Democratic Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker — who handily defeated Republican David Oh in this week’s mayoral election — has announced her plans for her first days as mayor and the team that will help her transition into Philadelphia’s highest office.
Parker — who will be the city’s first female mayor — detailed the transition process and the work she will be doing to prepare for the role, along with unveiling members of the leadership team that will help her with the effort, at a press event held Thursday.
“This process is to set the foundation for how we want to bring hope back to our city and we begin that today,” she said.
The 51-year-old Parker, a former city councilwoman who also served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia, will take over for fellow Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney, who is term-limited.
“I can’t think of a better person to become Philadelphia’s 100th mayor,” Kenney said during the morning event.
Parker said that the team that she has put together is made up of people who have been with her every step of the way as she secured the Democratic nomination and eventually the election.
She also noted that she wanted to build a team of diverse talent from all across the city.
“These are the people that you go to war with,” she said of her team.
As she listed the members who would take on specific roles, Parker said that she has yet to select a police commissioner.
“We are working through a process,” she said, noting that her team is looking at local and national candidates.
Parker promised that a selection for police commissioner would be the first personnel announcement she would make before taking office and she plans to make that announcement by Thanksgiving.
During the morning event, members of the transition team unveiled a website — transition2023.org — where people can submit resumes to be part of Parker’s administration when she takes office.
Also, when asked about the plan for a 76ers arena in Center City, Parker discussed a plan to create, what she called “Mayor’s Community Councils” throughout the city, where local residents could work together on neighborhood issues and bring concerns to her office.
She plans to have a community council in every City Council district.
“I am going to lean heavy on those Mayor’s Community Councils to help us with our fact gathering and information gathering,” she said.
She said she hopes to use these councils to get perspectives across the city when determining a decision on that arena.
“I will make sure the voice of the people in neighborhoods throughout the city are heard on that issue,” she said. “There will be no one voice that will dominate the discussions or the information that the mayor will review to make an informed decision.”
Parker is set to take office in January.
