Crosstown Coalition

The Crosstown Coalition invites Philadelphians to discuss mayoral candidates' answers to questions posed by the Coalition. Questions were generated by citizen responses to a questionnaire sent in Feb, 2007. We encourage you to read candidate answers and comment on what you think. By: Bella Vista United Civic Assoc, Center City Residents' Assoc, Logan Square Neighborhood Assoc, Old City Civic Assoc, Queen Village Neighborhood Assoc, Society Hill Civic Assoc, Washington Square West Civic Assoc.

Showing posts with label NUTTER. Show all posts

Showing posts with label NUTTER. Show all posts

Thursday, April 5, 2007

NUTTER: Cross Index of Political Donors and City Beneficianaries

In an effort to restore integrity to City Hall and renew the public’s confidence in their government, I have led Philadelphia for comprehensive ethics reform. The initiatives that I championed and supported while in City Council have placed serious tools in the hands of Philadelphians working to end the corruption in our City.

As Councilman, I introduced and successfully passed legislation (Bill No. 050014 and Bill No. 040772-AA and 050613) to help expose the money at the core of the “pay to play” system. As a candidate for Mayor, I have and will continue to disclose every donation I receive. As Mayor, I will direct the appropriate entity to develop a cross indexed data base of my campaign donors and recipients of city contracts.

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NUTTER: Fines for Donors

As Mayor I will propose, and work with City Council to enact, legislation that makes permanent the current ban on gifts, gratuities and favors and extends it to all City officials and employees, including City Council and other elected officials and their employees. I will seek a workable penalty for a broad definition of what constitutes a bribe, as part of such legislation.

I have also proposed that all City employees file online financial disclosure information every year, and post that information on the City’s website. The City of Atlanta requires employees and elected officials to file income and conflict of interest information every year they work for the City and the year following their departure; and that the City should random financial audits of elected and senior appointed officials every year and post a comparison of the disclosed and audited results on the City’s website.

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NUTTER: No Bid Contracts

As Councilman, I introduced and successfully passed new legislation to reform the City’s contracting process. New legislation was approved in June 2005 which provides for an open and transparent process for no-bid contracts, limits campaign contributions, and requires mandatory disclosure of campaign contributions before the award of a no-bid contract and during the contract period.

The new no-bid contract procedures took effect on February 1, 2006. A new link on the City's website has totally transformed the old way of doing business in this City. Contracting opportunities are now online and anyone who is eligible may apply. Contract award decisions must be explained online as well. (These are available at "eContracts Philly" at www.phila.gov.)

As Mayor, I will continue these efforts and will grant no-bid contracts as infrequently as possible – and only when there are compelling reasons to do so, award no-bid contracts only to pre-qualified vendors based on factors such as relevant experience and superior past performance, publish an annual report that contains a list of all firms and companies receiving City business, bid and no-bid, the nature of services provided, the amount paid, the names of the principals in the firms, their lawyers, lobbyists and other key representatives.

As Mayor, I will identify pre-incident contracts and other preparations that would facilitate the orderly exercise of emergency powers in the face of natural or other disaster. The City has not initiated a comprehensive effort to identify the pre-incident contracts that would be required to shelter and feed mass numbers of citizens in a catastrophic event. Yet, Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations require competitively bid contracts for goods and services, such as debris removal, for federal reimbursement. Pre-event contracts for goods and services would enhance the City’s ability to respond effectively to a disaster, and would enable the City to sustain itself for 72 hours or more following a major disaster with effective shelter-in-place and quarantine protocols.

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NUTTER: Employment of Former City Officials

As I have demonstrated throughout my career, my administration will consist of employees with the highest ethical standards. I have already proposed to review and, if necessary, tighten regulations governing the future employment of City officials and employees by companies doing business with the City.

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NUTTER: Making the Board of Ethics More Independent

As Councilman, I introduced and successfully passed legislation providing for a new City Charter created Board of Ethics. To insure the integrity of this Board, I pushed for a strong, independent entity with adjudicatory and enforcement powers, and sufficient funding and staff to carry out its mission.

