U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle and state Reps. Kevin Boyle and Anthony Bellmon last Friday endorsed Cherelle Parker to be Philadelphia’s 100th mayor. The announcement took place outside Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 692, 14004 McNulty Road.
Brendan Boyle said “many fine people” are running and that it was “challenging” to make an endorsement. He served for six years in the state House with Parker, who was the Philadelphia Democratic delegation leader. His congressional district includes areas where Parker represented in City Council.
“She will be a fantastic mayor,” he said.
Kevin Boyle described Parker as a coalition builder. He pointed to Parker’s resume, which includes time as a Council staffer before being elected to the state House and Council.
“It’s not even close. She laps the field,” he said.
Bellmon is a former Brendan Boyle staffer, longtime resident of Olney – where the Boyles were raised – and a former constituent of Parker. He said she will help make Philadelphia’s neighborhoods cleaner.
Parker said she will use her intergovernmental relationships and will benefit by being able to pick up the phone and call Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
If elected, Parker vows to make Philadelphia the “safest, cleanest, greenest” city. She’ll use what she says is every constitutional and legal tool to fight crime. She plans to ask President Joe Biden and Gov. Josh Shapiro for help on the issue of public safety, including the drug crisis in Kensington. She favors more community policing, with cops walking a beat and riding bicycles. ••
