Puttin' on the Ritz

I know I said I'd be taking some time off this weekend from the blogging but I just heard something on WPVI's Inside Story that I thought was kind of interesting. If you're not familiar with the show, it's Channel 6's attempt to replicate Crossfire on a local level by putting a bunch of "Insiders" (you know, the folks whose names always appear in bold in the Inquirer), together to talk about the local stories from the previous week. At the end of the show, Monica Malpass asks each of them about stories to look out for in the coming week.

This week, Renee Amore, GOP heavy hitter and local businesswoman (shown here with Marty Moss-Coane at the GOP Convention in 2000) said the Philadelphia Republican Party would be talking to Carl Singley, who recently skewered each of the likely Democratic candidates for mayor, about making a run at City Hall as a member of their party.

According to legend, Singley, a former professor at Temple's Law School, was asked by a young hot dog vendor on Temple's campus, what he had to do to get into that law school. Singley took the guy under his wing and decades later his protege, John Street, became mayor of Philadelphia. The two had a well publicized falling out after Street's election in 1999 which led Singley to back Sam Katz for Mayor in 2003. Katz ultimately lost by 78,000 votes and Singley got some nice cameos in Tigre Hill's "The Shame of a City."

According to Clout's column from Friday, Singley will have more time on his hands soon:

Singley told us that he's leaving the Blank Rome law firm June 30 after six years.

Singley hopes to rejoin Temple in fall 2007 "if they'll have me back."

If he does run, Singley may have some 'splainin' to do about that not-likely-related-to-snack-food comment. At least we'll have a picture to add to the Dirty Half-Dozen.