In addition, I made changes to the City's Ethics Code which now mandates routine ethics training and education for all City officers and employees, the issuance of advisory opinions, the adjudication of ethics violations, and the imposition of civil fines. These measures were adopted by City Council at the end of 2005. In addition, the ballot question establishing the Ethics Board was overwhelmingly approved by the voters in May 2006. In the fall of 2006, the Mayor submitted his nominees to Council for confirmation, thereby establishing the City’s first independent Ethics Board, which was convened in November, 2006.

As Mayor, I will encourage continuous improvement in all aspects of City government, including the Ethics Board. If a better nominating process can be designed (Five college presidents? Religious leaders? Professional association leaders? There are many constituencies for ethics), I will support it.

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NUTTER: Lobbyist Disclosure

I have already stated that, as Mayor, I will propose, and work with City Council to enact, legislation that requires all lobbyists, and individuals acting as lobbyists who are engaged in business with the City, City-related departments, agencies and commissions and quasi-City agencies and authorities, to register as lobbyists and to identify their clients. I will make this information publicly available.

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NUTTER: Personal Promise Re: Campaign Disclosure

Yes. The City will be posting this information and we will be happy to put our information on our own website as well.

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NUTTER: Business Taxes

I support the phased elimination of the gross receipts portion of the BPT and the phased reduction of the net income portion of the BPT to a rate equal to the rate for the Wage Tax.

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NUTTER: Wage Tax

Yes.

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NUTTER: Real Estate Tax

a. The full-value project of the BRT should be matched by a proportional reduction in the millage rate. The BRT’s current fractional assessment (0.32 of BRT assessed value) would thus require a rate reduction to approximately one-third the current millage rate of 0.08264, in order to be revenue neutral.

b. A three-year average would introduce some buffering, but we should simply have an outcomes-based rather than process-based rule. Please see below.
c. First, I will propose and work with City Council to enact a homestead exemption that will exclude some fraction of assessed value from taxation for all property owners. The value of the exemption will be calculated to have minimal impact on overall revenue generated by the property tax and will make the property tax progressive. Second. I will propose and work with City Council to enact a cap and deferral plan for paying property taxes that will protect property owners from unreasonably large and rapid increases in their taxes. Under my plan, no property owner would ever face an increase in their property tax exceeding 10 percent in a single year. Property owners who qualify on the basis of low and/or fixed incomes would have lower caps, including zero increases for very low-income owners. In all cases, the amount of tax owed by the property owner above the capped amount would be deferred until the sale of the property. This two-part reform will allow people to participate in the enormous appreciation in property values underway in many Philadelphia neighborhoods while preserving peoples’ option to stay for as long as they want.

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NUTTER: Budget Transparency

Yes. As Mayor, I will convene a process to revise our budget process to involve citizens, identify priorities, budget for outputs rather than inputs, and ensure that supplemental and other mechanisms are governed by the same practices.

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NUTTER: Long Run Budget Picture

a. As PICA has noted, the status quo is not sustainable. However, I have been surprised at the lack of public interest in the City’s fiscal situation and would welcome the involvement of the city’s civic associations in creating a broader understanding of this issue. It doesn’t help to have Mayoral candidates promising new programs and costs that are not realistic or sustainable, with no fact-checking by third parties.

Moreover, if PICA has serious concerns, then I don’t understand why they keep approving the City’s borrowings. The solution will be complex and will involve other levels of government. We need to have a shared decision-making process with clear information and everyone at the table making decisions.

b. The reason to incur debt is the prospect of increased future returns. For City government, that might mean dealing with problems sooner rather than later because of the costs are lower and/or investing in conditions that will generate higher levels of employment and income than would occur without the investment. As Mayor, I will never obligate future Philadelphians to paying off debt that does not seek these fundamental goals.

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NUTTER: New Areas for Job Growth

Far more important that choosing winning growth sectors, a City must get the fundamentals right. These include tax reform to bring Philadelphia into the modern economy, ending the “corruption tax” that keeps Philadelphia off the location list for many firms, providing basics services, and maintaining a capital investment program that provides the infrastructure need by tomorrow’s economy.

These are the ways the local governments can "create" jobs. Beyond the fundamentals, a City can be strategic in its purchasing and in things like sustainable building and business practices. These can have significant effects on local businesses and as Mayor I will pursue these and similar approaches.

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NUTTER: Encouraging Small Business

Too many of our economic development resources are directed at large business, even though small businesses create most of the new jobs in the U.S. As Mayor, I will establish an Office of Business Services to work with any business or prospective business, in order to provide technical assistance and eliminate obstacles that businesses encounter in the City.

