Ken Trujillo Announces Run For Philadelphia Mayor
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ken Trujillo, a former federal prosecutor and prominent leader in Philadelphia's Latino community, today became the latest Democrat to formally announce his candidacy for Philadelphia mayor in next May's primary.
Trujillo, 54, is an attorney whose résumé includes a stint as a federal prosecutor and as then-mayor John Street's city solicitor.
Now he's running for mayor, and will vie for the May 2015 Democratic nomination. His top issue: returning the school district to local governance.
"I'm interested in making sure that we take back control of our schools," he tells KYW Newsradio. "The state takeover has been a failure, and its time for the School Reform Commission to go."
His announcement came at 9:30am in front of the school district administration building, on North Broad Street.
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Trujillo also said that as mayor he would end what he called "racial profiling" and "police abuse." He was asked if that meant an end to the police tactic of "stop and frisk."
"I don't like stop-and-frisk," he responded. "I think it's bad policing. Yes."
He also said he would require body cameras on police to, in his words, "ensure greater accountability and transparency" in officers' dealings with citizens.
Trujillo has served as chair of the board of the local Latino service agency Congreso, and chair of the board of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
But, he says, his appeal will go beyond that community.
"We're a great city of neighborhoods. But anybody who wants to be mayor has to be mayor of all of Philadelphia. And I want to be the mayor of all of Philadelphia," he says.
Earlier this month, former Nutter administration official Terry Gillen announced her candidacy for the Democratic mayoral nomination.
Ultimately it could prove to be a crowded field. State senator Anthony Williams, city controller Alan Butkovitz, and perhaps a councilmember or two are expected to jump in as well.
