Transcripts For CSPAN2 Michael Nutter Mayor 20180212 : vimar

Of social social school and practice and is a professor of professional practice of urban and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He joins us today to discuss the latest book, mayor which he will sign copies of following discussion. We are also pleased to welcome todays moderator who is the host of the program the host of cnn and a newspaper columnist and author. A frequent guest host for Chris Matthews and prior to returning to broadcast he practiced law ten years who is the namesake of the Beasley School of law at Temple University. Please join me to welcome Michael Nutter the 17. Good evening. [applause] the best job in politics. Why is the mayor the best job in politics . To make you can see the value and impact of your work and changing peoples lives. Is it fair to say that looking at the periodic table you never would have pursued a career in politics . Tell the story. [laughter] that is pretty likely that frankly did not give a damn with Biomedical Engineering and it became very clear in an auditorium like this only bigger that by mid semester you could sit wherever you wanted and failing the first three exams it was clear i was not passing the course and i also didnt give a damn about the table of element elements. How did you get to wharton . How did you achieve that . It was a long torturous path. 95 torture created by myself not necessarily being the most studious person impulse working 60 hours a week may be studying about 60 minutes. [laughter] so it is clear that morton denied my application because i did not take the full course load that at the time was for courses. Then i tried to transfer and said if you do that again and not successful we will kick you out of school. So i said okay but i want to go to wharton for a course of study so switch to the faculty of arts and sciences. Same youre not a wort and student and if not we will kick you out of school. So i got more serious about my work i did take courses multiple times so in may 1979 i was six courses short of graduating so for some bizarre reason they let me finish and then i had to go to Summer School but with the political deal to have an agreement with the dean of the undergraduate to say you have six courses not coming back until september. This is it. He said if you achieve a certain average you are good to go. I hit the number right on the number. He said youre in and youre out. Goodbye nice knowing you. You mentioned that impulse that you write about in the book so did you learn anything from Mixmaster Mike or any lessons in the disco . Possibly that was the best training because i met a lot of people and shook a lot of hands and had to remember a lot of people. Every now and then i may had to throw someone out im not the biggest guy around so with those negotiating skills how to nicely put somebody out of the nightclub. As mayor i met a lot of people, had to remember a lot of names in every now and then i put some people out. [laughter] talking about the political battles that you have waged. 28282 votes compared to your 48. What happened . In the 52nd ward i was just involved with the councilman seeking the ward leader 1982 and i was in the division where they were using the papers i went down to the office and i was a Wharton School graduate so i was going to figure this out urinalysis but i wanted to understand there were three apartment buildings and the other two had more senior residents. So like 1898 date of birth, 1901, 1905 so the are a very old constituency and i was in my 20s. So there were days i would literally wait until somebody came out of the building then i realized i could go in this way to put stuff on peoples doors that we were not supposed to know long we were not supposed to do. She kicked my butt but at the time people ran every two years now it is every four but i read again and got a little closer but it was clear it would take 20 or 25 years to achieve mayor. [laughter] so another big political decision is i moved. [laughter] to make you never forget the lessons from the First Campaign when i was at ten law i ran for the state legislature in bucks county i lost by 419 votes i have since relocated located 236 of those. [laughter] so you get elected to City Councils own of those First Initiatives of black lives matter was the formation of Police Advisory commission. There have been a series of events prior to my time at city council. Legitimately had done a bunch of research looking at this issue in his term and it just seemed at the time that it pretty much went nowhere so to lose confidence but other cities have some molar civilian related bodies so with this country was controversial and the mayor at the time former District Attorney really hated it. A lot. That was september 1992i was seven or eight months into the job with this special counsel creating controversy. Very supportive battles back and forth the mayor vetoed it but to his credit there was a lot of behind the scenes conversations that became clear that the mayor wanted to end the controversy in a dramatic fashion and so one changes boat on the override. Im not giving away the whole book for free. They get the book tonight for those that buy the book but one of those stories i do want to pull from but you expressed regret in the book for your position initially on the Domestic Partnership bill. Talk about dealing with that issue in this book. I dont think it was very well known at the time that was gay. Not totally loving open progressive city that we are today socially at least in the late 70s and early 80s that i saw and experienced in a personal way the impact his status had politically and other comments that were made so i developed a great sensitivity to the lgbt community. But with politics it is complicated because i was pushing the