Heard in the Hall

Three weeks into his new career as a Temple University professor, former Mayor John Street is getting good early reviews from his students.
“He’s entertaining. He tells us stories about things that actually happened,” said Temple senior Amanda Snyder, who is enrolled in Street’s course on urban politics.
The former mayor has ordered up a paper and has weekly assignments for his students, and he’s requiring the class to study government structure in other municipalities as well.
Instead of a traditional final, Street will ask his class to put together a simulated municipal budget, which seems about right for the numbers-loving former mayor.
Heard in the Hall advises students not to cut funding for the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative or Safe and Sound.
“He seems to be enjoying himself. He’s lively,” said Snyder, who also wrote about Street’s course for the the Temple News.
— Patrick Kerkstra

Opponents of the city’s two planned slots parlors, either encouraged by the change in the city’s political climate with a new mayor, or discouraged about their prospects of winning any court case, have dropped a federal lawsuit filed against the state in November.
On Friday, Foxwoods Casino, one of two projects trying to get under way on the Delaware River waterfront, claimed victory after a coalition of neighborhood groups dropped its suit trying to prevent state gaming regulators from issuing permanent licenses to Foxwoods and SugarHouse Casino.
“This is yet another signal of the waning support for the resiting of Philadelphia’s casinos,” Foxwoods spokeswoman Maureen Garrity said of the neighbors’ efforts to move Foxwoods from its chosen site in Pennsport to an area more remote from homes.
Not so, said the neighbors. Though former Mayor John Street had advocated strongly for the casinos and his administration acted accordingly, Mayor Nutter revoked a SugarHouse permit last week, saying Street had granted it too hastily. Nutter has expressed his support for finding other sites.
Rosanne Loesch, board member of the Society Hill Civic Association, said the prime reason for dropping the suit — it can still refile — was due to SugarHouse part-owner and attorney Richard Sprague’s threat to countersue the plaintiffs and their lawyer for wrongful use of the courts.
“Our opposition to the location is growing every day,” Loesch said, “and if Foxwoods sees this as a good sign, it’s another of their miscalculations.”

Gov. Ed Rendell proposed funding for 100 new Philadelphia police officers at a press conference in City Hall this morning, which would double the state’s support of the city’s police force.

In a budget he will present to state legislators tomorrow, Rendell proposes spending $20 million a year over the next three years on his statewide “Police on Patrol” initiative. Half of that would go to Philadelphia, enough to hire 100 new police officers.

“The budget I will unveil tomorrow in Harrisburg will help make Philadelphia safer,” Rendell said in a statement.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said the 100 new officers would be used for patrol duties. Last week, Ramsey unveiled a new crime strategy anchored by his plan to shift 200 officers into street duty in the city’s most violent neighborhoods.

The state legislature must approve Rendell’s budget before Philadelphia can receive the new funding, and unless the allocation is renewed after three years the city would eventually have to find funds in its own budget to pay for the new officers.

And why not? More money for the city's schools, more money for Philly cops. It's a Philly friendly budget. Nutter's release on the state budget is after the jump. Not that all elected Philadelphia officials are pleased. As one commenter pointed out (at length), State Rep. John Perzel thinks 100 new cops doesn't go near far enough. As reported by the Inquirer today, Perzel wants 10,000 more statewide, a plan that's been stymied by Harrisburg Dems for a long while.

Here they are, Mayor Nutter's just-named members of the board that will oversee the operation of PGW:

Today Mayor Nutter announced his appointments to the Board of Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation (PFMC): Gerald Davis, Maryam Mahdavi, Sharmain Matlock-Turner, Pedro Rivera, David Seltzer, Seth Shapiro and Hal Sorgenti. Mayor Nutter has asked David Seltzer to serve as Chairman of the Board. “I am flattered to be given this opportunity by Mayor Nutter. I know the board will try to bring the same objectivity, dedication and fresh thinking to overseeing PGW that have already become a hallmark of the new Nutter Administration,” said Mr. Seltzer.

PFMC, a non-profit corporation, operates and manages Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) under a contract with the City of Philadelphia. The seven member board is appointed by the Mayor and its responsibilities, as set forth in a Management Agreement between the City and PFMC, make PFMC responsible for all operations of PGW through an executive management team including a chief executive officer, a chief operating officer, and a chief financial officer.

Mayor Nutter, who once pledged he will be no stranger to Harrisburg, made good on his promise today, dropping in on Gov. Rendell’s hour-long budget address to the legislature.

Here's the down-and-dirty from Inquirer Harrisburg reporter Angela Couloumbis:

Nutter emerged from the legislature’s chambers saying he believed that the guv’s $28 billion spending plan bodes well not just for the city, but for the state as a whole.

“I think a lot of the issues the governor talked about are not only pertinent to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Allentown and Reading, but they are pertinent to the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Nutter said. “Investing in education is not just an urban or metropolitan issue, it’s a Pennsylvania issue. Making cities in Pennsylvania and municipalities safe is not just a localized issue, it’s a state-wide issue. Energy independence, economic development and creating jobs, these are big Pennsylvania issues.”

Of course, Rendell in his budget is also kind to his hometown -- which Nutter was quick to point out. Among the most talked-about assists for the city: proposed state funding for 100 extra police officers for Philadelphia’s Police Department, and a more than $85 million increase in basic education funding for the Philadelphia School District.

