Dear Mayor Nutter,
I voted for you because I thought you best represented what the City needed. I had my doubts, but thought that you’d be the best man for the job. I felt sure of it when I shook your hand after your victory at City Hall station on my way to work.
A year later I wasn’t so sure. You and I had an awkward interaction at a Fels event. I asked you about the casino. You were upset and gave your rote answer. I don’t even remember it. I tried approaching you afterward not just to explain myself, but to give you a chance to turn on the charm and connect with a voter. You didn’t. You tried to avoid me. When I caught up to you, you told me if I didn’t like the casino, I could move. “It’s a big city,” you said.
Another year passed. You managed to survive a tricky winter, despite the fact that the streets were in awful condition. Mayors in Chicago lose elections over stuff like this. The city streets were an insurance nightmare! I know it was record snowfall, but doesn’t that mean city services should rise to the challenge in the name of public safety, or was it enough to don an Action News cap and give us updates?
You have about a year to turn this thing around. I know that the budget’s a mess, but you haven’t done a great job of accentuating the positive. Going after the libraries was a dumb move, even as part of brinksmanship. You lost credibility with the geek crowd from whence you came. You accepted an award from the library the night you threatened to close neighborhood branches. It sickened me and many people in my neighborhood. It really hurt those of us who thought that you’d have a greater degree of sophistication than your predecessor.
Whatever happened to the bully pulpit? Where’s the passion, man? What did you truly believe in in the first place? Was it all just a progressive facade?
You know what? I started writing this letter to condemn your campaign. I wanted to blame you for giving us false hope. But that’s not good enough. I want you to prove me wrong. I want you to wow me in the time you have remaining in office. Do you think you can? Do you think you can go to bat for Philadelphians and show them that you are indeed the bright bulb we thought we elected?
I know your job isn’t easy, but you knew that, too. Don’t just throw these difficult decisions in voters faces. It’s childish. Rise to the occasion and show us what you have. We still want to know about your ideas on technology, on your plans for the waterfront…heck, tell us more about bike lanes! Show us where you want to go. All hope isn’t lost, but you need to step up and lead. Can you?