Today's Daily News story about the Parking Authority - or, one of my uncles once called, "the most ruthlessly efficient agency in city government" - has inspired a New Rule (to be considered if we ever have another radical rewriting of the Charter).
First fact one from the story:
The authority's top job now belongs to Vincent J. Fenerty Jr., a longtime Republican ward leader (edited to change emphasis) who joined the authority as a booting supervisor in 1983, initially earning less than $28,000 a year.
Fenerty now makes $194,830 annually as the authority's executive director - more than any of the doctors, lawyers and other professionals on the city payroll, and $50,000 more than Mayor Street.
Fact two:
the agency now employs six party ward leaders - five Republicans and one Democrat
Fact three:
The payroll includes at least 131 Republican committee people and 58 Democratic committee people.
Now the New Rule. Please let me know in the comments whether you think it's (a) legal, (b) workable, (c) likely to be accepted by the voters and (d) necessary.
If you work for "the city" either part time or full time, in any department or agency, for any elected official (commissioners, council members, mayor, controller, district attorney, etc.) or for any of the "quasi-governmental" agencies, then you can not be a committee person or ward leader for any party. Once you get the job, you have to give up your role as a functionary in any political party. Make a choice.
And for those of you who think that being a committee person is all about "community service" and not about politics, are you telling me that you can't organize park clean-ups, bake sales and deliver food to the elderly if you don't have a the title of committee person?
Discuss.
Comments (4)
This is your big argument? Of all the issues plaguing Philadelphia, you pick this? BRT has taxes backwards, we have a critical drug issue, we have council members like Donna Miller who fall asleep in hearings and you pick on the Republicans? The PPA is efficiently run - maybe that's saying something about how the Republicans run government. When has their been a PPA scandal? Where is the worker disatisfaction? Instead of aiming to make it 6-0 (opposed to 5-1 outnumbering D's to R's) concentrate your journalism abilities on something that jeopardizes standard of living.... idiot.
Posted by Anonymous | October 23, 2007 9:47 AM
What about current Charter section 10-107(4): "No appointed officer or employee of the City shall be a member of any national, state or local committee of a political party, or an officer or member of a committee of a partisan political club, or take any part in the management or affairs of any political party or in any political campaign, except to exercise his right as a citizen privately to express his opinion and to cast his vote."
I'm not terribly familiar with the parties' (GOP and Dem) internal organizations, but it seems this section would apply to ward leaders and committee people, especially the "take any part in the management or affairs of any political party" part.
But, is the PPA a City agency or now a state agency? This would affect the Charter's applicability.
Posted by Ethics Junkie | October 24, 2007 7:41 AM
THANK YOU FOR STATING MY FEELINGS ABOUT HOLDING OFFICES AS WARD LEADERS, ETC. I HAVE FELT THAT WAY FOR A LONG TIME. IT WILL DEFINITELY HELP TO CLEAN UP THE FAVORITISM. BEING A WARD LEADER AND A COUNCILPERSON??? GET REAL!!! MAKES NO SENSE!! IT'S RIDICULOUS. I SEE IT ABUSED ALL THE TIME.IF YOU ARE EMPLOYEED OFFICIAL OF THIS CITY AT ANY LEVEL, YOU SHOULD NOT BE DOUBLE DIPPING!
Posted by shirley girl | November 1, 2007 10:58 PM
I think if you apply for a city job, everyone should be treated fair, why is it that you have to go to your ward leader if youm apply for a city job, well i'm going to tell you for the people who don't know first you have to really know someone to get into get the city, you have to keep going to your ward leader and really push them and tell them you apply for a city job and can they help you, sometime they do and sometime they won't, but they want you to vote for them when they are running again because they always say they need your support. Look at the philadelphia parking authority that is run by the rep... and if you are comming off th street and apply for that job thinking you going to have a fair chance forget it,if you ever run into a empolyee of the philadelphia parking authority they will also tell you need to go to your ward leader because they will put you application in the trash, the whole philadelphia city job is up to no good, and what the city need is a strong person and say this is not fair to people, and things will chance starting now......
Posted by keshia brown | November 13, 2007 7:57 AM