Medicaid Funding Looking Bleak; State Budget To Get Revamped
The passed state budget looks like it’s going to fail (that was quick), forcing Mayor Nutter to possibly be cleaning up a lot of shit. While the chairman of Philadelphia Magazine was kissing way too much ass for Rendell to run for Mayor in 2011, which his office told PhillyNow isn’t gonna happen, Rendell was rushing to sign a messy state budget to...
Continue ReadingNutter’s Budget Cuts $47 Million, Preserves Library Services
Yesterday Mayor Nutter announced $47 million in cuts to the budget passed by City Council earlier this spring, taking big chunks out of police and firefighter money but backing off on his threat of mass layoffs and major library cutbacks. The cuts do include eliminating two classes of police recruits, and reducing police overtime to the tune of $6.3 million....
Continue ReadingPhilly’s Board of Pensions and Retirement Sues Citigroup
It seems the only way to get out of the recession is to sue those who benefited from it—namely, America’s biggest banks. The city’s Board of Pensions and Retirement is doing just that in an effort to hold big banks accountable for the economic meltdown from nearly two years ago. Yay, accountability! U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein gave the suit...
Continue ReadingTrash Compactor Contract Filthy, Controller Says
Ever wonder about those bulky trash compactors found on downtown sidewalks? You’re not the only one. City Controller Alan Butkovitz released findings today from an investigation into the purchase and deployment of BigBelly Solar Compactors, and it ain’t pretty. The controller said that the projected savings from reduced collection costs are not being realized,...
Continue ReadingPennsylvania Resorts to Yard Sale to Raise Cash
Well, it’s finally come to this. Perpetually short on funds, Pennsylvania is auctioning off a bunch of junk to try to make ends meet. Included are all kinds of weird, random stuff; items taken in drug seizures, business supplies from stores bought up by PennDot and plenty of old office equipment. From the Inky: Thousands of items, among them wheelchairs...
Continue ReadingCouncil Members Green and Sanchez Boost Staff Pay
Councilmembers Bill Green and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez have awarded raises to several staff members, Catherine Lucey reported yesterday on the Daily News’ Philly Clout blog. According to Lucey: Councilman Bill Green this month gave raises to five of his staffers, including a $30,000 bump to his Chief of Staff Sophie Bryan, bringing her salary to $100,000....
Continue ReadingLibraries’ Funding Cut In State Budget; 2 New Libraries Dedicated to Assholes To Be Constructed
Pennsylvania libraries are being cut 9 percent and one-thousand (and one) government employees will be losing their jobs after Rendell’s just-signed budget, but only the 1,001st, who lost his job all on his own, is getting a nice parting gift. Yep, that government operative is Arlen Specter. And for the sake of irony (we assume) Rendell’s budget includes...
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State-Funded Hotel Coming to 4th and Race
Want 4th and Race to stay the way it is? All bland n’ shit? Too bad. The former Pincus Bros. Maxwell building in that no-man’s-land of Old City is getting an $80-$100 million shot, a name change – Franklin Place – and will include a “140-room hotel, 70 residential units, 50,000 square feet of retail, at least one restaurant, and a 200-space parking...
Continue ReadingTax Amnesty Exceeds $40 Million
Mayor Michael Nutter announced this morning that the city’s tax amnesty program, which was its first in more than two decades, collected more than $40 million. Yay! The program began May 3 and its goal was to bring the city $30 million. It exceeded expectations, however, when more than 27,000 tax delinquents participated and had their penalties waived. While...
Continue ReadingJohn Kromer’s Letter To The Sheriff
We spoke with UPenn faculty member John Kromer a few weeks back about the Sheriff’s Office (and why here we should be writing “or lack thereof”) and his ideas (along with the Committee of Seventy, City Council and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Corporation Authority) to get rid of the position all together. Speaking about the Sheriff’s Office’s...
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