John Street will not be mayor by lunchtime Monday, but he guaranteed his presence will be felt for years with a couple of last-minute appointments to the Redevelopment Authority and one not-so-last minute pick for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Instead of leaving open two positions on the five-member RDA board for new Mayor Michael Nutter to fill, Street late last week appointed attorney Roxanne E. Covington and old ally Asia Coney to five-year terms.
Covington is a member of the city’s Human Relations Commission and a former city attorney; Coney is director of Tenant Support Services, Inc., a non-profit contracted by the Housing Authority to coordinate a host of services for its residents.
They replace Shawn Fordham, who resigned earlier in 2007, and Sharmain Matlock-Turner.
Street also made another interesting appointment, although this one happened quietly about six months ago.
He named himself to the five-member Philadelphia Housing Authority board for a five-year term, insuring himself a place at Mayor Nutter’s table.
Under the housing authority's bylaws, the mayor of Philadelphia is entitled to make two of five board appointments. But the bylaws are not crystal clear about whether those appointments begin simultaneously with a new mayor's term, or when a seat opens.
What is clear is that Street, in meetings with housing authority residents, has said he intends to stay on the board. For the next five years.
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