Where is Mayor Nutter as budget talks rage on?
As City Council continues to debate an increasingly messy budget, Mayor Nutter is in Orlando, FL for the rest of the week for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, an organization he is set to take over as president.
Where is Mayor Nutter as budget talks rage on?
Catherine Lucey
As City Council continues to debate an increasingly messy budget, Mayor Nutter is in Orlando, FL for the rest of the week for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, an organization he is set to take over as president.
Last Thursday, when Council gave preliminary approval to a package of budget bills, Nutter was in Washington DC giving a speech on soda and obesity.
Compare this to last year’s budget cycle, when Nutter physically camped out in Councilman Curtis Jones’ office during the last day of debate to lobby members. But spokesman Mark McDonald said Nutter is actively in touch with members when he’s out of town.
“I think there are many modes of communication and the mayor is in touch with everyone he needs to be,” McDonald said. “He is capable of doing multiple things at once.”
We know Nutter did call all the members who gave preliminary approval to his property tax overhaul last week. And we hear he met with Council President Darrell Clarke yesterday.
Comments (39)
Comment removed.
gutless worm thats what that fraud of a mayor is, looking for his next job— nelson van alden- Nutter announced earlier this year that there would be no tax increase this year then let Rob Dubow take all the flak for pushing a $94 million backdoor tax hike. You said Nutter was at the conference Thursday, he was there Friday too tweeting happily about his elbow-rubbing with Chelsea Clinton, as if that impresses anybody other than the 25-year olds that work for him and listen to him do Rapper's Delight 15 times a year. Instead of leaving Rob Dubow to take a beating and Mark McDonald to cover for you, Michael, why don't you man up and stick around and tell us how much you want our tax bills to increase.— bullrun
fiscally this city is burning, and Nero's in Fla. having cocktails and canapés. sadly he won't be unemployed until Jan 2016, so is it too much to ask to have him focus on his day job, and maybe cut some spending so my property taxes don't go up $2,000?
but let's hear ms lucey and the daily news gang keep telling us what a great mayor he is, and how bad john street was (say what you will, he never raised taxes)— barry m goldwater- And because of John Street, we're raising taxes now. John's actually my fraternity brother and I loved him in his first term, but he ate and left us with the bill in his 2nd term. This is what happens when you put band-aids on infected cuts.
- Comment removed.
- My bigger beef with the surplus is that I feel like he willingly blinded himself to not only our pension expenses but on school district expenses too. I feel like we're paying for that now.
That said, I know that spending on NTI instead of the more pressing costs was common practice but I feel like that's what got us where we're at now. - Comment removed.
- I want to disagree but I honestly don't know enough about what's going on with pension at the moment to do so. There really hasn't been a lot of recent talk about it though. As far as the school district and SRC, I feel like he brought our debt woes to light. Pass that, I felt like our hands were kind of tied with that one. I would agree though that he could've/should've pushed and watched them more.
At end, I guess the reason I don't trash Nutter so much is because he's not scared of his constituents. More importantly, with the exception of the city's pension fund, he doesn't try to just put a band aid on things. To me, it seems like he really is pursuing viable solutions to a lot of the city's financial woes. Moreover, I feel like he's charged with this because no one really took charge in the past. Our 30yr real estate assessment recess is evident of this. This of course is all just my perspective. - You seem to be completely glossing over how as Councilman Nutter made his popularity by insisting on larger tax cuts than Street preferred, which may have prevented pursuing viable solutions; then once the problems became his it was suddenly tax, tax, and more tax. — bullrun
- @bullrun You're right. Unfortunately, that's how they play the game. Tax cut are all good and well when you're not the one being held accountable for the covering costs. Once you inherit the responsibility though, things change.
- posing his ugly mug for the cameras.— etbarksdale
- First, you can't be mad at the man for networking.....and "looking for his next job." You begin preparing for a promotion the moment you get a job. Second, that's a hell of a position to have associated with Philadelphia. That makes us look good. No complaints here as long as budget talks finish smoothly.
- has nutter laid off one single employee? has nutter hired more deputy mayors than any previous mayor? has nutter raised the sales tax 14%? has nutter raised property taxes twice already, not counting AVI which would double my taxes?
where is nutter on cost control?— barry m goldwater - Nutter has laid off employees and has, as expected, been criticized for it. Nutter has also raised the sales tax and property tax. In doing so, Nutter has also kept the city away from default and has been able to maintain municipal services. A lot of other cities can't say that right now to include New York, Detroit and our neighbors in Camden.
