WHYY would like your input on our plans to expand local news coverage in northwest Philadelphia.

In our pilot phase, we’ll launch local news websites that will focus on East Falls, Manayunk, Roxborough, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown and West Oak Lane. We hope to have the websites up this fall.

We’re looking for reporters, photographers and videographers to help cover the neighborhoods. Also, we’re seeking writers with strong viewpoints for columns. Many of these positions will be paid.

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Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is calling for two new taxes to prevent city services from being cut. The mayor presented his budget outline to city council this morning. (3/4/10) In it, he’s asking council to approve a two-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks and a $300 yearly trash fee that combined would to raise about $185 million dollars annually. Nutter emphasized during his budget address that there will be no layoffs for police and fire, and that all of the city’s libraries, rec centers and pools will be open in the new budget year.

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Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is scheduled to present his 2010-2011 budget to council on Thursday, March 4, 2010.While local newspapers are already reporting that he’ll likely propose soda and trash taxes, don’t expect him to propose any across the board tax hikes. Speaking to Marty Moss-Coane on Tuesday, Mayor Nutter said his hands are tied when it comes to raising the city’s major taxes.

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He needs to reduce city spending by $150 million in this budget. City revenues are depressed as the regional economy, officially out of a recession, remains flat.

Neighborhood leaders met to suggest ways to improve Phila's zoning code process

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Update 2/18/02 @ 5:00 p.m. FINAL REPORT released.

Common Ground for Building Our City report

Common Ground Principles

PRINCIPLE 1 Every neighborhood should have a similar, widely known way to convene civic groups and concerned individuals for input into project review.

PRINCIPLE 2 All projects of a certain level of impact, whether as-of-right or requiring variances, would benefit from public input.

PRINCIPLE 3 When assessing a project’s impact, go beyond size to look at how a project impacts or fits into its surroundings.

PRINCIPLE 4 Issues of design and aesthetics should be reviewed, but on a basis separate from the parameters of zoning.

PRINCIPLE 5 Early and effective notification about project proposals helps improve outcomes both for the neighborhood and the developer.

PRINCIPLE 6 The project review process should be more transparent and predictable, in ways that inform, invite and engage constructive participation.

PRINCIPLE 7 Clear review time lines should be set as part of a predictable public input process. This would reduce uncertainty and cost for the developer while ensuring the community gets sufficient time to assess, discuss and comment.

PRINCIPLE 8 The role of City Council members in zoning and project review should be made explicit and transparent.

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So much has happened since Michael Nutter was sworn in as Mayor of Philadelphia two years ago. Even for his supporters, it’s probably hard to remember the euphoria of that day. Finally, we thought, here’s a man who knew how city government worked but was also fed up with its inefficient ways.

In his inauguration speech (pdf), he laid an ambitious agenda. He promised to get a handle on violent crime. For homicide in particular, he called for a reduction of between 30 and 50 percent.

So, how’s he doing on that? Well, if he reduced 2007’s 392 homicide rate by 30 percent, then we could expect about 275 homicides a year.

In 2008, there were 333 reported murders. That’s a 15 percent drop. Not bad.

In 2009, that number was 305. That’s a 22 percent drop from the 2007 figures. Pretty good.

I’d say we’re on track with that goal.

Mayor Nutter got an earful from angry residents after he announced major budget cuts in late 2008

Other goals, however, will be a lot harder to quantify. Those are things like doubling the number of students who finish college in Philadelphia. Sure, there will be statistics we could look too, but, up or down, who’s to say this mayor could take the credit, or blame. Let’s put goals like these go in the “Hope” bucket.

Then there is the recession. Without it, would Philadelphia be gun-free utopia for bicycling paradise intellectuals? Maybe not, but it would be equally wrong to measure the mayor’s performance with a pre-recession yard stick.

If Mayor Nutter decides to run for re-election in 2011, will he deserve four more years?

While it may be be too early to make that call, what if the election were held today. Would you vote for him?

To give you an idea of how other people rate the mayor so far, here are some of the mid-term report cards we’ve gathered so far.

Congressman Bob Brady

Fmr Phila. Managing Director Phil Goldsmith

Northern Liberties Neighbors Association President Matt Ruben

Fmr Phila. Education Secretary Debra Kahn

Penn Future Outreach Director Christine Knapp

Artblog co-founders Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof

What do you think? Would you re-elect Mayor Nutter if the election were held today?

Asking a politician to grade another politician, who lives in the same city, who shares the same political party, and have the same constituent base is not asking for the harshest of critiques. But given that It’s only fair to hear how someone like U.S. Congressman Bob Brady views the mayor’s first two years in office.

Brady is also Chair of the Democratic Committee in Philadelphia. Oh, one other thing. He ran against Michael Nutter in the 2007 Democratic Mayoral Primary. Brady lost and instead became “Mayor of Capitol Hill” a title you get when you ascend to chairman of the Committee on House Administration in Washington D.C. He oversees a $3 billion budget that among other things get to decide things that really matter to a politician staffing size and parking assignments.

But both Brady and Nutter have helped keep Philadelphia afloat during a recession that made federal dollars akin to a lifeline. So here’s Bob Brady’s assessment of Michael Nutter’s first two years as Mayor of Philadelphia.

Bob Brady

By Congressman Bob Brady

It is too easy to be an arm chair quarterback as Mayor Nutter navigates the city through very, very difficult economic times. The Mayor’s job is a front line challenge and there is no passing of the buck, so all of the hard pressed issues are on display for everyone to view. That being said I think the mayor has done a good job in keeping the city on course. Crime is down, there is renewed attention being paid to our public schools, the city population is apparently increasing and in spite of the recession new projects are breaking ground.

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Phil Goldsmith takes the hard line on Mayor Nutter saying that past Philadelphia mayors have accomplished more in their first two years. Gee, Phil, tell us what you really think. Goldsmith’s views are worth thinking about even if you don’t fully agree. This is after all a major global recession that has hit every level of government hard. But still he provides a perspective that shouldn’t be ignored. Goldmsith is someone who has seen Philadelphia city government from the inside out. He a past interim director of the School District of Philadelphia, acting Executive Director of Fairmount Park, past Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and served as the Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia (under John Street). He currently serves as President of Ceasefire PA.

Q&A with Phil Goldmsith

WHYY: The Nutter administration. Two years in – Two years to go. Half Empty / Half Full?

Goldsmith: I think the next four or five months will tell where the glass stands. I think he got off to a late start and the world sort of changed on him. I think he’s now starting to pick things up a bit. So I’ll probably answer a little differently today than I would have four or five months ago when I thought they weren’t making as much progress as they should. I think how he goes through the next budget cycle and we still have the union negotiations out there are two big things that have to be resolved.

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