Fitler Square is a 0.5 acre (0.20 ha) public park in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States and a surrounding neighborhood of the same name. The square is bounded on the east by 23rd Street, on the west by 24th Street, on the north by Panama Street, and on the south by Pine Street. The neighborhood encompasses much of southwest Center City west of Rittenhouse Square and east of the Schuylkill River .
26-632: Fitler Square was named for late 19th century Philadelphia mayor Edwin Henry Fitler shortly after his death in 1896. The square lies on land owned by the City of Philadelphia, via the Department of Parks and Recreation, and is cared for through a public private partnership between the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Fitler Square Improvement Association. The name Fitler Square
52-685: A higher price. Since 1981, of six council members convicted of misconduct all revolved around land-use. Critics of councilmanic prerogative argue that it undermines government transparency and accountability, often operating in obscurity, thereby hindering development, fostering public mistrust, favoring political insiders, and allowing narrow interests to override broader city goals. District council members argue that prerogative appropriately empowers elected representatives to oversee land use projects, allowing them to safeguard their communities' interests, enhance development quality, and secure funding for local initiatives, based on their intimate knowledge of
78-479: A list of ethics statements, including a call for fair redistricting, which should take place after the 2010 United States Census . In 2011, the council approved a redistricting map with more compact boundaries, eliminating the gerrymandered borders of the 5th and 7th districts; it took effect for the 2015 elections. Councilmanic prerogative is the legislative practice where a Philadelphia city council member has final say over land use in their district. Chicago has
104-468: A new election was scheduled, and Attwood was reelected to a second term. In 1826, the Philadelphia City Council altered its protocols for electing a mayor, permitting any Philadelphia citizen to run for the office. Beginning in 1839, mayors were elected by popular vote. If no candidate won a majority of the popular vote, then the joint Councils (Select and Common) determined the winner between
130-472: A second term. Subsequent mayors, who held office for one year, were elected by the Philadelphia City Council. The initial mayors of Philadelphia were not compensated and candidates sometimes objected strongly to being selected to the position, sometimes choosing even to pay a fine rather than serve in the position. In 1704, alderman Griffith Jones was elected but declined to serve, for which he
156-471: A short walk of the commercial areas of Center City. A sculpture of three turtles adorn the park made by Philadelphia artist Eric Berg along with sculptures of a Grizzly Bear and a Ram. The center of the park is dominated by a Victorian-era fountain which flows most of the year. Prior to 2010, this fountain, like many in Philadelphia , flowed fresh water from the main directly into the sewer system. In 2010,
182-582: A similar practice called aldermanic prerogative . This unwritten practice affords council people who represent a geographically defined district unchecked power over land use decisions as it’s custom for the 16 other council members to defer to them. A Pew study from 2015 uncovered that 726 of 730 Council votes on land use decisions were unanimous with only six total dissenting votes. This system can lead to conflicts of interest between council members and developers who want to change land use zoning or want to buy property below market rates in order to sell it at
208-628: Is also used to describe the neighborhood surrounding the square, bounded roughly by 21st Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Locust Street on the north, and South Street on the south. To the east of this neighborhood is the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood; to the west is the University City neighborhood, home to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University ; to
234-721: The Fitler Square Improvement Association engaged a large project at a cost of approximately $ 40,000 funded by neighborhood donations and a $ 7,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to change the fountain into one that recirculates all of its water with a pumping system saving huge amounts of water each year. The Philadelphia School, a private institution, is located in the Fitler Square Neighborhood at 2501 Lombard St. The school, which originally opened in 1972, offers preschool through 8th grade classes. The Free Library of Philadelphia operates
260-526: The Philadelphia City Institute on the first floor and lower level of an apartment complex at 1905 Locust Street. List of mayors of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Cherelle Parker , who is the first woman to hold
286-541: The Proprietor's Charter of 1701, constituted the city as a municipal corporation with a non-elected council made up of major city officials who selected their own successors. The colonial city government was abolished during the American Revolution and replaced in 1789 with an elected council including fifteen aldermen and thirty common councillors; these then elected a mayor and recorder who also were members of
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#1732851100060312-407: The adoption of a Home Rule charter in 1951. The 1951 Home Rule Charter established the council as the legislative arm of Philadelphia municipal government, consisting of seventeen members. Ten council members are elected by district and seven from the city at large. At-large council members are elected using limited voting with limited nomination in which voters may only select five candidates on
338-467: The ballot, and which guarantees that two minority-party or independent candidates are elected. Each is elected for a term of four years with no limit on the number of terms that may be served. The members of City Council elect from among themselves a president, who serves as the regular chairperson of council meetings. In consultation with the majority of council members, the President appoints members to
