By Tom Ferrick

Let’s stop the whole dark-cloud thing about raising taxes and cutting services in city government and talk about the silver lining.

The city’s financial difficulties represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make significant changes in the way Philadelphia government operates. The situation offers an opportunity for a top-to-bottom reappraisal of what government does, how it does it, and the rules governing its operation. The result could be better government, not just a smaller government.

Much like with the federal government, the outcome depends on the leadership of the man in charge. Like President Obama, Michael Nutter has been handed a crisis not of his making. But, the solution will be his - and he will be judged by it.

In talking to folks around town recently, the same three questions keep coming up about this administration and its ability to handle the situation. Let’s take them one by one:

Who is in Charge Here?

Mayor Nutter has assembled a collection of talented people to run government, but they haven’t coalesced as a team. It’s more a gaggle of individuals competing for the mayor’s attention and support. And what a competition!

This phenomenon is part of the shakedown of any new administration. Whenever you get strong individuals with even stronger egos in the same room, they end up jockeying for position. We know who No. 1 is at City Hall, but who is really No. 2? The answer seems to change week to week. Recently it was Rina Cutler, one of the deputy mayors, who seemed to be trying - though sheer force of will - to get a trash collection fee imposed as part of this year’s budget. Last month, another deputy, Terry Gillen, appeared on the ascendancy. Next month, who knows? It may be time for Managing Director Camille Barnett to make her move.

Rina Cutler with Mayor Nutter

To outsiders, this sends confusing signals. When everyone is trying to be in charge, no one is really in charge. I have heard it is hard to get answers from this administration and sometimes hard even to figure out who to talk to on a particular issue.

Mayor Nutter seems to have set up a system that resembles a wagon wheel, with him as the hub and his deputies, department heads and kitchen-cabinet members as the spokes. If you are the boss, it’s an alluring model because it gives you the illusion you are in control of each spoke. In reality, I’ve never seen it work well. You end up becoming your own chief of staff and spending your time micromanaging and refereeing disputing deputies. You can’t do that and be mayor, too. Wilson Goode proved that.

Why should we care who’s on first and who’s on second inside the Nutter administration? Because, going forward, the mayor and his people are going to have to present a united front to fight against the forces arrayed against changing the way the city has operated. To do that, they need to be, you know, united.
Now, the second question…

Will He Blink?

 There’s been a lot of talk about the sacrifices the city’s 1.4 million residents will have to make through higher taxes and reduced services. There’s been a lot less talk about what sacrifices will be asked of the city’s 25,000 employees. Those cards have yet to be laid face up on the table.

I’d like to make the argument that the city does not have too many employees. The bloated bureaucracy isn’t all that bloated. It’s not the number of employees that is the big problem; it is the cost per worker. Believe it or not, the city has little direct control over those costs, especially the fringe benefits. When it comes to police and fire, they are determined by arbitrators. With other employees, they are governed by contract provisions that date back 35 years or more.

Michael Nutter must find a way to control and lower those unit costs. If he cannot, they will continue to rise - and over time eat the rest of government operations. In order to lower wage and fringe benefit costs significantly, though, he will likely have to take a strike. No one likes to say it, but I just did.

It appears that the administration will seek cuts in the cost per employee and will outline those proposals in this week’s (March 19th) budget plan. But that’s just the overture. The opera won’t begin until later, as the June 30 deadline on contracts approaches.

Will the mayor be willing to take a 30-, 60-, maybe 90-day strike to get what he needs — or will he blink? Will he settle instead for a few concessions, some murky promise of reform (how about a joint labor-management task force or two), but little real change?

Settling for business as usual, with some window dressing, won’t do it.
The mayor and his, um, team are lucky. They have the crisis they need. Most of the citizens are on their side. This has the potential of being a transformational moment for city government, which leads to the third and final question:

Can they make it happen?