Still waiting for my monorail (The Next Mayor)

Wendy promised it earlier and here it is - Michael Nutter's transportation plan. You can read the whole plan here or the press release, which sums it up, here.

I'm kinda psyched to see that someone finally took on the regional aspect of mass transit. Solving SEPTA's problems and building a mass transit system that works for Philadelphia is not something that the city can do alone. His ideas, especially the regionalism section, are huge.

This paper also is a first in that it is the first policy paper to take on another candidate's proposal and try to explain why it's not a good idea. In the regional solutions section we get this:

Another candidate has proposed leasing the Airport as a funding mechanism to fight poverty in Philadelphia. This proposal is flawed in both theory and practice. In practical terms, the experimental leasing program authorized by the FAA is slow (the only lease obtained took 34 months to approve and it was for the airport in Newburgh, New York!) and uncertain (if Midway Airport in Chicago receives its expected lease approval, then federal legislation will be needed to allow a second “major hub” lease, which is now prohibited.) But beyond the practical limitations, generations of experience has shown that confronting social challenges like poverty requires the resources of the state and federal governments. It is simply misguided public policy to use limited local resources to meet the responsibilities of higher governments. Democrats since FDR and LBJ have understood that it is wrong to ask orphans to build their own orphanages, and that it is just as wrong for cities to spend down their limited assets to provide limited help for the nation’s poor.

But now I'm torn. I always thought that Fattah's opportunity agenda was a little risky or "pie-in-the-sky" since it depends so heavily on his plan to lease the airport. What's Plan B if the city is unable to do that for the reasons Nutter cites above? A candidate who promises the moon but makes it conditional on an uncertain funding source can always punt down the line if the funding doesn't come through.

However, that goes the same for Nutter. Given recent performance, getting funding from the state and local levels seems to be just as uncertain as getting funding from leasing the airport. For far too long, candidates have promised to "be the guy that can get the city what's coming to it from Harrisburg and Washington D.C." only to become mayors who blame cuts in funding from Harrisburg and D.C. for why the city is unable to provide for its least fortunate or, when it comes to education and the schools, its middle class.

What's the answer? I don't know. But I refuse to fall for the "we'll get the funding from the state and federal governments" line from candidates until I start to see evidence that such a thing can actually be pulled off. By talking about regionalism, Nutter is at least heading in that direction. It will only be by the combined efforts of elected officials in every town and county in Southeastern PA that this area will have the leverage needed to pry that funding loose.

Comments (5)

Dave:

Nutter's been talking regional pretty much ever since he declared his candidacy. If I remember correctly, that was one of the first posts on the blog on his old campaign website.

As far as money from the state and federal governments, I don't know what the problem is, but I suspect Fattah and Brady are part of it (where's the Roosevelt Blvd subway we've been "studying" for about a decade and is that in Fattah's district or Brady's?). I tentatively won't include Evans since, if there's one thing he can definitely take credit for, it's bringing state funding to his district.

I haven't read through Nutter's plan yet but, at a glance, I see that at least couple of his ideas from his testimony to the PTFRC made it in.

http://www.thenextmayor.com/documents/MichaelNutterTestimony.pdf

Posted by Dave | April 3, 2007 4:22 PM

Anonymous:

It's not like Mayor Street has spent hours meeting with regional politicians to figure out what we have that they want and vice-versa. It needs to start.

Posted by Anonymous | April 3, 2007 4:42 PM

Dave

My post was "held for approval"

Posted by Dave | April 3, 2007 5:06 PM

Sometimes mine get held and sometimes not... thanks for approving.

Posted by Dave | April 3, 2007 5:46 PM

Oh, another reason for a lack of state/federal funds:

I can't find it anymore, but at one point Nutter's website had a little article about how there are millions of dollars in federal (and state?) grants that the city has been forfeiting because nobody has bothered to apply for them.

This doesn't surprise me since I believe Brett Mandel wrote at one point that the city loses tons of money because they have piles of checked sitting around for weeks on end that nobody can be bothered to go deposit (they could be earning a significant amount of interest during those weeks when they just sit around). It comes down to government efficiency and organization.

Posted by Dave | April 3, 2007 11:07 PM

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