Council Committee Finally Approves City's New SEPTA Board Members

Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler with Mayor Nutter last year.

A City Council committee this morning finally approved Mayor Nutter's appointees to two seats on the SEPTA board after letting the issue linger for nearly three months. Nutter sent to Council on Feb. 26 his appointments of Rina Cutler, his deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, and Beverly Coleman, executive director of NeighborhoodsNow. Council, which has been brawling with Nutter on the city budget and other issues, held a hearing on the appointments on March 23 but didn't vote to approve or reject them.

Cutler did not enjoy a smooth ride from Council during today's hearing. Councilmen Wilson Goode Jr. and Bill Green peppered Cutler with questions about a long-running dispute between the city and SEPTA on expired leases for city-owned subway stations. Cutler refused to take a position, referring questions to the city Law Department. Goode and Green said they could not support her appointment until she took a stand on the issue. In the vote, Green supported Cutler's nomination but complained that he should have had a meeting with her before the hearing. Goode cast the lone vote against Cutler's appointment.

Cutler and Coleman still need to be approved in two votes by Council during regular sessions. It appears likely that Coleman will get those votes quickly while Cutler will not.

Council President Anna Verna told PhillyClout three weeks ago that the appointments had not moved forward because "some Council members thought they wanted to hold off on it." Verna denied that the delay was tied to any disagreements between Council and Nutter but said she did not know why some of her colleagues didn't want to move the issue forward.

SEPTA's 15-member board includes two appointees each from Philadelphia and the surrounding four suburban counties along with members selected by the governor and the four legislative caucuses from the state General Assembly.

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 10:36 AM Permalink | 1 comment

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About The Philly Clout Team

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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