Letters: Which Kenney? The big spender

ISSUE | PHILA. BUDGET

Big spenders

During last year's election, many people wondered, "Which Jim Kenney are we going to get?" It's five months into his administration, and now we know: the fiscally irresponsible one.

We got the Jim Kenney who, as a city councilman, had no problem allowing the pension fund to pay bonuses when it was underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars. They say you can judge a person by the company he or she keeps. Two decades on Council says a lot.

We also hear that Council President Darrell L. Clarke has plans for raising the real estate transfer tax and adding $100 million in debt ("Clarke: Hike tax, rehab housing," Friday). Between Clarke and Kenney, there are hundreds of millions of dollars of new debt on the table.

Plus, how much are we in debt for pensions? Billions. And during budget negotiations, guess what new funding was one of the first things that might be taken off the table? Pension funding. Because what's fun about paying your bills as long as you can tell people you're giving them stuff?

|Adam Lang, Republican leader, 29th Ward, Philadelphia, adamlang@29thwardgop.org