But buried a bit deeper in the budget are a few more extras for the Philly area: a 4.5 percent funding bump for Philadelphia’s municipal court and an almost 9 percent increase for the city’s Traffic Court; a small bump in funding for the Drug Strike Task Force (that’s the Philadelphia regional office of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation); small increases for Temple and Lincoln Universities. Funding for the African American Museum, Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Museum were maintained at last year’s levels – no small feat in this tight budget cycle.

The one area that is taking a hit: public television: Eight television stations make up the Public Television Network, including two in Philadelphia. Funding this year is proposed for $4 million, down from $4.7 million in the current budget.

It's the Art Commission today. Mayor Nutter didn't sweep the house with these eight appointees, however. Four are holdovers from the last administration. The new members are: José Alminana, Moe Brooker, Sean Buffington, Karen Davis, Emmanuel Kelly, Robert Nix, Robert Roesch and Patricia Alexander Sanford. Brooker will be the chair. Full press release available after the jump.

Philadelphia's City Hall: the only place in town where you can pick up both a marriage license AND a bushel of heirloom tomatoes.

Ok, so not yet. But a City Hall farmer's market is one of several ideas the Nutter administration is kicking around to increase public use of the building's courtyard and plazas. Other possibilities include musical performances and the screening of outdoor movies.

The ideas are just in the "brainstorming stage" at the moment, according to a Nutter press aide. But Nutter clearly is putting a premium on opening up City Hall to the public. There was the massive open house he held on his first full day as mayor. The ugly cyclone gates that had clanged shut promptly at 6 p.m. now stay open, meaning pedestrians on an evening walk no longer have to detour around City Hall.

First Anne Dicker. Then Joe Vignola. Then John Dougherty. And now Larry Farnese.
As of Monday, four people were officially circulating petitions to run for South Philadelphia’s First District Senate seat.
In some corners, that is being read as evidence that more and more politicos are hedging their bets that Sen. Vincent Fumo, with 139 counts hanging over his head, won’t run for re-election after all.
All evidence is to the contrary.
Fumo is hosting a “petition party” this weekend at the Waterfall Room in South Philly. He has filmed a TV campaign ad.

Yet Farnese, a Center City lawyer with Fumo ties as well as some to U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, decided this week to start circulating petitions for the Senate seat – in addition to those he is circulating for his re-match against state House Rep. Babette Josephs.
The move has fueled talk that it’s not because he wants to challenge Fumo, but because he knows something others don’t: Either Fumo won’t be in the race til the end, or maybe Fumo won’t get in it to begin with and Farnese will be his stand-in.
Farnese campaign manager Renee Gilinger says it’s all wishful thinking.

Let's call this one, "Stand by Your Man."

Issued by Dougherty for Senate 2008, the press release sort of speaks for itself:

Philadelphia Building Trades tonight unanimously endorsed IBEW Local 98 Business Manager John J. Dougherty for Pennsylvania's 1st District Senate seat. Dougherty is running against incumbent Senator Vince Fumo and community activist Anne Dicker. The Pennsylvania Primary is set for April 22nd.

"I am deeply gratified by the Building Trades' unanimous endorsement of my candidacy," said Dougherty. "I want to sincerely thank all of my union brothers and sisters for their support and belief in me. I am running to protect working families in Philadelphia. I am running to restore people's trust in their government. And I am running to create more economic development opportunities and improve the quality of life for every resident of the 1st District. I am in it to win it and this important endorsement is a great springboard for a successful campaign."

Mayor Nutter on Friday appointed his senior advisor on economic development to the Independence Blue Cross board of directors.
Terry Gillen (flanked by Nutter and Wendell Pritchett, left) takes a seat on the 36-member member board, replacing Mayor Street’s appointee, electricians’ union chief John J. Dougherty, aka Johnny Doc. The board position pays $10,500 plus $1,000 for attending committee meetings. Gillen makes $155,000 annually for the city.
Gillen is the Senior Advisor to the Mayor for Economic Development. She was political director of Nutters’ campaign, and has spent her career on economic development for the city, state and private sector.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Schwartz – who looms large in the nightmares of disgraced City Treasurer Corey Kemp, convicted City Councilman Rick Mariano and other corrupt public officials in the region – will head back to the private sector later this month, joining up with Pepper Hamilton’s White Collar and Corporate Investigations Practice Group.

Schwartz has been in the U.S. Attorney’s office for 13 years, where he served as chief of the public corruption unit since 2002. Schwartz is the most senior of several assistant U.S. attorneys with extensive corruption law experience to leave the office recently, including Amy Kurland and Joan Markman, who are now full-time watchdogs in the Nutter administration.

It was just a wonderful opportunity, and in my mind the time was right,” Schwartz said. “We had accomplished an awful lot in the public corruption area over the last five years.”

The battle between state Sen. Vince Fumo and electricians union chief John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty (left) is always welcome in City Hall, where City Councilmen Frank DiCicco (below) and Jim Kenney, Fumo allies, are usually game for a tussle with Dougherty or any of his pals. (Note DiCicco's tiff with Dougherty friend Bill Green Thursday.)

