Apr 17, 2005 10:11 am US/Eastern
NEW YORK (AP) Time magazine has named what it calls the “five best big city mayors” in America, giving the distinction to New York’s Michael Bloomberg, Atlanta’s Shirley Franklin, Baltimore’s Martin O’Malley, Chicago’s Richard Daley and Denver’s John Hickenlooper.
And in a sure boon to their political opponents, Detroit’s Kwame Kilpatrick, San Diego’s Dick Murphy and Philadelphia’s John Street were dubbed the nation’s three worst mayors.
The lists appear in the issue of the magazine that hits newsstands Monday. Neither list was ranked, and the mayors were listed in alphabetical order. Gavin Newsom of San Francisco received an honorable mention; No dishonorable mention was awarded.
The magazine said it consulted with “urban experts” who chose from among the 29 mayors who lead cities with populations greater than 500,000.
“It is tempting to judge our mayors for the little things that make city life livable, the depth of the potholes, the smell of the streets, whether or not the traffic lights are in synch,” the magazine said. “But the best mayors have also been those who act on a grand scale, building bridges, saving schools, finding the funds that cities lack.”
Time praised O’Malley for implementing the computerized statistics program CitiStat and Bloomberg for trimming New York’s budget deficit and taking control of the public schools.
It cited Daley’s “near imperial power” in Chicago, Franklin’s work on a new ethics code for municipal employees and Hickenlooper’s high approval ratings.
The magazine criticized Kilpatrick for leasing a $24,995 cherry red Lincoln Navigator for his wife on the city’s dime, despite a $230 million budget deficit. It mentioned Murphy’s handling of a $1.3 billion deficit at the city’s public-employee pension fund.
Time singled out Street for criticism because of the corruption allegations involving his administration.
Former City Treasurer Corey Kemp is on trial over allegations that he took bribes. Jury deliberations in the case are expected to resume Monday.
A spokesman for Street said the magazine ignored the mayor’s role in helping turn around a blighted city.
“Crime is down. Taxes are lower. Housing values are up. Population loss has virtually stopped for the first time in 50 years. But instead they are basing their criticism on unproven allegations,” said Street spokesman Dan Fee. “They are not applying a consistent standard.”
I could have told you that without all the research! From the beginning when he said, "The brothers and sisters run this city now" to the corruption scandal that took place, maybe not with him, but with his 'brothers and sisters'. It has been problem after problem from what the average person can see. Let me make a point; if we had a white mayor and he said, "Finally us white folk can run this city right once again", you'd have Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, Matthew Henson, Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges and James Baldwin in this city crying that civil rights were violated! Ok ok, maybe not all those people, some of them are dead and some really wouldn't give a hoot. But you got my point im sure! The corruption, who pays for the legal fees that are in the millions of dollars? We do!! The City tax payers do, why not? If I were being investigated for fraud or corruption im sure the government at some level would kick in and foot the bill right? why not? They are doing it for this man who brought this on himself! Now my whole point in all of this is not to prove to you that i'm a racist, because I don't think I am. The point being that we may not live in the worst city or necessarily be the worst people, BUT, we do have the worst mayor and alot of really really dumb people. I can see electing John Street into office as mayor for his first term, seeing that he was a failure and saying to ourselves "Ok, we made a mistake, let's learn and move on". But no, we have to stick our heads in our hind quarters and re-elect him a second term! And say to him, go ahead take our city down a few more notches,,, brother.
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