Only days before Mayor John Street is set to give his annual budget address to City Council, the Philadelphia 21st Century Review Forum gave its own recommendations for the city's government.
The Review Forum worked to create a far-reaching report that makes suggestions concerning the function of five different sections of government.
The report described the need for major changes to the city's ethics code, and also recommended reducing the number of city workers in some areas and eliminating some libraries and fire stations in order to help balance the city's budget.
Street created the Review Forum in December near the beginning of his second term in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the city's government.
"I am extremely pleased with these reports," Street said in an open letter to the public.
The Review Forum's five committees -- Appointments, Ethics, Program Evaluation, Regional Cooperation and Right-Sizing -- were headed by local leaders and made up of both officials from Street's administration as well as experts and community members.
Street spokeswoman Christine Ottow called the report a full review of the city's government that included its positive elements as well as its failings.
"Nothing was sugar-coated," she said, adding that the mayor has been reviewing the report since its release in preparation for his annual budget address on Thursday.
Street "purposely moved his budget address later in the year so we could take into account the recommendations," Ottow said.
The report included observations that there is a lack of cooperation between the city's agencies, an absence of a comprehensive economic growth strategy and inadequate leadership for some of the city's signature initiatives like the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.
The public had opportunities to participate in the process through attending committee meetings or by submitting suggestions to committees or over the Internet.
Ottow noted that the implementation of some of the suggestions has already begun, especially in the case of the proposals from the Ethics Committee, which they plan to almost fully implement.
The recommendations of the Ethics Committee included the formation of a new ethics board and the hiring of a permanent staff to support the board. Additionally, the report suggested the city establish a "Whistleblower Hotline" to receive reports of possible ethics violations.
The report also argued the need for a more concrete code of ethics for the city, to be enforced and monitored by the staff of the new ethics board.
Although Street has not assigned the task of evaluating the Review Forum's report to any one staff member, recommendations are already being considered by many of the administration's officials who served on individual committees.
Street hopes to re-evaluate the government within a year to make sure the relevant recommendations are being implemented, according to Ottow.
He also noted that public input was a valuable part of the review process and will continue to be important to his administration.
"Even with the report now completed, I still look forward to having the people of the city of Philadelphia participate in setting a course for the next four years," Street said.