Doc most recently disrespected DiCicco when the City Council demanded that the unions in theBuilding Trades Council, including the electricians Local 98, document how many minorities they had in their unions and present plans to attract more if they wanted to participate in the $700-million Convention Center expansion. The electricians were one of four unions, out of 15, who refused to give their numbers to City Council. Dougherty made it a point to say he would give out his numbers to anyone BUT City Council (we're waiting, Doc). The punishment for failing to comply? Well, there doesn't really seem to be one.
Yesterday DiCicco asked Michael Nutter to do the punishing for him, suggesting the mayor remove Dougherty as chairman of the powerful Redevelopment Authority, which disposes of land for the city, a position Dougherty has held for nine years (his term is up in March 2009).
"For this important agency to be guided by a union leader who flagrantly disregards the laws of this city, who insults every member of Council and who refuses to commit to the inclusion of all, is shameful and inappropriate," DiCicco wrote. "I hope you agree and take appropriate action."
Nutter didn't bite.
"I understand the concerns, I respect [DiCicco's] views and I appreciate his opinion," said Nutter, who has no special allegiance to Dougherty.
TRANSLATION: Keep me out of your political wars, boys. I got a city to run.

Mayor Nutter breaks with his predecessor Monday night by briefing City Council on his 2009 budget three days in advance of Thursday's budget presentation. In a dinner at Morton's Steakhouse (now there's a way to bump up attendance), Nutter is to give Council a peak at the budget. Mayor Street was known to brief Council on his budget a half-hour before he presented it; last year, he didn't show up, and Council President Anna Verna left after waiting around for his staff. Nutter will pay for it with mayoral campaign funds.
NOTE: Nutter stopped eating red meat in 1977 after a summer of eating steak sandwiches and learning about meat and the digestive system. But in an aside today, he did offer praise for Morton's salmon.

More than 80 children, most of them pre-school age, took over City Council Chambers Monday morning (photo courtesy Roxy Woloszyn) as Exhibit No. 1 for renewing the 2003 Child Care Facilities Fund, which supporters credit with helping more than 400 providers care for 14,000 children. The $5 million given to the fund by the city 2003 is expected to run out in mid-2009, and organizations like the Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Public Citizens for Children and Youth are arguing for another $5 million in an increasingly competitive funding environment.

Looks like U.S. Rep. Bob Brady is well on his way to another re-election victory.
Keith Leaphart, the 32-year-old physician who formed an exploratory committee to run against the five-term congressman in the April 22 primary, has called it quits.

"Yes, he's not running," Leaphart ally Tracy Hardy confirmed Friday.

With financial support from two of the region's biggest benefactors - H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest and Peter L. Buttenwieser - Leaphart drew serious attention as someone well-positioned to take on Brady. The 20-year-plus chairman of the Democratic City Committee, Brady is the only white House member representing a mostly black district. Leaphart is African American.

Alas, this race is not to be.

"Being he is a newly married man, with a new infant baby," Hardy said, "it all came at him and was more than he anticipated."

Hardy said he was unsure how much money Leaphart raised and what would happen to excess funds.

Backroom deals. Party insiders extracting favors in return for political support. An opaque, undemocratic process. That's what critics fear will happen if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton finish primary season more or less tied. That's because it may well be up to Democratic party's 796 superdelegates - appointed party activists and elected officials, by and large - to decide who gets the nomination.

Representing Philadelphia in this process?

None other then local Democratic power-brokers and ward leaders Carol Ann Campbell and Ron Donatucci, as the Inquirer's Larry Eichel reported over the weekend.

Donatucci, of course, is the Register of Wills and as integral a part of the city's Democratic machinery as anyone. Campbell is a former Councilwoman who, like Donatucci, has historically had massive clout within the city committee, serving as its secretary. Both are also long time members of the National Democratic Committee.

Donatucci couldn't be reached for comment this morning, so we don't know where he stands. But Campbell said she is undecided.

"I think they're excellent candidates, I think they both have the country's best interest at heart. I believe you keep your powder dry. Sometimes you learn things as campaigns go on," Campbell said.

Campbell, who puts party above all else, wants to see how her fellow ward leaders feel before making her decision. She expects the local party, like the country, will be split between Clinton and Obama.

The city's other superdelegates are senior elected officials, like U.S. Reps. Chaka Fattah, Bob Brady and Allyson Schwartz, Sen. Casey and Gov. Rendell.

Next week will provide an interesting hearing on Councilman Bill Greenlee's bill to prevent the Water Department from shutting people's water off on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or the day before a holiday. Greenlee said he's heard too many stories of people getting their water getting shut off on Friday and they can't reach someone to turn it back on until Monday, or even Tuesday in case of a holiday. We'll see what the Water Deptartment has to say on what this does to their enforcement program. Greenlee's bill is before the Finance Committee, 3 p.m. on Feb. 20 in Council Chambers.

