Nutter names director to oversee $3.9 billion

Mayor Nutter on Tuesday named Rebecca Rhynhart the city's new budget director.

He also appointed Maari Porter as Philadelphia's recovery officer, which puts her in charge of spending stimulus dollars.

Both women already work for the city, Rhynhart as treasurer and Porter as deputy budget director for recovery efforts.

They replace Steve Agostini, who did both jobs but left the administration last week to become chief financial officer at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Washington.

Rhynhart and Porter will earn $150,000 and $103,000, respectively.

Nutter said he considered Rhynhart immediately after learning Agostini was leaving.

"She was the only person I thought about," he said.

Rhynhart, who headed the tax-exempt group in Bear Stearns' global credit department before joining the city in 2008, said she was looking forward to overseeing the city's $3.9 billion budget.

Porter already had been handling many aspects of recovery spending before this promotion. She started working for the city in February after holding various government jobs in Great Britain and New Zealand.