Title
Budget Address of
Mayor Michael A. Nutter
February 14, 2008
Good morning Council President Verna, Majority Leader Tasco, Majority Whip Clarke, Minority Leader O'Neill, Minority Whip Rizzo, members of Council, guests and my fellow Philadelphians.
What a pleasure it is to return to these hallowed chambers where the public's business has been guided by Council President Anna Verna, who for almost a decade now has made sure that every Council member has had the opportunity to succeed in advancing their public policy goals.
Council President, I appreciate your leadership now as much as I did when I was a member of City Council and look forward to a productive partnership as we address the needs of Philadelphians.
Five weeks ago we took our oath of office and pledged to work together, to make Philadelphia the city of our dreams, the safest, cleanest, best educated, most productive city in America. For all of us, it was a NEW DAY.
Now, it's time for the NEW WAY.
As I present a proposed budget for 2009 and a Five-Year Plan for your consideration, my message is straightforward: We confront fiscal issues that have been ignored for too long. The time for heavy lifting has arrived.
But if we work together in partnership, if we make smart investments, we'll secure our future and make this city and region strong as we face the global economic challenges of this century.
This is not a message of fear and doubt. It is a message about hope and change.
Yet, as the elected and appointed officials of this government we must recognize an unvarnished truth.
Many Philadelphians hold a jaundiced, cynical view of local government. And why not? They sent their hard-earned tax dollars to us and in return they encountered an unresponsive bureaucracy where the pay-to-play culture and 'who you know' was the perceived standard of service.
We must do better. And today we start that journey.
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