Takeaways from the 2023 mayoral debate between Cherelle Parker and David Oh

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Cherelle Parker and David Oh, who are running to be the next mayor of Philadelphia, faced off in a live debate at KYW Newsradio’s studios Thursday morning. It was the only planned debate of the campaign season between Parker, the Democratic nominee, and Oh, the Republican.

⏪ Listen to the full debate here | ▶️ Watch the full debate here

The candidates faced off on a variety of topics, including public safety, education, poverty and the opioid epidemic.

A major concern in the city, of course, is gun violence and how the next mayor will approach making Philadelphia a safer place to live. Both candidates support more rigorous enforcement of lower-level crimes, such as retail thefts and firearms violations, and they support hiring more police.

But they also talked about prosecution. Surprisingly, Oh said he would deputize attorneys to act as prosecutors if he felt District Attorney Larry Krasner was not prosecuting rigorously enough. That would be possible under state law, though obviously an extreme step.

Parker took a more collaborative tone when asked about working with the D.A. She said she would present to the public the cases that police send to the D.A.

There were few fireworks. Oh, a distinct underdog in a heavily Democratic city, advocated his viewpoints emphatically but didn’t directly challenge Parker, even when they disagreed. In fact, when moderator Ian Bush gave him the opportunity, he was complimentary.

"The last Republican to come close to toppling a Democrat in the mayor’s race is Sam Katz. He told the Inquirer that to win in Philadelphia, a Republican needs an unpalatable Democratic candidate. Is Cherelle Parker an unpalatable candidate?" Bush asked.

"No, no. She’s a good candidate," said Oh.

Parker, however, was a bit tougher on Oh. When she asked him a direct question toward the end, it hinted he had little to show for his years on council: "What programs are standing here in the city of Philadelphia that you have scaled citywide that are changing the lives of people?"

Oh pointed to legislation he introduced incentivizing employers to hire veterans and his work with the local music industry.

One of the more heated discussions was over the 76ers’ arena proposal in Chinatown. Oh has been vocal against it. When asked if he would approve if the Sixers built a stadium elsewhere, like Camden, he said that’s up to the Sixers organization. While she hasn’t definitively said she’s for the proposal, Parker said the Sixers belong in Philadelphia.

Critics of Philadelphia’s crime-fighting efforts say a reluctance to prosecute crimes — such as retail theft and gun violations — works against best practices for addressing violent crime. Both candidates support a more rigorous enforcement of lower-level offenses. Parker said the city must have a comprehensive approach to addressing public safety, and that, she said, starts with appointing a new police commissioner.

That commissioner “will ensure that while we have zero tolerance for any misuse and/or abuse of authority,” she said. “Our law enforcement officers, our police officers, they will be supported by the mayor in enforcing the law. With that being said, we need accountability. If the voters of Philadelphia elect me, we are going to implement a process called CompStat360. It is something that the police department does to ensure that its captain-level leadership responds on its plans to reduce crime.”

Oh believes not prosecuting what are considered low-level crimes has been a poor move by the Kenney administration.

“When it comes to the lawlessness, such as the ATVs and dirt bikes, that’s not low level, and many of them are brandishing weapons,” he said. “It creates an atmosphere of fear and fear of violence. They have to be dealt with. And so under the broken window theory, if we could deal with these problems at the beginning, show people that this is not something we’ll tolerate in our city, we will not have the influx of violations and violators that we are now dealing with.”

As for District Attorney Krasner, who is independently elected, Parker said there is power in transparency. She wants to make cases that police send to the D.A. open to the public.

“We have to have a comprehensive approach that doesn’t include finger-pointing,” she added.

As for Oh, he said he would have a frank conversation with Krasner — “I write his budget. His budget will be tight,” he said.

“The mayor is overall responsible for public safety in this city,” Oh continued. “The district attorney, who’s an independently elected official, he’s responsible for prosecution. But as mayor, I will lead the police department in ensuring that all laws are enforced — criminal laws, public safety laws, quality of life laws, and traffic laws. Police shall enforce all laws throughout our city.”

Parker prefers to call the stop-and-frisk policy "Terry stops," as stop-and-frisk has a negative undertone. Oh is not in support of Terry stops and doesn’t believe they can be done constitutionally.

“The reason Terry stops, or stop-and-frisk, does not produce results is because it’s used to harass and bully people,” he said.

Parker believes stop-and-frisk is something that should be done, and she doesn’t want to take any tools away from the Police Department. However, in the event that an officer abuses this power, particularly among young men of color, Parker said that officer or officers would be fired, as she has a zero-tolerance policy for such abuses.

