The Honorable Council member
City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290

March 24, 2009

Dear Council Member

Last week, Mayor Michael Nutter presented his budget to you and the other members of Philadelphia’s City Council. Since then, several council members have voiced their opposition to various sections of the budget in which the mayor is proposing cutting costs and raising taxes and fees. It’s Our City — WHYY’s issue-oriented blog, which was the home website for the recent citizen budget workshops — would be interested in hearing what alternative proposals you, as a member of Council, have to close the roughly $175 million budget gap facing the city. Or if you mostly support the Nutter proposal, let us know that.

Feel free to email us at atu@whyy.org and csatullo@whyy.org with any comments you’d like to share with the taxpayers and citizens who’ve been following the budget conversation on It’s Our City.

Let us know where you’d cut, where you’d find new revenue, what you’d have the city stop doing that it no longer needs to do.

We’ll gratefully post all replies we get from you and your 16 colleagues, as they come in. A growing and very engaged audience is following It’s Our City as a go-to site for information on the city budget; your replies will be seen and discussed by many.

Sincerely,

Alan Tu
Managing Director
It’s Our City
WHYY
215 351 2020