Mayor Nutter just sent the following email to city workers. In it he acknowledges that layoff notices may go out to 3,000 people on Friday if budget relief isn't passed in Harrisburg, but he asks workers to stay on the job and says he hopes the layoffs won't become a reality.
One disaster scenario for the city is if many workers who receive layoff notices decide to use vacation or comp time and not return to work Monday. That could mean some facilites would have to shut down before the Oct. 2 date when layoffs become finalized.
The text of the email is below:
Dear fellow City employees,
Tomorrow I will travel to Harrisburg once again to do all I can to secure final passage of House Bill 1828, legislation that gives the City the tools to overcome the damage wrought by the current recession. This bill will generate $700 million and allow us to avoid the devastating cuts that have come to be known as ‘Plan C’.
Since City Council passed a budget in May, I have personally made at least 15 trips to Harrisburg and have met with virtually every member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, urging them to support this legislation.
In the last year, Philadelphia has made difficult choices, cutting or saving $1.7 billion out of our Five Year Plan. We did our best to minimize the impact of these cuts on citizens and on public employees. We have done all that we can. There is no more left to cut without having a devastating impact on this city. If Harrisburg does not approve this bill we will need to make an additional $700 million in cuts to replace the money that we will lose. Unfortunately, this means that we will have to lay off nearly 3,000 city employees from across city government.
Honestly, at this point, we do not know just what will happen in Harrisburg this week. I promise you that we will fight until the very last second, but there is a very real possibility that we will have to issue these layoff notices on Friday.
During my 25 years in and around city government I have seen first-hand the immeasurable impact that dedicated public servants have on the lives of our fellow citizens, especially those who need our help the most. I have witnessed the sacrifice that so many of you make on a daily basis in order to serve your city.
As a City Councilman and as Mayor I have met and worked with many of you, but there are also many who I have never met. To all of you I say that I am proud to be your Mayor, I have incredible respect and admiration for your hard work and dedication, and I care deeply about each and every one of you.
Most of you came into public service to help people and to make lives better…I know I did. The very value that you bring to this city will be measured by the devastating impact on public services that will result if we have to proceed with these layoffs.
I do not want to take this action, it is one of the most painful things that any Mayor could possibly do, and I will fight to make sure that these layoffs do not come to pass.
For those of you who do receive a layoff notice this week, that is not the end. Though even receiving a notice is very painful, we will still go through the normal layoff process.
During this time your city needs you to continue to come to work, to continue to provide the vital services that so many of our fellow citizens rely upon, and to continue to support your fellow public employees in this very difficult time.
I pledge to you that I will continue to work every hour of the day and night on your behalf, and continue to fight for you, your jobs, and our city to make sure that these layoffs never become effective.
I will not even pretend to understand the full extent of the worry and concern that many of you feel at this time. I know you feel terrible about this and I do too. I know that the uncertainty of this situation and the prospect that you or your friends will receive a layoff notice is deeply troubling. But what I can tell you is that I will never stop fighting for you or for Philadelphia and that I will continue to work day and night to stand up for you and to protect the services that so many citizens rely upon.
I am still hopeful and I will never stop fighting for your or our great city that I love and serve.
Mayor Michael A. Nutter
Hmmm. Nowhere does it say that these folks will be paid for the time they put in after they have been furloughed. Wonder what the unions will have to say about that.— MadHungarian- The damage wasn´t ¨done by the current recession¨but by decades of fraud, waste, and abuse of power by machine Democrats. For the last 14 years Michael Nutter was part and parcel to the whole thing. Now he´s once again running to Harrisburg and the taxpayers with a cup in his hand.— Kaiser Sosa
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Is Latrice Bryant in the list to get laid off?— DonQ
- "You're fired, but please still come to work. Thanks, Love, Mayor Nutter."— CleanupPhilly
- Yeah, like the laid off employees are going to show up at work. This city has really lost it's mind, and the votes for another Democratic run government.— Dadair1
- You can't blame Nutter for the amendments -- those were critical to getting the bill out of the Senate to the House. It was the best effort possible to raise taxes in a recession, it just didn't work. It was even closer to success than Rendell's PIT hike and other tax hikes. Nutter wasn't totally shot down -- the bill is still alive, but it won't result in a sales tax hike this year, probably. What it can't be is Nutter's only idea. Cuts, collections, and reassessments have to be rolled out at once.— CleanupPhilly
- Comment removed.
- Obviously rolling out layoffs over time would have been more feasible, as Nutter will soon see as the whole city apparatus takes all of its sick leave and vacation to look for another job. That's why using layoffs more as a political ploy is always obvious. If you are seriously cutting as an executive, you use best practices. You don't say "we hope this bill will pass someday, and we can just pretend none of this EVER happened! You just may have to work with pay for some unknown period of time, but hey, it's ALL GOOD. Luv ya! The Mayor."— CleanupPhilly
- So let me get this straight: All the years of NOT going off sick and NOT taking vacation means many city employees have a lot of time in the bank. That time will now vaporize when they get laid off and this idiot wants them to come to work anyway and NOT use at least some of it? Seriously? A final act of disrespect.— Captainden
- NOW do you see why I'm always asking why the city won't collect the $425 million in overdue property taxes at foreclosure, or the $1 billion in forfeit bail owed the city like any normal bail bondsman? Nutter has other options, he just didn't use them.— CleanupPhilly
- If Nutter thinks this will suddenly cause the bill to be birthed into existence, he hasn't been paying attention to how well the Mexican Stand Off Rendell is involved in with the legislature has been going. If Nutter thinks he's going to be able to bluff, he better be prepared to have that bluff called.— CleanupPhilly
- What a joke to ask people to come to work for free. All of you sheeple city workers that just continue to vote how your union leader or boss tell, good luck in the real world where you have to produce at work. Like CleanupPhilly has been saying, collect all the cash owed and maybe you wouldn't be 1 of the people laid off. Hopefully the state will force the city into REAL govt reduction and reform.— Taxpaying Voter
- Comment removed.
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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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