A City Council committee just ended an informational hearing on the city's pension structure that was neither controversial nor terribly informative in the way of new facts - but it did seem to ratchet up tensions between Council and the Nutter administration, which was possibly the point in the first place.

Twice in the last year and a half, Councilman Bill Green, who chairs Council's Labor and Civil Service Committee, had scheduled a hearing to examine the state of Philadelphia's pension system and consider recommended fixes. Twice he postponed the hearing at the request of the administration.

A final straw seemed to come last week when Nutter spokesman Doug Oliver suggested that Council was "abdicating any responsibility" for finding ways to lower pension costs by refusing to pass a resolution creating a cheaper pension plan for newly-hired city workers. Council support for doing so was nil, with most members believing that was a collective bargaining matter to be settled at the negotiating table.

Within a few days, today's hearing was scheduled.

»  More Pension hearing not entirely about city pension system

Mayor Nutter today said he's unaware of any city policy barring employees from bringing their pets to work, but that doing so could prove "a bit of a distraction."

Tell that to Managing Director Camille Barnett.

The Daily News reports that Barnet this week brought her two Yorkshire terriers to work with her at the Municipal Services Building, and also asked her staff to walk the pooches and give one of them eyedrops.

Barnett left for vacation yesterday and won't return until Nov. 9, according to her office.

»  More City managing director dogs her staff with new task

A yet-to-be released study that ranks Philadelphia as the most expensive county in the state when it comes to per-voter election costs garnered almost no attention this morning during a meeting of the City Commissioners.

As reported today in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the study found that Philadelphia spends $9.18 per voter, which is nearly double the median figure - $4.68 - spent by Pennsylvania's 15 most populous counties.

No matter, for now, to the three City Commissioners who oversee Philadelphia elections. "We will respond when we are good and ready... and you'll be surprised," Commission Chairwoman Marge Tartaglione said.

Referring to the Nov. 3 general election, Commissioner Joe Duda said, "Right now we are focused on this election."

»  More City election officials stay silent on report of costly Philly elections

Mayor Nutter just released the winners of the Citizens Park Mayor's Box raffle for playoff tickets.

Read the release below:

 Philadelphia, October 16, 2009 – Today Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the nine winners of National League Championship Series tickets. More than 29,000 people participated in the raffle. The winners were chosen by randomly generating nine numbers, from 1 to 29,000 (the number of correct response received), using a random number generator. Emails were then assigned a number, based on the order in which they were received. Emails with the randomly generated numbers were then selected as the winner.

Mayor Nutter will distribute tickets to the winners today at 5pm at City Hall, Room 215.

»  More Mayor announces Phillies playoff ticket winners

Close to 200 of Mayor Nutter's friends and supporters showed up at a campaign fundraiser the mayor held last night at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel.

Gov. Rendell stopped by.

And so did Bill Green, the only one of City Council's 17 members widely rumored to be considering a run against Nutter in 2012 - despite Green's insistence that he is not interested in running City Hall.

"I went because I was invited," says Green, a first-term councilman who has emerged as a sharp critic of Nutter's. "It's not everyday the mayor invites me to be somewhere."

»  More Mayor raises campaign cash, draws pals and others

As promised, City Councilman Bill Green this morning introduced legislation that would revamp the Board of Revision of Taxes. Though the legislative process is now officially underway, any ultimate changes would not take place until and unless they were approved by voters on the May 2010 ballot.

Although Council leaders are supporting the bill, it's still unclear where Mayor Nutter stands. Green's legislation differs in some respects from an outline Nutter laid out earlier this week of what matters would need to be included for any legislation that he would support.

Here's some of what Green's bill calls for:

*Abolishing the BRT and replacing it with two new entities, the Office of Property Assessment, which would make property assessments beginning in 2011, and the Board of Property Assessment Appeals.

»  More Green introduces bill to revamp BRT

Mayor Nutter spent today in Seattle, where he's attending a three-day U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting that wraps up tomorrow.

Now comes word from his press office that come Sunday morning, he will be leaving the West Coast - and headed straight to San Antonio, Texas, where he will be attending another meeting that last through late Monday. This one is sponsored by the Council on Foundations.

While there, the mayor will be speaking on a panel about the city's mortgage foreclosure program. He will also be meeting with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Ed DeSeve, senior advisor at the White House Office for Management and Budget for Recovery Act implementation.

Here's the press release:

»  More Nutter racking up air miles

Remember Mayor Nutter, the so-called reform candidate? Well, he is getting ready to push government reform issues - which were sidetracked during the months-long budget fight with Harrisburg - again to the forefront of his agenda.

The administration is nearing completion on a set of initiatives meant to rattle - to some extent - certain government functions as we know them.

Beginning tomorrow, these in-the-works initiatives will undergo scrutiny during a two-day "Reform Team Summit" organized in large part by Managing Director Camille Barnett and also Mary Horstmann, director of the Mayor's Office of Private Sector Initiatives.

From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., individual "teams" - made up of city staffers and private sector leaders - will present their ideas for how to save money, increase revenue and improve efficiency. Among those listening and offering feedback will be City Council members, deputy mayors, the Economy League, the Committee of 70, the William Penn Foundation and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. In addition, members of Nutter's campaign transition team were invited to participate.

»  More "Reform" on Nutter's mind

Three years in the making, the SugarHouse Casino plans to break ground on its slots parlor Oct. 8 at 3 p.m.

Leigh Whitaker, a casino spokesperson, said the ceremony will be attended by the lead investor in the project, Chicago developer Neil Bluhm; Mayor Michael Nutter; City Councilmen Frank DiCicco and Darrell Clarke; and the chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Gregory Fajt.

"It's not open to the public," she said.

Last week, the gaming board signed off on financing for the $355 million project, which will include 1,700 slot machines to start with on the 22-acre parcel, straddling Fishtown and Northern Liberties.

»  More SugarHouse to break ground Oct. 8