Yesterday, City Council balked at the Mayor's proposal to beef up the Inspector General's office. The proposal would, among other things:

• Give the IG office its own budget
• Appoint the IG for five years, and make it really hard to remove them (only with cause, and a full hearing as to why)
• Create a two-year cooling off period, where the IG couldn't run for office
• And... let the IG investigate elected officials

One of those things probably annoyed some members of Council more than others...

They wanted to know why the city controller or district attorney could not do the same thing with the $1 million now budgeted annually for Kurland's office.

Kurland, a former assistant U.S. attorney who made a living prosecuting corruption in the city, told them that the status quo has not been able to stem corruption.

"For the past 24 years, we've had all these agencies, and we continue to have these problems," Kurland said.

Still, she could not satisfy committee members as to the different job descriptions of each of the city's watchdogs, and Greenlee held the bill.

Considering it was Councilpeople like Goode, Green and Greenlee who had questions about the office, we can be a little more charitable that the questions are sincere.

But... and this is a big but:

• Rick Mariano is in jail for corruption.
• Donna Miller has had two different staff members go to jail for corruption.
• The City treasurer is in prison for corruption.
• And, of course, while not under the jurisdiction of the IG, one of the most powerful politicians in the City- Vince Fumo- awaits a trial after a 140 count indictment for effectively stealing the public's money.

How many of those cases were brought by Lynne Abraham and the DA's Office? The answer, of course, is zero. It seems a little goofy to say that the DA- a position who will rely on Councilmembers, ward leaders and party officials every four years- will actually go after corruption. It is not like this is all theorizing: we know it to be the case.

Additionally, as far as I understand, without its own budget, if the IG needs 10 boxes of new pencils, it has to go hat-in-hand to the Mayor's office, to get approval. Think constantly needing to check in with the Mayor and his Chief of Staff may effect the ability to investigate the Mayor or his friends?

The last election made very clear that Philadelphians were ready for a government that no longer is perceived as corrupt, and that they could believe in. Ignoring the IG's office, and pretending that the Philly DA will handle things, is ridiculous. We need a bulked up IG, and we need it ASAP.

I was, and still am pissed off that in one week, Mike Nutter decided to get rid of Seth Williams and then to write a (factually wrong, oddly written) op-ed that came out swinging for Bob Brady, without actually telling us what these so-called party reforms are.

That said...

My disappointment aside, I do think the appointments that Nutter made- of three US Attorneys to work within the City Government, are a good thing and represent that we have started to make some progress as to what we expect as a City. To take three US Attorneys who specifically prosecuted corruption, and to bring them inside City Hall is a big deal. The office, which Seth turned into something real, as well as feared and respected, is going to have even more prominence under Nutter. John Street, in a great move, appointed Seth to that office. It was a contrast to a Mayor, who, while not personally corrupt, did nothing to stop a culture around him that led to indictments and convictions within his administration. I am confident that type of thing wont happen in our new administration.

It is a good sign that people from the US Attorneys office- corruption prosecution is not an easy gig to get- are willing to dive into City Hall. Additionally, as they continue to work, they will hopefully identify for us just how much corruption actually exists in the City, and give the average citizen the idea that City government is working for all of us.