Michael Nutter

Former 4th District Councilman, mayoral candidate, Democrat

by Brian Hickey

Suffice it to say, the good folks in City Paper's accounting department were none too pleased with the receipt from a recent Friday evening interview. But when you're the first of three mayoral candidates to 1) roll up on a "Cocktails With" interview sans handlers and 2) offer a toast to start the talk, a trio of $12 chardonnays is the least we can do. (Full disclosure: The interviewer's Guinness tally topped that by two — at a reasonable $6.50 a pop — making for a loose-tongued conversation during which a notebook never sat atop the fancy wooden bar.)

Such was the case with Michael Nutter, who's supposedly too smart and too buttoned-up to take over the second floor of City Hall from a man, and longtime rival, for whom he has nary a kind word.

Nutter made his way into the bar in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel's lobby around 7:45 p.m.; the smoking ban didn't come up until, oh, after 9:30 p.m. and when it did, I'm pretty sure he confirmed my stance that pro-ban advocates knew damn well that most taprooms wouldn't want to risk opening their tax books in order to get an exception. (For objectivity's sake, we'll pretend it didn't come up at all so as to give the ban's architect a fair shot.)

Nutter spent a good amount of time discussing why the current mayor's ego is destroying the city — the word "narcissist" came up, with emphasis — and how the press owes it to Philadelphians to investigate the smoke-and-mirrors resume of current front-runner Chaka Fattah, who, Nutter says, while boasting of bringing low-cost heating oil to Philly, fails to mention that he got it from Hugo Chavez.

If this guy's too buttoned-up — he does cop to thoroughly enjoying the Capital Grille scene — he does a hell of a job hiding it behind righteous indignation, like when I asked why he's so fixated on John Street. "He's there for another year, and so's the police commissioner," Nutter said. "Are we just going to waste an entire year? Are we just going to let the city rot away? They need to be held accountable."

He also finds the "too smart" label downright offensive; the people should want someone with a little mental capacity in charge. And when it comes to crime, he's the only candidate who, so far, has been gutsy enough to point out one of the biggest, albeit controversy-laden, reasons for the increases of recent years.

Paraphrased: Fifteen to 20 years ago, crack ravaged America's inner cities. Today, the children of crackheads are — you got it — 15 to 20 years old. Go ahead and try to argue that there isn't a connection. (Full disclosure: This came after I told him that I'm entirely behind his mind-set that it takes aggressive policing to address aggressive criminals.)

Scrolling through his electronic scheduler, Nutter concedes that, yes, he's running himself ragged. Though the following night will afford him a couple of hours to unwind at a friend's party, the days are filled with subway-stop handshaking, phone-call fundraising (about five hours a day) and campaign strategizing. He doesn't complain, though, since he knew what he was getting himself into when he became the first declared candidate last summer.

"I'm the one who gave up my day job," he said. "The day after the election, they can all go back to D.C. or Harrisburg."

So, will they be on their way back to those places? Nutter didn't make any predictions, but the ear-to-ear grin that came when I mentioned people were shocked when he released his ample fundraising figures last month said just two things: Underestimate me at your own risk, and sure, I'll have another wine.