We just stopped by the official city website where the leading link -- above details on the sales tax hike -- is a request that citizens sign a petition to bring the World Cup to the United States. Philly is on the list of 27 cities that could potentially host a match.
We wondered if the mayor's British press aide, Luke Butler, had anything to do with this. But he said no. Guess the city just wanted to promote some happy news for once...
According to this story from The Daily Pennsylvanian, students at the University of Pennsylvania aren't that interested in the race for city controller or district attorney. There's a shocker. Check out the report here.
Tomorrow* the Allegheny County Executive is making his bid for governor official. According to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, he's got big name recognition in the western part of the state and serious fund-raising ability.
Check out their story here.
Onorato's statewide announcement tour will begin in Philadelphia's City Hall tomorrow morning.
* The original version of this post said Onorato would launch his campaign today. We apologize for the error.
Republican Controller candidate Al Schmidt says Controller Alan Butkovitz made a deal with GOP leaders to go easy on the Parking Authority in an audit.
As Pennsylvania limps on without a budget, John Baer says the state should use emergency funding for social service agencies.
Flyers fans get in a knife fight on a bus back from a game in Newark.
A Delaware County man was killed Saturday night after he fell into Darby Creek.
Opponents of a proposed arts tax in the state budget were hopeful today, after Democrats in the state House of Representatives yesterday cut the arts tax from the deal, instead backing taxes on cigars, smokeless tobacco, casino table games and natural gas drilling.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are winning," said Robert Weaver, an organizer of today's City Hall rally against the tax. "We are winning but we have not won yet. We must encourgage legislators to keep the tax off the table."
Arts groups have raged against the proposed tax, part of a bipartisan budget deal announced two weeks ago. It would add 6 percent to the price of admission to performing arts events, museums, historical sites, zoos and parks in most of the state and more in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
After Democrats in the state house removed the tax from the budget, Republicans in Harrisburg warned that the whole deal could sour. State Sen. Larry Farnese, who attended the rally today, said he thought other revenue streams should be considered.
"Talk about smokeless tobacco to your legislator," Farnese told the crowd of about 100 arts professionals and supporters gathered outside City Hall. "I think it's asinine that we're not looking at this because of some political BS in Harrisburg."
Farnese said he will continue to push against the tax, although he would not say that he'd definitely vote against it.
Here's the press release:
Controller Finds City's 911 Contract Cost Doubled
Controller’s Dept. of Public Property audit finds $583,000 increase
for 911 services not originally bid
PHILADELPHIA – City Controller Alan Butkovitz today released an audit of the Department of Public Property (DPP) that found the cost for the City’s 911-management contract doubled due to additional services that were not bid or in the original proposal.
The add-on services escalated the cost from $298,000 to $583,000. These services, provided by a consultant retained in 2006, did not appear in the city’s original bid request or the consultant’s proposal.
“The city bid on one package of services and ended up purchasing another costly set of services,” said Butkovitz. “It’s like bidding on a Saturn and then buying a Cadillac.”
According to Butkovitz, six months after the base contract was awarded, the contract cost had increased by one-third. Two years later the cost had nearly doubled, and significant portions of the cost were for tasks that were never bid. Among the tasks not bid was the audit of the 911 program’s finances.
City Council members grow frustrated with their leaders and Mayor Nutter about the pace of potential reform at the Board of Revision of Taxes.
The Glenn Beck circus act came to Exton yesterday. Here's the view from the center ring.
PhillyClout's Friday print edition finds that $10 million won't buy Tom Knox the love of Philadelphia.
And here's a head-scratcher: "Mr. CEO," an erstwhile political opponent of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady goes missing but reports of his abduction may have been greatly exaggerated.
We just got this press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Arts Leaders to Rally Against Devastating New Tax
WHAT: This Friday, Philadelphia arts and civic leaders will rally against the proposed “Arts Tax” on Pennsylvania’s cultural organizations and institutions.
"Culture is not a single work of art, or a single piece of theatre or dance. Culture is all of us,” said Thom Weaver, a Philadelphia lighting designer spearheading the rally. “Culture is community, culture is working men and women, culture is children, and culture is family. In difficult times, a tax on arts and culture is yet another blow to working men and women trying to support their families. Just as importantly, it's a blow to families who want to learn together, laugh together, cry together, and most of all, be together. We rally to support these families,”
The eleventh-hour proposal to extend the sales tax to arts and culture activities attempts to balance the Commonwealth's budget on the back of one of its most valuable and vulnerable industries. A 6% tax on all admissions, tickets, and subscriptions at Pennsylvania’s nonprofit cultural organizations would yield just under $13 million – less than 13% of the total revenue projected.
The long legal battle over moving the Barnes Foundation out of Montgomery County into the city of Philadelphia is documented in a new documentary, "The Art of the Steal." Mostly positive reviews are pouring in for the film, currently making the rounds of film festivals, which is reportedly sympathetic to the efforts to keep the financially struggling museum at it's original site, the home of the late collector Albert Barnes.
Here's an excerpt from a story this week in the Wall Street Journal:
"The Art of the Steal" breaks no significant news—at least not to anyone who has been closely following the saga. The film's accomplishment is to make a sometimes arcane tale involving art, law and the politics of philanthropy comprehensible and compelling to a general audience.
For more details on "The Art of the Steal," click here.
This is the budget process that will never end.
The Associated Press reports that Gov. Rendell is meeting today with top state lawmakers, amid reports that Democrats may not have enough votes to pass the compromise budget in the state House of Representatives. Check out this story from the Harrisburg Patriot-News about the precarious budget situation.
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Catherine Lucey luceyc@phillynews.com |
Chris Brennan brennac@phillynews.com |
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