Support the Philadelphia R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda

Restore Credibility - Principle 1: The City will amend the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to limit the terms of City Councilpersons to no more than three consecutive terms.

Restore Credibility - Principle 2: The City will establish anti-nepotism laws to discourage familial favoritism from influencing government hiring, policy or operations.

Restore Credibility - Principle 3: Public Safety is essential to the City's social and economic well-being. The City will study "best practices" of other major cities regarding successful strategies and action-steps for policing their communities, and adopt those that will most benefit Philadelphia. As first steps in this direction, the City will examine the structure, culture, and leadership capacity of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), conduct a nationwide search for a new police commissioner, and implement system-wide changes necessary to make the new commissioner's efforts effective in modernizing and professionalizing the Police Department. Of critical importance to those steps, a City Charter change will be put forward that will allow the Police Commissioner to be able to select the appropriate number of subordinates commanders (at the rank of Captain and higher) from inside or outside the department essential to implement and sustain the system-wide improvements. To ensure public accountability within the Police Department, the city will appropriately staff and empower the Integrity and Accountability Office of the Philadelphia Police Department. The City understands that civilian and community oversight of the Philadelphia Police Department is important to its overall accountability and performance.

Restore Credibility - Principle 4: The City will establish a system of public finance for municipal campaigns to eliminate the corrosive role of money in local politics.

Engage and Enable Neighborhoods - Principle 1: The City will establish a 311 system (“One Call for City Hall”) for receiving and tracking citizen complaints. Interactions with the 311 system will be made public (published on the Internet and through other convenient media for public review) so the citizenry can review how its interactions are addressed and how the City enforces reported violations of law and code. The City should explore ways to use interactive technology to allow the citizenry to continuously report on conditions in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Any confidential information such as names, phone numbers, etc., will not be made public.

Engage and Enable Neighborhoods - Principle 2: The City will encourage local employment by eliminating the Gross Receipts Tax, the Business Privilege Tax and accelerate the reduction of the Wage Tax by 50% over the next 5 years. This will promote new business development, retention of current employers.

Engage and Enable Neighborhoods - Principle 3: The City will make public (published on the Internet and through other convenient media for public review) neighborhood-based agency performance data, school-based performance data, and park and recreation-based performance data so that the citizenry can be informed about the results of the work of its government and so we can create ways to reward performance to encourage high achievement by the City’s workforce and management. This performance data should articulate objective benchmark standards for City agency and school performance so the citizenry can judge the performance of its government against stated goals; and the public should be able to provide feedback on the quality of services, which will be made public.

Engage and Enable Neighborhoods - Principle 4: The City will increase opportunities for homeowners and developers to become more energy efficient and environmentally compliant according to national best practices. The city will clean and green all vacant lots owned by the City in preparation for sale or lease.

Fight for Fiscal Responsibility - Principle 1: The City budget will be prepared in a way to show costs by programmatic area to best illustrate the true cost of City spending. It should be accompanied by documents listing the goals that programmatic spending strives to achieve. All new legislation and new City programs will be accompanied by fiscal-impact statements to show the value added in terms of the results that new spending will create so the citizenry can judge whether new programs achieve their goals in future years. The City will also establish policies governing granting of public money to private firms to make those firms responsible for achieving goals related to the receipt of funds or repaying the public assistance.

Fight for Fiscal Responsibility - Principle 2: The City will seek a just and fair solution for PGW by calling for an emergency energy summit attended by high level representatives from the Public Utilities Commission, the City, PGW, the State legislature, our federal Congressional Delegation, as well as the Governor. All parties will work towards: greater federal LIHEAP assistance so that no low-income families go without heat in the winter; professional management of the utility and removal of all unqualified management level patronage jobs; debt forgiveness in exchange for infrastructure investment in remote in-house quick valve gas shutoff technology so that streets no longer need to be dug up in order to shut off a single home's gas; an increase the income requirement needed to avoid a gas shut-off; the City will allow PGW to use any remaining money originally earmarked to pay down a $45 million dollar loan to enter into the energy trading market; the State shall authorize the City to sell gas within the entire 5-county Philadelphia region so as to enable it to enhance its revenue with higher income customers.

Fight for Fiscal Responsibility - Principle 3: The city will eliminate the 10-year tax abatement in favor of a job-stimulation package inviting new and existing employers to launch and/or expand their businesses. New companies will be have no business taxes and the Wage Tax will be reduced by 50%. Existing employers will receive a 50% reduction in business taxes.

