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REPRINTED FROM THENEXTMAYOR.COMNovember 22, 2006 press release, (submitted via e-mail) |
For Immediate Release
November 22, 2006
Contact: David Dunphy 215-636-0660
Knox Meets with City Fiscal Agency about Future Budget Woes
PHILADELPHIA ¬ Mayoral hopeful Tom Knox says that recent reports showing that Philadelphia is on the brink of a fiscal crisis should serve as a wake-up call to voters that City Hall needs an experienced and disciplined financial manager.
Earlier this week, Knox met with staff members of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA) to discuss their recently released quarterly report on the city's finances.
“PICA has given us an unvarnished look at our budget process and every serious candidate for mayor should read the report and be aware of the challenges we face,” Knox said. “This report tells us that business as usual at City Hall is a recipe for disaster and that the next mayor better know how to make some hard choices.”
The report says that the city is facing the prospect of rapidly growing fixed costs and expenses, which will result in a fiscal crisis if the problems are not addressed.
Patrick Hurley, Managing Director of Mid Market Capital Advisers, said that the situation calls for a leader who knows how to deal with a fiscal crisis. “Bureaucrats and politicians have laid the groundwork for problems we're going to have to deal with. We need someone who's had experience dealing with these matters both in the public and private sectors,” he said. “Tom Knox knows how to make payroll and balance a budget and he's helped turn many a bad situation around before.”
Knox is a successful businessman and entrepreneur who has revived failing businesses. He also worked for one dollar per year as Mayor Ed Rendell’s Deputy Mayor for Management and Productivity. Using his management savvy, Knox helped Rendell avert city bankruptcy when Rendell took over as mayor in 1992.
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