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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Will City Workers Attend Budget Rally?

We just got a copy of an email Library Director Siobhan Reardon sent yesterday to library staffers about today's budget rally at 2 p.m.*

PhillyClout wonders if workers citywide are getting the same message? And will they have to use personal time if they choose to attend or will they be on the clock? You may recall that last year before the Phillies Parade, Managing Director Camille Barnett instructed workers that they had to take personal time to attend the parade.

We've asked the press office these questions and will update when we get more info. Here's Reardon's note:

Dear all:

This is a head-up that the Mayor will be hosting a rally/press announcement tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. which is designed to encourage State lawmakers to get serious about resolving their budget impasse. The message will include dramatic impacts on all city departments if there is further delay.

We will be sending Boards members and community advocates to attend this rally. The mayor needs everybody to come and stand up for the City.

UPDATE: We just talked to the mayor's press office. They said Reardon wanted her staff to know about the event because the potential budget cuts could devastate the library system. But they said workers who attend the rally must get approval from their supervisors and do it on their own time.

* CORRECTION: The original version -- and headline -- of this post said that Reardon was urging workers to attend today's budget rally. Sandra Horrocks, of the Free Library, says that the email was simply to inform workers of the rally, rather than encourage them to attend. She also stressed that no libraries were closed today and no workers left their posts to attend the rally. PhillyClout apologizes for the confusion.

Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 12:33 PM  Permalink | 4 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:05 PM, 07/30/2009
    Is it wise to shut down the libraries so the workers can take time to attend a rally? I think Nutter has lobbied everyone, the case has been made, and one more rally in City Hall is not what is going to change minds or votes.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:21 PM, 07/30/2009
    Maybe Nutter shouldn't have signed a budget that depended so greatly on the State. You wouldn't run your household that way, why would you run the City that way? Wake up Philadelphia and stop electing the same idiots that have run this City into the ground for the last 60 years!
    — irish3m
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:29 PM, 07/30/2009
    I think this is an unfair burden to put on city employees, also. They are pawns to a Council that had the chance to win Harrisburg by showing it could get serious about ending DROP, refusing a pay raise, accepting cuts to Council's budget in the PICA plan, ending free cars/gas/insurance, ending having lovers on Council staff who sleep with the Council members who sign their paychecks, and on and on. But Council chose not to. They didn't do ONE thing, even. No rally is going to compensate for that, and it's wrong to put this on the tiny shoulders of stressed city employees. Council is like a rhino that sits on an ant and says "carry me!"
    — CleanupPhilly


4 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
luceyc@phillynews.com

Chris Brennan
brennac@phillynews.com

Jan Ransom
Ransomj@phillynews.com
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