The Philadelphia web-site has a very simple answer to the long-overdue 311 system, it's the Help Me page. It's no substitute for a full 311 system, but, in the meantime, the idea is pretty good. Assign city staffers that can ferret out the answers to different questions emailed in to one central email address.

Good in theory, but it's never, in my experience, worked. It was there in the Street Administration and it is still there under Nutter. There doesn't seem to be any difference. The City should either make the HelpMe@phila.gov system an important part of several city staffers jobs and make sure they do it right, or they should take the web-page down. Having it and seeing how poorly it works just makes getting around City Government even more frustrating. It's almost as if they are laughing at us.

The first time I emailed HelpMe, I did get an answer.

It wasn't much of an answer, though. I own the two lots next to my house and they are fenced off and I and my neighbor park our cars on them. It's a good deal for our street, because two cars get off the somewhat limited street parking and we only need half the length of a car to maintain access to the space, leaving more space for everyone else.

The problem is, people park in front of the entrance all the time so we often can't get in, or, worse, out.

So I wrote in to find out how you get those stripes painted on your street that denote the fact that no one should park in front of the entrance to the gate. Can you just do it yourself? Do you have to pay someone? Do you have to get it licensed?

That was my question.

The answer I got (I'm not making this up) was: "Not sure! I do know you're responsible for the curb cuts, though."

Did I ask about curb cuts? In fact, that's already done. Thanks. How about maybe looking into the question for a minute rather than going off the top of your head? If the people who receive the Help Me questions can't be bothered to research them, then what's the point of having the system?

I had been thinking about Michael Nutter's first budget address for the past 24 hours and feeling fine... until I got an email from Brett Mandel this morning with the subject line, "Tax Reformers...This Budget's For You!" I thought we might be in trouble after all, but another review of the Mayor's address, and it seems like we're gonna be ok. That said, there are two things Mayor Nutter has proposed which could become very big problems:

1. He sets aside a specific amount of money for city contract negotiations with unions--no more--while relying on a bond to deal with city pension obligations.
2. He proposes cuts to the net income portion of the Business Privilege tax.

The problem with the first point is we don't really know if a bond can work. As the Inky reports today:

"It is a creative solution, and that's a good thing, but there are lots more questions that need to be answered before we know if it'll work, when it'll work," said Uri Monson, executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which oversees the city's budget.

We also don't know what the city employee unions are going to be asking for just yet, and without the knowledge, it seems a bit inflexible to name a dollar figure now. Remember, the city is the largest employer, and any drastic change to the livelihood of its employees can have a big impact on our entire region's economy. The problem with the second point--and Jennifer and Dan pointed this out last week--is it is hard to support cuts to the net income tax without knowing how it currently impacts businesses in real numbers. I am sure the Mayor knows of course--since he is privy to data from the department of Revenue that would indicate how the tax is affecting different kinds of businesses--but we, the public, do not.

In the spirit of Mayor Nutter's "new day, new way" approach to open records and transparency in government, Jennifer wrote a letter to the Department of Revenue requesting this data. After all, there is growing evidence that for the very largest corporations, despite a real or perceived high business tax burden here, other factors like proximity to roads, train stations, cultural events, restaurants, etc. have been more important factors in making decisions about business relocation. And, perception often trumps reality when in comes to the free-market, and Nutter sent a pretty strong message that will change the perception of Philadelphia when he said this at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon:

"The doors at City Hall are now open," he said, in a silent nod to the strained relationship prevalent during the Street administration. "You will always have a friend at City Hall."

That's not to say that business taxes do not matter--and I think we all agree that our business tax structure seems uneven at best. But without a public release of the data, it's hard to know how serious of a problem this is, without relying solely on anecdotal information. Despite these potential problems, you have to give credit to Nutter for proposing a budget which:

• expands single-stream recycling
• gives $3 million to city health centers
• $4 million a year to CCP to expand its reach

That said, it is a humble budget, which makes sense for a first budget from a new Mayor. However, I have to express some concern that the entire Jobs and Economic development portion of the Mayor's speech really includes only 3 ideas: arts & culture expansion, tax cuts, and dealing with unions. For a city whose real wages have been on the decline every single year since 1969, and that has yet to produce a real economic sustainability plan for the future--as opposed to piece-meal economic development deals, often at the discretion on Council members--we could do better. However, as Nutter himself said:

We don’t walk into this process under the assumption that we have a monopoly on ideas, but we believe the proposals set forth here today will put us on a course for a safer, cleaner, greener city, where our children are protected and educated, where government performs its tasks in an open, honest and efficient manner and where performance is measured, improvements are made and services are delivered.

