It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Full Coverage of Budget Workshops
In February 2009, the City of Philadelphia began a major public out reach in an effort to allow citizens direct input on crafting a leaner budget.
The city is facing a budget gap for the next fiscal year of $171 million. It’s widely accepted that some city services will be cut back and residents will be paying higher taxes. What follows is complete coverage of the workshops which were put together by Harris Sokoloff, the director of the Penn Project for Civic Engagement with help from Chris Satullo the executive director of news and civic dialog at WHYY.
The City Budget: “Tight Times, Tough Choices” as they were called attracted more than 1700 participants during four public forums. Participants were given access to real world scenarios provided by the city of service cuts and tax hikes being considered. Participants worked in small groups of 20-25 and debated among themselves in an effort to reach a consensus on a decision. The groups’ views were recorded by moderators and a final report was delivered to Mayor Michael Nutter on March 2.
The mayor has promised to incorporate some of the citizen’s views as he drafts his budget that will be released on March 19.
* Most Recent Stories
* Final Report
* Official Budget Scenarios
Full coverage of the four workshops
St. Dominic’s
Mastery Charter
St. Monica’s
Pinn Memorial
Related links:
The Penn Project for Civic Engagement
City of Philadelphia special budget website
