Mayor Parker Holds Together a Commonsense Coalition

In 2023, if I was still living in South Philadelphia – my birthplace, where I spent nearly half my life, and where my wife and I still have family living – I would have voted for that year’s Republican mayoral candidate, David Oh. But today, I’m rooting for Cherelle Parker, the Democrat who easily prevailed that year and is in her second year in office. In fact, I’m quick to defend her. Why? Parker was elected talking about issues that I’d care about if I lived in Philadelphia – issues that I care about for my family still living in the city.

Among those issues: safety, good schools, family sustaining jobs. Parker’s goals of a vibrant Center City and neighborhoods where people can safely – and willingly – live, work, and raise a family. That’s still her focus.

As a card-carrying member of the “commonsense coalition,” I’m rooting for the mayor. Parker’s policies may not always line-up with mine. Her solutions and approach to problems may not always be how I’d like her to handle challenges. And she sometimes literally or rhetorically “hugs” people who aren’t top of my list.

But I’m rooting for Parker. And anyone who sees themselves as members of the “commonsense coalition” should support her, too – particularly if you live and/or work in Philadelphia. This is especially the case now, as she’s beginning to be attacked by progressives and even some conservatives.

Parker cares about stuff that matters – kitchen table issues.

She set forth a platform that speaks to being a mom and an experienced state legislator. There, she met with constituents who showed-up and talked about real life: streetlights, potholes, quality of schools, crime, meaningful jobs, and careers and opportunities. She brought together a mix of her life and ideas, with experiences and pleas from her constituents.

Parker wanted her son and his friends to go to schools that work. She wanted them to safely get to school and come home, and upon graduation, have jobs available to them.

There were no virtue signals or leftwing platitudes. She wasn’t running for mayor to “stick it to the man,” wave a banner, or make a statement. She wants abandoned properties to be cleaned up. She wants kids to attend functioning schools. She wants the police to be led by a professional dedicated to keeping everyone safe – citizens, as well as the officers under the Commissioner’s command.

Her campaign was a mix of labor leaders from the building trades – the men and women who build things, do heavy lifting, and make things run – plus business, civic, and religious leaders. It’s what we used to call a coalition.

I’ll take that.

Her Police Commissioner, Kevin Bethel, is focused on safe streets. This is reminiscent of the Mayor Nutter/Commissioner Ramsey team that saw a reduction in violent crime, but who knew the goal was zero homicides. Ditto for her Fire Commissioner, Jeffrey Thompson.

She told city employees that they had to come back to work. After all, in January 2024, most city employees were still working from home. This dramatically harmed customer service, reduced accountability, and contributed to Center City storefronts becoming vacant – from coffee shops and florists to Chinese restaurants and sneaker stores.

While she embraces Gov. Shapiro far more than he deserves, she has also worked well with Republican U.S. Senator Dave McCormick. While she campaigned for Kamala Harris and takes her Democrat-required jabs at President Trump, she does not do so gratuitously. She’s issued no declaration warning ICE not to come to Philadelphia. She’s made no bully-pulpit, virtue-signaling speeches against Trump, or for illegal immigration.

She steadfastly refuses to declare Philadelphia a “sanctuary city.”

She calls Philadelphia a “welcoming city,” and her administration makes sure that those alleged to be here illegally have legal counsel.

This is called threading the needle or being a grown up. As the mayor, Parker must keep the trains running on time, and the lines of communication open – with City Council, the governor, the President, and their allies.

She’s a liberal-centrist Democrat, who is still thinking about her son and his friends, the people she respected in the state House, and the coalition that elected her.

I wish – and still hope – that her approach to education would be bolder. She should use the school district building consolidation process to not only save money, reduce overhead, and fight neighborhood blight, but also to ensure that every child has access to a school that works – including the 20,000 children on charter school waiting lists and an equal number who need “Lifeline” scholarships to get out of failing public schools and go to a non-public school.

But I know that progressives like Helen Gym and Larry Krasner are waiting in the wings – and that Krasner could be drafted into challenging her in 2027.

I know that the Socialist/Working Families Party members of Council want to confront and block ICE from Philadelphia – even capturing illegal immigrants who are in city prisons. And they may be pushing the Council President into joining them.

We can look around at Mayor Parker’s counterparts: from the inexperienced socialist Zohran Mamdani to the incompetent firebrand Brandon Johnson in Chicago and the new mayor of Seattle, who was being subsidized by her parents.

Yes, the commonsense coalition hears and sees what Parker is doing, what she’s up against, and what other cities are dealing with. And we are rooting for her.

We better have her back as the left turns up the heat.