What does it take to lead Philadelphia effectively? Is it about having a fiery, combative disposition? That worked for former Mayor Frank Rizzo, the patriarch of the city's Italian-American community who, as police commissioner, went to a black-tie affair sporting a billy club in his tuxedo cummerbund — just in case he had to deal with protesters mano a mano.

Perhaps they shouldn't be too proud to shake their pom-poms. For that, one needn't look further than Ed Rendell, who, always eager to rip his shirt off and cannonball into a municipal pool, cheerleaded a flagging city from the brink of extinction. If he hadn't forced a city to believe in itself, who knows what Center City would look like today?

Or maybe the way to a city's heart is by working to rebuild its neighborhoods, federal investigations be damned. That's worked for our current mayor, who's known to ignore adversity and do things his way, even if it means throwing punches in City Council chambers.

Considering the approaches of those recent leaders, one has to wonder whether the city's top job could be pulled off by a bookish, bespectacled guy who sports tailored suits, arrives early for meetings and starts his mornings by eating oatmeal sprinkled with raisins and dried cranberries. Could a person everyone perceives as boring be just what Philadelphia needs to move forward?

Michael Nutter and his supporters seem to think so. If they have their way, we'll find out come 2007. And along the way, perhaps we'll all see that Nutter has a little bit of each of his predecessors hiding behind that bookish demeanor.

Nutter, a 48-year-old, three-term councilman, refuses to back down from legislative battles in much the same way that Rizzo staunchly defended his South Philadelphia neighborhood. Like the Big Bambino himself, Nutter sticks to his guns even if it makes him look stubborn. Other times it makes him look smart.

Six months after introducing an ethics reform package, Nutter persisted, tweaking dollar amounts and removing a provision calling for an independent board. A watered-down version of his ethics reform package finally passed this spring and is set go before voters in November.

Under the legislation, individuals who wish to be eligible for a no-bid contract of more than $10,000 may not contribute more than $2,500 in one year to any city elected official or candidate for city office.

Shortly before passage of an earlier version, distributed to council members was a 16-point memo aimed at killing the reforms. No. 7: "Complex new contract rules may impact minority and disadvantaged businesses." No. 14: "Prominent companies providing city services will be impacted by new rules."

Reworked versions of the bills passed, 16-1. Only Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who also has mayoral ambitions, dissented, saying the changes would give wealthy candidates an advantage over candidates who have to raise funds. While the bills are tough on pay-to-play, other critics argued the conviction of former City Treasurer Cory Kemp left council members no choice but to OK the measures.

Nutter took a hit this summer when it was reported that he lobbied for Carol Ann Campbell, a ward leader in West Philadelphia, in 2003. Campbell was awarded an $80,000 no-bid contract to do consulting for the sheriff's office, but the sheriff decided her services were not needed. Nutter was among other officials who called on Campbell's behalf. He says she received no special treatment.

Kelly Erb, vice president of the Roxborough Development Corporation, worked with Nutter and some neighbors to rebuild LaNoce Park after vandals set fire to the tire swing and damaged other equipment. Nutter's speedy response to Erb's concerns earned him points with the mother and tax attorney. But it's his ethics reform platform that makes her an enthusiastic supporter.

"He cares about his constituency, but not so much that he has blinders on," she says. "Nutter's been there in council, he knows what makes the city tick and how to get business done — and I don't mean bribery. I think it's so cool that you can't find that he didn't pay his gas bill or defaulted on a student loan or paid someone off."

Other voters associate Nutter with the smoking ban. His attempt to snuff out smoking in bars and restaurants in the city stalled in June when Street asked him to postpone a vote until after summer recess. Onlookers say he must bring the bill up for a vote by year's end or risk losing political capital.

Councilman James Kenney acknowledges Nutter's riff with Street, who was initially for the ban but has backpedaled, citing concerns for businesses. "I think he's playing games with Councilman Nutter," Kenney says. "He's been against smoking for a long time. It's a personal thing; it's not a good way to do policy."

Fighting dirty is a hallmark of the Street administration. Nutter says it was different under Rendell. "Even when we were fighting, we were still talking," Nutter says. "When it was over, it was done. [Under Street,] when you have a fight it seems to be tremendously personal. It's public policy by personality. And then when it's over, it's generally not over."

That bothers Nutter, whose enthusiasm for engines of economic development is on par with Rendell's. And many credit Nutter with recasting East Falls in the same way Ed Rendell cleaned up Center City.

