PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Former Pennsylvania state Sen. T. Milton Street Sr. has died at the age of 81. He was a fixture in city politics — and often a source of amusement — for more than 40 years. The cause of death has not been revealed.
Street served in the state House as a Democrat and in the state Senate, from 1981 to 1984, as a Republican, and ran unsuccessfully for several elected offices as a member of either party.
He was the brother of former Philadelphia Mayor John Street and a frequent candidate for mayor himself. Milton was an activist, a legislator, a colorful speaker, a champion of the little guy — but, above all, he was a showman.
A moment from 15 years ago seems to encapsulate his unique brand of politics: Appearing on stage with a casket, announcing his first bid for mayor, while defending himself against charges of tax evasion, he burst into the hymn "If I Can Help Somebody."
"Much like Frank Sinatra, my uncle did it his own way," State Sen. Sharif Street told KYW Newsradio.
Shenanigans were his stock in trade, going back to 1975, when and Milton was selling hot dogs from a cart on the Temple University campus and City Council was considering a bill to limit street vending. Frank Rizzo was mayor. Former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady was sergeant-at-arms and remembers the flamboyant disruption of a Council meeting that launched Milton’s career in politics.
"They told me they're gonna jump over the rail, they're gonna run right up to me and then stop dead. So they never got nobody hurt, we had a good time, and I got on TV," Brady said.
Related: Sen. Sharif Street remembers his uncle
'His own way'
As a community activist, says Sharif, his uncle campaigned against the violence of the city and advocated for economic equality and political accessibility for small businesses, people of color, people who are homeless and working families.
"He talked about a hot dog vendor who believed that the rights of regular folks should be respected. At the time when he took on the Rizzo administration, it was earth shattering and transformative," said Sharif.
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In an announcement Monday on Facebook, Sharif wrote: “He fought to break down barriers and visualized ways government could work for everyday folks by enacting change through policy regardless of political affiliation.”
In 1978, running as a Democrat, Street was elected to the Pennsylvania House, representing the 181st District in North Philadelphia.
“Lo and behold, he found out that being part of the establishment would really allow him to get some stuff done,” said City Council President Darrell Clarke, an early acolyte of Milton the activist.
Two years later, Milton was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate and, shortly thereafter, switched affiliation to the Republican Party to give them control of the chamber.
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He ran unsuccessfully for Congress, as a Democrat, against incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Gray in 1982. Then in 1984, he lost his bid as a Democratic candidate for re-election to the state Senate.
Milton would never hold elective office again, but he never stopped trying, and he never stopped the antics that brought him and his brother John to civic life. The two were once involved in a fist fight in City Council, but Councilmember Brian O’Neill says Milton was always a loyal supporter of his brother and looked out for him.
“He would put John ahead of himself to make sure — Milton may have been the one getting negative headlines, but John was the one moving up,” O’Neill said.
John became mayor in 2000.
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Through the 1990s, Milton built his business ventures, including as a consultant for Super Ducks, a competitor to amphibious tour bus company Ride the Ducks, and through various contracts with the city and Philadelphia International Airport.
A complicated, but undeniable, legacy
In 2006, he was charged with corruption and tax evasion related to a contract with the airport. At his trial, he defended his actions as a form of protest, claiming the federal income tax was illegal. In 2008, he was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
It was while awaiting trial in 2007 that Milton declared his candidacy for mayor. Less than a week later, however, he withdrew and ran instead, unsuccessfully, for an at-large seat on City Council, pitting himself against a slew of candidates, including Sharif.
Milton ran for mayor again in 2011 and 2015, losing both times in the Democratic primary to Michael Nutter and Jim Kenney, respectively, and in 2019, as an independent write-in candidate.
In 2018, he ran for his old seat in the state Senate, this time as a Republican, but he lost to Democrat Malcolm Kenyatta.
In the end, said Sharif, many Philadelphia politicians are a "direct or indirect product of his legacy," including himself, his father, Kenyatta, Clark.
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John returned Milton’s support recently while Milton was sick. “My dad spent every day with him for the last year,” said Sharif.
“He had one personality. It was just — what you saw was what you got. He did not have an on-and-off personality. He was always Milton Street.”