Features: Who Really Runs This Town?

15. Arlen Specter
Republican U.S. Senator.
Rank in 2000: 12

He may be less obvious about pushing those $1 million line items than our other Republican senator, but Specter’s impressive clout in Congress brings windfalls for the city in bigger and more subtle ways — as when he led the drive to up the budget for the National Institutes of Health, a major funder of medical research at Penn and Drexel. And his early years in local law and politics guarantee a long legacy of local influence through protégés like federal Judge Michael Baylson, who presided over this year’s corruption trial, and Governor Rendell, who worked in Specter’s D.A.’s office.

Strengths: As Specter, 75, proved once again last November, he is virtually unbeatable.

Weaknesses: His huge national presence is a double-edged sword: On the one hand, our guy’s leading the Supreme Court nomination hearings. On the other, his focus hasn’t been on local issues for a long time.

16. Paul Vallas
CEO, School District of Philadelphia.
Rank in 2000: Not on list

It’s still too soon to call Vallas’s ambitious plan for Philly’s ailing schools a success, but he is the only superintendent in recent memory to actually make things better. Vallas, 52, is a former Democratic candidate for Illinois governor, and his outsider status seems to help as he gracefully crosses party lines to work with Republicans; he’s maintained historic good ties with teachers union leader Ted Kirsch, with whom he recently negotiated a tough contract, and he’s present at every school tragedy or triumph, a ubiquitous cheerleader in the vein of Ed Rendell.

Strength: A magnetic speaker who always stays on message, no matter how hostile his audience.

Weakness: Doesn’t always surround himself with a staff able to follow up on his promises.

17. Chaka Fattah
U.S. Congressman.
Rank in 2000: 16

Now in his sixth term in Congress, Fattah, 48, sits on the House Appropriations Committee, which is an inside-the-Beltway term for “Show my district the money!” Still, Fattah’s clout is confirmed more by what hasn’t happened than by what has. He’s missed more votes in Congress than any other local congressman and is often absent from the Capitol building altogether. “Running for mayor is the best thing he is doing,” one civic leader says. But even then, Fattah has a lot to prove. In September, as he announced in seven different press conferences, he scored $17.5 million for local transportation programs. But at the same time, he failed to get a much-needed $41.5 million for the school district under a national program, GEAR UP, that he himself created. Fattah would be the odds-on favorite for the mayor’s race in ’07 the second he announced.

Strength: Prodigious fund-raiser with powerful friends; would likely be the favored candidate of both John Street and Ed Rendell.

Weakness: When does a measured approach over entering the race begin to look like Wilson Goode-esque paralysis?

18. Ron Rubin
CEO, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust.
Rank in 2000: 21

An iconic power broker and veteran of these lists, 74-year-old Ron Rubin has saved some of his best for the past five years, if you ask his shareholders. Following a divestiture of some residential holdings and the acquisition of the Gallery and more than 30 other shopping malls, the Rubin-run PREIT has seen its stock price triple and holdings expand to over 30 million square feet of retail. So while his DisneyQuest deal became an infamous hole and PREIT hasn’t pulled off any stunning gambles on par with his rescue of the Bellevue after the Legionnaires’ tragedy in 1976, Rubin is as powerful as ever. He seems to have long foreseen the shaky future of the department stores that anchor PREIT’s malls and has developed strong relationships with stores like Best Buy, Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble to pick up the slack.

Strength: Rubin’s the rare dealmaker who’s honest enough to earn the trust of Wall Street’s biggest fund managers, yet savvy enough to push his projects through City Hall.

Weakness: Seems far more concerned with his own bottom line than with the city’s fortunes, as he angles for a piece of the slot action on East Market Street.

19. Stephen Steinour
chairman, mid-atlantic regional banking, citizens bank.
Rank in 2000: Not on list

He doesn’t have the profile of Vernon Hill or Hugh Long, but under Steinour, 47, Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania has taken cues from both the area’s top banks, expanding hours, simplifying accounts, stressing service, and becoming second only to Wachovia in total Philadelphia-area deposits. Since his arrival here in 2001, Steinour’s grassroots altruism has quietly made its mark on Philadelphia’s political landscape; he’s spent Citizens resources in the trenches of community redevelopment, partnering with Street and Rendell to offer hundreds of millions of dollars in low-interest loans for job creation and small businesses. In the past year, he’s emerged as a bona fide political player, vigorously campaigning for cuts in the business privilege tax.

Strength: Marketing. Has done everything from paying the Phillies $95 million, in part for stadium naming rights, to handing out free SEPTA tokens to push the Citizens brand.

Weakness: Steinour is too high-minded (or too new in town) to compete in our pay-to-play marketplace, which means most of City Hall’s lucrative banking and bond gigs go to competitors.