By Christine Cavalier
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you have the general idea of how the forums work. It’s crowdsourcing Philly budget style. If you need to catch up on what the forums are about, welcome back to Philadelphia. You’ve come back just in time! Hit the “More Posts [...]

By Patrick Cobbs
The third of four citizen forums on the city’s budget crisis was Feb. 20, and I’ll be honest, I arrived at St. Monica’s Catholic School in South Philadelphia full of doubts.
Would there be anything interesting to say about an event that was sure to be a carbon copy of the one I attended [...]

By Albert Yee
More than 500 Philadelphians gathered at Mastery Charter School in Germantown to talk about the city’s ever-growing budget crisis. The crowd was 200 more than event organizers had expected, but there was more than enough room in the gigantic gym for all. Getting everyone’s concerns addressed was another issue altogether.

To say Philadelphians are [...]

The participants of last night’s budget workshop, held at the Pinn Memorial Baptist Church, posted their messages to the mayor on the “Wailing Wall.”  This was the fourth and final workshop.  Over 400  people showed up to learn more about the projected $200 million budget gap in next year’s budget.

Closing of youth recreation centers. [...]

By Marisa McClellan
Driving up to the Mastery Charter School last Wednesday night, I was taken aback by how brightly lit and open the building seemed. So often, school buildings at night are spooky, forlorn places. Not Mastery Charter though, it was blazing, ready for the influx of Philadelphia citizens who were coming to participate [...]

See videos from Budget Workshop 4

Dear Mr. Mayor. Please watch these videos of your citizens giving advice on to balance next year’s budget. I served as a cameraman at all four budget workshops, and saw former homeless people, firemen, rec dept users and many others take time out of the workshops in hopes that [...]

On a cold day like today, what better way to go for a quick lunchtime walk around the neighborhood at lunch than to drag that little Google Street View man around the blue-lined streets and alley ways that define his universe.  Earlier on one such jaunt, I stopped by the corner of 4th and Bainbridge.
Now [...]

by Tom MacDonald, WHYY News
The four community budget workshops are over, but work on the city budget continues.  WHYY’s Tom MacDonald spoke with Mayor Nutter about what impact the forums will have on his budget decisions.
Mayor Nutter says there have been many interesting suggestions coming out of the community forums on what areas can be [...]

by Elizabeth Fiedler, WHYY News
The community budget workshops have wrapped up.  Hundreds of citizens gave their input on how the city should address its budget gap.  Last night the final of four forums was held in West Philadelphia.  WHYY’s Elizabeth Fiedler reports some people came determined to lobby for a cause while others offered sacrifices [...]

by Susan Phillips, WHYY News
It seems like enough of a hassle just to remember to take out the trash every week. Now the city is debating whether to charge residents for trash collection, either by a pay-as-you-throw fee per bag of trash, or just a flat cost for collection. WHYY’s Susan Phillips reported on the [...]