An interesting letter signed by Mayor Francis G. Slay made the rounds of offices at City Hall last week. It says, “Civic Progress and the Regional Business Council have made the point that they are interested in working with us to explore revenue enhancements that will permit us to address some of our needs – but that before they do, they would like independent assurance that we are operating as efficiently as possible. To provide that assurance, Civic Progress and the RBC have retained the services of Public Management, Inc. from Philadelphia, PA to assist the city with a review of current operations.”
Translation: Big money says to poor city, “We’ll give you money, but only after we make sure first that you’re not wasting the money you do have.” That’s not asking too much – but we are talking about politics, where what is, ain’t. Some City Hall tenants suspect that this review process will give Slay and his inner circle the “independent assurance” to settle scores and grudges by cutting personnel and authority in departments that have had troubled relations with the administration.
Want to bet the Police Department will pass the review in better shape than the Fire Department? How much?