The Next Mayor: "The Whole Enchilada"

May 31, 2006

"The Whole Enchilada"

Time to play a little catch up on the stories that we may have missed over the past week and half. A couple of the cast members of Just the Six of Us made some cameo appearances in stories about ethics, taxes and crime. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

On May 23rd, the Inquirer's Tina Moore had this story about the Redevelopment Authority requiring that contractors seeking work with this "quasi-governmental agency" disclose their political contributions. RDA board chair and oft-mentioned candidate for mayor, John Dougherty said the following:

The RDA continues to take a leadership role in making our city's government more accessible, transparent, fair and ethical.

Considering the vast power that the RDA currently has, given its ability to take blighted properties using eminent domain and the fact that taxpayers only have very indirect influence on its leadership, any step taken to make that agency as transparent as possible is a good thing.

On Friday, May 26th, another "likely candidate" had his name show up a few times. In this story by Michael Currie Shaeffer about last week's budget vote, Councilman Michael Nutter reacts to the defeat of his proposed 5-year business tax cut schedule:

But Nutter said the symbolism of long-term business-tax reductions in a city with a high-tax reputation was crucial.

"This is really about the future of the city," he said. "It's about whether or not businesses have confidence in the city that tax policy is moving in the right direction... . Unfortunately, it may cause some people to wonder whether or not they should be here."
…
Nutter, more closely identified with tax-cut efforts than any other Council member, said the defeat did not mean the end of his battle. He said the vote had less to do with the popularity of business-tax cuts than with the short-term needs of passing a budget that includes money for 100 additional police officers and the preservation of five endangered fire companies.

If Nutter runs for mayor next year, as many observers expect, he would be required to resign from Council - something that would keep him from reintroducing the cuts during the next budget season.

"In whatever capacity I'm speaking out, I'll continue to push for tax cuts," Nutter said.

Here, the Daily News's Mark McDonald gets Nutter's comment on the Mayor's approval of $5 million to hire 100 new police officers:

Councilman Michael Nutter, who had pushed for the hiring of more officers, called the budget deal "a great first step... we were clearly going in the wrong direction."

Since June 2002, the uniformed force has dropped by almost 500, to about 6,400, due largely to retirements.

New cops are expensive. In addition to the salary, they also get top notch benefits and pensions, which, in my opinion, they are fully entitled to considering the risks they take. If you consider the government's primary job to be protect the lives of its people, then this isn't too high a cost to bear. But given the limited resources available to the city and the continuing reductions in the tax burden, what should the city give up? That question goes for all the candidates. Remember it. It's important.

Continuing with the Nutter theme, WHYY's Brad Linder filed this story yesterday. Nutter proposes hiring an independent group to study the city's entire criminal justice system to see how all the pieces fit together.

And finally, Councilman Nutter brings up an issue we really haven't even discussed yet - healthcare. Here are three parts from a conversation he had with WHYY's Stephanie Marudas about the rise of childhood obesity in Philadelphia and hearings he held today on the issue. Click here, here and here.

Now, before you start thinking that this is the Nutter for Mayor blog, we've also got some Jannie Blackwell for you (we'll have to see about getting a better picture... eek). In a very informative cover story from today's Daily News, with uber-clever headline "Jannie Blockwell," Mark McDonald writes about the continuing saga of the Youth Study Center, Philadelphia's main juvenile detention facility. The story reveals a lot about how development works here, the power of councilpeople within their own districts, the relationship between the mayor and City Council, and yet more insight into the current mayor's leadership style.

For various reasons, Councilwoman Blackwell has been blocking the construction of a new, state of the art, Youth Study Center in her district. The new facility would replace the Dickensian monstrosity that sits squarely on the Ben Franklin Parkway site where the Barnes art collection will go. Blackwell has many reasons for opposing the plan of her one-time ally, Mayor Street, but those all take a back seat:

But underlying it all may be a simpler answer: Respect. She says she just wants to be a "full partner" in the process, "but they don't let you."

Street, who despite almost two decades on Council, has had bitter relations with it, hasn't stroked the membership enough or catered sufficiently to their whims or included them in his early decision-making.

Speaking of her battles with Street over housing reorganization, Blackwell made a comment that applies across the board.

"To put it bluntly, the mayor doesn't seem willing to compromise in any way, shape or form," she said. "Nobody gets it all; everybody gives a little and then you work it out."

But, she said, not Street. He wants the whole enchilada.

And he wants that enchilada to be built in West Philly.

Posted by Dan at May 31, 2006 04:10 PM

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