And until we see the line-item budget, that sounds good enough for now.

Sugarhouse, the proposed riverfront casino on the Fishtown/Northern Liberties border, needs to build on some submerged land owned by the state. The Street administration issued them a license to build on that land, which provoked lawsuits from state lawmakers and Philadelphia City Council, who claimed that the city had no right to issue that license.

Well, Michael Nutter just either made that lawsuit moot or upped the ante by revoking the license awarded by the city.

From the Inquirer:

At a City Hall news conference, he used harsh language to criticize the city action that preceded him, saying the license was "issued in error" by the city Commerce Department and was "unnecessarily rushed."

SugarHouse will have 30 days to appeal to the city to issue the license again, but only after a more extensive review process, Nutter said. He did not say how long that process would take - "it will be reasonable' - if SugarHouse chose to appeal...

The mayor reiterated that he is not a fan of the site for the SugarHouse or the Foxwoods casinos. In the case of SugarHouse, he said, concerns about traffic, parking, congestion and more were "brushed to the side" by the Street administration in a process that he characterized as improper. "It was an abuse of a discretion," Nutter said.

Let me first thank Dan and Jennifer for their thoughtful posts and all those who offered supportive comments to me and my family. I do appreciate them.

I am breaking my silence on this issue - with just a few words (less than 600). :)

On January 7, I had the honor and pleasure to stand with Michael A. Nutter, a former City Council colleague, as he took the oath of office to become Mayor. It was an honor that took place after I was sworn-in to my third term on Philadelphia City Council. I was among the first to hug the new Mayor, which I did with sincere pride. Not just because he became the first African-American Mayor to succeed another African-American Mayor, but because I know Michael A. Nutter has the potential to be a great mayor. I called him “Mr. Mayor” instead of “Mike”.

The next time I talked with Mayor Nutter was slightly over 100 hours into his new term. I called “Mike” to inform him of a police shooting that took place two hours before which resulted in the death of my 24-year-old cousin, Timothy Jerome Goode. Mayor Nutter asked for his name - and I responded “Timothy Goode”. Immediately, he recognized that this police shooting would be highly publicized. I informed the Mayor that my family would be focused on two primary pieces of evidence - the autopsy that would confirm whether my cousin was shot in the back twice and video surveillance footage of the shooting incident.

As documented, there were 110 police shootings in 2006 that resulted in 22 people losing their lives. I don’t know their story - but the police shooting of Timothy Jerome Goode is a story that is evolving into a case of “mistaken identity”. Timothy, known as “Tee”, has been characterized in the media as a suspected drug dealer who pointed a gun at police before he was shot. The evidence presented publicly thus far shows that he was shot in the back twice but there is no video footage of the incident although police surveillance cameras were positioned in the area.

Hundreds of people attended Tee’s funeral, not because he was the grand-nephew of a former Mayor or the second-cousin of a third-term at-large councilman. Many were family members who are not impressed with that fact, others were friends who were impressed with Tee - and heart-broken over his death. Timothy “Tee” Goode’s obituary reads quite different than the media portrayal of him by the police department.

Timothy Jerome Goode is remembered by those that knew him as an honor roll student that was valedictorian of his 2001 graduating class at Mercy Vocational High School. He accomplished that by ranking #1.

Timothy studied business in college, received a diploma as an electrician, and completed coursework to obtain a real estate license. Tee was also an accomplished musician and artist who intended to build a studio.

The police shooting of Timothy Jerome Goode was a case of “mistaken identity”. Tee was probably mistaken for someone who had nothing to live for - but he wasn’t a high school dropout, he was a valedictorian. Tee was to become a father for the first time this spring. He was running for his life - and into a brighter future - until he was mistaken for not having one.