Tell Council how you feel about the 2010 budget

City Council is getting into the transparency business.

Council President Anna Verna's office just announced that a public hearing on the budget has been scheduled to take place at Temple University - at 5 p.m. April 1, at Ritter Hall (near Cecil B. Moore Avenue and 13th Street).

It is the first time in recent memory that Council has held a budget hearing somewhere other than in Council chambers in City Hall. This meeting was at the request of Council members Darrell Clarke and Maria Quinones-Sanches. Additional meetings in other neighborhoods will also be scheduled.

Yet another hearing for public testimony - ready for this? - is set to occur on a SATURDAY - that's Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"The severe economic crisis we are all experiencing this year has heightened people's awareness of the City budget and what it means to them," Verna said in a news release. "Because citizens deserve to have their voices heard, we in Council have worked very hard to make the process as transparent and inclusive as we possibly could."

Residents can also submit testimony - at any time - by emailing sharon.c.ortiz@phila.gov. It will then be distributed to Council members.

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