Mayor Nutter’s Inaugural Address

Philadelphia, January , 2011– Today, Mayor Michael A. Nutter delivered his second inaugural address to a capacity crowd at the Academy of Music. Check remarks against delivery. The speech follows:rnrn“To the elected officials, our Congressional and Harrisburg delegations, Archbishop Chaput, Reverend Griffith, Reverend Campbell, Reverend Roberts, Rabbi Isaacson and all members of our faith community, President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Judge Pryor Dembe, Judge McKee, Judge Carrafiello, Judge Tynes.rnrnTo Governor Rendell, Mayor Green, Mayor Goode, Mayor Street, and our good friend from across the river, Mayor Dana Redd of Camden.rnrnTo the retiring members of City Council and to the new members.rnrnTo former President Anna Verna who I enjoyed working with so much, and to our new President of City Council Darrell Clarke, who I look forward to working with in close partnership.rnrnTo my wife Lisa, daughter Olivia, son Christian, mother Catalina and sister Renee.rnrnFirst and foremost, thank you to the people of Philadelphia for once again bestowing upon me this tremendous honor. rnrnI will never be able to fully express what it means for me, a kid from West Philly, to stand on the stage at the Academy of Music as Mayor of my hometown and to have the opportunity to continue to serve the city and the people I love so much.rnrnSince that January day four years ago when we last gathered in this place we have made tremendous progress together. rnrnOn that day I made a promise that we would be a safer city, a more educated city, a growing city, the number one city for arts and culture in the United States, a greener city that businesses are investing in and creating jobs in, and a city that people all across America would be talking about for good reason.rnrnAnd because of the hard work of our public servants, the dedication of our elected officials, and the ingenuity of our citizens in neighborhoods all across this city – I have kept that promise, and we have set Philadelphia on a fundamentally different path.rnrnBut we’re not done yet.rnrnAnd so as I stand before you at the beginning of a second term it is not my intention to celebrate what has been done, but to talk briefly about the values needed to guide us in doing what must be done.rnrnI am not motivated by pride and satisfaction in past accomplishments. rnrnI am motivated by a vision of what we can be.rnrnBy an urgency to tackle the challenges that are holding us back as a city and a deep sense and concern that – though we are making progress – there are too many Philadelphians who do not share in this success and promise. rnrnI am motivated by a determination that as we continue to transform Philadelphia, we cannot, we must not, we will not leave anyone behind.rnrnThis sense of community and togetherness has guided America since its earliest days.rnrnIn April 1630 when a band of colonists set sail from England for opportunity and freedom in the New World, one among them – John Winthrop – composed a message to his fellow immigrants describing how they were going to succeed and set an example to those who would follow.rnrnWinthrop said:rnrn“…we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection…We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body.”rnrnIn Philadelphia we have our own way of saying it: we are the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. We’re proud of our city. We look out for each other. We stand up for each other. We fight for each other. rnrnThat’s how it was when I was growing up at 55th and Larchwood.rnrnOn Saturday morning all of the kids on the block would grab a broom, grab a bucket, we would sweep our stoops and clean our block. Together.rnrnWhen one of us went to the movies or to the rec center, we all went. Together.rnrnWe had respect for each other and for our elders. When my mother told me to be back on my steps by the time the street lights came on, believe me, I was there. rnrnCommunity. Togetherness. Respect. Pride.rnrnThat’s the Philadelphia way. It’s who we are.rnrnWe stand together. Together as a block, as a community, as a neighborhood, and as a city. rnrnAll working to make our city a better place.rnrnI see that togetherness almost every day as I travel to neighborhoods all across Philadelphia.rnrnI see young people in after-school activities learning a second language, painting stained glass in a church, or expressing themselves through spoken word and poetry.rnrnI see community leaders working with us through our Philly Rising initiative to clean-up neighborhoods or through our Health Department’s MOMS program to help young, first-time mothers access the early childhood services that their baby needs.rnrnI’m going to see it this afternoon when I visit with Project HOME residents who are in our workforce development and job training programs, trying to build a better life for themselves and play a role in the