At the Northeast EPIC Stakeholders meeting, at Aria Health on May 27th, Mayor Michael Nutter stopped in to say thank you. I have a bit of his talk below. John Loftus of the Northeast Times has a good report on the entire meeting here. While the subject of the meeting was not the City’s budget woes, Nutter spoke at length about the budget that was passed by City Council and the 20 million dollar shortfall that he is predicting as a result.
I was a bit disappointed in his pitch but for that matter I was a bit disappointed in the entire process that unfolded so far. It’s not that the City has done all that bad. It could be much worse but what we are not seeing is any fundamental changes happening that will position us for the future. It’s true we can’t tax ourselves out of this problem. It’s also true that business can’t go on as usual. The cost of government has to be reduced without reducing critical services.
If the City Council and the Mayor can’t get their heads together to do that, it just won’t get done and this financial crisis will just be moved down the line. Get it done.
