PICA Wants to Know Why Council Won't Hold DROP Hearings
The Board Chairman of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority is questioning why City Council hasn't scheduled hearings on the controversial DROP program.
PICA Wants to Know Why Council Won't Hold DROP Hearings
Catherine Lucey
The Board Chairman of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority is questioning why City Council hasn't scheduled hearings on the controversial DROP program.
Sam Katz today sent a letter to Council President Anna Verna, asking why the body hasn't moved on the issue, even after their own study found that the program has cost $100 million since 1999.
"The failure of City Council to act in any fashion, in the face of a call for cessation of the DROP by the Mayor, econometric evidence, and clear public sentiment against the DROP program, clouds the City's future fiscal situation, which is the statutory purview of PICA," writes Katz. For the full letter, click here.
We wrote several weeks ago about Council's inaction on DROP.
UPDATE: We just caught up with Council President Anna Verna, who said she hadn't read the letter and didn't want to repsond. "I'm up to here with this budget," Verna said.
Verna did say she personally would like to hold DROP hearings before Council takes their summer legislative recess, but she said she wasn't sure if that would happen.
What the heck, let's put them all back in office, and give them more time. Not.— TheShadowKnows- They won't even consider the issue until after the election, because by then those eligible will have raped the City for the money already.— citylumberjack
- Why would they? A lot of them are direct beneficiaries of said program. The conflict of interest here is laughable. They've already spent 2 years & about a million $$'s on two University studies that found DROP to be overly-expensive & unsustainable. But I think a 3rd grader could've told you that DROP either needs to be abolished all together or if nothing be subject to a BIG-time overhaul. But stay on it Katz & PICA. (MAYBE just MAYBE you will have some success w/ this)— Kennedy
- How could these greedy pigs tackle this issue when the DROP QUEEN TASCO is in charge of these hearings right that's like having al capone and jesse james in charge she is a despicable greedy pig— the commodore
- PICA should know the answer...PHiladelphia...easy eh— STEVE5444
- The pension fund made 13% interest last month. City personnel in the drop only get 4.5% of that. So the city made 8.5% on their money.— jn3
- If that's true, could you please provide the name of the fund paying that rate of return!?! Does the pension fund double as a loan sharking operation? Are they issuing credit cards? Is it managed by the Madoff family? Your facts are wrong, and continually paying out 4.5% interest regardless of what's happening in the markets is just plain stupid.
— InNane - DROP the thieves out of City Council come election time!— Not1ofYouPeople
- Why would council hold hearings when Tasco and Rizzo are just biting at the bit to retire, collect, & return. And the other unethical hypocrite council members Quinones-Sanchez, Blondell, Kenney, Green, (I'm not sure where Jones stands) are all supporting Tasco for Council President. It is a disgrace. They know it's unethical what Tasco & Rizzo plan to do, but they don't care. (Tartaglione already did it and still wants to be greedy) All those council members CHOSE not to listen to their constituents in their district or city. Let's not forget our Mayor Nutter, who turns out to be another fake reformer supporting Tasco. How does anyone expect things to change unless all of them lose their seats on council. VOTE THEM ALL OUT on May 17th. Do your city a favor.— ih8liars
- Nutter does not want the vote. He wants rubber stamp Tasco in as Council President. What a joke this guy turned out to be. Got elected by the liberal, good government crowd and we all know how that turned out.— non excidet
- The original intent of DROP was that it did NOT apply to elected officials, and that - once you took the money and retired - you could NOT come back and work for the City. Maybe if they enforced these (and kicked out the politicians who horned in on the program), DROP wouldn't be so bad ...— MikeLeone
- City council = thieves and despots. Why do we make a big deal about overturning foreign tyrants when we have these idiots for DECADES and DECADES. They steal shamelessly like lil' Rizzo Jr -- what a worthless pig.— maude
- You Philly people crack me up.......— From Hell
- The DROP bell was rung a decade ago. It cannot be unrung, unless the whole City Council is voted out. Cleaning hgouse in City Council would not be a bad idea. This bunch of thieves has been there too long.— DonQ
- What's the point? They will all be re-elected.— Rowland
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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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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. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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