 |
|
 |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
February 2004
The New Year began with the swearing in of the region’s elected officials.
Philadelphia County
Philadelphia’s Mayor John F. Street pledged his second oath of office and delivered an optimistic inaugural address on Monday, January 5, 2004, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. New plans for investing in Philadelphia during his second term include the creation of a $500 million economic development capital fund designed to make the most out of the Delaware River waterfront and sites cleared as a result of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. One of the first challenges of the New Year will be addressing the City’s projected FY 2005 $144 million budget deficit.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/06/2004 | Street voices optimism at inaugural
Mayor Street’s Inaugural Address
Monday, January 5, 2004, also marked the inauguration of Philadelphia City Council, which welcomed the presence of two new Council members, Democrat Juan Ramos and Republican Jack Kelly and the reelection of Democrat Anna C. Verna as Council President. Council President Verna’s position came with a set of new rules resulting from a Council vote of 11 – 6 to change the way Council will operate.
|
Old Rules |
|
New Rules |
|
|
||
|
Council President chose committee chairs. |
A three-member committee consisting of Council President, Majority Leader and Minority Leader, determine committee chairs. |
|
|
|
||
|
Council President Elected to a four-year term. |
Council members can replace Council President at any time. |
|
|
|
||
|
Council President determined number of staff members for each council member. |
Council President and Majority Leader determine staff hirings and firings. |
|
|
|
||
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/06/2004 | Council OKs changes in tense first session
Montgomery County
Montgomery County saw the swearing in of Commissioners – incumbent Republican James R. Matthews (elected Chairman following the swearing in ceremony), newly elected Republican Thomas J. Ellis, and incumbent Democrat Ruth Damsker.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/06/2004 | Montco’s new chairman rejects partisan rancor
Delaware County
Four-year terms began for incumbent Delaware County Council members Republican Andrew J. Reilly and Republican Mary Alice Brennan and newly elected Republican Councilman Michael V. Puppio, Jr. on January 5, 2004, at an induction ceremony held in The Honorable John V. Diggins Ceremonial Courtroom in the Delaware County Courthouse, Media. Puppio replaces John J. McFadden who stepped down after serving on Council since 1995.
Press Release | 01/05/2004 | Oaths administered in Delaware County to three members of Council, District Attorney and Four Common Pleas Court Judges
The five-member Delco Council also elected Andrew J. Reilly as Vice-Chairman and Republican Councilman Tim Murtaugh as Chairman following the aforementioned Induction Ceremony on January 5, 2004.
Press Release | 01/05/2004 | Murtaugh & Reilly Elected Chairman, Vice Chairman of Delco Council
Chester County
Newly elected Republican Commissioner Carol Aichele was also elected Chairwoman of the Chester County Board of Commissioners by a 2-1 vote. The same vote elected newly elected Republican Don Mancini Vice Chairman. Democrat Andrew Dinniman returns for his third term.
The Commissioners are looking to improve public involvement in the political process this year by creating the position of executive administrator, tape recording county meetings and making them available to the public, and making meeting agendas for the regularly scheduled Tuesday board meetings available to the public by 4 p.m. the preceding Friday.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/09/2004 | Democrat snubbed in board election
Bucks County
All three incumbent Bucks County Commissioners took their new oaths of office on Tuesday, January 6, 2004. Last year’s Chairman, Republican Michael Fitzpatrick, Esq. now assumes the role of Vice Chairman while the Chairmanship passes on to fellow Republican Charles Martin. This is Martin’s fifth time serving as Chairman in his nine years of service as a Commissioner. Democrat Sandra A. Miller, having served as a Commissioner since being first elected in 1991, faces the honor of being the longest-serving Commissioner in Bucks County history upon the completion of her current term in 2007.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/08/2004 | 3% raises OKd for county workers
Morning Call Online | 01/06/2004 | Bucks starts year with building goal
Also in the News
The Barnes Foundation
The Barnes Foundation potential move issue continues to appear in the news with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s effort to forecast the school/museum’s success on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/04/2004 | Adding up a move for the Barnes
An omission to a chart that accompanied the article was cited in the Clearing the Record section of the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday, January 6, 2004. It read: “A chart accompanying Sunday's story about the Barnes Foundation, showing a hypothetical annual budget for the foundation if it opened a gallery in Philadelphia, inadvertently omitted projected ticket-sales revenue. In the chart, hypothetical annual ticket sales of $1.5 million to $2.5 million would have given the foundation total revenue of $7.1 million to $13 million per year. Backers of the Barnes' proposed move predict annual expenses of $8 million to $10 million in Philadelphia.”
Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/06/2004 | Clearing the Record
For additional information on the Barnes issue, see the following articles:
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/15/2003 | Barnes combines art, arboretum
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/14/2003 | Expansion may have inside track
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/12/2003 | Missing piano turns up in Ardmore
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/11/2004 | Hundreds of Barnes items missing
Boyd/Sameric Theater
City Council proceedings regarding The Boyd Theater are on hold until the Philadelphia School Reform Commission votes on whether or not the theater should receive tax increment financing (TIF)*.
On November 19, 2003, the Committee of the Whole Council of the City of Philadelphia was presented with a bill introduced by Councilman Darrell Clarke and testimony from representatives of the Goldenberg Group, Clear Channel, and the City’s Commerce Director, James Cuorato, asking Council to approve a TIF in order to move forward with plans to restore the Boyd. The request was met with scrutiny from Council members and community members as the plans for restoring the Boyd did not include 1) the creation of the amount of jobs usually spurred by a TIF, 2) a strategy to avoid a funding shortfall if State and/or City money could not be obtained, nor 3) an assessment of the theater’s impact on the existing arts community. The Boyd plan also brought out City concerns with Campaign Finance Reform and publicly funded failed Goldenberg projects.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/11/2003 | Street has plans for term, starts with campaign bill
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/05/2003 | City Council votes for fund-raising limits
Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/04/2003 | Did ‘Lion King’ kill deal to save the Boyd?
Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/20/2003 | A one-day delay in vote on tax break
*A TIF is a subsidy tool that turns blighted areas into productive districts by establishing an equalized assessed tax value i.e. property tax burden baseline of the blighted property and holding future generated property taxes to that baseline over the life of the TIF in order for the developer of the property to pay back the loan taken out for the upfront costs of rehabilitating the area. The TIF in the Boyd case is requested for a period of twenty years.
|
|
|
|