Among the top City Hall brass who Mayor Nutter did away with upon taking office in January was Prisons Commissioner Leon A. King.
But a few weeks ago, King resurfaced. His new boss: City Councilman Frank Rizzo.
“He’s smart, he knows the people, and he knows his way in and out of the Law Department,” Rizzo said of King, the No. 1 prison official throughout most of former Mayor John Street’s administration. Before that, King worked as a city lawyer on prison issues, and in that role he helped negotiate the end of litigation that kept the prison system under federal court oversight for nearly two decades.
Rizzo turned to King after his longtime director of legislation left for a private-sector job. “Our professional relationship is a good one,” the councilman said.
How long will King stay? “Who knows,” Rizzo said, acknowledging that King is now making about half of the $128,000 he earned as prisons commissioner. “I’m sure he’ll find a job eventually that will pay him the money he is used to making. But for now, he is doing a valuable service to me.”
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