Mayor Nutter yesterday traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in a discussion about the fiscal challenges facing local governments -- and how the federal stimulus package has done little to remedy the problems. The talk was sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the National League of Cities and featured three other mayors in addition to Nutter.
Here's an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal story on the event:
Even as economists declare the recession over, local revenues continue to fall. That's because the lion's share of their receipts -- sales, income and property taxes -- are connected to the job market and real-estate prices. Jobs and real-estate prices are expected to lag the broader economic recovery, reducing city revenues for months or years after the technical end of the recession.
"This is unknown for our generation," said Chris Hoene, director of the center for research and innovation at the National League of Cities. Mr. Hoene said it was likely to be 18 to 24 months before local government revenues resume growing.
We've reported before that the stimulus funds didn't do anything for the city's budget shortfalls. The money basically cannot be used to plug budget gaps or save city jobs. And very little of the cash pledged to the city has even arrived yet.
As if the Phillies losing wasn't bad enough, Mayor Nutter is set to fulfill his World Series bet with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg this afternoon. Nutter and Bloomberg agreed that the mayor of the losing team would participate in a service project in the winning city, wearing the victorious team's jersey.
Nutter will help paint the Albert Einstein School in the Bronx, NY at 3 p.m. in the Yankee pinstripes. He will also pay for lunch for Bloomberg and the other volunteers.
The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority today released a report on how the city did financially in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. While there's not a ton of new information here -- we reported last week that the city is projecting a $31 million deficit for the current fiscal year -- it is a helpful primer on where things stand.
Check out the report here.
City and state lawmakers disagree about how revenue from table games in casinos should be used.
Two more narcotics officers have been taken off the street in an ongoing corruption investigation.
Was getting bashed by Rush Limbaugh a lucky break for U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in his senate campaign against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter?
A jury must now decide if convicted cop killer John Lewis should get the death penalty.
The proposed bicycle regulations from Councilmen Jim Kenney and Frank DiCicco are the hot topic up in City Council today. Kenney and DiCicco are introducing several pieces of legislation that would up fines for cycling on the sidewalk and require registration of bicycles in the city.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia showed up in City Hall to express their displeasure with the proposed laws.
“We are opposed to all of this legislation that is being introduced,” said Sarah Clark Stuart, campaign director for the Coalition. “The reasons there are problems in the street is that there hasn’t been any enforcement. New laws are not going to help the situation.”
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey is in the news today down in Washington D.C., where he once served as police chief. A lawsuit filed on behalf of protesters arrested during a 2002 demonstration includes a statement from a police detective, who says he heard Ramsey order the mass arrests.
Ramsey has denied ordering the arrests in the past. Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post:
The detective, Paul E. Hustler, said in an affidavit that he was a few feet from Ramsey during the protests at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank when he overheard the chief tell officers that "we're going to lock them up and teach them a lesson."
Nearly 400 people were arrested in Pershing Park, many of them bystanders, without any warning to disperse. Ramsey, who left the D.C. force in 2006 and is now head of the Philadelphia department, has publicly apologized for the arrests but has consistently denied telling officers to make them.
For the full story, click here.
Cop killer apologizes in court to slain officer's widow.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey wants to merge two North Philadelphia police districts.
And a judge and a contractor must pay fines to the Ethics Board.
Mayor Nutter's previous legislative director, Julia Chapman, resigned abruptly last week with no explanation. Here's the release on her replacement:
MAYOR NUTTER ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NEW LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR
PHILADELPHIA, November 18, 2009 — Today Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the appointment of Lewis Rosman as Legislative Affairs Director. Mr. Rosman is a Senior Attorney in the Appeals and Legislation Unit of the City of Philadelphia Law Department, where he has worked since July 2000.
“Lewis is a well-respected legal expert and brings a great deal of experience and knowledge of city government to this position,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “He is well-known to City Council and has worked closely with the legislative branch of government on a wide range of issues for a number of years. He is a very valuable addition to our team.”
Lewis is a 1993 graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law (Order of the Coif) and has a B.A. degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Oberlin College. He clerked for the Honorable Jan E. BuBois, United State District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Before coming to the City, he was a litigation and regulatory attorney at the law firms of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and the Philadelphia office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott (formerly Connolly, Epstein, Chicco, Foxman Oxholm & Ewing).
Lewis grew up in Center City and attended Philadelphia public schools. He is on the Board of Managers of the Associated Alumni of Central High School. He is married to attorney Karen R. Guss and they live with their two children, Josie and Spencer, in Center City.
The city's home forclosure program was profiled today in a lengthy New York Times story, which calls it a model for keeping people in their homes.
Still, while better than what most cities have to offer, the story does acknowledge that there are some problems with the Philly effort:
Some suggest the city’s program is plagued by the same basic defect as the Obama rescue plan: Nearly all the loans that have been modified have been altered on a trial basis, requiring homeowners to reapply for an extension of the terms after only a few months — a process that appears rife with obstacles, according to participants.
“There’s no teeth to the conciliation program,” said Matthew B. Weisberg, a Philadelphia lawyer who represents homeowners in cases involving alleged mortgage fraud. “It’s a largely ineffective stopgap prolonging what appears to be the inevitable, which is the loss of homes.”
For the full story, click here.
In case you missed it yesterday, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum -- the arch conservative who lost his seat to Sen. Bob Casey in 2006 -- has endorsed state Attorney General Tom Corbett for governor.
Here's a report from the Allentown Morning Call.
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