Nutter

CHARLOTTE AND Harriet Childress falsely claim that "nearly all of the mass shootings in this country in recent years . . . have been committed by white men and boys. " ("Mass murders a white-male, not mental-health, issue," April 2). In reality, mass killings have also been committed by nonwhites, such as Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, Beltway sniper John Muhammad, Long Island Rail Road shooter Colin Ferguson, and Wisconsin's Chai Soua Vang. The Childresses speculate that "if African-American men and boys were committing mass shootings month after month, year after year . . . we'd have political debates demanding that African Americans be held accountable.

MAYOR NUTTER on Thursday will veto for the second time a controversial bill that would require most Philly employers to provide paid sick leave. The question is whether Councilman Bill Greenlee, the bill's sponsor, can garner the 12 votes needed to override the veto. "We're having a lot of discussions with a lot of people," said Greenlee, adding that he may not seek an override Thursday. He has until April 11 to do so. Nutter vetoed the bill in 2011, arguing that the measure would harm jobs and businesses.

COUNCILWOMAN Marian Tasco on Tuesday literally called "bulls---" on the Nutter administration's explanation for why a project in her district was delayed last year. Tasco last week accused Mayor Nutter's administration of holding up a $3.5 million renovation at Oak Lane's Sturgis Recreation Center because she opposed an issue related to Nutter's plan to privatize Philadelphia Gas Works. She continued her attack at a budget hearing Tuesday. "What was the priority over Sturgis?

WE WISH to thank Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell for her unwavering support of Philadelphia's labor unions. We believe the Nutter administration's unwillingness to host AVI community meetings in Councilwoman Blackwell's district has nothing to do with angry residents - they can be found in every district - and everything to do with Nutter's vindictiveness over the councilwoman's pointed criticisms of his insulting handling of labor negotiations with our...

Mayor Nutter chatted with seven children on spring break at the Widener Branch of the Free Library on Thursday afternoon, talking to them about gun violence in Philadelphia and across the nation. During the exchange, a 10-year-old boy said he knew twins who were shot in the head. "I didn't know anybody who was shot when I was 10 years old," said Nutter, who demanded stringent gun safety laws. "It's time for Congress to act. " Nutter's plea at an event at the North Philadelphia library was part of Thursday's National Day to Demand Action, which had more than 100 events across the state and country, including one in Norristown.

COUNCILWOMAN Marian Tasco accused the Nutter administration Wednesday of delaying a $3.5 million rec-center project in her district because she opposed an issue related to the possible privatization of Philadelphia Gas Works - a priority for the mayor. Tasco, who also chairs the PGW commission, pressed Budget Director Rebecca Rhynhart at a hearing Wednesday on the city's capital budget on why an overhaul of Oak Lane's Sturgis Recreation Center was delayed last year. In an interview, Tasco said the project was tampered with because she wanted the administration to pick up a $2.3 million tab for consultants to explore the PGW sale.

Michael Williams, a lawyer who was a minority-contracting official in the Street administration, pulled out of the Philadelphia City Controller's race Wednesday and declared his support for incumbent Alan Butkovitz. "Our city faces difficult decisions regarding Actual Value Initiative property tax increases, labor contracting negotiations, and streamlining or eliminating bureaucratic red tape," Williams said in a news release announcing his decision. "Alan clearly shares my passion for all the issues that are important to me. " Butkovitz has been a strident critic of the property tax reassessments mailed out last month by the Nutter administration and has criticized Nutter's inability to reach labor accords with city unions.

THE MAYOR'S Office of New Urban Mechanics. The Advisory Commission on Construction Industry Diversity. The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. What do these things have in common? They all came into existence with the stroke of Mayor Nutter's pen. Nutter is on pace to create or remake more offices, task forces, commissions and advisory bodies than any other mayor (he trails only Wilson Goode, who created 34) since the 1951 adoption of the Home Rule Charter. Many of these groups have been lauded for focusing attention and resources on previously ignored issues.

Boards, commissions and offices created or re-established under Mayor Nutter: * Mayor's Office of the Chief Integrity Officer * Mayor's Advisory Committee on Construction Industry Diversity * Mayor's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy * Mayor's Cultural Advisory Council * Mayor's Advisory Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform * Office of LGBT Affairs * Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board * Office...

DURING a City Council hearing Tuesday, the first of six on tax delinquency, members questioned Mayor Nutter's proposal to spend millions as part of a massive effort to collect from tax deadbeats. Nutter's plan, announced last month, includes investing $40 million in new employees and a new database to bring in $260 million from tax delinquents by 2018. Members asked Revenue Commissioner Keith Richardson about the goals of Nutter's plan and why no portion of the anticipated revenue was included in the mayor's proposal for the coming fiscal year's budget.