Man of the hour: Northeast High School senior Donte Meares was named mayor for a day on Feb. 23. Meares, a member of the Tacony PAL, was among PAL kids from all over the city who were paired with the city’s top officials during the Police Athletic League’s 45th Day at City Hall.
Northeast High senior Donte Meares ran the city for a day last week … and he survived to tell about it.
Actually, he has plenty to tell.
“It was tremendous,” he said. “I’d do it again.”
Meares was named mayor for a day on Feb. 23, shadowing Mayor Michael Nutter as he went about the business of government. Meares, 17, a member of the Tacony PAL, was among PAL kids from all over the city who were paired with the city’s top officials during the Police Athletic League’s 45th Day at City Hall.
Three other Northeast PAL members were among the participants along with family and friends and the sea of blue of PAL center officers who proudly looked on.
Meares didn’t sign any official papers last week, he said, but stuck with the mayor as he met with staffers and other public officials.
The mayor, in his last year in office, talked with the Northeast High School senior about education and said he wanted to get more school supplies for the city’s students, Meares said.
Meares said the experience with the mayor taught him “to never to be afraid to show your passion for your interest.”
The mayor, he said, advised him to make a plan, work the plan, stick to the plan.
The young mayor even asked the question that many have been asking: What are the mayor’s plans after he leaves office next year? Meares said he was curious about that. He said the mayor told him he wasn’t sure yet, but probably will remain in politics.
Meares told Nutter he should consider running for president. He could do it, the student said.
PAL EXPERIENCE
Meares has been a member of the Tacony PAL center at Jackson and Aldine streets since he was 7 years old and made lifelong friends there, especially Officer Bill Schneider. He has been a mentor and a father figure, Meares said.
“Very early on, I realized that Bill made sure all activities were based on equal participation and equal playing time,” the young mayor said. “It didn’t matter how skilled you were or if you were a boy or a girl, the PAL programs were for everyone.”
Meares said he became hooked on PAL. “I signed up for every single activity, including flag football, soccer, basketball, and everything else going in the building because it gave me the go to stay away from negativity on the outside,” he said.
Along the way, Meares went to his first Phillies game, caught his first fish and met celebrities.
“I’ve even gotten my first leadership role as a PAL volunteer and support members at my center,” he said.
Meares hopes to study education or law after high school.
Other Northeast members in 2015 PAL Day at City Hall, sponsored by Lockheed Martin, were Naike Auguste of the Oxford Circle center, who shadowed Finance Director Rob Dubow; Joshua Nedby of the Wissinoming PAL, who followed Vincent Fenerty, executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority; and Ashley Kloter of Gibbons PAL, who tailed Inspector General Amy Kurland.
PAL Day at City Hill was co-founded by longtime PAL activist Sally Berlin in 1970. Berlin, who passed last year, was honored with a tribute and a commemorative plaque last week. Berlin’s friends and First Deputy Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson, a former PAL commanding officer, praised Berlin for her leadership.
Berlin, Mayor Nutter said, showed everyone “the power of one person,” and praised the PAL center officers for their “great work with young people.” ••
