Heard in the Hall

In July, you read about how the Philadelphia Parking Authority had one special guy, public advocate Frank DeAngelis, whose job it was to resolve ticket disputes - if you could find him. Despite earlier promises, DeAngelis' name and number were nowhere to be found on the Parking Authority Web site.
No longer.

Not only is DeAngelis listed, along with his e-mail, but so are the name, number and e-mail address for Dawn Jackson, the customer service manager.

These changes were brought to our attention courtesy of Joe Ashdale, the Parking Authority board chairman. "We feel we have been more user-friendly than ever in our history" he said.

Ashdale also points out that even though we couldn't find DeAngelis, 4,100 other people did, and many of them wrote letters to the Parking Authority to thank DeAngelis.

Among them were Connie Katz, wife of former GOP mayoral candidate Sam Katz; the staff of State Sen. Robert Wonderling; and dozens of non-politically connected folk as well. "I now can convince my wife to allow me to keep spending money at my favorite city restaurants and theaters," said one letter-writer, Sidney Gable.

"His follow-up could not have been better, and I am satisfied with the end result," wrote another, Shirley Sample.

But that wasn't Ashdale's only point. As a labor leader - he is assistant business manager of District Council 21 of the painters union - he has a labor mentality and wants it known that he takes care of those in his charge.

So, Mr. DeAngelis: Consider yourself taken care of.