PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city’s inauguration ceremony takes place on Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 10 a.m. — when Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker will take up the mantle of Philadelphia’s 100th mayor and City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson will become City Council president.
Mayor Jim Kenney’s term ends on Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m., and Parker’s begins at midnight. However, the inauguration ceremony, at the Philadelphia Met on North Broad Street, is being delayed until Tuesday out of consideration for the Mummers Parade on Monday. Parker, Johnson, 16 other Council members and several other elected officials will also be sworn in.
Awaiting those elected officials: numerous challenges, including gun violence, an opioid crisis, education funding, economic inequality, rising housing costs, infrastructure. Many Philadelphians know exactly what they want to see out of City Hall in the next few years.
“I'd like to see education addressed,” said Bill Keeney, a Philadelphia teacher. “You know, we're looking at kids who don't have an opportunity to get out, they've got nowhere to go.”
He and his wife, Virginia Smith, say they are hoping to see a cycle of problems addressed. Keeney says the city needs to level out economic inequality, which he says is driving crime rates and other social problems.
“I would have said income inequality,” said Smith, “ but I agree with my husband that there's just a core of these cyclical issues feeding into one another. I would like to see traditionally marginalized populations get a chance — via education, via green job opportunities, whatever — to get themselves out of where they've been placed.”
Ohio Faizon said he wants to see the incoming government focus on the people.
“This city, the city needs work. This is a hub. This is the City of Brotherly Love,” he said.
“One thing I know for certain is the minimum wage is not increasing right now, and that's a problem for a lot of people out here.”
Alex from West Philly has a simple list for the new mayor. “Clean up the streets — like get all these drugs off the streets and get the crime rate down. Have better schools for these kids — like, more funding for school, way more funding.”