It is a political rite of passage and every new mayor confronts it – negotiating contracts with Philadelphia’s four municipal unions just months after taking office.

Ed Rendell used chaos to his advantage in 1992. With the city’s finances collapsing, Rendell swung a deal that froze wages while cutting holidays, some starting salaries and contributions to union health-care plans.

John Street faced a stronger economy in 2000 and unions holding a serious bargaining chip – the Republican National Convention was due to start just after the contracts expired and a strike would draw national attention. The unions got increases in wages and health benefits.  read more »

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter yesterday announced new weapons in the fight against homelessness, including additional beds for the ill or addicted and the earmarking of hundreds of public-housing units for the homeless.

“We have to build this city,” Nutter told the crowd assembled in Dilworth Plaza for the announcement. “We have souls and lives to save.”

Nutter said that, as of last week, 389 people were sleeping on the streets in Philadelphia. And roughly 6,600 were in emergency or transitional housing.  read more »

Yeah, good luck with that. Changing attitudes is not an easy thing to do…

Philadelphia City Hall. Outstanding customer service.

Those two phrases aren’t typically paired in a sentence – unless it’s said with a sarcastic laugh.

The Nutter administration would like to see that odd linkage become commonplace, instead of an oxymoron.

It will be an uphill climb. The ruling image of city workers tends to be the sign saying, at 3 p.m., “Be back after lunch.” It revolves around phrases such as, “That’s not my job; call this number,” or “Fill out this form and wait over there.”

IT DOESN’T make sense to me.

I mean Philly Mayor Michael Nutter backing Hillary Clinton.

Was Nutter not the candidate who just last year ran on a message of change? I mean, isn’t he all about “a new day?”

And isn’t Barack Obama this year running on change? Isn’t it “change you can believe in?”

And was Nutter not the African-American candidate able to transcend long-entrenched racial politics in the city?

And isn’t Barack Obama the African-American candidate out to transcend racial politics in the country?

Was it not Nutter of whom early in his campaign it was asked “is he black enough?”  read more »

...Nutter isn’t a supporter of Obama’s. Instead, he has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and insisted in an interview late last week with The Fix that she is well positioned to clean up in both Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in general when the Democratic race makes its way there on April 22.

“There’s the regular season, and then there’s the playoffs,” Nutter said of the nomination fight. “We’re now in the playoffs.” Extending the football metaphor, Nutter compared Obama to the New England Patriots, who were undefeated during the regular season and the playoffs, and Clinton to the New York Giants, who ended that winning streak in the Super Bowl.  read more »

Someone’s placing high-stakes bets!

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who has remained neutral so far, may be about to get off the fence and endorse U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Rendell plans to endorse Clinton in Philadelphia, the Morning Call of Allentown is reporting this morning.

Democratic insiders reached this morning by The Patriot-News confirmed that Rendell will endorse Clinton.

“We’re trying to get confirmation about it….but I’m pretty sure it’s happening,” said one Democratic strategist. “It’s been floating around since around 8 ‘o’clock last night.”  read more »