She came, she conquered - she left. And she doesn't want you to forget.
"For A Brief Moment... There Was Carol Ann."
That would be City Councilwoman Carol Ann Campbell, and those were the words she used to highlight her tenure in a gold-colored 16-page brochure that began arriving this week in the mailboxes of her 4th District constituents.
"Wait 'til you get a load of her," U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) said when she was sworn into Council in November 2006.
Well, City Hall did - as Campbell made clear herself in the brochure, which on gold page after gold page lists what she did on Council in the year or so she was there, from creating the handicapped and disabled advocate's office, to renovating the Shepard Recreation Center.
There's pictures of Bob Brady, Sylvester Johnson, and Alan Butkovitz. And there's a three-page list of every piece of legislation she introduced.
"A lot of people in the community asked me would I do a final report, because they had read different things in different places about a lot of the things I had done," Campbell said on the phone a few moments ago from her home.
The plan was for the brochures - thousands and thousands of them - to be mailed while she was still in office. But something went amiss.
"There was a problem with the Post Office," Campbell said. That problem was that the brochures all seemed to have disappeared - until Campbell phone a United States Senator (she wouldn't say which one).
They eventually turned up, and that's why they are reaching mailboxes this week.
There's another mystery, too - like how the brochures were able to be mailed without anyone paying for them.
Campbell said neither the printing costs nor the postal fees have been paid. "I will decide on that a little later," she said.
As she tells it, all the costs were covered with her good word. "Whenever I do anything like that I never have to put up money upfront," Campbell said. "My name means more than money."
And that's the last word from Councilwoman Carol Ann Campbell.
Comments (21)
May I suggest that the Inquirer do a follow-up on which US Senator this " poor excuse for a public official" called to intervene and please help us understand how these flyers were mailed without any means of payment to the postal service. " my name means more than money", my a*& !
Posted by NE Dem | January 17, 2008 5:38 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 17:38
So what's the concern with Carol Ann? I regularly get 2 newsletters (one for me; one for my wife) from Representative Allyson Schwartz clearly marked: Paid for at Taxpayer Expense. Why should free mailings just be limited to Congress?
Posted by Tom from Lawndale | January 17, 2008 5:56 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 17:56
Because City Council people don't typically get franking priveleges.
Posted by Anon. | January 17, 2008 6:00 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 18:00
Should CAC let Princess Leia off of her leash for a little while, and let her put some clothes on?
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:08 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:08
Carol Ann should try email. Lots cheaper. A "load" is what we got alright.
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:09 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:09
Why does the Democratic City Committee seem to produce politicians of the caliber of Jabba the Hut? She voted against ethics reforms, now I know why, specifically.
It doesn't matter that she "renovated" the local rec center, that's something the local rec center should be doing on its own anyway. Creating a handicapped and disabled office is fine, except that we already have such offices at the state and federal level.
Does Philly have such an insecurity complex, such a need for redundancy, that we have to redo more layers of government that we can't afford? It looks good on paper, but what deficit did it really address? There's still no money for sidewalk ramps, and no 24 hour number or website to contact about having a vehicle towed out of way of sidewalk ramps. The actual quality of life for the disabled is probably pretty much the same.
Tom from Lawndale seems to be so out of it he doesn't "see why" cash strapped cities can't afford to pretend that they are the US Congress. Yes, Tom, they get franking privileges. I'm pretty sure that's in the Constitution, you know, written in Philly here, not that far from Lawndale, you may wish to read a copy.
So long as voters are so docile and unquestioning, so Jay Walk All Star-ish, we are perpetually going to have low caliber city representation.
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:19 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:19
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:JabbatheHuttROTJ.jpg
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:24 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:24
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabba_the_hut
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:25 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:25
A. "I will decide on that a little later."
AND the question is:
1. What did John Street and City Council say when asked how they will pay for their government?
2. Since she is out of office, how would she figure out how to pay for the mailing anyway?
3. Shouldn't pay to play and nepotism be made explicitly illegal in Philly since people have trouble coming to that realization on their own?
4. Didn't CAC miss A LOT of work at City Council, more than provided for by vacation or sick leave, so shouldn't she voluntarily remit that sum back to the coffers?
