Philadelphia Mayor John Street has taken concrete steps to conduct in-depth examinations into city administration to kick off his second term in office.
One of his first initiatives is the creation of the Philadelphia 21st Century Review Forum, a group that will evaluate the entire makeup of city government and will offer insight into what is and what is not working.
"This administration will not rest on its laurels. Our goal is to be the most efficient, most effective and most productive government in the history of Philadelphia," Street said on the committee's Web site.
He added that because of this desire for effective government, he has directed a committee to "examine the way in which the city functions to continue the momentum of my first term and build on its successes."
However, this comes at a time when Street's administration is currently being investigated by the FBI for the manner in which it has handed out city contracts over the last four years. The investigation has expanded to contracts at both Lincoln Financial Field and the Philadelphia International Airport.
Street's Dec. 18 announcement brought together citizens from across the city to offer input on issues ranging from ethics to the right size for the city's government.
The review forum is divided into five committees -- Appointments, Ethics, Program Evaluation, Regional Cooperation and Right-sizing -- each with a chairman, government liaison and committee staff member. The committee members are all citizens and local professionals.
Street plans to delay his annual budget address until March in order to accommodate the newly created group's recommendations.
"I think [Street] is looking to this group to ... chart a course for this city for the next four years," Review Forum Communications Director Mark Nevins said, adding "this is his brainchild."
All committee members were nominated by the mayor, and all time devoted to the project is volunteer service.
The Right-sizing Committee will be making recommendations about the size of the city government, which Nevins described as being created to serve 2 million people when in actuality the city only has 1.7 million residents.
Nevins added that, due to this discrepancy, "it's possible that the government may be bigger than it needs to be," leading to the reduction of the mayor's staff and city resources, such as the fleet of automobiles.
Ethics Committee Chairwoman and Family Court Judge Ida Chen added that the Ethics Committee has focused on a deadline of Feb. 20 to have a final draft of their recommendations ready.
"We're learning as we go along," she said. "We want to be fair to the employees ... [and for the] recommendations to be understandable."
Because the recommendations could affect businesses throughout the city, Chen also seeks to involve citizens and groups like the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
"Ethics is everyone's job," Chen said. "It's really a two-way street."
"It's very important that citizens feel there are rules of ethics that control the government," said Ethics Committee member Charisse Lillie, who noted that the mayor was asking the committee to create a "comprehensive, single source of information" concerning the city's ethical code.
The committees will also be holding public forums for residents to express their opinions and offer input.
