Mayor's Race 2007: In City of Brotherly Love, Street brother runs

Milton Street says that Philadelphia has major problems, and that it should be up to a former hot-dog vendor and duck-boat tour operator to fix the city.

Last Thursday, the older brother of Mayor John Street announced he was entering this year's mayoral race as a Democrat, despite an upcoming federal tax-fraud and corruption trial that is scheduled to start May 14, the day before the Democratic primary.

In an interview yesterday, Street said he is ready to surmount the formidable challenges facing him and turn them into opportunities.

"The indictment against me is an asset, not a liability," he said, adding that it's a demonstration of his strength that he is willing to take on the burdens of running for mayor despite having to prepare for the upcoming trial, which is centered around his work as a consultant to a contractor for the Philadelphia International Airport. Prosecutors allege that he pocketed $2 million in fees and never reported or paid taxes on the income.

Street does have some political experience under his belt, both as a state representative and state senator. After being elected to the state Senate in 1980, he switched to the Republican party, giving the GOP control of the Senate.

He eventually mounted an unsuccessful challenge for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982.

He was finally ousted from elected office in 1984, when he lost his state Senate seat to welfare-rights activist Roxanne Jones.

Street tried to get back on the political saddle last year when he unsuccessfully tried to run for state representative for a second time.

Now, he says that a dearth of campaign funds - Street is unemployed - isn't going to deter him because, as he says, he's the only candidate who's "talking about black people cleaning up the black community" and who "has the balls" to face the city's problems.

To that effect, Street said he would, if elected, institute a sort of town watch system in which he would "deputize probably 5,000 community people" to act as "guardian angels" and watch for crime in their neighborhoods.

At the same time, he called other candidates' crime plans, especially that of state Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Phila.), "the biggest crock of shit that I ever heard" because of budgetary problems and the time it takes to hire the numbers of police officers the candidates call for.

But Street may have a hard time even getting on the ballot.

City election rules state that candidates must have been Philadelphia residents for three years to be eligible to run.

According to the federal indictment against him, Street resides on New Albany Road in Moorestown, N.J. Street himself listed that address on court papers related to an earlier bankruptcy filing.

Indeed, in the 2006 election, Street was declared ineligible to run for the state House because he wasn't a Pennsylvania resident.

Street, however, claims that he has never owned property in New Jersey and says that where he sleeps at night is different than where he lives.

His younger brother also doesn't seem to be rushing to his aid.

John Street, when asked on Friday about his brother's mayoral ambitions, declined to comment, saying through a spokesman that it was "premature" to be talking about a race that was still in its early stages.

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