not the path for everyone, Parker said. By allowing experience to have as much weight as education, people who are qualified for jobs through experience will be able to serve the city, she said.
Following the Inauguration and Bethel’s formal swearing in, Parker issued the executive order eliminating the college degree requirement for certain jobs. She also issued executive orders auditing all of the City’s departments and creating ways that said departments can be more accessible to citizens and an executive order declaring a state of emergency for public safety.
The order for public safety requires police to prioritize property crimes, and for Bethel, Managing Director Adam Thiel and Director of Public Safety Adam Geer to come up with a plan that reduces violence, shuts down open air drug markets in places like Kensington and looks into other ways to make the city safer. Commissioner Bethel will be required to check in with the mayor every 30 days to report on the State of Emergency’s progress, according to the executive order.
Prior to passing the gavel of Council president onto Johnson, outgoing Council President Darrell Clarke spoke to the group he led as president for 12 years. He charged them to remember that they’ve been entrusted to work for a population that’s depending on them to do their best.
“For everyone on this stage, whether this is your first time, or you’ve been here for a little bit, I want to thank you for choosing to serve Philadelphia,” Clarke said. “In a democracy, representing the people is one of the most important things that you will ever do in your life. And I really mean that. So, you should take this seriously, that people have chosen you, a diverse, energetic, passionate, and talented group of individuals to bring your expertise and your life experiences to these roles and make decisions that serve their needs.”
Joined by his wife, entrepreneur Dawn Chavous, and sons Isaiah and Elijah, Johnson took the oath of office from Superior Court Justice Tamika Lane.
During his speech, Johnson thanked his colleagues for expressing confidence in his ability to lead the chamber and get things done.
“As I embark upon this new role as Council president, I want to say sincerely and humbly thank you to the 16 members of City Council for believing in me, trusting me, and for having faith in my ability to lead this body into a new day,” he said. “Colleagues, you have my word, that I will represent this body with fidelity and professionalism. I will always have your back and govern in a just and fair manner. I make the same pledge to all the citizens of Philadelphia. This is this new year is the dawn of a new era and a very exciting time in the city of Philadelphia, an era filled with hope and infinite possibilities.”
Johnson also pledged to work with Council and Mayor Parker when they can to take Philadelphia to new places. While there might be times when there is disagreement, they will try and work them out for the benefit of the city, he said.
“Now at times, my colleagues and I will disagree on important issues facing our city,” he said. “However, disagreements and compromise are a natural part of the legislative process. I recognize that this moment in the history of Philadelphia is too important to squander over the politics of personalities and personal agendas. We have an opportunity to do something special as we improve the quality of life for all Philadelphians, while City Council is an independent elected body. My colleagues and I will work every day to seek opportunities, a partnership with not only the mayor, but anybody willing to work with us to help move our great city forward. There was nothing we asked for an office cannot do when we all work together.”
Many of Johnson’s priorities for Council mirrored the priorities that Parker addressed in her speech, the top one being gun violence. Before becoming Council president, Johnson was the chair of the Special Committee on Gun Violence and began his speech with the names of young people who have lost their lives to gun violence. While the number of people lost to gun violence, has gone down, the city can and needs to do more, he said.
“It means that what we are doing is working, but it’s not enough. We must do more. And we will do more,” Johnson said. “Each one of the young people I named will never grow old, will never have a family of their own, and their families who have been impacted by this senseless gun violence will be affected by their tragic loss for the rest of their lives. I’m sharing this with you today because we can no longer desensitize or normalize this behavior. And as long as I have breath in my lungs, I will continue to fight and advocate for solutions until the epidemic of gun violence is totally eliminated and we create a city of peace, not guns.”
“We can continue this downward trend of murders and shootings in that city this year and in the future,” Johnson continued. “But we all must work together elected officials, community leaders, business leaders, the district attorney and the police department as well.”
The city must also continue to work with the grassroots victim’s services organizations made up of those who have been impacted by gun violence and invest in results driven violence prevention initiatives, Johnson said.
Johnson ended his speech by talking about something that’s been alluded to since it was announced that he was the presumptive favorite to be Council president: his trial on corruption charges. In March 2022, Johnson and Chavous went on trial on corruption charges connected to land owned by Universal Companies.
During that time, people from around the Delaware Valley and many of their council colleagues reached out to them to offer their support, Johnson said. And thanks to that support and a jury that saw their innocence, both he and his wife are in the position to keep serving their community.
“By the grace of God, our future is a bright one,” he said. “This story sounds like something out of a Hollywood script. But it’s not. It is a real-life story. It is our real-life story that played out in front of the entire city and world. And at the end of the day, we are here on this stage because of the grace of God. We are still here, standing stronger than ever. And I have the distinct honor of being the new president of Philadelphia City Council and serving in one of the greatest cities in the world.”
While Mayor Parker, Council President Johnson and the rest of City Council were the headliners at the inauguration, they weren’t the only people being sworn in on Tuesday. The members of the Court of Common Pleas and the Municipal Court of Philadelphia took the oath of office to start their new terms. City Commissioners Lisa Deeley, Omar Sabir and Seth Bluestein were also sworn in as the City’s keepers of elections.
City Controller Christy Brady was sworn in for her first full term. She had been appointed to the post by former Mayor Jim Kenney when former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart resigned to run for mayor in 2023. Brady had to resign herself to run for the office in 2023.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal was sworn in for her second term, and John Sabatina officially became the new Register of Wills, replacing Tracey Gordon.
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