Mayor Nutter on government transparency, city CTO and business retention

Copyright City of Philadelphia. Photograph by Mitchell Leff.

Since we launched a year-and-a-half ago, we’ve not only watched, but followed as closely as we could City of Philadelphia technology policy.

Even in our short tenure covering all that is involved — like municipal information technology, government transparency, citywide broadband network infrastructure, economic policy and much, much more — we’ve been witness to a city intent on finding new ways of utilizing technology and finding better ways of connecting with citizens.

Throughout, we’ve heard repeatedly from leaders that Mayor Michael Nutter understands the value of technology in city government and he is intent on involving Philadelphia’s technology community.

Though we write about these initiatives weekly, nothing was more of a reminder of the Mayor’s commitment to technology than when Nutter announced a $120 million capital investment in the Division of Technology during the pageantry of his budget address to City Council in March.

And with his support, DOT has been steered in a new direction, a Chief Technology Officer appointed to the mayoral cabinet, pilot programs created to attract technology businesses and broadband stimulus dollars and gigabit broadband chased.

So, we had to get the man on the phone to talk tech. Yesterday, we spoke with Mayor Nutter about government transparency, Philadelphia’s tax structure, and about his call to action to Philadelphia’s technology community. Our Q&A with Philadelphia’s Mayor after the jump.

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Friday Q & A: David Reuter of LLR Partners

LLR Partners is likely the largest private equity firm in the area that you’ve never heard of.

While the firm, located in the Cira Center, is one of the more active investors in the region, it has companies in its portfolio that go beyond the traditional information technology and Internet startups that we are used to hearing in conjunction with the private equity firms that TP covers in our Venture Capital roundup.

The firm has invested in retail stores like Five Below and software companies like CyberShift, mostly staying local with its money; all $1.5 billion of it.

We sat down with partner David Reuter (who is also behind UrbanBlazers) to ask him to take us behind the scenes of one of the region’s largest and most active investors.

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Are the Mayor’s technology firm tax incentives not enough?

It’s been a few weeks now since Mayor Michael Nutter announced a tax incentive pilot for technology firms aimed at decreasing sales tax for service-based tech companies and, ultimately, attracting more businesses to Philadelphia.

For as much as we’ve heard support for the decision to eliminate taxes on sales outside of Philadelphia, there’s been criticism from local entrepreneurs that maybe the tax pilot isn’t much of an incentive at all, but it will help retain companies that are already here, some say.

Damon Alberts, whom with the Videogame Growth Initiative has helped lobby city and state government officials for the last year to create more opportunities for small video game studios in the city, praised the decision but said more work needed to be done. It’s by no means an end result, but a “step in the right direction,” he says.

“I wouldn’t call it an incentive, because really they’re removing a barrier. Now I don’t have to pay a tax that I shouldn’t have to pay anyway,” he told Technically Philly in a telephone interview in early March. Alberts was gearing up for a trip to Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, a popular annual gathering for the industry.

“It’s a step in the right direction because video game firms are on the Mayor’s radar,” he says.

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Nutter proposes “unprecedented” $120 million IT budget, moves toward paperless

Mayor Nutter has announced plans to significantly invest in city information technology and pursue paperless government efficiencies in an attempt to improve tech infrastructure, cut costs and streamline city services.

“We may not be completely paperless, but we will use less paper,” Nutter said in his budget address to City Council this morning before a packed crowed that filled the historic Council chamber’s floor and balcony seating.

If City Council approves the budget, Nutter says that an “unprecedented” investment in city technology will provide $120 million to improve IT over the next five years, including $25 million in FY11.

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