The state Supreme Court will decide whether the city has power to give and take away licenses to build over state-owned riverbed lands, handing SugarHouse Casino a temporary victory over Mayor Nutter.
Nutter last month revoked a submerged lands license that Mayor Street's administration had issued to SugarHouse in its final weeks, a permit that SugarHouse needs to build its slots parlor along and over the banks of the Delaware River. Nutter said he wanted to take a closer look at the last-minute deal by an administration that advocated heavily for casinos.
A group of state legislators had challenged that permit in state Supreme Court, saying only the state has that authority. Nutter, when he revoked the permit, asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the case as moot since there was no longer a permit to fight over.
On Monday the Supreme Court refused to dismiss the case, and will presumably determine whether the state or city decides these matters.
SugarHouse had argued that Nutter could not make the case go away by revoking a license that was the subject of litigation. "Ultimately, the Supreme Court, not the City, will decide the issue of our submerged lands license,” SugarHouse spokeswoman Leigh Whitaker said.
SugarHouse, whose cost is now estimated at $650 million, is one of two casinos, along with Foxwoods Casino, that was licensed in December 2005 but has not been able to clear city political and neighborhood opposition.
Nutter could not be reached immediately for comment.

In an attempt to improve the city's poor emergency response times, Mayor Nutter is proposing an extra $3.8 million in funding for Philadelphia's emergency medical services. The full budget won't be unveiled until Thursday. See the full release after the jump.

In anticipation of Mayor Nutter's budget speech Thursday, City Council just released its hearing schedule for the city's various departments, etc.
The season kicks off Feb. 26, and lasts through April 29.
The fiscal 2009 budget must be approved by May 31.
Here's a look at the hearing schedule.

From the 4th floor City Council chamber, Inquirer reporter Jeff Shields tells us:

The City Council's Committee on Parks and Recreation Tuesday afternoon gave the green light for Fox Chase Cancer Center's $800 million expansion by approving a deal allowing the hospital to build in Burholme Park.

Council is expected to approve the lease agreement between Fox Chase and Fairmount Park, with a final vote before month's end.

Once passed by Council, Orphans' Court will take up a petition by opponents who say the will of Robert Waln Ryerss, whose bequest founded Burholme Park, is being violated through the Fox Chase agreement.

From The Inquirer’s John Shiffman, who recently transferred to our DC bureau:
Congressman Bob Brady, demonstrating his muscle as chair of the House Administration Committee, is expected to announce tomorrow that he will bring a handful of homeland security insiders FROM Washington TO Philadelphia next week for a local security summit.

Brady wants city leaders here to learn what he has learned about protecting the U.S. Capitol, and try to apply it locally.

Expected speakers include the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Phillip D. Morse, and a senior Pentagon homeland security official, Steven Calvery. The latter is director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency and is a former Secret Service supervisor of details that protected Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

They are scheduled to meet with roughly 20 community leaders from Philadelphia, including Mayor Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, behind closed doors Tuesday at the University of Pennsylvania.

PLEASE NOTE: The original entry misstated the date of the Pennsylvania primary. It is APRIL 22.

Philadelphia election officials yesterday warned voters that they can’t vote in the state’s April 22 Presidential primary — possibly a critical one for Democrats — unless they’re registered as Democrat or Republican.
More than 93,000 voters in Philadelphia are not affiliated with a major party. Some made that choice, others ended up that way by leaving the information off their registration cards, said Margaret Tartaglione, chair of the city’s Board of City Commissioners.
Tartaglione said she’s concerned about confusion in the primary. On Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when 22 states voted in primaries and caucuses — including New Jersey — the Board of Elections in Philadelphia received at least 700 calls from people who showed up at their polling places and wanted to vote.

New City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. couldn't help but crow Wednesday when the Treasury Secretary came out in favor of emergency programs for to stave off foreclosure for homeowners hit by the sub-prime lending crisis. Jones last week called for hearings on the same subject.
See the press release below:

The $5 million worth of equipment that Philadelphia was required to buy to allow visually impaired voters to use the city's voting machines was used by 19 people in the November election, City Commissioner Margaret Tartaglione said.
That would be $263,157.89 per vote.
The city was forced to buy the equipment in 2005 after losing a federal lawsuit filed by advocates for the blind. Tartaglione also said that the voting system, which reads the office, party, and name for each candidate in each election will take about an hour to vote on in the April primary, which includes delegates, state committee people and at least five ballot questions. That can take a voting machine out of commission and cause tremendous backups, Tartaglione.
Tartaglione had favored allowing visually impaired voters to cast absentee ballots.

Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and Councilman Bill Greenlee on Thursday will revive a resolution for a task force to tackle the problem of house thieves, who actually get forge enough documents to convince the city that they are the rightful owner of a property, causing nightmares for the true owner. There were 122 instances of this kind of fraud in 2006 and Miller, whose district including parts of North Philadelphia, Mount Airy and Germantown, has seen a lot of it. The Council members would set up a Task Force to take on the problem because the D.A. doesn't have the resources to do it. See the press release below:

Mayor Nutter will present his first budget to City Council shortly after 10 a.m. today. It's going to feature tax cuts, investment in police, fire and education, and trims in other departments to help pay for those investments. Oh, and a likely increase in the city's parking tax. Get the full details here.

If you didn't catch it Wednesday night, take a look at the glowing profile of Mayor Nutter that aired on ABC News with Charlie Gibson. You've got the Mayor dropping Olivia off at school, eating at Little Pete's, shaking the hands of the thousands who snaked around City Hall at his open house. It's about as positive as a national news segment gets, except for that bit about Philadelphia's epic struggle with violent crime.

We took note of Mayor Nutter's early success on the national stage a few weeks ago. It's worth remembering that the new mayor of a big city like Philadelphia would get some broad exposure no matter who they were, but Nutter appears to be getting more than his fair share. Take a look.

