Nutter
So it was big news last week that Sam Katz -- a former GOP mayoral candidate -- said he would not take on Mayor Nutter in the Democratic primary next year. But is that the end of this story?
WHYY's Dave Davies has an intriguing post on his new blog, questioning whether Katz could oppose Nutter as a Republican during the general election, after another candidate drains Nutter's financial resources during the primary. And Davies points out that the current campaign finance rules could work against Nutter in such a scenario.
From the post, on WHYY's new Newsworks site:
Because city contribution limits are based on a calendar year rather than an election cycle, the mayor can't raise any new money from donors who gave the max during the primary campaign.That could tempt a Sam Katz or somebody else to enter the fall campaign and run up a money advantage on the mayor. Katz hasn't ruled that out.
For the full post, and more of Davies' political insights, click here.
As we reported yesterday, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority has affirmed the credibility of an administration-commissioned study from Boston College, which said the program has cost the city $258 million since 1999.
Today, the state created fiscal watchdog, sent Mayor Nutter a letter expressing support for ending the DROP program. "Clearly this costly and misused human resources tool must be eliminated," wrote PICA Board Chairman Jim Eisenhower.
You can read the letter here.
We talk about the Philadelphia Housing Authority in our latest video interview with Mayor Nutter. Check it out:
Mayor Nutter is set to make remarks today at noon in Love Park at an event for the National Day of Prayer.
Given the city's massive budget deficit and Nutter's ongoing battle with City Council over his financial plan, you think he'll be asking for a few petitions himself?
Mayor Nutter says he’s thrilled to be hosting Vice President Joe Biden and the middle class task force today as they discuss the benefits of green jobs. He’ll be speaking about how Philly is developing green jobs during one of the panels.
“The whole task force is about the middle class. Our perspective in Philadelphia is that green jobs are the pathway to the middle class,” Nutter said.
There was some good green news for Philly today. A total of $1.3 million in grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will be awarded to green job efforts in the city, including a grant to the non-profit Energy Coordinating Agency to launch a green jobs skills training center.
“Philadelphia is looked increasingly as an incubator of innovation,” Nutter said.
We've been reviewing the scenarios prepared by city departments to show the impact of 10, 20 or 30 percent budget cuts on their operations. As we've reported before, these scenarios -- prepared to show the city's options for closing a $1 billion budget hole over five years -- show devastating reductions for departments like police, streets and libraries.
The mayor's office, which had a budget of $6.6 million after the fall budget cuts, also prepared scenarios. They did a 10 percent and a 20 percent report, both of which include staff reductions and reorganization of units. But when it comes to 30 percent, they didn't do a scenario. The document just says "would require complete reorganization of Mayor's Office."
We asked Mayor Nutter why his own office didn't do all the scenarios.
"We'd have to almost close the mayor's office," Nutter said. "We'd have to take an entirely different look at the structure of the mayor's office at a 30 percent cut."
Nutter said his staff is still looking at the issue.
If the stimulus package becomes a reality, Philadelphia seems poised to get a cut of the funding for key priorities like schools, transit and housing. But Mayor Nutter stressed tonight that stimulus money will not help him close the $1 billion shortfall in his five year plan.
“These dollars are not to fill budget holes. Everyone has made that very clear,” Nutter said tonight. “The theory here is when more people are working, they’re paying taxes. Then tax revenues will flow and those dollars will come back to Philadelphia.”
Nutter, who spent the day in Washington DC today to meet with lawmakers about the stimulus package, said he was optimistic about Philadelphia’s fate under the stimulus deal, but didn’t yet know exactly what programs will get funding – or by how much.
"There are lot of programs, there are numerous ways to access the dollars. Are we applying the state, are we applying to the federal government," Nutter said. "I am very optimistic that Philadelphia will be a beneficiary of the stimulus package, we just don’t know when or how much."
Mayor Nutter yesterday dropped his appeal of a ruling that barred the city from closing libraries without City Council approval. But Nutter said today that he still believes he has the authority to shut branches.
Nutter said he "absolutely rejected" the view that council approval is required to shut libraries.
"There is no concession on that particular issue and I fully expect if we have to, based on the numbers we released on Monday, all future decisions about any closures or changing the use or purpose of facilities as far as I’m concerned are still on the table," Nutter said.
The Nutter administration last fall announced plans to shut down 11 libraries as part of a series of budget cuts. But Common Pleas Judge Idee Fox ruled in December that the city could not shut down library branches without council approval. The administration has said the branches will all stay open through June.
Nutter said the appeal was dropped for practical reasons, noting there would likely not be a ruling for many months and the city is now working on their next budget. "We need to move on and get ready for fiscal year 10," Nutter said.
Mayor Nutter is travelling to Washington DC today along with other members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to push lawmakers for stimulus funding for cities in the economic stimulus package. Nutter's schedule includes meetings with Sen. Arlen Specter and with staffers for Vice President Joe Biden.
Nutter has made several similar trips to the capitol in recent months. This morning he said the importance of cities cannot be ignored. He also said he would continue to push for some infrastructure dollars to be sent to cities, despite comments by the Obama administration that the money should go to states.
"If you want to put people to work, you will do it in cities," Nutter said.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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