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:34 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:34
Good thing the voters decided a little earlier.
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 7:35 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 19:35
This is the main reason I moved out of Philly and especially West Philly. How is she going to pay for the mailings? The residents of the city will get stuck with the bill.
Posted by Old Philly Resident | January 17, 2008 8:44 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 20:44
This woman should be ashamed to even come out of her home. She has caused nothing but trouble for the people of her district, and got off on playing politics as usual. What a total trainwreck.
The Inquirer should talk about her City Pension that I'm sure she's now collecting from her few days in Council - clearly, anyone should be able to pick up this "gold" brochure and see all the great things that she did, that enables her to collect the pension in good conscious?
Thankfully, her and many of the others are gone. She would have never survived under Nutter's new team.
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 10:14 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 22:14
the real load id bob brady
Posted by Anonymous | January 17, 2008 11:22 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 23:22
Come on y'all. Leave fat CAC alone. Can't you give a girl a break? I wonder if she included the fact that she held up the return of trolleys to Girard Ave. because people had the audacity to plan something in her fiefdom without consulting with the head muckety muck. She's a loser.
Posted by Big Poppa Pump | January 17, 2008 11:42 PM
Posted on January 17, 2008 23:42
I bought a car yesterday, but I did not pay for it..It was on my good word that I bought the car and I will decide later when I will pay for it.. BRUTAL.
Posted by steve | January 18, 2008 4:43 AM
Posted on January 18, 2008 04:43
corrupt scumbag
Posted by Anonymous | January 18, 2008 8:53 AM
Posted on January 18, 2008 08:53
Carol Ann Campbell needs Jenny Craig!
Posted by Anonymous | January 18, 2008 8:59 AM
Posted on January 18, 2008 08:59
Gosh, Philadelphia has to do better and possibly that process has begun. What are the qualifications to be a city councilperson? Obedience to the Dem. Committee which is in the business of shaking and diverting money from taxpayers under the banner of helping the people (their people more than other people)? The more their people get helped (or help themselves), the more money is needed to run the government. It is in too large a part out of view or it would be less tolerated. A more enlightened electorate would help. It's happening though.
Posted by anonymous | January 18, 2008 12:16 PM
Posted on January 18, 2008 12:16
It is said that ignorance is bliss!
It is unfortunate that the quality of this blog has deteriorated to such a low that any intellectual observations, conversations, and analysis is incongress/antithetical to what I expected of this blog and its bloggers.
I have seen the brochure of CAC. Substantively, she introduced and had enacted more legislation than all of her colleagues-except 2, according to the Inquirer. The legislation introduced by her is on the books for anyone to see. The application of these ordinances and resolutions are in place for people to reap the benefit of the regulation(s). What is the problem, is it the person delivering the message or is it the message?
There is indeed a need for a disability advocate in this city. The disabled community is but a notion in the minds of even the most conscienous person. I think it is great that she championed and elevated the cause of the disabled. Why shouldn't the recreation department,for instance, commit to recreation activities for the disabled child? or provide for the recreation of autistic children?
Don't hate. Raise the question ethically, how will be brochures be paid for? Is there money in each council person's budget for such a communique?
You are all blindly hating, and not separating the work of CAC in council from your preceived notions of who she is. Personal attacks on CAC doesn't advance the legitimate question of how the brochures will be paid for.
Separate the issues.
The legislation CAC introduced is substantive, I guess that is why the vitrioulic attacks are as they are, against the person of CAC.
Posted by Anonymous | January 18, 2008 9:55 PM
Posted on January 18, 2008 21:55
John Street has left the building!! Stop using his name in places he is not mention!!!
JOHN Is RETIRED!!!! LEAVE IT THAT WAY
Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2008 6:01 PM
Posted on January 19, 2008 18:01
There's a rumor flying around the 4th District that when CAC left office, she deleted all of the files related to her time as our Councilperson. If this is true, it leaves the constituency without a history of an important part of city government. If it's untrue, we need to know so that we can quell the rumors.
What could she be trying to hide?
And why isn't the Inquirer reporting on this?
Posted by 4th District Resident | January 29, 2008 11:04 AM
Posted on January 29, 2008 11:04