364-793: The city's Home Rule Charter established a two-term limit for Philadelphia mayors. The term limit is consecutive, not lifetime. The mayor of Philadelphia has been held by Democrats for over seven decades, since 1952. The only Republican who has been competitive in the general election for mayor since then was Sam Katz , who came within half a percentage point of being the first Republican mayor of Philadelphia elected in 1999 . Democratic (18) Democratic-Republican (4) Federalist (6) Keystone (1) National Republican (2) Republican (19) Whig (5) Books Websites Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council ,
390-558: The committee, printed as reported by the committee, distributed to the members of the council, and made available to the public. Passage of a bill requires the favorable vote of a majority of all members. A bill becomes law upon the approval of the mayor. If the mayor vetoes a bill, the council may override the veto by a two-thirds vote. Under the rules of the council, regular public sessions are held weekly, usually on Thursday morning at 10:00am, in Room 400, City Hall . Council normally breaks for
416-545: The council. In 1796, a bicameral city council was created including a 20-member Common Council elected annually and 12-member Select Council elected every three years; the sizes of both bodies increased with the population of the city, peaking at 149 members of Common Council and 41 in Select Council, the largest municipal legislature in the US. It was replaced with a single 21-member chamber in 1919, which remained in effect until
442-509: The legislative body of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each member's term is four years, and there are no limits on the number of terms a member may serve. While William Penn 's original 1691 charter for the city of Philadelphia included a "common council" with appointed members, no records exist of this body ever having been convened. Its successor,
468-405: The mid-1950s, The Center City Residents' Association successfully petitioned Mayor Clark to do something about the decline of the neighborhood. Working together, they freed up mortgage money for the construction of new homes and rehabilitation of the neighborhood. Also threatening the neighborhood was the proposed Crosstown Expressway . The threat of its construction, which would demolish much of
494-495: The most-often-elected (16 times, including refusals) and longest-serving (14 years) mayor in Philadelphia history. In 1747, at the request of retiring Mayor William Attwood, Council resolved to institute an annual salary of 100 pounds for the office. The same year, Anthony Morris secretly fled to Bucks County to avoid being notified of his election as the city's mayor. When he could not be located after three days of searching,
520-485: The neighborhood, was enough to reduce property values and add to the neighborhood's blight. The Residents' Association was successful in changing these plans and in the following years the neighborhood drastically improved largely due to efforts of the Center City Residents' Association and the Fitler Square Improvement Association. The neighborhood is mostly residential, composed of single-family homes, and within
546-485: The position. The first mayor of Philadelphia was Humphrey Morrey , who was appointed to the position by William Penn , the founder of the city and the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania , which became the state of Pennsylvania following the American Revolutionary War . Penn subsequently appointed Edward Shippen under the city charter of 1701. The Philadelphia City Council then elected Shippen to
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#1732851100060572-450: The south is Southwest Center City (also known as "South of South" or the "Graduate Hospital Area"). The portion of Center City surrounding Fitler Square and nearby Rittenhouse Square is sometimes referred to as "Rit-Fit" after the two parks. Before the 1950s, the neighborhood was a prime example of the urban blight that had overcome much of the city. The park itself was described as a "mudhole inhabited by drunks and empty bottles". In
598-409: The summer months of July and August. In a 2006 computer study of local and state legislative districts, two of the city's ten council districts, the 5th and the 7th, were found to be among the least compact districts in the nation, giving rise to suspicions of gerrymandering . The Committee of Seventy , a non-partisan watchdog group for local elections, asked candidates for council in 2007 to support
624-475: The two leading candidates. John Swift was the first mayor to be elected directly by the people in the 1840 Philadelphia mayoral election . The term of office for the mayor was extended to two years in 1854, to three years in 1861, and to four years in 1885. The Act of 1885 also prohibited mayors from succeeding themselves. The consecutive term limitation for mayor was lifted in the 1940s, which permitted incumbent Bernard Samuel to run for reelection. In 1951,
650-411: The various standing committees of the council. The president is also responsible for selecting and overseeing most Council employees. Every proposed ordinance is in the form of a bill introduced by a Council member. Before a bill can be enacted, it must be referred by the president of the council to an appropriate standing committee, considered at a public hearing and public meeting, reported out by
676-678: Was fined twenty pounds. In 1706, Thomas Story , also an alderman, was similarly fined for refusing office. In 1745, Abraham Taylor, a Philadelphia alderman, was fined thirty pounds for refusing to assume the office. The city council then elected Joseph Turner , who also refused and was likewise fined. Others who refused election included Richard Hill (1717), Issac Norris (1722), John Mifflin, and Alexander Stedman. In other cases, William Coxe pleaded illness (1758), Samuel Mifflin (1761), William Coxe and Daniel Benezet (1762), and John Barclay and George Roberts (1792). Robert Wharton declined in 1800 and 1811, and ended up 14 one-year terms, making him
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