CBS 3 Speaks With Phila. Mayoral Candidate Anthony Hardy Williams
By Jessica Dean
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – CBS 3 spoke with Philadelphia mayoral candidate Anthony Hardy Williams.
State Senator Williams says after years of work in Harrisburg, he's ready to lead the city of Philadelphia.
In the final weeks of the mayoral Democratic primary race, Anthony Hardy Williams grabbed the headlines with one comment.
"The person who unfortunately is the person who uses stop and frisk the most, the current Commissioner would be changed, we have to change the Commissioner of Philadelphia," said Williams.
Those words elicited strong reaction from the current Mayor.
"One of the smartest things that I've done is to ask Charles Ramsey to come and be the Police Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia and anyone who is not smart enough to at least ask him to stay is probably not smart enough to run this city," said Mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter.
At a press conference following that comment from Mayor Nutter, Williams said he would not engage in what he called name calling.
Instead he said this was about ending stop and frisk.
"I do respect Commissioner Ramsey. I think he's a good person. I think he was charged to implement a policy that now people have a negative perspective upon," he said.
When CBS 3's Jessica Dean sat down with him before all of this, he told Dean about other changes he wanted to make to the Philadelphia Police Department.
"When we negotiate with the FOP for next time, there should be a character clause that says no hate speech allowed. That means if we discover you're homophobic, sexist or racist, it comes out of your mouth and we find out about it, I don't care what the circumstances are, you should get fired," he said.
Williams began his career in business, but inspired by his father the honorable Hardy Williams, he soon entered public service first as a State Representative, then as a State Senator.
"I understand policy from my legislative experience, but I also recognize the next Mayor of Philadelphia will be dependent in some ways in terms of Harrisburg specifically around public schools and other resources that are important to the City of Philadelphia," he said.
He wants to see neighborhood schools thrive.
"That requires changing the building, and changing how it operates," he said.
And it's the duality of Philadelphia, full of haves and have nots, that Williams says pushes him to make those changes.
"It drives you in ways to find answers that you would not normally find answers, unconventional answers to unconventional issues," he said.
