The Daily News editorial page today beseeches readers to come to a public meeting about the future of Philly's waterfront. Citizens will have an opportunity to interview finalists contending to create a "master plan." The event is from 6:30-8:30 at Festival Pier, Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden street.

One wonders, with yesterday's news that the city will end the year $31 million in the red, if this will end up being a warm-up for another round of citizen meetings about how to pare down the city's budget (the projected deficit is more manageable than last year's, but will still require meaningful cuts). If nothing else good comes of these hard fiscal times, maybe Philly can at least become a town where collecting citizen feedback is standard procedure.

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Clout is reporting that budget director Stephen Agostini just told Council that the city is on pace to end the fiscal year with $31 million less than it expected to have.

We noted last week that it was good to see the mayor getting out ahead of next year's very-likely fiscal crisis by ordering departments to find ways to cut 7.5% from their budgets. Maybe he wasn't as far ahead as we hoped.

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My general take, when people talk about addressing city budget problems by cutting Council's budget, is that while the amount of money spent on Council may be objectionable, a fight to cut it down just may not be worth the time. Council's cost, relative to the rest of the city's budget, is really quite small: about $15 million out of a $3.5 billion budget. Yes, symbolism matters. But when you imagine the political capital and energy that would have to be spent to, say, take away Council's city cars -- well, you wonder if we're not prioritizing schadenfreude over good policy.

Then you see something like this, from Jeff Shields at the Inquirer:

City Council is looking for some help that it can't seem to find among its 200 employees.

Council approved a resolution last week authorizing up to $50,000 for a consultant to help analyze the city's pension predicament.

In addition, Council has authorized up to $100,000 for a public-relations consultant, even though it already has a communications director, Anthony Radwanski, who makes $96,000.

This is the sort of thing that makes you lose all perspective. The pension analyst is one thing. But a $100,000 public relations consultant? Bear in mind that in addition to Radwanski, numerous council people already have communications people on their staffs (Bill Green hired one a few months ago, although the position has since been eliminated).* Is this for real?

*This line was updated.

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As you've no doubt heard by now, the SEPTA strike came to an end in the middle of the night.

Here's what we're curious about: This strike lasted six days. There was a lot of back-and-forth between the two sides, including several false alarms of settlements, proclamations that the union was rejecting excellent offers given economic circumstances, a request by the union for binding arbitration (declined by SEPTA) and for a forensic audit of its pension fund, to ensure its health.

As you followed these events, did your opinion -- over who was at fault or what would constitute a reasonable offer -- ever change? Was it persuasive, for instance, when union prez Willie Brown claimed that his members deserve a good contract because this is a good financial time for mass transit? Or when SEPTA attributed the 52 percent funding level of the TWU's pension fund to the stock market crash?

Tell us in comments.

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(Akira Suwa / Staff Photographer)

And then there was one.

Mayor Nutter was the first to go. He was "cut out" of SEPTA contract negotiations during an acrimonious exchange in the press with TWU president Willie Brown. Nutter had criticized the union, and Brown retorted by calling the mayor "little Caesar" and saying he would no longer meet with him.

Yesterday, after making some optimistic remarks that didn't pan out, Governor Rendell threatened to cut himself out of the process, and to take $7 million in state money with him if the union didn't bring SEPTA's latest contract offer to its members for a vote. The governor's exit, should it come to pass, would be similarly unfriendly. At the press conference announcing it, Rendell said he was "entirely frustrated."

Of the three big shot pols who set out to help mediate this strike, only congressman Bob Brady has not thus far left on bad terms. And Rendell, by demanding a membership vote, has given the impression that he just doesn't want to deal with union leadership anymore. Which makes us wonder: How much of a role are personal frustration and animosity playing in the stalemate?

SEPTA management and union leadership can't just abandon negotiations -- they're the actual parties in the dispute. But no doubt they're feeling frustrated, too -- getting tired of one another's voices and, probably, annoying personal tics. How could they not? They've spent over a week in a room, under a lot of public pressure, arguing. Each side probably thinks the other is being completely unreasonable. And these folks aren't even professional politicians, who pretend to like people for a living. They're probably tempted to hold back on concessions just to not give the other guy the satisfaction.

One hopes, however, that the participants are managing to keep the larger picture in mind -- that there's a whole city of people who need them to sort this out, and soon. It's not a good sign that no negotiations are scheduled. Remember: It's not about the guy across the table.

Poll: How long will the SEPTA strike last? (3056 votes)

Well, it happened again. Gov. Ed Rendell said last night that SEPTA and the TWU were close to a deal to end the five-day old transit strike. Today, we find out that no agreement is in place. Why does this keep happening?

