Philly Natives/Florida Transplants: Resign Now, Mayor Kenney

As two proud Philadelphia natives who relocated to Florida, we're elated with the constant beauty and freedom of the Sunshine State.

However, our hearts will always be with our hometown — The City of Brotherly Love.  

Philadelphians are gritty and unique: We cherish our city deeply and passionately, despite its flaws. Lately, this exercise of unconditional love has become nearly impossible to maintain.

Skyrocketing crime, draconian lockdowns, failing schools, rising taxes, widespread purported political missteps and general negligence at the municipal level, at the hands of Democratic Mayor Jim Kenny have been noticed.

Things were bad and on the Fourth of July, but they became even worse.

As two Philadelphia police officers were being treated for gunshot wounds after a city Independence Day celebration, Kenney said: "I'll be happy when I'm not here — when I'm not mayor, and I can enjoy some stuff."

Philadelphia police officers were shot and this is what the mayor had to say? He is lamenting about his lack of joy? Sure, he tried to walk these statements back later with some insincere drivel that he is "grateful to be mayor" but he inserts his foot even deeper into his mouth by finishing by saying he "looks forward to a good night's sleep."

His words are inexcusable and to him we say: Resign Mayor Kenney, step aside and leave your office now.

Mayor Kenny didn't experience a temporary lapse in judgment with his words. Put bluntly, his career as a politician has not been up to par since he first entered public office in 1991 as a member of the city council.

Kenny held this position until 2015, serving over 20-plus years.

Then, he was literally forced to run for mayor by disgraced convict union boss John Dougherty ("Johnny Doc").

His first term was from 2016-2020 and he's now serving his second term which will end in 2024. As the leader of Philadelphia with so many years in public office, what has Jim Kenney done over the last two decades to actually improve the lives of the citizens he represents?

• Has gun violence been reduced? No.
• Has poverty declined? No.
• Has the city attracted new businesses to the city? No.

Under Mayor Kenney's leadership, homicides in the city of Philadelphia have risen for six straight years and the City is on pace to surpass 2021's homicides as well.

Throughout Mayor Kenney's terms as the 99th mayor of Philadelphia, he has routinely looked to play the blame game for the city's woes. Back in 2018, he famously celebrated Philadelphia becoming a sanctuary city. Throughout his career, he has always quickly pivoted to blaming Republicans in Harrisburg or Republicans in Washington, D.C., for the downfall of Philadelphia.

In the same interview referenced above, the mayor added, "If I had the ability to take care of guns I would. But the Legislature won't let us. The U.S. Congress won't let us. The governor does the best he can. Our attorney general does the best he can. But this is a gun country."

To that point, we ask the following questions:

• What is stopping the mayor from putting more police on the streets in the areas with the highest levels of gun violence?
• What is stopping the mayor from declaring a state of emergency on illegal guns in Philadelphia?
• What is stopping the mayor from reactivating the stop-and-frisk policy supported from previous Democrat mayors?

What is stopping the mayor from proactively reaching out to Republicans to ask for help i.e., more state funding?

Nothing is stopping him. He's the leader of the city with a Democratic-controlled City Council, but instead of improving life in the City of Brotherly love, he would rather attack Republicans then actually roll up his sleeves and fix the systematic problems within America's birthplace.

It seems that the aftermath of the Fourth of July Philadelphia tragedy may have resulted in Mayor Kenney's first bipartisan accomplishment. He has unified both Democrats and Republicans against him.

Elected leaders and candidates of every political persuasion are calling for his resignation from Democrat City Councilman Allan Domb to Democrat City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart to Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mehmet Oz.

It's time for Mayor Jim Kenney to step aside and more importantly, it's time for the citizens of Philadelphia to reclaim their great city. We may be known for booing Santa Claus, but these jeers should be redirected to the real culprit for Philly's misery, Mayor Jim Kenney.

Bryan E. Leib is the Executive Director of Iranian Americans for Liberty. Formerly, he served as the National Director for Americans Against Antisemitism and in 2018, he was a GOP Endorsed Congressional Candidate (PA-03). He tweets at @Bryan_E_Leib. Read Bryan E. Leib's Reports — More Here. 

Erin Elmore is an attorney, political commentator and analyst, spokesperson, TV guest, author and speaker.