Michael Nutter was mayor-elect for just two weeks in 2007 when he went out to a Chester County event, enjoyed the greetings of a friendly crowd and pledged to create a "metropolitan caucus" that would have Philadelphia cooperating on key issues with its suburban neighbors.

And what builds a partnership better than a little football in the mayor's box at Lincoln Financial Field?  Nutter and three of his top staffers played host on Aug. 27 to a crowd of suburbanites as the Eagles defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 33-32 on a last-minute field goal in preseason play.  You may remember this game as the first time controversial quarterback Michael Vick stepped onto the field as an Eagle.

A list released by Nutter's office today for the third quarter of 2009 of guests who received tickets for the mayor's boxes at stadiums shows tickets were accepted by:  Bucks County Commissioners Charles Martin, James Cawley and Diane Ellis-Marseglia; Montgomery County Commissioners Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel; Chester County Commissioners Terence Farrell and Kathi Cozzone; and Delaware County Commissioners Linda Cartisano and Christine Fizzano Cannon.

You can read more about Nutter's hopes for the Metropolitan Caucus here.  And you can peruse Nutter's third quarter ticket report here.

We just got this from the mayor's press office:

MEDIA ADVISORY

Forum on the Future of Bus Shelters and Street Furniture

WHO: Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Public Utilities
Joe Minnot, Next Great City Coalition/Clean Air Council
Mary Tracy, SCRUB: The Public Voice for Public Space
Leading Bus Shelter and Street Furniture Vendors

WHAT: The City of Philadelphia will soon issue a request for proposals to provide, maintain and sell advertising for bus shelters in Philadelphia and invite proposals for additional pieces of street furniture. The Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities is co-sponsoring a Forum on the Future of Bus Shelters and Street Furniture with the Next Great City coalition and the Academy of Natural Sciences. The forum will include presentations from bus shelter and street furniture vendors and present perspectives on the role of advertising in public spaces. The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and share their views on what their expectations are regarding a bus shelter and street furniture contract. Mayor Nutter will offer introductory remarks.

WHERE: The Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1101

WHEN: Monday, October 26, 2009 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

»  More Have Plans Monday?

A tax policy task force will release a report today, recommending that the city shift away from business and wage taxes and focus instead on increasing property taxes.

How would the cash-strapped city pay for a Phillies parade if the team repeats as World Series champs?  Nobody wants to talk about it, the Friday PhillyClout column finds.

Two judges competing for a seat on the state Supreme Court get feisty in a debate at Temple University's Law School yesterday, trading jabs on campaign funds, judicial pay and the National Rifle Association.

And City Council continues to disagree with Mayor Nutter on key issues.

The conflict between the mayor and City Council over how to handle the municipal pension program continues.

Council is planning to hold an informational hearing Monday on a pension resolution introduced over a year ago by Councilman Bill Green. Green wants the labor committee to hold a series of hearings on the pension plan’s structure and prepare recommendations on how to improve the plan.

Council and the mayor have butted heads recently over the pension, which is severely underfunded and considered a major financial liability for the city.

The mayor wants the city to enter a state pension program that would require it to create a lower-cost retirement plan for new hires. That state authorization would be a powerful bargaining tool for the city in the ongoing to contract negotiations. But to get it, City Council must pass a resolution by the end of the month pledging to create a lower-cost pension plan for new hires.

So far, Council has held back, with many members saying that negotiating pension terms should be done within contract talks. This new move looks like Council trying to take control over the issue in their own way.
 

Mayor Nutter today said it was too soon to talk about parade costs, should the Phillies win the World Series for a second year in a row.

“Obviously, we’re very excited about the Phillies,” Nutter said, a day after the Phillies clinched a spot in the World Series. “We look at these playoffs, and now the World Series, as one game at a time.”

But Nutter did note that the city does not have a ton of extra cash lying around.

“In this current economic environment, obviously everything is very tight,” Nutter said, noting that scheduled parades and festivals are now required to pay city security and clean-up expenses, due to budget cuts.

Last year, parade expenses for the city – including police overtime and street cleaning – totaled over a million dollars, according to the mayors press office. About $300,000 was raised in private donations.
 

In City Council today, Councilman Darrell Clarke is about to introduce a resolution, calling on his colleagues to create an "NTI Oversight Committee," which would be made up of three members chosen by Council President Anna Verna, Mayor Nutter and City Controller Alan Butkovitz.

The $300 million Neighborhood Transformation Initiative was Mayor John Street’s signature anti-blight program. An audit released last week by the City Controller revealed widespread accounting problems in the program.

Clarke said the committee would be a similar joint-effort to the group that spent the summer studying solutions for the problem-plagued Board of Revision of Taxes. Clarke rejected a Nutter suggestion that his chief of staff, Clay Armbrister, should take the lead on any oversight of the NTI program. That suggestion came after Butkovitz released the audit.

"I think all the parties should be involved," Clarke told PhillyClout before the start of Council's weekly session. "Given the importance of this particular issue, there should be involvement by those three branches of government, not just the administration."

Mayor Nutter said he had not yet seen the resolution, although he noted: “I don’t have a problem with the concept.”

Gubanatorial candidate Dan Onorato -- who hails from western Pennsylvania -- will open his Philadelphia campaign office today.

Check out the press release:

***

Dan Onorato to Open Philadelphia Campaign Headquarters Tomorrow

Leading Democratic Candidate for Governor to Address Supporters at Opening
PHILADELPHIA: TOMORROW, Thursday, October 22, 2009, Dan Onorato will officially open his Philadelphia gubernatorial campaign headquarters. Onorato will also address his supporters at a rally at the campaign headquarters.

EVENT: Dan Onorato will officially open his
Philadelphia gubernatorial campaign
headquarters to supporters.

»  More Onorato To Open Philly Office Today

In case you live under a rock, the Phillies are heading to the World Series for a second year in a row. Fans poured into the streets in joyous celebration last night.

The GOP candidate for DA is attacked for comments he made about racial profiling.

An audit from the City Controller questions the food contract at the School District.

What's going on with the city union contracts?

Solar-powered trash compactor bins like this are being removed for now from South Broad Street.

The city this week started un-installing new "Big Belly" trash and recycling bins from South Broad Street and a few side streets in anticipation of raucous celebrations if the Phillies win the National League Championship Series tonight and go on to win the World Series for a second straight year.

The city used a state grant to pay $2.2 million for the 500 trash bins, which use solar panels to produce power to compact trash before it is picked up by the Streets Department.  The bins, which were installed as 700 traditional wire baskets were removed between May and July, hold 200 gallons of trash.  The wire baskets, which hold just 55 gallons of trash, are being re-installed along South Broad Street until baseball post-season play comes to an end.

Among other city preparations, utility and light poles along South Broad Street were coated today with a non-toxic soap that will make them slippery and difficult to climb by revelers.  Mayor Nutter's staff tells us the environmentally-safe soap will just wash off during the next rain storm.