The city mayor who knows his job

Dante’s philosophy quoted here is framed in the Philadelphia Mayor’s main conference room wall at the City Hall.

Let me put things into perspective first.

The City Hall is slap bam in the heart of Philadelphia, a centuries old hulk of a building with beautiful stone masonry gracing its four feet thick external walls.

My other Eisenhower fellows and I had a meeting with Mayor Nutter, the affable Black American mayor of the city whose leadership style in times of deep economic recession is worthy of mention.

Having gone through a strict but expedited security check, we went to the Mayor’s offices where the only people we found were two armed security guards with guns hanging off waist holsters that strained around their ample girth as they shared a tub of ice-cream.

We walked down a 20-foot wide corridor, silent but for the sounds of the guards’ spoons knocking against each other, which was lined on both sides with glass boxes showcasing art work from various Philadelphia sculptors and painters, a tribute to the dedication of the Mayor to promote the City as a centre of art.

The Mayor was 30 minutes late for the meeting, but we didn’t even notice the time fly as we were entertained by his diminutive but clearly smart Chief of Staff, who regaled us with stories of City Hall.

He did it with such ease, succeeding in his goal of diffusing the tension of waiting.

The Mayor entered and went round the room shaking hands with 18 people from different countries all over the world.

Call it a politician’s good graces (as if those exist!) but he actually remembered everyone either by name or country of origin as he had been given a pre-reading pack with the Fellows’ biographies.

It didn’t matter that we knew he had our biographies on his office desk, just having him stop, look you in the eye and mention something personal or country specific to what was to him a) a total stranger and b) not a registered Philadelphia voter and therefore not politically relevant, was commendable.

As we sat down to begin the meeting, he brought conversation to a screeching halt. What, no water for the visitors?

Up and off he went, disappearing into what seemed like a hole in the wall, but was actually a cleverly hidden narrow pathway into a kitchenette between his own office and the conference room.

He returned triumphantly a few minutes later holding several water bottles that he distributed to the visitors.

The mayor’s easy-going style, complete lack of self importance and palpable passion when talking about his city was as endearing as it was admirable.