Mayor John Linder was interviewed today by
Phil Allen for nearly an hour on WURD 900 AM black talk radio. Since we’re in
the middle of the dog days of summer, why not review the mayor’s performance
like a softball box score (softball because those were the type of questioned
asked).
The interview opened with Phil Allen
gushing about how he likes Mayor Linder. He mentioned that the mayor is not a
politician but an educator. Mayor Linder hit it out the park by graciously
receiving the compliment and skillfully detailing how he transitioned from
education to politics.
2nd Inning - Strike out looking
When asked what has changed in Chester
public housing in the last 25 years, the mayor went on a tangent talking about
crime across America and all the issues other cities are having. That moved the
host to start talking about crime. The smarter answer would have been to
highlight the total revitalization/renovation of Chester pubic housing, giving
people more pride in their surroundings – or something along those lines. No
one can say that the Fair Grounds, Lamokin Village, and the William Penn
projects don’t look 100% better than they did 25 years ago. Even the Bennett
received a facelift. By taking the discussion to crime and not to the rebuilding,
the mayor missed out on a great opportunity to give Chester a big pat on the
back.
3rd Inning – Single
It was a close play at first on the
dribbler to the mound, but I’ll give him a hit. When asked about the schools,
the mayor did an excellent job explaining that city politics plays no
leadership or fiscal role in the school district. He explained how, as mayor,
the city’s concern is for the school aged kids. His liaison staff has been
charged to work with the school district. If he had stopped there, he probably
would have rounded the bases, but he stumbled trying to discuss deficits,
funding analysis, and new fiscal formulas. If you’re not involved in school
concerns, keep quiet. Tell us more about what you’re doing for the school aged
kids.
4th Inning – Pop fly out to the
infield
When asked about the impact of Harrah’s,
PPL Park, and the waterfront development, the mayor did a good job praising
Harrah’s for their injection of much needed new revenue and their impact on
getting 50% more Chester residents enrolled at Delaware County Community
College. He sited PPL as Chester’s eye candy but not much on bringing in big
bucks. So, he did hit the ball. But, he needlessly brought up the fight to get
a parking/amusement tax enacted. He responded to waterfront development around
PPL Park with the practice fields the soccer team is building. Even the host
wasn’t buying that one. He could have
easily knocked that one out the park by simply explaining that Harrah’s and PPL
Park are a few attractions we look to grow and develop to show others how and
why they should become interested in doing business with Chester.
5th Inning – Strike out swinging
When asked about the state of the black
economy in Chester, the mayor took one good swing by claiming that he’s pushing
for an entrepreneur community. Then, he just swung and missed badly talking
about getting people ready for jobs in the same sentence as getting people
ready to own their own businesses. He took another bad whiff when he jumped to
talking about new supermarkets. I was hoping he’d highlight the successful
black businesses in Chester and the support they get from the community. With
more businesses like them, and more support from the community, the black
business economy will continue to grow.
6th Inning – Home run
When asked about his wife’s carjacking
incident, the mayor gave just enough detail to make the first timer intrigued
with the story. His best line of the entire interview was in this inning when
he said that when his wife came running to the front door after being
confronted by the carjackers, she wasn’t coming for the mayor, she was coming
for her husband. (And the crowd stood to their feet and cheered as the ball
cleared the fence on that statement).
Game Recap
With 2 runs on 3 hits and 1 man left on
base, it wasn’t a bad outing for the mayor. Maybe by the trade deadline we can
find a few designated hitters who can effectively promote Chester and do more
image building than damage control.
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