Bunch Of People You Don’t Know Want Michael Nutter’s Job

Yesterday, Michael Nutter officially declared he was stepping down from City Council and running for mayor. That means there are only 14 council members, and since nine votes are required for legislation to pass… well, there might not be much legislation passin’ until 2007.

One could argue this is good. Gridlock! They can’t screw anything up! One would probably be right. But some want a special election to fill the seats of Nutter, Rick Mariano and the late David Cohen. And Nutter’s replacements are already lining up, according to the Inquirer. They name several possible replacements, notably W. Wilson Goode, who lives in Nutter’s district and could move from his at-large seat. Ward leader Louis Agre says he’s considering it — “And it should be a ward leader from the area who fills the seat. I wouldn’t mind the job myself. I’m planning on considering it.” — which means he really wants the job.

Will City Council have a special election in November? (The candidates would be picked by ward leaders. Oh, goodie.) City Council prez Anna Verna isn’t saying, which probably means no. Or yes. Basically, I wrote about this so I could share this paragraph from today’s Inquirer:

Fattah, who has been listed as the presumptive front-runner, said in a statement that he wished Nutter well. FattahNutter, whose Council term would have ended at the end of next year, represents the Fourth District, which includes parts of Manayunk, West Philadelphia and Roxborough.

Tee hee. FattahNutter kind of sounds like a really good brand of cookie.

Nutter move sparks Democratic scramble [Inky]
Contenders start to emerge to fill Nutter’s Council spot [Inky]