Parker and Oh both fundamentally back improving Philadelphia’s public school system, first and foremost, but are also not opposed to including private, charter, parochial and other types of schools in the overall solution.

Oh: “I’m primarily concerned about quality education. I’m less concerned about whether it’s public, private, charter — whatever it is. I want to ensure that every child in our city has access to a good, quality school, and that if they have a choice, that they can use that choice. However, fundamentally, I want to have good public schools. I believe that a public education system is the best type of system for everyone.”

Parker: “Putting people on a path to self-sufficiency is the foundation of my candidacy. You can’t do that without access to quality public education. … That’s why this concept of traditional public versus charters, it’s not a narrative that I will allow in a Parker administration and not one I’ve employed during this campaign. As a matter of fact, for the first time in the history of our city, if the people of this city decided that I will be their mayor, we will bring together traditional public schools, traditional public charters, parochial schools, and even private schools, leadership to sit at the table [and] figure out if there’s any way for us to have synergy and learn from each other.”

Parker was vague on the city's aging school buildings, citing state Sen. Vincent Hughes’ estimation of $5 billion-plus to fix Philly school infrastructure, but she didn’t know what form that funding would take if realized. Oh was also vague, saying he wanted to create a “master plan” that would be acted upon, unlike ones in the past he said were not acted upon.

Both Parker and Oh agreed with potentially needing to close down more schools, if necessary.

Parker: “That is the rebuilding of new [schools], the environmental remediation of others. And we have to be able to drive those dollars through an efficient system in order to get them on the street, get those schools rebuilt, have our students trained by the building trades to do that building. Will it be in the form of a school board authority that’s an additional system or structure created? I’m not sure about that yet. We have to do more study.”

On closing down schools, she added, “It’s essential for right-sizing our district and it is true that environmental remediation is not enough. Some buildings need to be totally demolished and schools rebuilt — 21st-century modern buildings.”

Oh: “We need a master plan. We’ve had master plans in the past, but we haven’t taken action on them. I want a master plan. Some buildings are going to get demolished, some, they’re gonna get rehabbed. We need to ensure that every one of our children has an equal level of facilities, curriculum and resources to get a good quality education.”

During her campaign, Parker has proposed year-round school. That doesn’t mean 365 days a year — a week on, a couple weeks off. She said it wouldn’t be mandatory, but as mayor, she would propose that pilot program, which the school district is currently working on.

She said it would provide “access to year-round education for the children who are not all growing up, quite frankly, in perfect familiar environments.”

Oh, on the other hand, said that he does not think that year-round schools are a good idea. He supports the current calendar as it is, saying students need a break and time off to be with their families.

“They need time to grow their minds, their bodies. To have different experiences,” he added.

Parker wasn’t ready to rule one way or the other on the Sixers arena proposed for Chinatown. She wants more collaboration from not just the Chinatown community but also communities across the city about the potential economic impact. She was adamant about the Sixers needing to be in Philadelphia, though.

Oh said putting the arena in Chinatown was a bad idea because it would displace Chinatown, and he urged the Sixers to be more transparent about their plans for building a stadium. He did not express the same concern as Parker about the Sixers building the arena outside the city.

Parker: “I will continue to affirm that I will use a data-driven and research-based approach that will include both quantitative and qualitative data. … I will want to see diversity and inclusion from top to the bottom. … I want to hear a community approach, but the people in every neighborhood in the city will also have an opportunity to have their voices heard. An economic development project of this magnitude has to be vetted.”

Oh: “It’s just a bad idea in that location [Chinatown]. It’s inconsistent with what that location is. … It’s going to impact that entire area, including what can happen there, what won’t happen there, the property values, whether people can afford to live there or not, who’s going to invest and open up in that area. So it’s really incumbent upon the Sixers to give us a detailed plan.”

Oh faces an uphill climb due to the overwhelming voter registration advantage Democrats have in Philadelphia over Republicans — 776,863 to 116,027, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. The last Republican mayor of Philadelphia was Bernard Samuel, who served from 1941 to 1952.

Oh has support in varying parts of the city. He was a three-term City Council member-at-large before he resigned to run for mayor. Parker, who was a Pennsylvania state representative from 2005 to 2015, served two terms as City Council member for the 9th District. She came out on top in the Democratic primary in May by 10 percentage points.

“Both up to this point have demonstrated an ability to win citywide. I think that’s important,” said Mustafa Rashed, president and CEO of Bellevue Strategies. “Both of them have their bases that they believe will continue to support them and turn up and show out for them.”

If elected, both candidates would hold firsts: Parker would be the first woman elected Philadelphia’s mayor, and Oh would be the city’s first Asian American mayor.