WHEN CITY COUNCIL held public hearings on ethics bills a year
ago, the public didn't come. City leaders ignored the debate
too.
Things have changed.
Chamber of Commerce President Mark Schweiker and other business
and civic leaders went into the streets Monday urging a "yes" vote
on the charter change that would clear the way for ethics reform
bills.
Yesterday, voters overwhelmingly approved the change, and the
good-government troops celebrated what they hope is the first step
in a gathering march toward reform.
"You made it happen!," City Councilman Michael Nutter told a
crowd of about 150 activists at North by Northwest in Mount
Airy.
Nutter, who sponsored the ethics-reform package, promised, "We're
going to clean the whole thing up."
Chris Sheridan of the watchdog group Committee of Seventy said
the 6-to-1 approval ratio for yesterday's charter change was bigger
than that of any city ballot question in at least 15 years.
The charter change allows the reform bills enacted by Council to
bring contribution limits, as well as more competition and
transparency to no-bid city contracts.
For the most optimistic of reformers, yesterday's victory is just
one measure of a movement for change that could transform
Philadelphia's political culture for decades. Among the
developments:
• A broad coalition for reform has
emerged. Supporters range from business leaders like Judith von
Seldenick to the progressive Neighborhood Networks, which put 130
people on the street for yesterday's ballot question. The coalition
raised $30,000 for advertising and automated phone calls.
"It's exciting that more and more people are willing to stand and
say, 'Hey, I give a damn about this' " said Philadelphia Forward
director Brett Mandell.
• Early next year, city
contractors and vendors encounter a brave new world. A city team
headed by Deputy Managing Director Susan Kretsge is developing
databases and Web sites to implement the new ethics
requirements.
By February, professionals seeking no-bid city contracts will
find they have to limit and disclose campaign contributions and
reveal any lobbyists they use. Hundreds of contracts will be exposed
to more competition and transparency. The word should quickly spread
that things are different.
• A week from tomorrow, Council
holds hearing on several more reform bills sponsored by Nutter. Some
would extend contribution limits and disclosure requirements to
other kinds of city contracts and financial assistance. Other bills
create an independent ethics board, and require municipal candidates
to post their campaign finance reports on the city Web site.
• Campaign-contribution limits
first enacted by Council in 2003 recently passed a critical test.
Many believed the bills would be ignored by candidates and quickly
overturned by courts.
But Council extended the limits to even more city offices this
spring, and two weeks ago the bill got before a judge when an
apparent violation occurred in the city controller's race.
Although the case didn't directly raise the issue of Council's
authority in campaign-finance law, the excess contributions were
returned and Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson issued an order
enforcing the donation limits.
• Ethics was a theme in the city
controller's race, and several of the potential mayoral candidates
are addressing the issue.
The Committee of Seventy's chief executive officer, Zack
Stalberg, said getting voters to focus on the issue is key.
"The real test in the end will be what kind of people we put in
the mayor's office and City Council," Stalberg said. "We have to
change our political culture."
While it's clear the climate for reform has changed, the passage
of further reform measures isn't assured. There are also questions
about some of the effects of the new legislation.
A majority of Council members refused to enact a new ethics code
last year and create a stronger, independent ethics board. And
despite modifications to the measure by Nutter, Councilman W. Wilson
Goode Jr. said that it still may not be implemented.
"I believe it's the right thing to do, but I don't see any reason
for those opposed to change their minds," Goode said.
Mayor Street, who supported the charter change after initially
opposing the ethics package, hasn't committed to any of the ethics
bills that will be considered in Council next week.
Opposition to the charter change emerged yesterday with the
distribution of "Vote No" palm cards at a handful of polling places
in South Philadelphia, Wynnefield and Chestnut Hill.
Although the cards themselves were anonymous, some people
distributing them said they were working for Laborers Union Local
332. Union Business Manager Samuel Staten could not be reached for
comment.
