Mayor Nutter needs to travel lighter to the Democratic National Convention in Denver - several staffers lighter.
The Democrats' big party begins Monday. The mayor is taking along five city aides. Nutter is using campaign money to pay his expenses, but thinks city taxpayers should pay for his aides. That's wrong.
Political party conventions are just that - political. Nutter isn't traveling to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, or a symposium on urban planning. He's attending a four-day political bash to nominate the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. It's great fun, but it's not primarily about city business.
Traveling with Nutter will be spokesman Doug Oliver, senior adviser Terry Gillen, special assistant Jordan Schwartz, and two bodyguards. Nutter has said he wouldn't use campaign money to pay for his staffers, because that would mean his aides were involved in political work. And that's against city law.
So the mayor expects taxpayers to believe that city workers attending a political convention will in no way be involved in politics.
Good luck with that one.
There are two solutions to the problem. Either don't take city staffers to the convention or, instead, take political operatives who aren't paid with city tax money.
It's not like Philadelphia will be underrepresented in Denver. The city's congressional Democrats are more than capable of talking up their hometown, too.
Other cities, such as Baltimore, Boston and Chicago, have dealt with this question, and use campaign funds to pay for the trips.
Nutter has built his administration on a pledge to bring the highest standard of ethics to City Hall. He's been doing well, but this junket doesn't pass the smell test. Although the city's charter apparently doesn't address the issue, Nutter should have asked for an Ethics Board opinion.
The mayor isn't the only one being challenged by ethics rules in this convention year. Democratic and Republican lawmakers are grappling with how to conform their quadrennial bacchanalias to a federal law that prohibits gifts from lobbyists.
Under the 2007 law, there can be no more "Salute to the Honorable John Murtha" soirees (although salutes to senators are still allowed). Receptions may feature finger food, such as cocktail wieners, but not anything that requires a fork to eat.
If lawmakers want to listen to big-name convention entertainers such as K.C. and the Sunshine Band, they must - gasp - pay for their own tickets. Bagels are allowed for breakfast events, but eggs are not.
In light of these new restrictions, some corporations have abandoned plans to sponsor convention parties, fearful of violating the law.
But don't feel too bad for those GOP and Democratic delegates. One government watchdog group has counted a total of at least 370 parties planned for Denver and for the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., which begins Sept. 1. And surely, four years hence, both parties will have figured out ways around the new law.