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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Grade the Administration: Phil Goldsmith
Phil Goldsmith.

This week, It's Our Money is asking various experts and advocates to grade the Nutter administration on its performance in the budget process -- it's handling of the process, and the quality of the budget it ultimately got, given the circumstances. Our first assessment comes from Phil Goldsmith of GoldsmithKahn Advisors. Goldsmith is the former Managing Director of the city (under John Street) and a former Daily News columnist.

Grade: A ... for now

Comments: Having decided to look for gold in the den if inequity in Harrisburg where snakes lie in wait, the Mayor did a masterful job of gradual escalation of the stakes involved, returning home with the booty he needed. For that he deserves an A. But serious financial conditions and challeges remain for the city, such as tackling reform issues like the BRT, ethics, taxes, education, union contracts, an antiquated charter and civil service system, zoning etc. While the near-term salavation of the city rested in the hands of Harrisburg, the long-term solution rests in the mayor's willingness and ability to walk the talk.
Posted by Doron Taussig @ 2:45 PM  Permalink | 8 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:49 PM, 09/23/2009
    OMG.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:51 PM, 09/23/2009
    As if we needed proof that Goldsmith is a dinosaur, encased in amber, stuck in tar. Nutter just postponed the crisis by doing a "Street" -- put off until tomorrow what he should have done today. Nowhere but City Hall in Philly is where you can put stuff off like this and be considered an effective leader, or even a good employee.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:03 PM, 09/23/2009
    Let me see if I've got the terms of this Harrisburg miracle straight -- in 2013, the city has to pay the $90 million of the deferred pension payment it isn't paying now, and at least that every year until it is paid off, with interest at something like 8%, plus make the pension payments for that year, and every year. The sales tax hike will bring in $10 million a month, revised down from the initial $12 million immediately after the bill passed. Starting in January of 2010, all of that sales tax hike goes to fund the pension, which is now going to be required by state law to be evaluated without DROP money set asides. So we're putting in $120 million a year in pension money from the sales tax hike but still deferring putting in what we're supposed to so we're losing that time, that dollar cost averaging power of that money. So what do we take home from this? The pension is more precariously funded than ever. What's to stop Nutter or the next Nutter-lite from doing the same thing in 2013? Nothing. There's no due date for this bill. Imagine your newspaper proposing this to your union. "Yeah, we have a pension for ya, we just never put any significant money in it if we need cash, which is pretty much always, since we have no operating capital for this grand scheme that is our VISION." Come on people. It's laughable. That's not a pension. That's not even a matching 401(k). The pension needs a lot more than just $10 million a month in maybe revenue, we'll see how elastic it is, and the city needs a lot more than it is taking in to balance this monster budget.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:38 PM, 09/23/2009
    Grade A? Reminds me of a scene in Caddyshack when Ty Webb(Chevy Chase) asks his caddy, "Do you do drugs Danny?" And he responds, 'everyday sir'.....Do you do drugs, Phil?
    — uandwhosearmy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:25 PM, 09/23/2009
    See Phil has lived in this perfect Cocoon all his life, he has worked for the City, Daily News and now he is a high paid consultant, for, wait for it, yes, you got it, the City. Phil’s lively hood is completely based upon giving Mayor NutterButter, an “A”. Any other grade would result in Phil getting kicked to the curb, and Phil is completely incapable of surviving outside of the Cocoon. Who would hire Phil if not for Government consulting gig? BTW, Phil appreciates all of your hard earn tax dollars, can you say 8% to the Cocoon.
    — NJBites
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:26 PM, 09/25/2009
    I used to think Goldsmith had a brain in his head. Wrong.
    — anon
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:37 AM, 10/03/2009
    Bad Phil. You sold out. 2 years into term and Nutter is plodding uphill to get the "booty". Maybe Sam Katz would have managed better but rating a mayor on hopes and not performance is a poor batch of excuses. Rated: C (for cop-out)
    — Clark_Kent_SuperHero


8 comments
About It's Our Money
Every year, city government spends slightly more than $4 billion. Where does all that money come from? More importantly, where does it go? Are we getting the most bang for our tax buck? “It's Our Money” is a joint project between Philadelphia Daily News and WHYY, funded by the William Penn Foundation, designed to answer these questions.




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Contact:

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doron.taussig@gmail.com
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