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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Another Nutter Administration Official Exits City Hall

Another top official in the Nutter administration is heading toward the City Hall exit.  Andrew Altman, Nutter's deputy mayor for planning and economic development, is leaving the administration at the end of June* to become the founding CEO of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, which will oversee Olympic Park in East London for the 2012 games.

Rumors of Altman's exit have been swirling for months.  He has had his hands full in Philly, coping with the controversial development of two casinos and Nutter's desire to shift more responsibility in development to the City Planning Commission.  As the city's commerce director, Altman also served as chairman of the commission.

Nutter, in an announcement at City Hall just now, certainly seemed to understand why Altman was leaving.

"I think everyone would recognize this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity," Nutter said. "I imagine that when London is calling it is difficult not to answer that call."

Altman said it wasn't easy to leave, but "it's an opportunity for our family we felt we wanted to do."

Altman is certainly not alone in leaving the administration, now 17 months into its first term.  Just last week, Nutter announced that Mark Alan Hughes will be leaving the administration next month.  Hughes, who served as sustainability director, also took on a role of running policy in the administration.  A former Daily News columnist, Hughes said he wanted to return to academia.

Nutter's previous policy chief, Wendell Pritchett, left the administration in August to return to teaching at the University of Pennsylvania's law school.  He is now chancellor of the law school at Rutgers University.

*The original version of this post said Altman was leaving the city on August 1. He is actually leaving at the end of June and the new job begins on August 1.
Posted by Chris Brennan @ 9:23 AM  Permalink | 6 comments
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:34 AM, 05/27/2009
    Philly is going to have to pay the top people more in order to keep them. We're going to have to be world-class pay competitive. I know people cry, cry, cry, and then cry some more about the "deputy mayors," but the reality is that people can get better pay, better hours, and more autonomy outside the grinder that is top level Philly city administration and repair. Repairing decades of patronage, waste, fraud, graft, and pay to play with normal mores and mission statements is a tougher sell to the average unwashed Philly voter than it should be. We get what we pay for.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:14 PM, 05/27/2009
    The issue here is poor leadership, not pay. All of this "dream team" was very well paid. The problem is that the only thing Nutter does is promote himself. He is very weak on new, innovative ideas to fix the cities problems. He was better suited as a critic of John Street rather than an actual leader. He is finding that it is much easier to criticize from the outside than to lead from the inside. Nutter had an opportunity to stand up against corruption with the Bryant issue and chose to take a pass. He had a chance to build a real community engagment process but instead announced cuts and THEN sought out community feedback. He made a big deal of turning over MBEC into OEO but then they have done nothing to increase minority business in this city. SO far, this has been WORSE than John Street. Street was able to clean up the neighborhoods and get the stadium deals done. Nutter can't even get two casinos open. Shame - maybe it is time for Republican leadership in this town?
    — Malcolm65
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:51 PM, 05/27/2009
    If only Lloyd Ayres (PFD commissioner)would follow suit. Trouble is, he's such a moron, no one will hire him away from his BS job.
    — Genghis
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:58 PM, 05/27/2009
    Malcomb65 - yea, bring back Street...look how clean his NTI made the "neighborhoods"...give me a break. Nutter is the best thing to happen in this City since the soft pretzel.
    — Philly Phorever


6 comments
About The Philly Clout Team
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
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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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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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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.
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Catherine Lucey
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Chris Brennan
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