A grinning Michael Nutter was showered in cheers recently as he strode into his huge, gilded City Hall reception room. It was a pep rally for the Philly Spring Cleanup, and this crowd was psyched. The Mayor pumped hands, patted backs and offered the occasional shout-out. ("Schimmel in the house," he cried. A warning, perhaps?)

Nutter was among friends. About 200 block captains and various greenistas had volunteered to direct an estimated 10,000 for the first citywide cleanup. Slated for Sat., April 5, the Philly Spring Cleanup (phillyspringcleanup.com) will be followed by a big barbecue at the Linc.

Many of those cheering for Nutter had met through the Next Great City coalition, whose sustainability platform helped propel him into office. This was their first confab for the cleanest and greenest issue of all: what to do with the stuff we throw away.

And that means thinking about waste in a whole new way.

"We're here to change the culture," the mayor declared, and then launched into a familiar refrain. "I'm not your mother or father. We're not here to clean up after you. So clean up this city," he scolded, with a smile that ignited laughter.

Good rhetoric can make great politics, and the same could be said of the cleanup's PSA video: a charming, kitschy piece that got folks here giggling.

In the video, Nutter sits at his desk, dressed in a Phillies uniform. He fields a ball of crumpled trash, tossed by Jimmy Rollins. "It's time to give Philadelphia a good spring cleaning," deadpans the mayor, as if in a high school hygiene film. "Love where you live, Philadelphia," Rollins chimes in, striking a sublimely goofy grin.

It's a funny and effective ad. But as they say in advertising, good advertising will kill a bad product. And if the city's Streets Department fails us and those 10,000 volunteers in this first big cleanup, all smiles could quickly fade.

Smiles did fade after Nutter left, when Deputy Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams took the podium. It was like someone had pulled the plug. For many here, Williams and his boss, Clarena Tolson, symbolize a city department that is legendarily inept.

Philly used to lead the nation in recycling; now it's near the back of the pack, having made no progress during the Street administration — a failure for which the Streets Department failed to provide an adequate explanation [Loose Canon, "Garbage In, Garbage Out," Jan. 24, 2007]. And our streets are dirtier after the trash trucks rumble through.

There is much bad blood between Streets and the neighborhoods. Many cheering here had urged candidate Nutter to fire Commissioner Tolson [Loose Canon, "From Whom the Belle Tolson," Jan. 17, 2008]. But as mayor, Nutter kept Tolson anyway.

If Nutter wants to change Philadelphia's trash culture, a good place to start is with its trash collectors. But that will take the leadership of a sustainability director, a council on sustainability and a recycling coordinator. They're all positions that Nutter, as a candidate, promised to fill; as mayor, so far, he hasn't done so.

A lot of people want the Philly Spring Cleanup to succeed. And there's so much enthusiasm that it could. But sustainability isn't a one-day event, and the mayor is giving it short shrift by dragging his feet on appointments.

"I'm working on it," the mayor told me later. "When you do this kind of recruiting, you need to talk to a lot of people.

"It's at the top of the list," Nutter said of the appointments, but wouldn't say when. Let's hope it's soon. Because without fresh leadership, it will be tough to reform our culture of dirt, and escape the curse of Filthadelphia.