PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Whether on the campaign trail or during her victory speech on election night, Cherelle Parker has made her priorities clear: to make Philadelphia the “safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the country.”
Parker on Tuesday will make history when she’s sworn in as the first woman and first Black woman to run Philadelphia as its mayor.
But how did she get to this moment?
“It does move me when I think about my very humble beginnings,” Parker told CBS Philadelphia anchor Ukee Washington before her election.
Speaking at the Simons Recreation Center in West Oak Lane where she was raised, Parker said, “Lots of times, people hear me refer to my upbringing and those outside of my family being a part of my village. And, this was a significant part of the village.”
Parker was born to a single teenage mother and raised by her grandparents James and Dorothy Parker.
She attended Philadelphia public schools and was the first in her family to attend college. She first earned her bachelor’s degree from Lincoln University and then received her master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.
Called to public service, Parker served 10 years as a state representative and was then elected to Philadelphia City Council in 2016, eventually becoming council majority leader.
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Since election night in November, Parker hit the ground running to create her administration.
She’s promised to be tough on crime, and plans on hiring 300 more foot and bike patrol officers to walk a beat in every neighborhood.
She’s named Adam Geer to the newly created position of chief public safety director, and tapped Kevin Bethel as the city’s new police commissioner.
Bethel brings 30 years of Philadelphia police experience to the job, and most recently served as chief of school safety in the School District of Philadelphia.
Parker, along with city councilmembers, city commissioners, sheriff, register of wills and judiciary, will take the oath of office as part of a regular Philadelphia City Council session beginning at 10 a.m.