Walking along the Ridge Avenue corridor on a hot August afternoon, you see a mix of people pushing baby carriages and looking for places to eat. Off Scotts Lane, a front loader carries piles of rubble away from newly renovated lofts. The Sherman Mills development boasts a bakery, art gallery, yoga studio, horse stable and spa. It wasn't always this way.

Such high-class amenities and accompanying foot traffic were unheard of five years ago. When Mark Sherman bought an old textile mill for $1.5 million, no one wanted to build in East Falls. Artists and skateboarders were paying next to nothing to rent grimy warehouse spaces and there were still more abandoned spaces filled with concrete cylinders and boilers the size of freight trains. Sherman took one look at the 17-acre, 150,000-square-foot property and saw dollar signs.

Although he says he likes to fly under the radar, Sherman stands to benefit from $2 million in tax incentives thanks to Nutter's support. Sherman Mills is 60 percent finished and what's done is 98 percent occupied.

The goal is to attract visitors to the Art Museum and Fairmount Park up Kelly Drive to East Falls and then on to Manayunk.

Developer Dan Neducsin, who also sits on the Manayunk Development Corporation board, says Nutter has helped with various projects such as getting funding to restore the canal. He values residents' concerns, but weighs them against benefit to the community.

"Whenever I want to do any project, his first question to me is, "Have you spoken to the neighbors?' Neducsin says. "His second question is, "What did they think?' I always know where he's coming from. He doesn't sway with the wind."

In addition to the more well-off East Falls and Manayunk, Nutter's Fourth District territory includes the diverse populations of Wynnefield, Overbrook, Roxborough, parts of North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and West Mount Airy.

Despite Manayunk residents' concerns about flooding, in 2002 Nutter won a drawn-out battle for residential development of Venice Island, once an industrial center in the Schuylkill.

But the most knockdown, drag-out fights have pitted Nutter against Street, who loves a good rumble.

Nutter is doing what he does best and Library Director Elliot Shelkrot is squirming. He asked Shelkrot to drop by so they could talk about the state of the library system. During the 2005-2006 budget process, Mayor Street proposed cutting library funding, forcing branches to cut back on hours and staff. In the end, council found new revenue streams and the real incisions were made in other places so as to restore the library's bank.

Nutter and Councilman Frank DiCicco championed the library and even now, a few months later, Shelkrot is grateful. But Nutter is uninterested in praise. He wants to know how Shelkrot will bring the libraries back up to full speed.

"What I'd like — and you might want to take it down — is … " And Nutter proceeds to tick off a list of data. "We have to figure out a different way," Nutter goes on. "Last year it was rec centers, closing pools. This year it was the Fire Department [that almost lost funds]." Shelkrot clings to his notepad, promises to send him the information by the end of August and scurries out of the office. (As of press time, the info hadn't arrived.)

After he leaves, Nutter jokingly says, "You might not want to sit in that chair. It might be sweaty." But compared to how he's squared off against Street, Nutter barely put Shelkrot on the hot seat.

In his talk with Shelkrot, Nutter expressed frustration with how the Street administration uses city services as bargaining chips to a balanced budget. It's no secret that Nutter and the mayor are bitter adversaries, trading jabs in the press. (Street's office did not return calls seeking comment about the rivalry.)

They were once allies, back when Nutter joined council in 1992. In his first seven years in council, Nutter has said, he only voted against a few major bills Street favored.

There were signs the alliance would crumble in 1993, when Street failed to support a same-sex partners rights bill sponsored by Councilman Kenney and then-Councilman Ortiz. Nutter did not publicly support the bill in deference to Street. Harboring feelings of guilt about a measure he felt was right, Nutter helped rewrite it in 1997, and it passed without Street's support the following year.

Their feuds have gotten more and more public. Last session Street vetoed Nutter's plan to kill the business privilege tax. Nutter immediately reintroduced it in hopes of coaxing three more of his colleagues to help make the bill veto-proof.

Nutter fuels the fire as well. Last month, he noticed a Street quote in the Inquirer that he said suspiciously resembled something he told a reporter writing about him for a student-produced Daily News section.

Asked about the Philadelphia School District, Nutter said in the Aug. 3 story that it was time for the city to take back control from the state and the School Reform Commission. "The SRC wasn't meant to be around forever," Nutter said. A week later, Street was quoted in the Inquirer talking about the same body. "I don't think anybody intended it to be forever," Street said.

When Nutter noticed the practically identical quotes, he gleefully told Julia Chapman, his chief of staff, and proceeded to gossip with others about what he considered a not-so-coincidental coincidence.

