Council angered over Nutter's call to give up city cars

By: Tom MacDonald

The battle lines are already being drawn between members of Philadelphia City Council and Mayor Nutter over the city budget. One councilman says the mayor is going to have problems getting the spending plan approved.

By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org

The battle lines are already being drawn between members of Philadelphia City Council and Mayor Nutter over the city budget. One councilman says the mayor is going to have problems getting the spending plan approved.

Transcript:
Councilman Frank Rizzo says he’s upset Mayor Nutter is trying to take city issued cars away from council members, and believes the move will endanger the entire budget as it navigates through the council hearing process.

Rizzo: “I think that people that wanted to be cooperative because of the way this was handled – this is just like libraries, just like pools –  I just think that people – I’m not speaking for anybody but me – I’m thinking the people who wanted to be cooperative, with this shot that he took, are going to have a bit of an attitude change.”

The Councilman says he drives an older city car, and refused a new car so it could go to the police department. He says he needs the vehicle to travel through the city, which he does sometimes seven days a week, to speak to his constituents.

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download. [audio: reports20090319budget1.mp3]