Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Administration reached its 100th day in office as of Thursday, April 11, 2024. To observe the work accomplished by her Administration in these first 100 days, Mayor Parker held a press conference in Kensington, one of the hardest-hit areas of our city, on April 11, 2024.
The Mayor commented, “We are here today to announce the beginning of the Parker Administration’s plans to fulfill my promise to the people of Philadelphia: That, together, we will create a safer, cleaner, and greener Philadelphia with access to economic opportunity for all. Before I give you the highlights of what’s coming, I want to speak to you all, as Mayor, about what these first 100 days have been like for me personally. If I’m being very truthful and direct with you, the emotion that I have felt the most has been when I’ve been sitting in that historic office, sitting in that chair, that people told me I shouldn’t say out loud because I was a woman and if I said it out loud, people would think that I was weak. I don’t mind sharing with you that I feel extremely vulnerable.
Mayor Parker continued, “I feel vulnerable because I don’t care how clearly I’ve communicated my vision, for a safer, cleaner and greener city, with access to economic opportunity for all, with a government that people can see, touch and feel, the fact of the matter is, none of it becomes a reality, just because the Mayor says so. It’s about assembling a talented group of men and women to help lead the effort. Every day, no matter what you hear, my big three, Chief of Staff, Tiffany Thurmon, Chief Deputy Mayors Sincere Harris, and Aaron Pratt, and it really should be the big four because I don’t walk or talk or do anything without Tonyelle Cook-Artist. They are working to ensure that the goals of this Administration are met. Change is difficult. And whenever you’re trying to change culture, it isn’t easy. It makes people uncomfortable when you’re trying to change it. And we’re trying to do a few things a little differently. I’m not trying to make anybody feel uncomfortable. I’m just trying to deliver support and services in a way that’s reflective of how this Administration is trying to deliver services.
To the people of our great city, I want to say this to you directly–pay close attention to the people who seem to get warm and fuzzy when something goes wrong. If they’re not fully engaged in some way, shape, or form in trying to make our city better, in their daily ongoings, none of us should be proud of something that we are offering as solutions that we are outing on the table, is not working as effectively or as efficiently as we desire, our job is to correct it. Our job is to do everything we possibly can to ensure that we are maximizing the use of scarce government resources and doing it to the best of our ability.
I will never allow naysayers, purveyors of negativity, to interfere with our ability to make good on the promise that I made to you, the people of the City of Philadelphia. As long as they see us doing the best that we possibly can to deliver a government that they can see, touch, and feel in the neighborhoods where they live, where they can see their tax dollars at work in their neighborhoods. I believe they will support us the best way that they possibly can.
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