Phila.gov to Add 75% of L&I Applications by 2012

Yesterday, I wrote an article about the overlaying repetition of wasteful bureaucracy found in government, both nationally and locally and the Obama administration’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” which would begin to consolidate said overlaps.

Headed up by Vice President Biden, the new waste cutting initiative would also be dumping irrelevant .gov websites. Which led me to question the future of the phila.gov/311 site, due to its lack of relevancy.

Low and behold, this morning, I came across this little gem in Technically Philly!
According to the story, Daniel Heitzer, the deputy DOT chief information officer for business improvement services said,“we are targeting to have 75 percent of [license and permit applications] by volume up by end of year, getting contractors, developers and homeowners out of line at the Municipal Services Building and online.”

Phila.gov must have been listening. In an effort to stay relevant and possibly avoid the Vice President’s chopping block, Philadelphia is promising to help things in this city run smoothly!
According to the Technically Philly article, the project was actually laid out in January as a top priority.

Kudos to the city’s press office for a well timed press release.

Click here to read yesterday's article.

Will the Campaign to Cut Waste Affect Philadelphia?

In a recent effort to cut spending, the White House has initiated a new program known as the “Campaign to Cut Waste,” which will be headed up by Vice President Joe Biden, Cabinet secretaries and agency watchdogs.

The results of tighter budgets are felt all over the country, through all levels of government and the private sector. Locally, residents in Philadelphia have heard more than their share of the words “spending cuts.”

A widely read report that circulated throughout the government pointed out that governmental duplication, overlap and waste accounted for billions of dollars each year. Funding went towards many overlapping offices and agencies including 100 different programs dealing with transportation and 15 for food safety. Other areas that would benefit from higher efficiency mentioned in the report were homeless programs, government food programs, and an inordinate amount of government training programs which could be consolidated. Mentioned extensively within the report was the Department of Defense on topics ranging from its wartime budget to its medical records.

Also on the list of waste to be cut are about 2,000 .gov websites, including one in particular that has already been shut down featuring a group of fiddling forest rangers. Seriously.

With so many websites on the chopping block, one questions if the local phila.gov/311 site will make the cut. Considering its ability to somehow retard information, as does the call line, I guess we will have to wait and see.

Philadelphia is notorious for upholding the status quo when it comes to office overlaps. As anyone who has ever tried to get a license / permit / inspection in this city is well aware, wading through multiple levels of bureaucratic overlay when attempting to file / request / follow-up with paperwork in one of the city’s many departments, can be redundant, to say the least. The concept of cleaning house sure does sound inviting.