Ok, we've got a closer look at the city's proposed FY 09 budget for you right here. It's an intriguing package, that's for sure. The most interesting and risky element appears to be the plan to issue a $4.5 billion bond to get a handle on the city's massive pension funding problem, which we detail here. Today's Inquirer also takes a look at what the budget will do for the Community College of Philadelphia, which was among the big winners. An 09 budget brief is available for your own perusal on the city's website, as is the more comprehensive five year plan, which you can find here.

Mayor Nutter's budget address included amusing and emotional moments that you might have missed if you weren't there, such as:
-- Nutter appeared almost overcome by emotion at the beginning of his speech, after he recalled coming to City Council for the first time, as an observer, 26 years ago. "I had no idea at that time that I would ever end up here as a member of Philadelphia City Council, But certainly could never have imagined..." Nutter said, choking up for a full 10 seconds before continuing. "...that I'd be here today."
-- Nutter welcomed new Council members Bill Green, Curtis Jones Jr. and Maria Quinones Sanchez "to the greatest legislative body in the free world." Nutter laughed as he said it and pointed at Green, whose father, former Mayor Bill Green, famously labeled Council as "the worst legislative body in the free world."
-- Councilman Jim Kenney, notoriously grumpy as he feuded with the Street administration for the last eight years, gave Nutter an enthusiastic bear hug after Nutter's address (Kenney, whose front corner desk is the first stop for the mayor after an address, was known to find a reason to vacate his seat to avoid pleasantries with Street). Council President Anna C. Verna suggested someone take a picture. "I’ve been very happy lately," Kenney said Friday. "After eight years years of guerilla warfare, it’s nice to know that what you go to work on will maybe get consideration and come to fruition."

It was the hallmark of former City Councilman David Cohen’s career - and Mayor Nutter wants it gone.

Two years before Cohen’s death in 2005 at age 90, Council’s liberal lion rammed through a wage-tax cut for the working poor.

But in the long-term spending plan that Nutter unveiled yesterday, he calls for the elimination of the “David Cohen tax cut” - five years before it is even set to begin.

Nutter’s rationale is that he’s backing plenty of other tax cuts that “will substantially benefit low-income residents and employees of Philadelphia firms.”

“It’s a shame,” said Councilman William Greenlee, Cohen’s successor and longtime chief of staff. “The city is really giving an advantage to people who need the help the most,” he said.

At the same time, Greenlee said he was hardly surprised by Nutter’s plan since Mayor Street was also an ardent opponent of the tax cut, saying it was too expensive. (As it stands now, it will cost the city $16 million in 2013, in its first year, and $28 million in 2014. After that it keeps climbing.)

One difference: Nutter favored the cut, even voting with his former Council colleagues to override Street’s veto of it.

So will Council’s support of the Cohen tax cut soften when Nutter comes knocking at their door?

Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr., who in 2006 said he couldn’t ever see himself supporting its repeal, didn’t return a call for comment.

Another staunch defender of the cut, Councilman Jim Kenney, said he had an open mind, especially given the “substantial” tax cuts in Nutter’s spending plan.

But that’s not what Kenney when Street last sought a repeal, three months after Cohen’s death. “This is a personal dismantling of a colleague’s legacy,” he said then, “and it’s smacking David Cohen in the grave.”

From the release:

Deputy Mayor and Health Commissioner Donald F. Schwarz, MD, MPH, today announced the selection of Sam P. Gulino, M.D., as Chief Medical Examiner for the City of Philadelphia.

Brett Mandel of Philadelphia Forward is looking for help. The tax-cutting maven broke his collarbone in a weekend hockey match, and he could literally use a hand analyzing Mayor Nutter's new budget and five year plan. Would-be volunteers can give him a call at 215.563.3881, though we're not sure how he can pick up the phone.

Mandel's initial analysis of Nutter's budget is available here. How he typed it up is a mystery.

With Pennsylvania poised to play a key role in the tightening race for Democratic delegate votes, Barack Obama has made an important inroad in Philadelphia with an influential superdelegate.

Former City Councilwoman Carol Ann Campbell, who is treasurer of the city's Democratic Party and leader of a group of African American ward leaders, says she is backing the Illinois Senator.

Why? Well, it's all got to do with a phone call she received from the candidate's wife, Michelle.

Read all about it in the Los Angeles Times - courtesy former Inquirer reporter Peter Nicholas.

Mayor Nutter wants to relax the residency requirement for almost all city employees, and a bill to do just that will be tested today [Wednesday] in a City Council hearing.
Some unions are expected to oppose Councilman James Kenney's bill that would only require that new hires move into the city within six months of their appointment -- current rules require that candidates live in the city for a full year before being hired.
Nutter has already put this policy in place for the police department, but he wants it to apply to all employees, and supports Kenney's bill (Mayor John F. Street vetoed such a bill in 2001.
Kenney's bill would exempt all but 766 of the city's 23,767 civil service workers. The hearing before the Committee on Labor and Civil Service begins at 11:30 a.m.

Tour Guides in Center City would have to pass a certification test under Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's legislation that passed out of the Parks and Recreation Committee Wednesday morning. Brown said the bill still has work to do -- defining what exactly constitutes a tour operator, what types to exempt (such as foreign-language or out of town interpreters). The bill could be given final approval as early as March 6.

There's a new ward leader in town.

