The City of Philadelphia's 2010 budget is being planned and the Mayor wants to know what you think.
The Penn Project for Civic Engagement will run four workshops in February on behalf of the City to allow Philadelphia citizens' input into the early stages of composing the budget.
Mayor Michael Nutter announced on Jan. 15 that Philadelphia faces a $1 billion deficit as a result of "global economic decline."
The workshops are part of an "unprecedented level of public engagement," he said.
Nutter added that he was "very sorry" for the lack of public involvement in the previous budget cuts.
In November, Nutter unveiled a series of budget cuts that included 220 layoffs and the closure of 11 library branches and most city pools.
At the workshops, department heads will present possible budget scenarios with real data, and small groups will discuss the proposals and which cuts they would be willing to accept.
UPPCE founder and director Harris Sokoloff said that these workshops would be different than a typical town hall meeting.
It's "not about individuals getting up and yelling," he said.
Sokoloff has run similar workshops before and said that those in attendance should expect hard work.
They will "do the kind of work that they expect officials to do," he said.
Sokoloff added that the biggest foreseeable problem is that people come to complain about their own problems, rather than to give constructive input.
We need to be thinking "us and ours, not me and mine," he said.
Sokoloff said the city budget office had been looking for an independent broker to manage public consultation for some time, and that these workshops are not just in response to the economic crisis.
Although Sokoloff did not know of any other large city in America that is doing workshops like these, he believes that "this is the kind of thing that President Obama is talking about" and could become a national policy.
UPPCE is not the only group working for greater public input in city politics - the Committee of Seventy, a non-partisan political watchdog group, welcomed the workshops.
They are "a smart thing to do" given the economic crisis and the bad reaction the last budget cuts received, said Zack Stalberg, the group's president.
"This is unprecedented," he said. "It is hard to imagine a major politician doing this."
He added that this offered Nutter the opportunity to "remake government."
While public consultation could be viewed as a politically motivated move, Stalberg said he is willing to give Nutter the "benefit of the doubt" and believes the reasons for the workshops are for the good of the city.
Stalberg does not believe the complexities of the budget are beyond Philadelphians.
"People have a level of understanding that shouldn't be underestimated," he said.
The first workshop will take place on Feb. 12 at St. Dominic's School, 8510 Frankford Ave