Politicians speak, people listen. Gov. Ed Rendell and other elected officials have inserted themselves into contract negotiations. Now, instead of just hearing from the union and management, the public (and media) is getting information from third-party sources. So far, politicians have promised a settlement three separate times, only to see the various deals fall apart. We're not sure why that is, but it's important to remember that no elected official -- even Gov. Rendell -- can force a settlement. Ultimately, it's up to the union and management. They'll be the ones who tell us when the strike is over.

The public is eager for a settlement. Why do announcements from politicians generate so much interest? Well, the general public is hoping for a quick resolution to the strike. The media, aware of this desire, have been eagerly covering possible deals. And so everyone keeps on thinking the strike is about to end.

The union isn't talking much. So far, TWU Local 234 has only held one press conference, and union chief Willie Brown has granted few interviews. Consequently, information from the labor perspective has been scarce. Any deal to end the strike will need approval from the union, though, so wait to hear from them before you believe the strike is over.

Negotiations are complicated. This might seem like a basic point, but contract negotiations are extremely complicated. The issues being discussed -- wages, healthcare, work rules, and pensions -- impact a tremendous number of workers and account for billions of dollars, and it takes a lot of time for management and the union to work through the proposals. It's even harder for them to explain things to the media and the public. This all makes it very difficult for either side to speak with authority until a final deal has been reached.

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Jamie Horowitz, spokesman for the TWU, just told us that a press conference being held at the Bellevue this afternoon will not include an announcement of a final deal between the union and SEPTA:

Progress is being made, the union is preparing a counter proposal that will be sent over via Congressman Brady. If the counter proposal is accepted by SEPTA, then the board is in place to vote on that. The other thing they will be considering will be if they feel comfortable enough with the agreement to ask people to return to work immediately or if a member ratification vote will be held to approve it as well.

There are one or possibly two votes that have to happen before trains start running. The big thing right now is if SEPTA accepts this counter proposal.

We'll update you when we know more.

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As the SEPTA strike drags into the weekend, I've started wondering about the fiscal impact on Philadelphia's troubled city budget. After all, a transit shutdown was not factored into the original revenue projects. Will it matter?

I asked Uri Monson from the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority. As the director of the city's fiscal watchdog, he keeps a close eye on city tax revenue. According to him, it's very hard to predict what the strike will do to city finances.

“I think short-term impact there is negligible, if any,” Monson told me. “People are struggling to get to work and it's causing a backup, it's a loss of productivity. But most people seem to be heeding the mayor's call and being more forgiving for staff. People aren't getting fired.”

Monson says the bigger impact could be on the hospitality industry, since the strike might encourage people to not visit or come downtown.

“In the long term, there could be people who cancel vacations in Philadelphia. So we might see less revenue for hotels and related industries,” said Monson. “It certainly has reinforced the Philadelphia stereotype of having self-oriented, anti-progress unions.”

Monson feels very strongly about that last point. He says that the transit strike could dissuade businesses from moving to Philadelphia.

“The headline should have been the World Series and instead it got tied into the transit strike. Not just a transit strike, but a strike that happened in the current economic climate. That can impact how businesses view Philadelphia and make it less likely for companies to locate in Philadelphia. We'll never know the exact number, but the strike can be the kind of thing that pushes you over the edge.”

Monson doesn't see any bright spots in the strike, but he concedes it could lead to increased revenue in one area: parking.

“There may be some small increase in the parking tax. I don't know if there will be more parking tickets, the Parking Authority has said they will be more lenient,” said Monson. “The real impact is how many people will be fed up with SEPTA and stop riding altogether. That might lead to more people driving to work and parking.”

Also on IOM: Here's how SEPTA's money works; a guide to pensions.

Some late-breaking news on the SEPTA strike.

Union President Willie Brown just announced that the strike would end if SEPTA submitted to a binding arbitration process.

We’ve written about the pros and cons of binding arbitration before, but basically, the two sides would submit their competing proposals to a panel of arbiters who would decide on a contract.

Councilmen Bill Green and Curtis Jones threw their support behind the idea. Green told the Inquirer, “we're trying to come up with ways to get this resolved and let people get to and from work."

In a Radio Times interview this morning, Gov. Rendell said that SEPTA had agreed to certain measures that wouldn’t cost a lot of money — such as agreeing to cover cost increases in a dental plan — but was unwilling to put down any more serious cash.

No word yet on SEPTA’s response.