Nutter warns again of police layoffs

Mayor Nutter's fate these days doesn't seem to rest in his hands alone.

As he stood today near a Northeast Philadelphia police building, reiterating the massive police layoffs the state may force upon him, there was no sign of relief from Harrisburg as Pennsylvania's budget standoff dragged on.

The Republican leader of the Senate, Domenic Pileggi of Delaware County, told Fox 29 television today that he has informed Nutter that the state must come to agreement on a 2010 budget before considering Philadelphia's requests.

Those requests include two elements key to the city budget approved last month by City Council: a one cent increase in the city sales tax and a two-year delay in payments to the city pension fund. The Nutter administration has also asked Harrisburg to approve structural changes to the fund.

Without the state's consent, Nutter said he would be forced to make $700 million in spending cuts in the next five years - cuts that would include the elimination of 3,000 city jobs, nearly a third of them in the Philadelphia Police department.

"Such a reduction would seriously impact the great services that are delivered," Nutter said at a news conference in front of the 15th Police District building, at Harbison Avenue and Levick Street.

Referring to a 10 percent drop in the homicide rate this year over last, and a 31 percent drop compared with two years ago, the mayor said: "The progress in the gains we made are fragile, and are literally at risk."

The news conference followed a rally the mayor held in the City Hall courtyard last Thursday, when he detailed some of the grave consequences of inaction by the General Assembly. Besides the job cuts, Nutter said all recreation centers and library branches would close, some fire stations would be shut and trash would be picked up just twice a month.

Today, he also noted the "added impact" of the job cuts in Northeast Philadelphia, home to nearly 60 percent of the city's police officers and firefighters.

The union leaders representing both of those city workers - John McNesby of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police and Bill Gault of Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Fighters - have voiced support for Nutter's agenda but were unable to attend the news conference.

City Councilman Brian O'Neill, who represents most of the city's Northeast neighborhoods, was vacationing in Maine but sent an aide in his sted. Joan Krajewski, the councilwoman from the immediate area, was ill but said later today that she was unaware the event had been rescheduled. (Originally planned for Sunday, the news conference was postponed because of a storm.)

Also absent was state Rep. Michael McGeehan, whose district includes the police building. He did not return a call yesterday.

Nutter's spokesman said news conferences in other city neighborhoods were being planned.

"All of us are working hard day and night to convince (Harrisburg) to give us the approval we need to work out our own problems," he said.

The House and Senate will soon be poised to vote on the city's items, since separate legislation has been introduced in each chamber. However, Pileggi today rejected that scenario - unhappy news for Nutter.

"The budget does not have to happen before, that's a choice legislators make," Nutter said.

And the longer it takes for a state budget to be passed, the further along Philadelphia will be in implementing what is known as "Plan C." That includes the distribution of layoff notices.

The city's financial monitor, the Philadelphia Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, approved the city's five-year budget plan two weeks ago, but said it would consider the plan rejected if the state had not acted on the city items by Aug. 15.

In that case, PICA gave the city 15 additional days to submit a new five-year budget plan, which would require Council members to formally meet to take action.

Toward that end, three special Council session have been scheduled. They are planned for Aug. 18, for the introduction of a budget amendment; Aug. 25, for a public hearing on the amendment; and Aug. 31, for a final vote on the legislation.

Contact staff writer Marcia Gelbart at 215-854-2338 or mgelbart@phillynews.com.