| Introduction to Politics |
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In 1992, when it seemed that the city’s fiscal crisis would require tax hikes or service cuts, Mayor Rendell asked Tom to help him balance the budget and help create the city’s five-year plan. Tom, who is not a career politician, asked that two conditions be met before he agreed to join then- Mayor Rendell’s first mayoral cabinet as Deputy Mayor for the Office of Management and Productivity. First, Tom would accept nothing more than a salary of $1 per year. Second, Tom would leave the cabinet as soon as the budget had been balanced. Eighteen months and $1.50 later, Tom’s efforts had helped to erase a quarter-billion dollar annual budget deficit, had saved vital city services, and had prevented a major tax hike. On June 30, 1993, the city had a budget surplus of $10 million dollars. Tom kept his promise to resign once he did his part to balance the budget and left office one week later. Tom helped to efficiently eliminate wasteful spending by re-establishing a bidding process for many city contracts, consolidating and reorganizing the city’s Management Information Services, and reorganizing the Office of Fleet Management. By renegotiating many of the city’s leases and insurance contracts, Tom was able to save the city $78 million dollars per year and win the respect and loyalty of powerful politicians. A valued leader and consensus builder, Tom helped establish the Mayor’s Private Sector Task Force, a coalition of over 41 area CEO’s and 300 area executives. Tom’s office implemented over 150 of the Task Force’s cost reduction and productivity initiatives, which resulted in an additional savings of nearly $100 million dollars per year. |