Every business that comes through the door will have a Business Assistance Representative assigned to them. This Office of Business Services will report directly to the Director of Commerce and will publish a monthly report, posted on the City’s website, on its progress in helping business to expand and create jobs. I will also direct a larger share of our economic development resources. Such as low-cost loans to small businesses that create the most jobs. Finally, as Mayor, I will do more to celebrate small businesses. Large companies tend to get the headlines in the press, but I will work to focus more attention on the successes of our small businesses, and send the message that we want to open their businesses in Philadelphia.

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NUTTER: Access to City Hall

Yes. In addition, I will establish a 311 call center to target resources on non-police or –fire emergencies and improve service delivery on the entire portfolio of municipal services. Up to one-third of calls placed to 911 in Philadelphia are non-emergencies regarding illegal parking, animal complaints, loud noise, etc. Although these are important quality of life issues that add to disorder and must be dealt with in an efficient manner, they are currently made on the 911 line.

The establishment of a 311 line would allow citizens to log requests for services and create the basis for tracking performance. It is a powerful tool that creates important opportunities for improved municipal services across the board. These 311 services create a management tool for increasing that service efficiency and will reduce police and fire response time to genuine emergency calls to 911.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007

NUTTER: School Reform Commission

I have a child in a public school, so I relate to the School District of Philadelphia as a parent as well as a candidate. Although Philadelphia has some excellent public schools, the overwhelming majority of them are inadequate. Every day, many families leave the city because of our inadequate schools. I believe the long-term solution is for the city to re-gain control of our school system from the School Reform Commission.

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NUTTER: Politicking for Schools

As Mayor, I will work with Governor Rendell and the General Assembly to revise the state funding formula for public schools. The state funding formula was changed in 1991 to de-emphasize special needs of students and now bases the state’s payments on the previous year’s funding (plus some ad hoc calculations).

However, the Philadelphia School District has grown by more than 10,000 students in that time, which has resulted in an annual shortfall for Philadelphia. Since this change in the formula in 1991, the gap in per pupil spending between Philadelphia and the surrounding school districts has increased from $1,109 to $2,125. Over a 12-year school lifetime, the average suburban school district invests $25,000 more in preparing each student for the future than Philadelphia does. No wonder so many of our children are not as prepared to enter college or the job market or are simply dropping out. As Mayor, I will lead the effort to revise the state’s funding formula in a way that will provide additional funding for Philadelphia’s children. The state’s funding system should be based upon the true costs of preparing a student for success in today’s world – early childhood education, great teachers, small classes, tutoring support, a rigorous high school curriculum and safe schools. It should be set at a level that allows all school districts to reach success, with a fair share of local funding, by including these elements.

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NUTTER: General Funds for Schools

I want to increase the amount of local dollars while decreasing the share of local dollars. As Mayor, I will work with City Council to pass legislation that will increase the allocation of the property tax revenues going to schools.

As a member of City Council, I supported then-Mayor Rendell’s request for an additional tax on drinks, which provided additional funding for the School District. As Mayor, I will work with Council to provide additional City funding for the School District, by changing the allocation of local property taxes that go to schools - from 58 percent to 60 percent. This would shift approximately $18 million per year to schools. These new educational resources will be evidence of the City's increasing financial commitment to the educational success of its children, and this commitment should be matched by a new state commitment and private sector/foundation funding of at least the same amount. As a result, $18 million in new city revenue will leverage a minimum of $36 million in total new resources for education.

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NUTTER: Charter Schools

I agree that Charter Schools have invigorated many parents and students, and I applaud the many new schools that have opened throughout the City. However, the state law guiding the funding of Charters penalizes the School District financially. I propose a higher level scrutiny for the establishment of new Charter Schools unless and until the State pays for the full cost of new Charter School students.

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NUTTER: Reducing Civil Service Jobs in Senior Police Positions

I have already proposed that, as Mayor, I will work to change the Charter to allow the next Commissioner to appoint and reassign a larger number of senior personnel, while fully ensuring that this new power is exercised in an appropriate manner

An important part of that selection will involve committing to changes in the structure of accountability in the Police Department. The City Charter is a major obstacle to attracting and retaining the best possible Police Commissioner.

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