Advisory Commission and at the same time pushing for the Domestic Partnership benefits. And i was very much in favor or against the Domestic Partnership. So i made a freshman rookie mistake not being able to separate those two things that i should have been able to based on my own perspective. I didnt do anything to undermine but i was not as supportive publicly as i should have been because i didnt want to jam myself up on the advisory piece didnt go anywhere at the time but i made a commitment that this issue would be resolved and i was the person to do it. So that is one example where councilman Michael Nutter was ahead of his time looking back a record the smoking ban was the First Initiative of this scale and scope a pretty significant achievement. Yes. And later a lot of credit goes to our daughter working at a firm doing a lot of consulting and travel. Rather than continue to torture her with my cooking we were sitting there drawing and she observed there was a man smoking in the restaurant. And said that man is smoking. That is bad for him. I said some people do that. She went back to drawing and then she said arent you on the city council . What are you going to do about it . [laughter] she is five years old. So yes i guess i need to do something about it. So we started that campaign over six years to get the legislation passed it was of the last bills that i voted on before resignin resigning. Police Advisory Commission, smoking ban, Campaign Finance reform. A lot of work in that area but i always make a point the First Campaign finance law was passed in virginia right after the 2003 election that you could all remember things from that election but it was clear there were concerns about finance or how the government was functioning are operating. Late november early december the first piece of legislation came through i was mayor at the time i was opposed by the Council Passed it anyway but then i did another piece with new contracting legislation if you do a certain amount then subsequently i read every indictment that came subsequent to the 2003 election and we made numerous amendments based on updated indictments that was with the case of wrong right on ron white. And it was one of those moments only in a crisis did we get that conversation past. The only place in the state to have Campaign Finance women subsequently litigated and we were successful. As you look back now what does Michael Nutter think of that successful effort to cast that with jared wong John Ashcroft to predict the outcome of the mayoral race . That story was a complete fabrication but in the moment it worked. But many of us knew that there is no way that is really what was going on. But democratic city people do not like george bush or John Ashcroft so there was a narrative already made two or three days after that big explosive story everybody was radio silent we couldnt figure out what was going on then laying out that scenario people bought it. You point out in the book the margin in that cycle it was bigger than four years prior. Yes. The 99 race somewhere 9400 which is the closest in modern history and then winning by 85000 so there was a number based on the fiction created the republicans in washington trying to take down the flag the democratic mayor of philadelphia which would then lead to the republicans being able to win pennsylvania 2004. That was a fundamental theory. Summer 2006 resigning from counsel, i was surprised but maybe i had forgotten what a shoestring operation it was at the outset of the campaign. Describe that. We may have borrowed time shoestrings. [laughter] sold may 2006 we take a full as i am on the city council. I am with a will known firm and i pay good money and basically doesnt matter who venture campaign. How much did we pay for that . So backandforth so at the end what will we do . He said it is difficult but not impossible. Okay. But at this point to just jump right in you dont just decide you will quit your job and run for mayor in a small medium or large city without a lot of conversation from a lot of people. The first one has to be at home. Having real support from my family, you cannot do it. We had a lot of conversation about that then there was one discussion that they made that if this is what you really want to do that is what you should do and i was fortunate but about five minutes later she said by the way do you have to quit your job and city council . And i said yes and she said do i need to get a job . [laughter] and there was no answer. [laughter] so they are all in. We start to assemble the team and we get to the office it is about 500 square feet and then this redheaded guy comes in the Office One Day and i said who is that . Maybe it has dissipated over time it was pretty clear he was not from the area with his british accent so he had come here to go to school and found his way and wanted to be involved in politics he was from the u. K. We were sitting in her 500 squarefoot office with plenty of space suddenly people are coming to volunteer. Then we moved in the operation became much bigger. Of course you had a secret surprise on your side and we have a video screen here for a reason and i hope it works. Roll it. My dad grew up in West Philadelphia this is our dog. Pretty cool for an old guy. This is my go to middle school. Going to be a mayor with a child in the public schools. He wants to make it better and safer. He still finds time to take me to school. [applause] like you i paid attention for a long time and i shouldnt limit it to philadelphia but i dont remember any commercial with the impact of that in a mayoral race. Talk about that. That is all the Campaign Group and their work so i had this one thought that when i started not the first day but let me design a handout or something with family or something to send it over to the tight team and