A place you might be able to get to without SEPTA: the polls! | Philly

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A place you might be able to get to without SEPTA: the polls!

( April Saul / Staff Photographer )

Did you know it's election day? It is! If you're here reading It's Our Money, that means you likely have some interest in the fiscal health of the city of Philadelphia, which means you care about who gets elected Controller (the Controller is the city's independently elected fiscal monitor, charged with making sure taxpayer money gets spent in a responsible way) and District Attorney (criminal justice costs eat up a huge portion of Philadelphia's budget. Plus, in any case, you probably care about crime).

The Controller's race is between Democratic incumbent Alan Butkovitz and Republican challenger Al Schmidt. The case for each is summarized here; our mothership, the Daily News editorial page, endorses Butkovitz here.

The District Attorney's race is between Democrat Seth Williams and Republican Michael Untermeyer. The DN endorses Williams here.

And the Inquirer offers these recommendations for judges.

The Committee of Seventy has a great poll locator tool. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you're a first-time voter, bring an approved form of identification.

Review city services on our sister site, City Howl.

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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.

EXCLUSIVE: UNION PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT

It's Our Money's Ben Waxman interviews TWU Local 234 president Willie Brown on why he called the strike when he did, what it's like to be more hated than A-Rod, and what it will take the union to go back on the job. Click here to see the exclusive interview.

FOLLOW THE (LACK OF) MONEY

Philadelphia’s five-year plan includes $300 million in service cuts. Which departments are seeing their budgets slashed, and what are the consequences? Our Follow the (lack of) Money series takes stock of the effects of the budget crisis. This week: Housing Trust Fund.

State and local budget news:

National budget news:

Ben Waxman reports and blogs for “It's Our Money.” Before joining “It's Our Money,” he was a regular contributor to the Philadelphia Daily News op-ed page and former contributor to the blog Young Philly Politics. He studied political science at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA.

Doron Taussig is the Project Manager for “It's Our Money.” He is also a graduate student in communications at Temple University. Previously he worked as a Staff Writer and News Editor for the Philadelphia City Paper.

Dave Merrell is the Web Editor for "It's Our Money." He comes to the project from Philly.com, where he is a web producer. Originally from upstate New York, he moved to Philadelphia after graduating from Haverford College with a degree in math and economics.

Anthony Campisi reports and blogs for "It's Our Money." Originally hailing from Central Jersey, he came to Philadelphia while a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied intellectual history. He also writes about transportation for PlanPhilly, an innovative urban planning website started by PennPraxis, the consulting arm of the Penn School of Design.