Vail Threat

WHEN MAYOR Nutter announced last year that the city could no longer afford to pick up the tab for parades, many in the city panicked but many believed that it was a wise move. Parades and events are expensive, better to fund essential services.

Now, the Dad Vail regatta may be moving to New Jersey because city costs are too high. Some are asking, can this even be Philadelphia without the regatta? Do we really want to turn away 3,500 young people and their families? Shouldn't the city help them out? The organizers will meet tomorrow with members of the city administration to try to work it out.

Rather than do this on a case-by-case basis, the city should establish some clear criteria for what we do and don't invest in. Some events bring big psychic benefits and some more economic. Do we have a clear sense of how to measure both? Isn't it wise to keep investing in some? After all, the city invested hundreds of millions in building sports stadiums. Why not help out the small organizations that are just as essential as sports teams to the soul of the city?

And whose job is it, ultimately, to decide? The city's economic belt-tightening doesn't mean we should stop investing, but that we do it differently - and wisely.