Last night, Mayor Nutter hosted the first meeting of the Philadelphia Youth Commission. Created by ballot question approved by voters in May, the commission is supposed to provide young people with an opportunity to get involved in local government. Here is exact text that voters were asked to approve or disapprove:
Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create a Youth Commission, with members between the ages of 12 and 23 years of age, to be responsible for advising the City Council and the Mayor regarding issues affecting children and youth in order to ensure that children and youth have a voice regarding policies and decisions affecting them?You’ll notice something missing from the question on the ballot: the actually cost of the youth commission. Public Citizens for Children and Youth estimates that the full price tag will be $250,000. A staffer at City Council who worked on the legislation told me it would be closer to $200,000. Personally, I think it’s worth the money. Still, it does seem a little odd that the public never really got to see those numbers. Would the question have passed if the voters knew the true cost?
The Youth Commission isn’t the only body that’s budget is shielded from public view. There are more than a dozen commissions appointed by the mayor and city council. I spent the day scouring the web and making phone calls, trying to figure out how much money was being spent on various commissions and what exactly they do. We’ll (hopefully) have a full breakdown next week, but I was surprised to find out how hard it was to actually get the numbers.
For example, I called the Mayor’s Commission on Technology and the person who answered the phone said that she “wasn’t authorized” to answer my questions. I would have to wait until her boss returned next week to get any information about the budget of the commission. I actually reached the finance director of another commission who explained that he knew the numbers, but was not permitted to provide them to a member of the media. I was getting pretty frustrated after spending hours on the phone and having almost nothing to show for it.
I thought my luck might be changing when I finally reached someone in the budget office. The numbers I was looking for were available in a detailed document that listed all the proposed expenditures for the next year. There was one catch—no one in the budget office could give me the numbers over the phone. I had to come down the municipal services building and get the budget document in person.
Talk about frustrating! So, what is the solution? Well, let’s start with the ballot questions. Voters should be provided to with some kind of estimate for how much a proposal will cost. It’s sort of silly to expect people to vote on something and not provide that kind of information. Second, these commissions should be required to provide a breakdown of their budget—either on the web or by phone if requested.
If this administration is serious about a more open and transparent government, City Hall should get over its reluctance to share budget figures, even over the phone. Why is a personal visit required? Why is this information so guarded? After all: It's our money.
Next week, we’ll take a closer look at several different commissions, explain what they do, and how much of your money they spend. Stay tuned….
Comments (2)
Don't forget to look at the gas commission. It costs us a bunch of money...probably hidden in our gas rates, but does it really have any job since the PUC took most of its responsibilities?
Posted by Anonymous | March 8, 2008 10:43 AM
I agree that all this stuff should be readily available on the internet. I can think of some reasons why they wouldn't be allowed to read the numbers over the phone, but the city should be able to mail you a copy, even if they require you to cover the cost of postage yourself.
As far as the youth commission, I think whether or not it's worth the money is irrelevant, since the cost is mostly likely unnecessary. How much does it cost for the mayor to meet with a group of kids periodically, anyway?
Posted by Goofy | March 8, 2008 6:12 PM