Things that he could do is take it down a notch on the deputy mayor and be more considerate of residents ability to whether his tax storm. Bottom line, however, is when you have expenses, they have to be covered. - Comment removed.
- Is Michael Nutter ruthless with his tax policies? Yes. That said, without them, I don't see where we would be able to find any immediate sources of large revenue. I'm very open minded though and always interested in other options.
- Name any past president of the Conference of Mayors, ever, or where they were from, without google. The only person that benefits from Michael Nutter being president of the Conference of Mayors is Michael Nutter.— bullrun
- Darren Lipscomb: Get your facts straight. Street left Nutter a surplus. Nutter is a monumental failure as Mayor. He makes John Street look good.— Michael T. Welsh
- Speaking of Street why was it such a laughingstock that he took a personal day in a time of year with no pressing deadlines to get the first iPhone, but Nutter takes vacations for weeks and goes on junkets during budget season and it's ok? You know what it means when you're an officer of something like this? It means you go on little junkets every...month...instead of doing the job you are paid to do.— bullrun
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- Nutter has moved on from being the Mayor. He's lobbying for a cabinet level position in D.C., or something else on the national radar.— Smokey
- Nutter has moved on from being the Mayor. He's lobbying for a cabinet level position in D.C., or something else on the national radar.— Smokey
- The Mayor reminds me a lot of Obama. He promised much but delivered little. The Mayor's solution to every problem is to raise taxes rather than looking for other alternatives. The 'deal' in Philly has always been that property taxes were kept reasonable because we had such a ridiculous wage tax. I really believe this AVI initiative is the final nail in the City's coffin. No one will want to live here and those who are here and capable of moving out will do so.
- Comment removed.
- I agree. Only problem is that now that he's at the table, he want to put in an order too and the guys from earlier find their arguments justified. I like the Prez but where at this place where everybody's panicking and pushing for cuts and, in turn, killing him for the additions he's proposing to bring to the table.
- no. put down the bucket of fried chicken, wipe your fingers, and try again. thx — barry m goldwater
- Is this just a abstract racist joke or is there some actual relevance to your comment sir?
- i was referring to rosie — barry m goldwater
- @bullrun -touche but then again how many congressmen can you name? Doesn't mean the role isn't important. As far as the heat that John Street caught for the famous iPhone Debacle, it was tacky and done in bad taste. We were laughed at as it made national news.
@Michael T. Welsh you're right. John did leave us with a surplus. Unfortunately, he failed to pay some bills along the way. Do you not remember Mike's first year in office? His administration was pretty much doing a systems review and uncovered some unaccounted costs to include city workers pensions and with the school district budget. Just because we don't fix the problems during an official's term doesn't mean that they weren't his fault. - Nutter out fine tuning his rhyme 'Taxer's Delight'— uandwhosearmy
- He is over the soda store ordering 20 oz bottles of pepsi. Wow all that sugar. Now when they find him and drag him back to his job as mayor, he will be on a sugar high and super attentive to hear all the insults heaved at him on his budget that is intended to finally sink the city and leave it devoid of any private taxpayers. The only ones left will be the only ones left will be the unemployed and elderly and the public sector employees who are still searching for the pot of gold.— rduexpress
- Darren, The idea that John street was you fraternaty brother should cause you the greatest embaresment. If you leave frank rizzo out of the mix, Street had to be one of the greatest befoons to lead this city in the last 50 years. AND HE WAS THINKING OF RUNNING FOR THE SENATE??? Heaven help us.— rduexpress
- Did you actually read my last comment? It describes my love/hate feeling for Mr. Street. That said, I stand by my statement that I like him in his 1st term. I feel like he did a lot to help the city's most struggling communities and his commitment to tax abatement promoted a lot of the real estate growth that we're still seeing today.
Unfortunately, he stunk it up in his 2nd term. I can't remember one thing that he did that helped us. It was the term that I wished Sam Katz got elected for. - Comment removed.
- The only area that I'll argue against here is that, from what I've experienced, 311 is efficient and effective. I've used it a couple of times and they had me off the phone in no time. The problems that called in for were taken care of in the same manner. You make great points though and I won't argue against them nor will I make excuses for Mayor Nutter.
- he's still ugly.— etbarksdale
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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. E-mail tips to brennac@phillynews.com
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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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Follow Chris on Twitter
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
Follow Dave on Twitter.
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
Follow Jan on Twitter
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
Follow Sean on Twitter
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