Marc Stier at Large

Members of City Council were quick to point out last Wednesday that Mayor Nutter has the power to cut the city budget without their approval. That is true. But what they didn’t point out is that Council can mandate that the city provide certain services. And that decision constrains the Mayor’s budget authority. A few years ago Mayor Street announced that the city could not afford to pick up trash from condos and would stop doing so. He claimed that under his budget authority he could cut back this service. City Council passed an ordinance requiring the city to pick up trash at Condos. Here my memory gets a little hazy. But I believe the Mayor said he would ignore it, Council sued, and won. Trash pickup at condos continues to this day. So if Council wants to mandate that the Free Library have branches at, say 54 particular locations… Continue reading

This is, many of us keep saying, the moment we have been waiting for, the transformative moment in our politics when dramatic change is possible, when we will finally guarantee quality affordable health care for all. As we keep saying it, we hear the other voices tell us that, no, we have to wait, that the economic crisis we face is too severe, requires too much attention, and will be too costly. But a close look at history, at our present crisis and our politics, should teach all of us, including President-elect Obama that the pessimistic voices are wrong. This is the moment for health care reform. And that is one reason you should come to the Neighborhood Networks Town Hall meeting tomorrow. For whether we actually we take advantage of this moment for health care reform is, in large part, up to us. Continue reading