Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Friday, September 18, 2009 - Index

Page 6-B • Friday, September 18, 2009
As City Council
returns from
break, what
should be the
top priority?
Robert Hightower
Tribune Staff Writer
Valerie
Bell, 61,
Germantown, —
“Keeping our jobs.
That’s what the
topic should be,
bottom line.
Keeping our jobs
so we can take
care of our
families and
pay our bills.”
Layoff notices had been scheduled to go out Friday. Plans to close all of the city’s libraries, six engine companies, three ladder
companies, five medic units, all recreation centers, two health clinics and the city’s court and parks system had already been set
in motion. – FILE PHOTO
City Workers
From Page 1A
bly pleased with the news.
“Go off and don’t do it.”
She said employees would
be notified through an e-mail
blast.
“I want you to use the
plans you had in place to tell
people the bad news to tell
them the good news,”
Barnett said. “Celebrate the
news. As for all those layoff
notices, I’m going to burn
them.”
Police Commissioner
Charles Ramsey and Fire
Commissioner Lloyd Ayers
were also smiling broadly at
the news.
“Everybody can just relax
and get back to work,”
Ramsey said, adding that
even while he prepared to
implement Plan C, he had
avoided thinking about its
consequences. “I don’t even
want to think about what
would have happened.”
The police department was
slated to layoff more than
800 police officers. Without
the cuts, the city can continue
to lower crime statistics,
he said.
“As of today, we’re down 25
murders over last year and
we’re continuing to make
progress in every area,”
Ramsey said. “Now we can
continue.”
“I can hear a cheer now
going out,” Ayers said.
His department would have
suffered the loss of about
200 firefighters.
With the Senate’s
approval, the city can now
temporarily raise its sales
tax from 7 percent to 8 percent
for the next five years.
The vote also authorized the
city to restructure pension
fund payments. The two
changes will help the city
close a $700 million budget
hole.
The Senate’s 32-17 vote
came after months of inaction
in Harrisburg. The
House and Senate disagreed
over language that changed
the state’s municipal pension
laws. On Thursday, the
Senate ended the standoff by
accepting the House version.
Gov. Ed Rendell was
expected to sign the legislation
into law Thursday
evening or Friday.
The vote also nullified
plans laid in City Council
Thursday calling for hearings
on a revised Plan C budget.
Thursday morning, City
Council told the mayor they
wanted to see his revised
Plan C budget. Council
waived hearings on the original
Plan C earlier this summer
but Councilman Bill
Green called on Nutter to
submit his revised plan
“immediately” so Council
could hold hearings next
week if necessary.
Council agreed with a
unanimous vote, one of the
first acts of its new fall session.
“We waived our right to
review [Plan C] so that we
spoke with one voice in
Harrisburg,” Green said.
“However, Plan C has now
been rejected by PICA. They
have requested a modified
Plan C — this means they will
not vote on our current Plan
C. This motion requests that
a modified Plan C be submitted
to Council forthwith so
we have time to review it
before we would have to take
action next Thursday.”
The Senate action rendered
the decision moot.
It was time to move beyond
the last year’s worth of budget
crises, Barnett said.
“Now we’re going to turn
the page and do some really
good things for Philadelphia,”
she said.
Doris
Stevens, 61,
South
Philadelphia —
“They need to
get the budget
together, even if
it’s a partial
budget so people
don’t have to be
fearful about, ‘Is
this my last day?’”
Chris
Johnson, 32,
Germantown —
“Keeping the
libraries open
and the budget.”
Ulyesses
Adams, 67,
Logan —
“Balancing the
budget. That’s
about it.”
Lonnie
Haile, 69,
North
Philadelphia —
“They should
settle the
budget.”
Dennis
Holiday, 54,
North
Philadelphia —
“Try to get the
budget together so
we can keep the
policemen and
firemen and they
don’t have to shut
down the city.
Martha
Dargan, 52,
North
Philadelphia —
“It should be
about the state
and taking care
of the workers.
We need to
take care of us.”
Editor’s note: These answers were given before the state voted
on measures allowing Mayor Michael Nutter to avert his
“Doomsday Budget” and slash 3,000 jobs.
– PHOTOS BY ABDUL SULAYMAN / TRIBUNE STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER