The Controller does what he said he would do; is it what you want him to do? | Philly

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Controller does what he said he would do; is it what you want him to do?

The Controller's Office released a report yesterday charging that local tow truck companies are "gouging" citizens, and that L&I and the Police Department, responsible for monitoring those companies, have fallen down on the job of protecting us. From the DN:

Butkovitz blamed L&I for "a large gap which you can drive a tow truck through" in its poor enforcement of city codes and in its lax communication with the Police Department regarding tow-truck companies.

Butkovitz is seeking higher fines against the towing companies, and better coordination between the two departments.

As we noted after Butkovitz's recent re-election as controller, Philadelphia voters made a very specific choice on election day: They voted for targeted performance audits of specific city agencies, and even specific agency functions. Butkovitz had argued, during the campaign, that such audits were more fruitful than the yearly fiscal audits being championed by his opponent (and required in the city charter). This was the central policy difference between the two candidates. And Butkovitz won.

Yesterday's audit strikes us as a perfect example of the sort of audit Butkovitz was talking about: It's very focused and assesses performance rather than budgeting. Of course this audit was in motion well before the election, but it might still be a good occasion to reflect: Is this sort of thing a valuable use of the Controller's time? Do you appreciate this service from your fiscal watchdog (if not from the police and L&I)?

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Posted by Doron Taussig @ 5:54 PM Permalink | 4 comments

Comments

Posted 06:22 PM, 11/11/2009

Economics

Thank you for doing this. I had my car stolen in Philly. Police actually recovered it and I was overjoyed. Then i was robbed again when I had to pay $180 cash to a private lot (Dicicco) to get my recovered stolen car back. Thanks to a change Nutter did but still.

Posted 06:38 PM, 11/11/2009

spider9

I don't think voters made a concious decision that this was the type of audit they preferred, they probably didn't understand the difference and just voted for the democrat. Yes, this is good for someone in govt to do, but how difficult was this? Didn't the DN run a piece on towing fees a few years ago?

Posted 05:51 AM, 11/12/2009

FJG JR

As I stated yesterday, this should be "Old Hat" stuff. There are new doors to open and peer in on. Get down to the nitty gritty, and put some money back in our pockets, that government has/is squandering.

Posted 06:14 AM, 11/12/2009

mikeyg

As I stated yesterday, Butkovitz should have audited the Parking Authority for the past four years. Saying he doesn't have the authority is nonsense. Get John Perzel under subpeona and get the books opened to the public.

4 comments

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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.

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