Fight for Fiscal Responsibility - Principle 4: The City will establish a Rainy-Day Fund capitalized by any budget surplus. The Philadelphia Home Rule charter will codify the City's need to save when revenues come in higher than anticipated and to cushion against unexpected shortfalls in the future. No longer shall any budget surplus be used as a carrot by any Mayoral administration.

Open Government to the People - Principle 1: The City will competitively bid all contracts (except for sole-source contracts and emergency contracts) to help eliminate "Pay-to-Play" in Philadelphia. All non-competitively bid contracts must receive exemption approval from the Philadelphia Board of Ethics. Professional service contracts associated with debt financings should be competitively bid unless the Treasurer and City Controller certify to City Council and the Board of Ethics that a specific negotiated professional service agreement with a specific provider is in the best financial interest of the City due to a specified complexity, novelty or timing constraint involved in a proposed financing.

Open Government to the People - Principle 2: The city will establish or update its open-records law, such that the actions, meetings and records of all city governmental entities, boards and commissions, whether appointed or elected, are open to the public, and that complete access to all records, financial and otherwise, are provided to the public.

Open Government to the People - Principle 3: The City will make public (published on the Internet and through other convenient media for public review), in a timely manner, agency regulations, Executive Orders, proposed bills and City Solicitor opinions so these important documents can receive public scrutiny and comment.

Open Government to the People - Principle 4: The City will make public (published on the Internet and through other convenient media for public review) a manual for citizens, business owners, and school children/parents to explain how to interact with government for activities such as: putting out trash; securing a business privilege license; applying for school transfers; and obtaining permits for park and recreation purposes (e.g. picnics, ball fields, etc.). These manuals should be translated into non-English languages.

Respect Citizen Input - Principle 1: The City will draw lines for Council districts that reflect geographically meaningful boundaries and avoid gerrymandering in the 2010 Council redistricting. In doing so, the City shall empower an independent redistricting commission composed of citizens, demographers and statisticians that will report directly to the Philadelphia Board of Ethics.

Respect Citizen Input - Principle 2: City Council public hearings will be structured so that the public can truly participate. For issues of significant public concern, Council hearings should be located in the community, in locations accessible by public transportation, conducted after working hours, and/or organized to permit remote communication for citizens.

Respect Citizen Input - Principle 3: The Zoning Board of Adjustment's (ZBA's) published "Regulations" must be changed to require that the ZBA provides a brief statement describing the reasons for its decision -- when issuing each decision. That statement must cite legal precedent and indicate the likely impact of its decision on housing for the low-income and whether a proposed development is likely to cause gentrification, displacement or neighborhood tensions. It must also disclose which, if any, government officials, applicants or other parties communicated with any Board member or ZBA staff concerning the decision being issued.

Respect Citizen Input - Principle 4: The City will make public (published on the Internet and through other convenient media for public review) any and all vacancies in government agencies, boards, and commissions to facilitate filling vacant positions so these entities can accomplish their missions. The City should publish all open positions and qualifications for those positions so that members of the public can submit their names for open positions and City officials have a pool of qualified applicants and no excuses for not filling positions.

Modernize City Services - Principle 1: The City will complete and adopt revised zoning and building codes that reflect modern best practices while respecting community involvement. While continuing to provide an opportunity for neighborhood associations to give input into local projects, the city will ensure that board members do not have a conflict of interest while serving on such boards.

Modernize City Services - Principle 2: The City will extend and modernize city transit services, including schedules, routes, token/pass outlets, and cleanliness. Extending the subway south into the Navy Yard and into the NE along the Blvd. will be investigated. Light rail services will be extended to the riverfront and connected with the subway surface trolley system. Light rail service will also be developed on Germantown Ave. along the lines of the Girard Ave. light rail line. Trackless trolleys will be restored to South Philadelphia as well as to the Northeast. SEPTA will integrate its regional rail lines into the transit system by inaugurating frequent service on these lines and simplifying the arcane payment system. The city will work with SEPTA to add a stop at 22nd Street on the Market-Frankford subway line.

Modernize City Services - Principle 3: The City will complete and adopt a new comprehensive plan to direct physical development and prioritize public investments. The plan should explain how we will rightsize our city, how we best maintain our collection of physical assets into the future, and how we foster sustainability in transportation, development, environmental, park and recreation, and housing policies. The City Planning Commission should be used to establish visions for future growth and development.

Modernize City Services - Principle 4: The City will permit residents and employers to accomplish all City transactions — from bill paying, to record filing, to permitting, to tracking information for City vendors — via Internet where technologically possible.