Comfortably N.U.M.: Meet the City's new go-to agency
Political News and Analysis from Philly.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, including complete coverage of the 2008 Pennsylvania primary election.
Comfortably N.U.M.: Meet the City's new go-to agency
Miriam Hill
Call it the new office with the funny name. Mayor Nutter on Monday signed an executive order formally creating the Office of New Urban Mechanics, which will serve as “an internal innovation hub connecting city departments and agencies with outside entities to create, support or pilot small-scale projects to work towards solutions for civic problems,” according to a city press release.
What kind of civic problems? Well, since the Office of New Urban Mechanics has been up and running for a few months already – Monday’s order simply made it official – its co-directors Story Bellow and Jeff Friedman – already can put to a few examples. One is Neighborhow where people can find out, for example, how to get a street or yard tree.
Friedman has been working for the city since 2008, previously working as the Philly 311 Project Manager. He is paid $105,000. Bellows joined Philadelphia in April from Washington, D.C., where she was director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design. She is paid $95,000.
And where does the office get its name? Stolen from Boston, the first city in the country to have an Office of New Urban Mechanics. Beantown’s office was named for Mayor Thomas Menino, whose nickname is the “urban mechanic” because of his drive and attention to detail.
lets call it numnuts !!! No money eh ? Only for your agenda.— cityslicker- Oh and lets not mention that city councilman are the ones that handle these type of problems through out the city.Just another example of his napolian sysdrome ego to control....— cityslicker
More whining incoming in 3... 2... 1...— daxtremesolja- riiight bc people who disagree w anything democrat are whiners and people like you who jump on every GOP topic are sensible self-righteous humans lol — 420Phillie
- With the number of daily crybabies on this site, I'm not surprised you're the first to respond to my comment 420. — daxtremesolja
- Nutter keeps spending money and creating new departments. At the same time saying, the city is broke and he needs to lay people off. If the mayor is a liar and devoid of morals, shouldn't everyone else in the city be the same. Pay the workers who do all the work you take credit for, city workers deserve a contract with raises!!!!— merf
- I thought 311 was supposed to address what NUM is supposedly to cover? This is NUM NUTS!
- Is this serious? How about the office of political will/backbone? (At least) Half the problems of the city are caused by the people in charge of fixing them.— bobcitydoc
At least it's not the Department of Women Punching Police Commanders. Glad we nipped that one in the bud.- Another honey pot for the patronage drones.— passavant
- Man, this stinks like raw garbage!— Boru
- The hip and trendy folks in Fishtown now have someone to call and complain to. This section of Killadelphia is full of whiners and crybabies. They are always crying about parking and noisy dogs.— jbetty01
- That Idiot Mayor, He named it for himself, NUM NUT Nutter. Why can't the taxpayers get rid of this clown?????— rduexpress
- Pay 2 people $200,000 a year to tell someone how to get a tree for the yard or the street? Ummmm just go to Home Depot or Lowes or your neighborhood nursery - buy a tree and plant it. Simple. Like people have been doing for decades, centuries. Oh, let me guess they must be telling people HOW to get 'free' taxpayer paid trees for themselves. How are small nurseries to compete when the city gives away 'free' trees?— uandwhosearmy
- $200k per year for two appointed city stooges. And in five years they can grab a lifetime pension. I wonder how much their total compensation package is worth. Philly government is disgusting. Tax more, spend more.— psyrus
- $200k per year is just the tip of the iceberg. Add in fringe benefit costs, office staff, equipment, etc. Probably well over $2 million per year. Yet NUM Nuts keeps saying that the city is broke. What a joke.— Smokey
- Once again he has pushed his agenda to exclude city workers that already provide this service.Oh but they must be union workers that he cant tell what to do.Look into the mayors office of comunity services that use and abuse tax payers dollars.He has increased this department 50 % with non union workers .this should be investigated by the daily news before they write a story like this.— cityslicker
- Just another office where nothing get done. If you call they will direct you to another office with no results. Can't the tax payers in this city read the writing on the wall?— DEBBY1958