Marcia Wilkof was elected Monday night to replace Terry Gillen as leader of the 30th Ward, which covers Center City and part of South Philadelphia.

Gillen stepped down last month because the City Charter prohibits her, like other city employees, from being a ward leader while working full-time on the city payroll. And that's exactly what Gillen is now doing, as Mayor Nutter's senior adviser on economic development.

Wilcox, a private consultant on organization development, also has ties to Nutter; she was one of his campaign volunteers.

"Our job as a ward committee is to turn out the Democratic vote, and this is an incredibly important election on a variety of fronts," Wilkof said of the April 22 primary. "We will work very hard on voter registration and to turn out the vote, and I'm excited to do it."

Wilkof previously served as a committeeperson for nearly 18 years, as well as the 30th Ward treasurer.

So much for a free and frank exchange of ideas.

John McNesby, president of Lodge Five of the Fraternal Order of Police, showed up as expected Tuesday night to participate on a panel discussing possible ways to combat gun violence in the city. The forum, which took place at the Beasley School of Law at Temple University, was hosted by a law-student group named the Student Public Interest Network.

But McNesby never made his way to the panel.

Shortly after stepping into the law school building, he learned that the opening address was not going to be delivered by Mayor Nutter, who had to cancel his appearance, but by Everett A. Gillison, Nutter's deputy mayor for public safety.

Therein was the problem.

When Nutter announced Gillison for the job in early January, it was news to McNesby, who blasted the appointment since Gillison
was the public defender who represented the man who killed Police Officer Gary Skerski last year. "Here's a guy named to a high-profile position as a deputy mayor for public safety, and he sat next to a man who killed a police officer," McNesby told the Inquirer at the time.

Nutter promptly apologized for not alerting the police union of Gillison's appointment before he made it.

But it seems clear from McNesby's actions Tuesday night that that apology may not be enough.

McNesby, with the forum minutes from starting, turned and left the building, telling the forum organizers that he was unwilling to share a stage with the man who defended a cop killer.

McNesby did not return a call for comment this afternoon. But a police union spokesman, Gene Blagmond, offered a different explanation for why the union president left. "I think he thought he was participating on a panel with the mayor. Plus he had something at the lodge he had to take care of right away."

Gillison did not return a call for comment.

While in City Hall this morning for an anti-violence press conference with Mayor Nutter, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter offered some thoughts on colleague John McCain's latest troubles, regarding a relationship with a female lobbyist.

"I don't think people ought to jump to too many conclusions based on newspaper stories," Specter said. "Those stories have a lot of innuendo and not a lot of fact... Where's the beef?"

At the same time, he said, "When you put McCain on the front page of the Post, and the Times and the Inquirer on the same day - that's a pretty tough blow."

Pennsylvania's senior senator also noted that the same sort of character assets that cost McCain votes with conservative Republicans might give him "a real chance of running well in the Philadelphia suburbs."

How's that?

For conservatives, Specter said, McCain is "too independent, too moderate and to willing to cross party lines."

Specter also offered his view of how he thinks McCain will win the race for president, be it against Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

Obama is "a very able man." Hillary is "smart and energized." But there's one issue that will top others in this election, Specter said, and McCain has the edge over both Democrats on it: experience in national security.

We present this photo without comment. Read the story here.

Michael Nutter has sure had his fill of network news shows since taking office last month. ABC World News with Charles Gibson, and Hardball with Chris Matthews, to name two.

Perhaps then it's no surprise that someone in the administration committed a certain Freudian slip on the city's web site.

Among the reports available for the public to download onto their computers are the city's budget in brief, the administration's proposed five-year spending plan, and this: "Mayor Nutter's First Budget Address to Congress."
Can't wait for the second budget address.

3:30 p.m. UPDATE: The mayor is no longer addressing Congress. A Nutter press aide informs us that a correction has been made. "It was the web team that for whatever reason in their head wrote that," the aide said.

Former City Paper managing editor Brian Hickey will run the state Senate campaign of electricians union boss John J. Dougherty, aka Johnny Doc. Dougherty is challenging his arch-nemesis, incumbent state Sen. Vincent Fumo, for the Democratic nomination. Hickey, who wrote extensively about Dougherty as a staff writer for Philadelphia Weekly, was named Sunday as part of Dougherty's team. See the press release below:

City Councilman Jim Kenney’s bill to eliminate a city requirement that new Civil Service employees live in the city for at least a year prior to being hired could all be rendered moot by a federal court case scheduled for trial in April.

Former city firefighter Joseph McCool, who retired in 1999 as a captain with 25 years in the department, sued the city in 2006 when he was denied his request to return to work, after retaking the firefighters test, because he had moved to Bucks County in the meantime.

McCool’s argument: if the city required someone to live in the city for a year before hiring, he had more then 25 to offer. He wasn’t living in the city at the exact time he was called back, but he said he would establish residency by the time he started work.

McCool argued that the rule violated his right to “intrastate travel.”

Kenney’s bill, which would require only that new hirees move into the city within six months, supported by Mayor Nutter, was held last week as Council members demanded some preference for current city residents in hiring. But Councilman Bill Green, chair of the Committee on Labor and Civil Service, suggested the city should act before the courts act for it.

