Ed Rendell

With a junk bond credit rating, 19 tax hikes in 11 years, and a $250 million deficit, Ed Rendell took control of a troubled city in 1992.

When Rendell became Philadelphia’s mayor, after two terms as its district attorney, the city was in a financial crisis. The city had persistent deficits and entrenched political patronage; leaders habitually covered the costs by raising taxes, but as it bled jobs and residents, they could not reach an agreement to fix the $250 million hole in the city budget. 

Rendell got to work. He persuaded unions to agree to frozen wages and lower benefits, cut patronage positions from the payroll, and raised sales taxes 1% to deliver Philadelphia’s first balanced budget in seven years.

Under Rendell’s leadership, Philadelphia had five years of budget surpluses, despite cutting income and business taxes. 

The New York Times called it “one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent urban history.” 

“I think Ed Rendell cared very deeply for the people that he served and represented, be that when he was district attorney or mayor or governor,” said Adrian King, a partner at Ballard Spahr who served in Rendell’s gubernatorial administration. “He really took into account the struggle [of] real, everyday people.”

While mayor, Rendell learned the importance of maintaining infrastructure — and the consequences if it’s left to crumble. 

In a conversation with Rutgers University, Rendell recounted the damage wrought to Philadelphia’s infrastructure by a long run of sub-freezing temperatures and an abrupt switch to 60-degree weather. Fifty-eight water mains broke in the first two days of warm weather, Rendell said. 

“When I asked my water commissioner why this happened, and [if] there was a way of preventing this, he said not really,” Rendell told Rutgers, “because half our pipes — and remember I was mayor in the 1990s — half of our pipes were laid in the 19th century. Meaning, 100 years old. They were laid with the technology of the time, so they were laid very shallow, very close to the ground surface, and were very susceptible to changing temperatures.”

Rendell also became president of the infrastructure organization Rebuild America during his mayorship. 

Philadelphia has term limits for mayors, so after Rendell’s two terms, he became a partner at Ballard Spahr. He returned to public service in a higher role: governor of Pennsylvania. 

When Rendell took office in 2003, Pennsylvania was facing a $2.4 billion deficit: a familiar problem for Rendell to solve. He slashed spending by $1 billion through cuts and efficiency measures, then went on to enact the same priorities he had in Philadelphia. 

Rendell cut property taxes, raised the minimum wage, and invested almost $3 billion in job creation and revitalization efforts. During the Rendell administration, Pennsylvania rose to 15th in the nation in job creation, up from 41st when he took office. 

From mayor to governor and beyond, Rendell advocated for solving fiscal problems and advancing infrastructure.

Rendell tried to assist troubled municipalities with their finances while he was governor. He provided aid to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital city, and encouraged the city to avoid filing for bankruptcy or seeking state management.

Rendell also championed public-private partnerships, and tried to use the model for the state’s turnpike. The legislature finally approved P3s after Rendell left office, and the state transportation department has since seen success with P3 projects.

While governor, Rendell co-founded Building America’s Future with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The political action committee was a bipartisan organization with bold ideas for the country’s infrastructure. 

“America needs a National Infrastructure Bank that can leverage private dollars and invest in the best big projects, including those that span state boundaries or encompass multiple modes of transportation,” the organization’s 2012 infrastructure report said. 

That report contained a 10-year infrastructure plan for a $200 billion annual national infrastructure investment. The governors and mayor wanted to tackle congestion, pollution and lack of accountability in infrastructure funding allocations. 

After he left office, Rendell became a founding board member for municipal bond insurer Build America Mutual. He continued to serve on the board until 2019. He also became a Brookings fellow, served on the board of Public Financial Management, taught classes at the University of Pennsylvania, and returned to Ballard Spahr, where he still works. 

BAM CEO Sean W. McCarthy said Rendell was a “key figure” in the creation of BAM.

“He understood the challenges municipal issuers were facing when they needed to access the market, and became an ambassador to the entire municipal finance community,” McCarthy said.