Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
John F. Street
John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004. He is a Democrat and became mayor after having served 19 years in the Philadelphia City Council, including seven years as its president, before resigning as required under the Philadelphia City Charter in order to run for mayor. He followed Ed Rendell as mayor, assuming the post on January 3, 2000. Street was Philadelphia's second black mayor.
Street floated the possibility of being a candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania. In light of corruption scandals, those prospects never materialized. Time Magazine listed him as one of the three worst big-city mayors in the United States in 2005.
Street was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and grew up as a member of a farming household. He graduated from Conshohocken High School, received a B.A. degree in English from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, and his J.D. degree from Temple University, which he had to apply to several times before he was accepted. Following his graduation from law school, Street served clerkships with Common Pleas Court Judge Mathew W. Bullock, Jr. and with the United States Department of Justice from which he was quickly terminated for poor performance. In his first professional job Street taught English at an elementary school and, later, at the Philadelphia Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC). He then practiced law briefly prior to entering into public service. Street is married and has four children, including Sharif Street, and is a practicing Seventh-day Adventist. His deceased brother, Milton, was a former member of the state legislature, and a two-time mayoral candidate.
Inspired by his brother's successful election in 1978, Street made his initial foray into elected politics in 1979, when he challenged incumbent Fifth District Councilman Cecil B. Moore. Moore was a popular and respected civil rights leader in the city who was active within the NAACP, and Street's decision to challenge him drew the ire of some. Moore, who was in failing health, initially sought to see-off the challenge from Street but died before the May primary. Street won the election, and quelled some of the tensions over his original challenge to Moore by sponsoring a bill to rename the former Columbia Avenue in Moore's honor.
Street was chosen unanimously by members of the Council to serve as President in 1992, after incumbent Joe Coleman retired, and was re-elected in 1996. Street, working closely with former Mayor Ed Rendell, was instrumental in crafting and implementing a financial plan that passed Council unanimously, and turned a $250 million deficit into the largest surplus in city history. Despite decreasing the business and wage tax four years in a row, Philadelphia still has the 10th largest tax burden in the United States. This is due to the financial burden to run the city's prisons, pay debt service, and employee pensions and health benefits.
Street was elected in one of the closest elections in Philadelphia history, defeating Republican Sam Katz by a margin of fewer than 7,500.
In an unusual circumstance, the City Council President at the time, Anna Verna, was briefly in the position of running the city before Mayor Street was sworn in, as Rendell resigned the post in December 1999 to become the head of the DNC (per Article III, Chapter 5, Section 3-500 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter). In 2001, he was named runner up "Politician of the Year" by PoliticsPA.
Street was once again challenged by Sam Katz in the 2003 mayoral election. Despite an ongoing FBI investigation, Street was aided by Pennsylvania Governor and former Mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell endorsing and campaigning for him. He was named the 2003 Politician of the Year by the political website PoliticsPA, because "It takes an extremely shrewd and effective politician to turn an FBI bugging of the mayor's office into a positive but that's exactly what Mayor John Street did." Street won with 58% of the vote for reelection.
Hub AI
John F. Street AI simulator
(@John F. Street_simulator)
John F. Street
John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004. He is a Democrat and became mayor after having served 19 years in the Philadelphia City Council, including seven years as its president, before resigning as required under the Philadelphia City Charter in order to run for mayor. He followed Ed Rendell as mayor, assuming the post on January 3, 2000. Street was Philadelphia's second black mayor.
Street floated the possibility of being a candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania. In light of corruption scandals, those prospects never materialized. Time Magazine listed him as one of the three worst big-city mayors in the United States in 2005.
Street was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and grew up as a member of a farming household. He graduated from Conshohocken High School, received a B.A. degree in English from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, and his J.D. degree from Temple University, which he had to apply to several times before he was accepted. Following his graduation from law school, Street served clerkships with Common Pleas Court Judge Mathew W. Bullock, Jr. and with the United States Department of Justice from which he was quickly terminated for poor performance. In his first professional job Street taught English at an elementary school and, later, at the Philadelphia Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC). He then practiced law briefly prior to entering into public service. Street is married and has four children, including Sharif Street, and is a practicing Seventh-day Adventist. His deceased brother, Milton, was a former member of the state legislature, and a two-time mayoral candidate.
Inspired by his brother's successful election in 1978, Street made his initial foray into elected politics in 1979, when he challenged incumbent Fifth District Councilman Cecil B. Moore. Moore was a popular and respected civil rights leader in the city who was active within the NAACP, and Street's decision to challenge him drew the ire of some. Moore, who was in failing health, initially sought to see-off the challenge from Street but died before the May primary. Street won the election, and quelled some of the tensions over his original challenge to Moore by sponsoring a bill to rename the former Columbia Avenue in Moore's honor.
Street was chosen unanimously by members of the Council to serve as President in 1992, after incumbent Joe Coleman retired, and was re-elected in 1996. Street, working closely with former Mayor Ed Rendell, was instrumental in crafting and implementing a financial plan that passed Council unanimously, and turned a $250 million deficit into the largest surplus in city history. Despite decreasing the business and wage tax four years in a row, Philadelphia still has the 10th largest tax burden in the United States. This is due to the financial burden to run the city's prisons, pay debt service, and employee pensions and health benefits.
Street was elected in one of the closest elections in Philadelphia history, defeating Republican Sam Katz by a margin of fewer than 7,500.
In an unusual circumstance, the City Council President at the time, Anna Verna, was briefly in the position of running the city before Mayor Street was sworn in, as Rendell resigned the post in December 1999 to become the head of the DNC (per Article III, Chapter 5, Section 3-500 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter). In 2001, he was named runner up "Politician of the Year" by PoliticsPA.
Street was once again challenged by Sam Katz in the 2003 mayoral election. Despite an ongoing FBI investigation, Street was aided by Pennsylvania Governor and former Mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell endorsing and campaigning for him. He was named the 2003 Politician of the Year by the political website PoliticsPA, because "It takes an extremely shrewd and effective politician to turn an FBI bugging of the mayor's office into a positive but that's exactly what Mayor John Street did." Street won with 58% of the vote for reelection.