Foxwoods Casino will return to bat Monday in City Council Chambers with the Committee on Rules pitching in a 10 a.m. hearing.
After repeatedly striking out last year before a Council intent on delaying construction of, or actually moving the$560 million slots parlor, Foxwoods officials return to seek a zoning change required to build on their site on South Christopher Columbus Boulevard in Pennsport.
The Supreme Court last fall handed the city's other planned slots project -- SugarHouse Casino -- all the city permits it needed, opining that City Council had purposely obstructed the project, but Foxwoods did not get a similar ruling. Instead, last month City Councilman Frank DiCicco offered a bill to provide Foxwoods its zoning only if it met a list of stringent conditions regarding impacts to traffic, the environment and local economy.
Monday is the first of four hearings requested by DiCicco to fully vet Foxwoods' application. A standing-room-only crowd is expected.

Former Daily News scribe, local history buff, and occasional tour guide Ron Avery supports the campaign to certify all tour guides in the city, claiming that a few bad guides spread a lot of nonsense around Old City. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's bill to require certification is scheduled for first reading on Thursday.

Avery (left), author of Philadelphia: Beyond the Liberty Bell - A Guide to the Little-Known, Hidden Treasures of the Delaware Valley
compiled a list of mistakes he has heard tour guides make, or that have been reported to him. Heard in the Hall submits his list of 83 (we left out 84 -- in which he reports a group of tour guides did not know what "colonial" meant) for your review. Have your heard these?:

1) It was called High Street because it was the highest point in Philadelphia.
2) Trees were planted along streets so illiterate people would know the name of streets. So Pine Street was lined with pine trees etc.
3) Your house fire was not put out unless you displayed a firemark.
4) Dr Physick was the first successful surgeon because 35 percent of patients lived. If you lived 20 minutes after an operation that was a success,
5) Physick did the first gall bladder operation.
6)) Physick was first to perform surgery indoors.
7) All the people buried in Old Pine Church burial
Grounds were Hessian soldiers.
8) Michel Bouvier the richest man in colonial America,
9) St. Peter’s steeple was the highest point in city until Penn’s statue put on City Hall.
10) Delancy Street is the second oldest street in America.

See below for more....

City council is largely tossing softballs for the Nutter administration's first budget hearing on the five year plan. But a few council members have warned Nutter's team that they'll have a fight on their hands if and when they move to eliminate the city's proposed low income tax credit that was championed by former city councilman David Cohen....Also, a stock answer to a variety of questions -- including questions about affordable housing, and others posed at yesterday's hearing on Foxwoods Casino -- seem to depend on the arrival of new Commerce/Planning director Andrew Altman, who doesn't start until next week. They're waiting for you, Andy.

From Inquirer Harrisburg reporter Angela Couloumbis:
Philly, stop the bickering, get your act together, build your casinos and start raking over the cash – or else.

That’s the message Rep. Robert W. Godshall (R., Montgomery) wants to send through a bill he intends to introduce later this week. The legislation would, effectively, deny Philadelphia the right to receive funds from that big pot of money containing revenues from newly-built casinos around the state. Those funds are earmarked for every municipality to help offset rising property taxes -- although in Philly’s case, the money would be used to help reduce its punishing wage tax.

Godshall swears he’s not “a Philly-basher,” but he is fed up with the ongoing feuding that has delayed construction of the two casinos on Philadelphia’s waterfront.

“I am not a Philadelphia-basher, never have been,” Godshall said in an interview today. “But Philadelphia is not contributing anything, and yet they’re siphoning off money … And that’s hurting the people in my school district and people in other school districts across the state.”

Fair or not, Godshall’s bill will likely face a rough ride in the legislature. The legislation would be referred to the House’s Gaming Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Harold James – a Democrat from Philadelphia. At some point, the bill would also have to get a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. Dwight Evans – a Democrat from Philly.

And if, somehow, it managed to survive those committees and make it to the House floor, it would likely face stiff opposition from other high-ranking lawmakers from Philadelphia, including Speaker Dennis O’Brien (R., Philadelphia).

That’s not going to stop Godshall from playing tough.

“There are no ulterior motives,” he said of his bill. “But I get yelled at every day by someone when it pertains to their property taxes. Something needs to be done.”

Newbie Council members Bill Green, Curtis Jones Jr. and Maria Quinones Sanchez objected to The Inquirer's Monday editorial that accused them and the rest of council of standing in the way of Mayor Nutter's progressive/reformist agenda. Their letter to the editor was in today's Inquirer, but had to be edited to get it down to 200 words, like most letters. But what are blogs for if not to do away with editing? Below you can read the full version:

"Regarding Monday’s editorial, “Council’s Barriers to Progress,” let us be clear – we came to City Council to legislate. While we support Mayor Nutter and will help him succeed, we would be doing our constituents a disservice by acting simply as rubber stamps for the executive branch.
We generally support the Inspector General bill, increasing flexibility to allow the appointment of additional deputies and relaxing the Civil Service rules regarding the hiring of non-residents. However, it is not unreasonable for Council to ask questions, get answers, and, based on this fact-finding, amend legislation as needed.".....[Continued below]

Budget hearings continue in City Hall. Today's topic is revenue, and council members are asking a host of questions about the administration's revenue projections, a proposed parking tax hike, a slowing of the wage tax reduction schedule, and other items.

