Philadelphia deserves a mayor who has no interest in making his friends, relatives or contributors wealthy at our city’s expense. I donated 5 million dollars to my campaign to show that I could not be bought.
As mayor, I’ll make good on my promise to curb pay-to-play politics by pushing for greater openness and disclosure. The citizens of Philadelphia deserve no less.
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As Mayor, I will renew Executive Order No. 002-04, prohibiting gifts, gratuities, and favors for city employees and pledge to take appropriate action against any person or persons violating the order.
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As a businessman, I know the importance of competitive contracting. As Deputy Mayor, I re-bid non-bid contracts and saved the city millions of dollars. If elected mayor, I’ll implement stringent bidding practices that minimize the use of the non-bid process. My budgeting practices will be open, honest, and accountable.
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I will refuse to appoint such a person. Philadelphians deserve elected and appointed officials who will make the right decision not just some of the time, or most of the time, but all of the time.
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Independence is a critical quality for an effective board of ethics. I would support such a change.
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As mayor, I will push for comprehensive lobby disclosure legislation. It may not be modeled exactly after state legislation, but it will be wide-ranging and provide for harsh penalties.
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My campaign has complied with every disclosure requirement to date and will continue to disclose all information required by law. I am happy to assist any voter requiring information by directing him or her to the relevant state and city agencies. In addition I have released my tax returns for the last three years to the Daily News and the Inquirer for review.
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My primary concern with the Business Privilege tax is the gross receipts portion. It drives businesses and jobs out of the city. I favor addressing the net profits portion once the gross receipts portion has been eliminated and the wage tax has been addressed. At that time, we should work to lower the net profits portion to a tandem with the wage tax.
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I support the current schedule and will push for a more aggressive one depending on available revenues.
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a. I believe that the current move to full assessment should be revenue neutral.
b. I support the concept of a buffering program. However, I favor a cap on increases and decreases rather than a system of rolling averages.
c. Deferments are well worth exploring and I support them for the elderly, infirm, or disabled who are living on fixed income. As Mayor, I will convene a panel of real estate and tax experts to recommend an actionable deferment policy.
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I am committed to a budgeting process that is both open and details programmatic costs. Philadelphians deserve to know how much municipal initiatives cost and, above all, City Hall has an obligation to be open, honest, and accountable about how it spends money.
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a. I do not believe that union concessions are necessary to make ends meet. I look forward to engaging in productive negotiations with the city’s major unions that produce a solution that protects worker’s rights as well as the city’s fiscal health.
b. As Mayor, I pledge to maintain a responsible level of debt by issuing an executive debt policy. The executive debt policy will outline the circumstances under which I, as the chief executive, would consider the acquisition of debt which is often necessary and appropriate to be responsible. Those circumstances will include issuing debt for infrastructure and other long-term investments.
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As an entrepreneur, I understand the needs of the business community. As Mayor, I intend to form a coalition of business and academic leaders to identify sectors of growth and recommend businesses that could relocate to Philadelphia. I will then personally lobby these businesses to come to Philadelphia and join our vibrant community.
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Improving workforce training and education is more important to attracting business than reforming the tax structure. As mayor, I will provide the Community College of Philadelphia, and the workforce investment system as a whole, with the resources necessary to make meaningful change in our economy.
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Open information is the key to ensuring accountability. I pledge to do all of the above as mayor. Philadelphians deserve open information and ease of access in dealing with City Hall.
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The people of Philadelphia deserve accountability in education. Right now, I don’t believe that the School Reform Commission can be held adequately accountable. As mayor, I intend to reform Philadelphia’s government by eliminating pay-to-play politics so that Harrisburg can be confident in returning control of the school district to City Hall.
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I am fully committed to spending significant political capital in lobbying for Philadelphia’s schools. This city deserves a mayor who will go to Harrisburg and Washington to fight for our schools. I will be that mayor.
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I support a real estate tax shift to increase local funding of the school district. Beyond a tax shift, I intend to take responsibility for the millions of dollars in unreimbursed costs that City Hall has saddled on the school district.
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Charter schools have a role to play in our school system, but do not represent a workable solution on their own. I support charter schools that have perform well and meet high standards. As mayor, my primary focus will be working with the school district to ensure that all Philadelphia schools – charter and non-charter – offer a quality education, not a select few.
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As mayor, I will identify the best Police Commissioner for Philadelphia and then equip him or her with the tools necessary for restoring public safety. In addition to the ability to make more personnel changes, I will provide him or her with 1,000 additional police officers and cutting-edge technologies.
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