future of this city.rnrnAll of us working together as members of the same body.rnrnBut I also see in our own city of Philadelphia, that William Penn, a Quaker, founded with the values of community, fairness, and inclusiveness as its bedrock, there are too many neighborhoods where we have lost that sense of community, that pride in our city, that commitment to each other.rnrnThere are too many Philadelphians who don’t feel safe in their own neighborhoods, whose children are stuck in low-performing schools, who are struggling to find work and some who have even given up looking for a job.rnrnAnd I refuse to accept that we can – or should – move forward as a city if we have not done all we can to include all Philadelphians in our progress.rnrnWe must be willing to have an honest conversation about the things that are holding us back and ask ourselves, “what are we prepared to do about them”, together.rnrnWe must be willing to do something about the fact that of the 317 people who were murdered in Philadelphia last year, 83% of them were killed with a handgun, nearly 75% of those killed…African American men, around 80% of those doing the killing…African American men – a local and national epidemic not sufficiently talked about, much less tackled.rnrnWhat are we going to do about this?rnrnWe’re going to put more police on our streets – 120 new officers on foot patrol by summer this year. But we must do more.rnrnWe’re going to continue to build partnerships with the community through community policing and Philly Rising. rnrnWorking with Mayors around the country and with leaders in our own community we have begun a serious, adult conversation and have started to develop strategic action plans to deal with the proliferation of illegal guns and the fact that people and their guns are wiping out an entire generation of African American men and boys.rnrnAnd we are developing a new approach, which we will roll out in the coming months, to getting these illegal guns off our streets – targeting the people who have them, the people who are supplying them and the neighborhoods that they’re operating in – the five police districts that account for almost 50% of the homicides in this city – and working with our partners at all levels of government to go after them aggressively and relentlessly. Every day.rnrnBut while we say to those who hide behind illegal guns that we will come after you and the people who are supplying these weapons harder and tougher than ever before, we must also be brave enough to extend a hand to those who want to put the gun down, to make a different choice.rnrnWe must show them that if you put the gun down we’ll work with you to put a book in your hands, to put some work and a job in your hands, to put a paycheck in your hands. We’ll work with you to put your future back in your hands.rnrnBecause some of these young people terrorizing neighborhoods are themselves just frightened kids. rnrnThey’re not all bad kids. They weren’t born like this.rnrnThese are kids who lack opportunity. Who believe that they have no future, that there is no door open to them. rnrnAnd when we have to lock them up, we also lock up their potential.rnrnI met a young man two days ago at the juvenile prison on State Road. His name is Kent. He’s 17 years old.rnrnKent was sentenced to 7-20 years for four armed robberies. He told me he got about $2,000. But he also told me he has a 3.6 GPA from John Bartram High School and scored 1400 on his SATs. rnrnColleges are still sending letters to his parents house – unaware of where he is – trying to get him to apply.rnrnHe told me he’s sorry for what he’s done and knows he has to pay the price for some very bad decisions.rnrnHe’s our kid, and he, all the juveniles up on State Road, and every other young person in this city are part of the future of Philadelphia.rnrnWe have to show them all that they do have a future, that they all can get a job, that to be a real man or woman means to take responsibility for your own life, to earn a wage, to provide for your own family.rnrnWe can reach these kids and I will not accept that we can leave any of them behind.rnrnI also won’t accept that we can leave behind so many of our students in failing schools and that they and their families shouldn’t have access to the same opportunities that the kids of the people in this room have themselves. rnrnNot only is it unfair…it holds us all back. rnrnI’m on the phone every day fighting to bring jobs to Philadelphia and the number one thing that companies want to talk about is our workforce. rnrnIf we don’t have educated, trained, skilled workers we will struggle to attract these new businesses, grow the companies that are already here, and create the new jobs that are so needed in our city.rnrnWe must better educate and train our young people and that’s going to require serious and difficult changes in our school system, in the way in which we provide education. rnrnI committed