Monday, February 25, 2008

IT'S OUR MONEY. . . DAMN IT!

 

SO HOW COME THE PUBLIC CAN'T HAVE MORE SAY?

TOMORROW, Philadelphia City Council will begin hearing testimony on Mayor Nutter's proposed budget. From now until April, a parade of department heads and officials appear before Council - in 65 different hearings - to defend and explain their budget for the coming year

Which, depending on your perspective, means 65 opportunities for mind-numbing boredom, or 65 fascinating chances to understand some of the city's most important decisions: what we spend our money on.

One voice will be missing from almost all of the hearings: yours.

That needs to change.

Council does allow public testimony after all the departments have had their say. They've added an extra day this year, for a total of four days of public testimony.

But the issue is not only how much, but when that testimony comes: at the very end, long after individual departments have had their say. By that time, most of the important decision will have already been made and our Council will be "budgeted-out."

Why can't Council allow the public to provide input at every stage of the process? Wouldn't it be useful to hear testimony from a frustrated small business owner directly after an official from L&I? Regular citizens should be able to appear right after each department.

We're not the only ones who think so. One Philadelphia, a network of advocacy organizations, is calling on Council President Anna Verna to

open up the process and allow public testimony throughout.

Verna's office says that allowing the public to testify throughout would be logistically difficult, and add too much time to the process. That's fair, but we think it's worth rethinking the process. This is a critical moment for the city. Our elected officials need to hear as many voices as possible.