Jan 7, 2008 11:58 pm US/Eastern
Nutter Sworn In As Mayor; Promises Change
PHILADELPHIA (CBS3/AP) ―
Michael Nutter confirmed his strong stance against city violence as he was sworn in as Philadelphia's 98th Mayor at the Academy of Music Monday morning.
Mayor-elect Michael Nutter took the oath of office just before 10 a.m. with his family his side.
"This is our city and we are taking it back: every day, every block, every neighborhood, everywhere in Philadelphia. I've had enough and I'm not playing around about it," he emphatically stated during his inaugural address.
In Nutter's first executive order, signed shortly after he took the oath of office, he declared a "crime emergency." Noting there were an average of five shootings a day in the city last year, the order gives newly sworn police Commissioner Charles Ramsey until Jan. 30 to develop a plan for combating the problem.
Reporting to City Hall everyday will be nothing new for the 50-year-old St. Joseph's Prep grad.
Nutter has been roaming the hallways of City Hall since 1992, where he served over 15 years on the City Council.
Nutter said he plans to have an intense first 100 days in office in order to get the ball rolling in the City of Brotherly Love.
"We have to have a safe city. We have to refocus on education and on our parents getting back involved the lives of their children. We have to create jobs and economic opportunity," Nutter said.
Nutter, who replaces the term-limited John Street, ran as a reformer and sharply criticized what many feel is a deeply entrenched pay-to-play culture at City Hall. The Democratic former city councilman defeated Republican challenger Al Taubenberger by a 4-1 margin in the November election.
Still, the most serious issue facing Nutter is murder. The homicide rate in Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city, exceeds that of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other large U.S. cities.
He advocates controversial "stop, question and frisk" searches to fight crime in violent neighborhoods.
The tactic is supported by former District of Columbia police Chief Charles Ramsey, Nutter's choice to replace retiring Philadelphia police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson. Some worry, however, that it violates civil liberties and will erode trust between residents and police.
Nutter, 50, is also concerned with how Philadelphia is perceived, both by outsiders and its more than 1.4 million residents. He has said he wants make Philadelphia fun and play the cheerleading role embraced by Ed Rendell during his tenure as mayor from 1992-99.
Even as Nutter called Philadelphia a "filthy mess" during the campaign and pledged a citywide cleanup, he noted residents have an unjustified inferiority complex.
Following the inauguration, all but one of Nutter's cabinet members were sworn in at City Hall.
Camille Cates Barnett, the incoming managing director, did not attend because she was preparing for her husband's funeral, set for Tuesday. James Barnett died in a car accident last week as he traveled from the couple's home in Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia.
After the cabinet swearing-in, Nutter attended a luncheon for students and mentors, followed by inauguration festivities at the Philadelphia Navy Yard -- now a mix of office and manufacturing space.
On Tuesday, he plans to hold an open house at City Hall, where members of the public can meet him in a receiving line.
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