Nutter has had more bills vetoed than anyone else on council. Chapman, also his legislative aide, keeps a list. Of the 38 bills Street vetoed since taking office, 14 belong to Nutter's legislation. (In eight years, Rendell vetoed a handful of bills.)

Frank Keel, Street's former spokesman, who supports John Dougherty for mayor, blames that less on the feud and more on Nutter, whom he has called a "lone wolf." "I think Councilman Nutter is a bright guy but I don't always believe his intentions are pure," Keel says. "He legislates based on the news headlines of the moment. Some might call that crassly opportunistic."

But if elected mayor, Nutter insists he would build consensus — exactly what his detractors accuse him of failing to do.

"It's very important that there are two very separate branches of government," he says. "But as with all things political, government also depends on good working relationships. City Council doesn't work for the mayor and the mayor doesn't work for City Council. There will be arguments. But we all work for the same people. They don't care if we go out for a beer at the end of the day. … We have to give each other respect because they also got elected."

Councilman Juan Ramos says that's Nutter's way.

"The best way I can sum it up is to say when he worked for Councilman Ortiz he knew there was not much of a working relationship between Ortiz and myself," Ramos recalls. "He came to me and said, "I know there isn't much you and my boss see eye to eye on. You can always come to me.'"

It remains to be seen if voters will take to a candidate with a subtle, cutting wit. Gregarious he's not. But Nutter is likable, and walking around Center City a few weeks before fall session he's at ease, running into people he knows every 10 feet, joking with waitresses at Capital Grille, his perennial lunch spot.

Nutter is also private, rarely talking about his wife, Lisa. The couple has a 12-year-old daughter, Olivia, and Nutter has a 22-year-old son, Christian, from a previous relationship.

Although he chooses his words carefully, once you get him going, the man can talk. "He's a Die Hard battery," says Debra Brown, special projects coordinator in his office.

"It seems like this doesn't affect him at all," she says, looking around the office the way a veteran schoolteacher ignores chaos on the playground. "Being a politician is his God-given gift."

Supporters say his determination will sustain him through the election season. "Michael Nutter is the one-man City Council," says a political insider. "He's the only one trying to get anything done."

But it will take more than tenacity to break loose from the pack. Though he is likable, there's no evidence he can energize people the way Rendell did. "So much he did was providing bread and circuses to the people and getting people to believe in themselves," says Buzz Bissinger, author of Prayer for the City, the epic story of Rendell's first mayoral term. "I just can't see Michael in a pair of shark swimming trunks jumping in a city pool and getting away with it."

Critics speculate that Nutter doesn't have the grassroots backing needed to win. "He has a problem in terms of mayoral ambitions, if he has them, in that he doesn't really have a constituency," Keel says. "Outside editorial boards of two major dailies, he doesn't have much base of support."

Nutter can't announce any intention to run while still in office. He could wait until shortly before the 2007 primary to quit council. Meanwhile, the field is crowded with likely candidates. Six-term U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah already represents a huge portion of the city. Last month his lawyer said in a letter asking for a fundraising clarification it was "highly likely" Fattah would run for mayor. State Rep. Dwight Evans would also be a formidable opponent for Nutter. "I don't know anyone who thinks more about policy issues," the pollster G. Terry Madonna says of Evans.

Dougherty's grassroots supporters and position as head of the electricians' union mean he already has the name recognition and fundraising network to be a contender. Jonathan Saidel decided not to run for another term as city controller, signaling his interest in the seat. Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr. have not ruled it out. So far, only Tom Knox has formally announced his candidacy.

"What Philadelphia needs is somebody who's not just going to keep the city on an even keel and manage it, but somebody's who's going to break the mold and move the city forward," says political consultant Larry Ceisler. "The city needs somebody who is a cheerleader, somebody who inspires confidence, somebody who symbolizes all the good things about the city. Philadelphia has to have a mayor who knows how to talk to the people west of City Avenue and can effectively deal in Harrisburg with Republicans, in D.C. and in the rest of the state.

"Most importantly, Philadelphians want someone who is still willing to learn and to listen and is not going to enter the office with his mind made up as to the way things should be done."

Nutter embodies aspects of Rizzo, Rendell and Street, but in the end it's what he brings to the table that could make him an effective leader.

In his office, on a desk cluttered with reports and stacks of paper, there are two small packages wrapped in gold paper and tied together with a ribbon — a gift given to him by a Baltimore city councilman who testified at a smoking ban hearing last spring.

Nutter refuses to open it. Not yet, anyway. "You don't get the goodies," he says, smiling, "until you get the work done."