Councilman Jim Kenney suggested one new way for the city to find a few extra bucks. Demand that valet parking services - largely a cash business - issue receipts to all customers, and have the city's tax enforcers make sure valet operators are paying their fair share of the parking tax (which Nutter wants to raise from 15 percent to 20 percent). Kenney's hunch is that they are not. Nutter's team said they'd look into it.

UPDATE: One of our friendly commenters wants to know how much Nutter proposes slowing the wage tax reduction schedule. We're happy to recap the info, which incidentally was also included in the front page budget story that ran when Nutter's budget was released. The slowing is minimal. The Nutter administration's view is that the slowing is acceptable, given the far larger wage tax reductions likely to be enjoyed by Philadelphians thanks to statewide casino revenues. The rates listed below do not include those anticipated casino-funded wage tax cuts.

Resident Wage Tax Rate, As Presently Scheduled
2009: 4.17%
2010: 4.02%
2011: 3.87%
2012: 3.71%

Resident Wage Tax Rate, As Proposed in Nutter's Budget
2009: 4.17%
2010: 4.12%
2011: 4.00%
2012: 3.90%

UPDATE II: Here's what the wage tax will look like if Nutter's budget (which slows the reductions) is adopted and the anticipated casino tax cuts go forward.
2009: 3.91
2010: 3.86
2011: 3.72
2012: 3.63
2013: 3.54

UPDATE III: The prolific commenter who has such a hard time finding press coverage of back taxes owed to the city may want to read any of these three stories written about that very subject by the Daily News and the Inquirer in the month of February alone. There were other stories written in past months as well of course, including this one, which detailed a delinquent tax collection initiatve that rolled out late in the Street Administration that was so robust it involved the hiring of 25 new staffers for the law department.

A hybrid Chevy Tahoe SUV, purchased not with city cash (as per usual) but with the mayor's campaign funds.

Last week, three out of four of proposal either sponsored or supported by Mayor Nutter stalled in City Council, giving him a .250 batting average and raising questions about his ability ot get legislation passed.
Nutter’s effort to increase the number of deputy commissioners allowed in each department, after a holdup last week, now appears headed for a referendum in the April 22 primary.
City Council amended and introduced a bill to change the city charter yesterday.
The original bill, scheduled for final passage next week, had two stated purposes: to give a mayor more flexibility in hiring so he or she can better implement an agenda, and to make transparent the traditional practice of working around the hiring limits.
Departments are now limited to two deputies who are exempt from Civil Service. The rule was routinely evaded by previous administrations who hired deputies to the managing director office — which is not subject to the limits — and then sent them to work in the departments. That created a shadow pool of highly-paid deputies that was difficult to track.

Here's what went on in City Council Thursday:

--A resolution by Council members Blondell Reynolds Brown, Darrell L. Clarke and Curtis Jones Jr. urged Nutter and the Recreation Department to consider alternatives to closing Robin Hood Dell East for the 2008 summer concert series. Majority Leader Marian Tasco warned that bureaucratic delays in the repairs planned over the summer could lead to closure of the Fairmount Park concert venue for 2009 as well.
--Council members Bill Green, Blondell Reynolds Brown, Curtis Jones Jr. and Maria Quiñones Sanchez called for hearings to change the law governing protection from abuse orders. Philadelphia is the only place in the state where abuse victims are required to serve their alleged abusers, they said. Many victims end up calling 911 to ask police to serve the court orders, they said.
---Brown’s bill requiring certification for Center City tour guides was referred out of committee. Possible amendments to the bill — including whether so-called “Ghost Tours” should be covered — are being discussed, and final passage is not expected next week.
--Greenlee’s bill to prevent the Water Department from shutting off residential water service on weekends or before holidays was given first reading, with a final vote scheduled for next week. Greenlee wants to prevent the scenario in which residents have their water shut off on a Friday and can’t get the city to respond until Monday.
--Billy Casper Golf LLC received final approval to run four city golf courses — Cobbs Creek, Karakung, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John D. Byrne. The city’s two other public courses, Walnut Lane and Juniata, will be run by community nonprofits.

From Inquirer Harrisburg reporter Angela Couloumbis:

Let it be known, for the record, that Sen. Vince Fumo has a single word to describe a proposal circulating in the Capitol to cut Philadelphia out of its share of casino revenue: asinine.

The Democrat from Philadelphia is taking aim at a proposal being pushed by Rep. Robert W. Godshall (R., Montgomery), who is fed up with the feuding in the city that has held up construction of its two waterfront casinos.

Godshall believes that if Philadelphia can’t get its act together and start contributing casino revenues, it shouldn’t be entitled to money from that pot. Under the state’s law legalizing slots parlors, every municipality will receive funds from casino revenues to help offset rising property taxes. (In Philadelphia’s case, the money would be used to lower the wage tax).

Through his spokesman, Gary Tuma, Fumo pointed out that there are only 14 standalone slots parlors approved in for Pennsylvania – and that under Godshall’s logic, only those municipalities hosting a casino should be eligible for casino revenue.

In that case, Tuma pointed out, “we were wondering whether residents in Rep. Godshall’s district shouldn’t be getting money either,” since Montgomery County isn’t playing host to any of the state’s 14 parlors.

“Of course,” Tuma added, “Senator Fumo would be happy to introduce legislation to transfer one of [Philadelphia’s] two licenses into his district.”