After the Clerk of Quarter Sessions announced her resignation yesterday, Mayor Nutter dodged questions on the future of the office, which reformers have said should be abolished, along with three other "row offices."
A report released last year by the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority - a state agency that oversees the city budget - estimated that the city could save $13 million to $15 million annually by eliminating four independently elected "row offices" and moving their functions to city agencies or the court system.
The offices are the clerk of quarter sessions, responsible for much of the court system's record-keeping; the city commissioners, a three-person panel in charge of the city's elections; the register of wills, whose office records wills and estates, collects inheritance taxes and issues marriage licenses; and the sheriff, whose portfolio includes providng courtroom security, transporting prisoners, serving warrants and auctioning real estate on which taxes or mortgage payments are delinquent.
Eliminating the clerk of quarter sessions could be done through a vote by City Council. Abolishing the three other offices would require voter approval.
We asked Nutter today what his plans were for those four city row offices. He said the administration has studied the issue, but offered no concrete plans for legislation to abolish or consolidate those offices.
"We've actively looked at it. When we have something to say about it, we'll let you know," Nutter said.