on day one that my administration would work with the state, the SRC and the school district. And now, through the Philadelphia Great Schools Compact, we will turn around the lowest-performing schools in our system and, if they can’t be turned around, close or replace them with high-quality alternatives.rnrnReform, restructure, or replace.rnrnBecause the alternative is abandoning some children in some schools in some communities, effectively saying that they don’t deserve every opportunity that we can give them, whose education must take a back seat to political agendas, historic mismanagement, and a tradition of low expectations, who can be left behind as we try to move this city forward.rnrnWell, I’m a public school parent too and I can’t accept that. I won’t accept it. And neither should you.rnrnThese two issues – high crime rates in many neighborhoods and too few quality public education options – are holding us back as a city. rnrnThey stretch the fabric of our society to its breaking point.rnrnAnd this is not some moral or social crusade. This is an economic imperative for our city.rnrnWe spend one third of our budget on our criminal justice complex. One third of your tax dollars dealing with bad decisions and bad behavior. It’s a waste. rnrnThat money would be spent on education, after-school programs, or libraries, or parks and recreation centers.rnrnIf more of our young people went to school, stayed in school, graduated and went on to training or college we’d have less poverty, less crime, more jobs, we’d be able to cut taxes and at the same time generate more revenue to invest in our communities.rnrnImagine what this city can be if we change the mentality of those who think they can carry and use illegal guns in our neighborhoods, and get away with it.rnrnImagine what this city can be if every child – fuelled and driven by high expectations – gets a high quality education in a safe environment, supported and encouraged by their parents and their community.rnrnImagine what this city can be if we continue to attract new companies and jobs and train Philadelphians so that they can succeed in these new industries.rnrnImagine what this city can be if we restore to all parts of Philadelphia the values of community, togetherness, respect and pride that should define our city and that I see every day in many parts of this city.rnrnThis is all within our reach. rnrnThese are challenges that we can and will tackle. rnrnThere must be no issue too uncomfortable or too complicated for us to take on, no discussion too awkward or sensitive for us to have. rnrnWe will say what needs to be said but hasn’t been; we will do what needs to be done but hasn’t happened. rnrnWe cannot accept the status quo. This cannot be just ‘how it is’.rnrnWe’re bigger than that, we’re bolder than that, we’re better than that.rnrnAnd so today I make a pledge, and I ask you to join me in this commitment. rnrnThat we will focus on the forgotten, we will shine a light on areas of darkness, we will give a voice to those not heard, and that as we continue to build a better Philadelphia, to move our city in a positive direction, that we will not leave anyone behind.rnrnThat, as I said earlier, we must be knit together, in this work, as one city.rnrnWe must reject this notion of “a tale of two cities”. A society divided into the rich and the poor, the affluent and the oppressed, the educated and the enslaved.rnrnWe are not two cities. We must not become two cities. rnrnWe are one city, one Philadelphia, and we will succeed together, as one Philadelphia.rnrnDespite enormous economic challenges over the last few years we are building our way back and Philadelphia is undergoing a transformation. My job is to keep pushing us forward – faster and farther – and to make sure that we do not leave anybody behind. rnrnThis city took a young black boy, growing up in West Philadelphia with his mother, his father, his sister and his grandmother and it found a way to keep him out of trouble and give him the best education possible, even though his family couldn’t afford to pay for it. rnrnIt gave him a sense of community, of right and wrong, of the notion that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. rnrnThis city introduced that young man to a political leader – John C. Anderson – who would inspire him to dedicate his life to serving others and, ultimately, this city allowed that man to serve as the mayor of his hometown.rnrnYou didn’t leave me behind, and I won’t leave any of you behind.rnrnI will spend every waking moment of every day of this new term working with Council, working with the state, the federal government, working with you and fighting for you, fighting for this great city.rnrnWe’re in this together. One city. One Philadelphia. No one left behind.rnrnGod bless you, God bless ALL Philadelphians, and may God bless the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, the city of Philadelphia.”