BRT to Nutter: We’re staying

"I take it as a personal affront, quite frankly," said Russell Nigro, a BRT board member and former state Supreme Court justice.

He and other board members said they would fight to keep their posts, which pay $70,000 to $75,000 a year for part-time work. Nutter also has proposed eliminating their salaries, and grabbing control of the agency's funding.

The board members, who said they were "disappointed" in the Inquirer articles, continued to defend the agency's patronage workers and their management of the 200 employees in the BRT, which sets tax values for 577,700 properties in Philadelphia.

They said they would press Nutter to take his case to the city's Common Pleas judges, who appoint members of the BRT and other boards.

"If he can find something I've done wrong, I'll be glad to tell the board of judges I don't want to serve any longer," Nigro said.

Board member Robert N.C. Nix 3rd said he could understand why people would doubt the BRT but says the agency deserves another chance to get the numbers right.

"That's all I ask, is that we have the ability to complete the process," he said.