they reminded me especially those who are quiet and unassuming terms youll most have to ask him to speak up. [laughter] there he is. [laughter] waiting to see how long it would take. He reminded me this is not what i do but they came back and said i think we can turn this into something else. You have a family everything is true. You take them to School Every Day and then the last time i may have looked like that. But that was our house and they said here it is. We ran ten other ad that is pretty much the only one that anyone remembers it ran for one week or ten days and came back at the end for a different purpose and it told a story and defined me not the policy wonk from city council but here is a family to grew up in a real house and he takes her to school everyday. And it meant a lot of Different Things to a lot of different people whether they were black or white it change the dynamics of the race. Before i move on from the commercial and not just because she is here but give her the update. She is not 12 anymore. [laughter] people keep asking me if she graduated from high school yet. She graduated in may from Columbia University. [applause] now she has a staff assistant on the Senate Small Business Entrepreneurship Committee in washington. [applause] and to be mindful. I could keep you all night i could surrender to questions from the audience so this is a lightning round seven questions bang bang bang. Just thoughts and what you have to say . Bob brady nancy is not seeking reelection. [laughter] i think there is a whole generational shift for a bunch of people to run for offer. The rizzo statute belongs. Somewhere else b17. Spee17 now would would be derelict if i didnt say the eagles . Eagles eagles. As we all listened to your introduction you have a lot of things going on. A lot of careers. Favorite post mayoral gig . The opportunity to have a relationship back home at the university of pennsylvania and columbia. I really enjoyed teaching and that level of engagement with students and faculty. For me it has been the best transition. Reading us city is a lot of rules and regulations but the difference is im not in charge. [laughter] last night donald trump first date of the union. Disaster. The speech or the state of the union . Been at the speech. Look. Not my most partisan comment there is something materially wrong with it if folks get off their but and vote we will make a difference in congress and change the presidency. [applause] two more of the quick ones. Mayor kennedy . Doing the job. So to sneak in the side so with this idea to propose a sugar sweetened beverage tax and i think it is that level of foresight to put litigation aside with success in 2016 so those other issues during my tenure so there are a lot of things going on in the state of philadelphia we try to leave the city in better shape how we found it and then there is the other initiative. Michael nutter in ten years . First i would like to be here and i will be 70. I will be doing many of the same things im doing now. Working with candidates across the country stay involved with politics and teaching i may slow down just a little bit. Are you done running for office yourself . Yes. Part of that is why that is the title of the book there is no other office. No other office that you can have the impact there are certain things we are very proud of. From the Public Safety standpoint. And then to go on to college and graduate from there with those buildings going up a broke ground on a bunch of those when i was in office and we improved the ethical culture. There are not many jobs in politics that you can have and that is part of what i love. Is one of the attractions so with those ideological entanglements . Just like laguardia. And then to make the trains run on time . I went and call it ideology but a governing philosophy. We dont hear conversations about a democratic position on infrastructure from Public Safety. Clean water, sustainability, all, all of these issue with as Many Republican mayors. So we dont have time for nonsense with those partisan positions have to make sure if they show up with the 911 call that everybody does come together that is what governing is about at the local level. And not to have time with philosophical debates. Cspan is here and i love them but i cannot make the speech and think something will result from that. But people do that we oclock in the morning that is the job. Calling a crime emergency benefited and then until the end. And from new york and other places but other big cities across the country numbers were going down as they were going up and then to do something about that making it a centerpiece of the campaign. He cant have a great city if people arent safe there was a daily counter on the front page of one of the papers of level of homicides so we fought some battles but the fact is the fact the first year homicides 31 . In the spring 2008 you experience the emotional high and low within a close time. March 31, 2008 you throw out the first pitch at the phillies how much preparation went into that . [laughter] fair enough you can pretty much destroy your career in front of 45,000 people on people on opening day with the bad pitch. [laughter] we make a supportive torturing elected officials at a sporting event i havent really done anything at three months. Probably about two weeks of practice. For the one throw. Unfortunately a very sad note may 3, 2008 sergeant, you say nothing, absolutely nothing prepares you for that moment. Thats true. We were in between events i got a call and then we had no details and we were to stay put and another call get to the hospital. With 2000 Police Officers it is impossible to know them all but welcoming those people that was very chaotic and those three people in a botched robbery he was hit with the ak47. So to experience those nu