Free Republic

Hundreds of chanting, jeering municipal union members, armed with piercing black whistles, drowned out Mayor Nutter Thursday as he attempted to give his annual budget address on the floor of City Council. Rather than forcibly evict the protesters—who are upset over a four-year stalemate in their contract negotiations with the city—Council President Darrell L. Clarke recessed the meeting as Nutter read his speech. Nutter later delivered his speech downstairs to a more friendly audience—about 30 applauding members of his own staff and 20 reporters. It was the most chaotic Council meeting in more than 30 years, comparable only to the...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mayor John F. Street is getting more than $111,000 as he leaves office, money that a city official said comes from pay raises that he was entitled to but did not take. Street had vetoed a pay-raise bill in the midst of an election in 2003, and the City Council overrode it. The mayor, however, chose not to take an increase, which at the time would have raised his salary from $146,000 to $165,000. Now he has decided to collect it retroactively. Street referred questions to City Finance Director Vincent Jannetti, who said the mayor is entitled...

Thursday, John F. Street, mayor of Philadelphia, endorsed Hilary Clinton. Wait, what? You mean the same Mayor John Street who was caught waiting in line for hours to buy an iphone? The same Mayor John Street who has presided over Philadelphia's highest homicide rate ever? The same Mayor John Street who has been accused again and again for public corruption? In fact, Mayor Street is so unpopular that the current Democratic Mayoral Nominee, Michel Nutter, ran ads against Street-- even though Street isn't running for mayor! And Nutter won the election! Apparently Marion Barry was unavailable. Hilary's numbers are expect...

Recently, while meeting with the editorial board of The Philadelphia Daily News, Mayor John Street suggested that the war in Iraq was the cause of the city's gun violence increase. According to a Daily News article, Hizzoner said, "I believe the fact that we are a country at war has something to do with the attitude of people in the streets. Let me tell you, it's not just this city. I have seen it everywhere and I've talked to people a lot about it ... . We are a country that is becoming less and less civil. We are a...

The announcement that Philadelphia recorded its 363rd murder today brought calls from both city and state Republicans for an immediate police and citizen pullout from the embattled city. Former Senator Rick Santorum called on Mayor John Street, (Democrat-Philadelphia) to resign or face impeachment. Calling Street's policy toward criminals "...a failed liberal policy resulting in massive daily deaths on the city's streets" Santorum urged an immediate withdrawl of beleaguered police and citizens. Santorum stated that Street's lies and malfeasance have led to an ever increasing escalation of a civil war between criminals and law abiding citizens. Congressman John Murtha,(Democrat-Pennsylvania) downplayed the...

Street's Ousting Of The Boy Scouts An Act Of Political Cowardicehttp://www.theeveningbulletin.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16997240 http://tinyurl.com/qhhrm 08/02/2006 By: GREGORY J. SULLIVAN, Special To The Evening Bulletin The decision by Mayor John Street and supported by the Fairmount Park Commission to punish the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America for its adherence to the organization's long-standing prohibition on openly homosexual members and leaders is the triumph of political correctness over sound policy. What is more, it is a betrayal of an organization and, most especially, the young boys who desperately need the moral instruction of the Scouts more than ever. Since...

CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia Democratic City Councilman Rick Mariano was threatening to jump from the top of City Hall Thursday evening. The councilman climbed to the top of the north tower just before 6 p.m. and refused to come down. Mayor Street and several other representatives went up to the tower to reason with the Councilman.

A federal judge authorized a subpoena yesterday for Mayor Street's testimony at the City Hall pay-to-play trial but said he wanted to hear more argument before agreeing to call Gov. Rendell. The mayor could take the witness stand at the U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia as early as Thursday. His testimony, however, may be limited. Attorneys for former City Treasurer Corey Kemp, the defendant who sought the subpoena, said they are calling Street only to identify phone calls the mayor had with the late bond lawyer Ronald A. White, conversations wiretapped by the FBI. Prosecutors have charged that White corrupted Kemp,...

March 29, 2005 — The defense team is trying to avoid calling Mayor Street to the stand. Instead, they want to play two dozen wiretaps of Street talking to his friend lawyer Ron White. Action News obtained copies of those tapes. The defense wants to show that White didn't need City Treasurer Corey Kemp to get what he wanted. The conversations between White and Street reveal a tight relationship. White was spearheading Street's campaign fundraising at the time. The government contends that White showered Kemp with gifts to steer lucrative city bond work to firms White favored. But, Kemp's defense...

Philadelphia Mayor's Letter To Pa. Governor On Recent Violence POSTED: 3:39 pm EST March 15, 2005 March 14, 2005 The Honorable Edward G. Rendell Governor Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 225 Main Capitol Harrisburg, PA 17120 Dear Governor Rendell: I am respectfully requesting the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss a matter of life and death to the citizens of the commonwealth's largest city, Philadelphia. It involves the urgent need to address the current law that handcuffs our ability to regulate the sale of guns in Philadelphia. As this past weekend fully dramatized, we need to act...

Federal prosecutors yesterday deepened their portrait of Philadelphia City Hall as a crass marketplace where campaign money, favors and personal contacts were exchanged for taxpayer-paid contracts. That picture was sharpened by the release of more than 1,100 wiretap transcripts, e-mails, internal memos, tax returns, surveillance photographs and other evidence gathered by the FBI's long-running City Hall corruption investigation

Posted on Wed, Jan. 19, 2005 U.S.: Bank intended to sway Street Prosecutors say Commerce Bank granted a loan to the then-mayoral candidate's son to gain influence. By Emilie Lounsberry, Marcia Gelbart and Craig R. McCoy Inquirer Staff Writers Commerce Bank officials arranged a loan for then-mayoral candidate John F. Street's son in an attempt to "influence" his father's actions, federal prosecutors said yesterday in a court filing. The New Jersey-based bank gave a $40,000 loan to the mayor's oldest son, Sharif Street, a Center City lawyer, in October 1999 - one month before Street was elected to his first...

Attorney Ron White Dies November 4, 2004 — A Philadelphia power broker and one-time confidante of Mayor John Street, attorney Ron White, has died. White had been hospitalized at Thomas Jefferson Hospital with pancreatic cancer. White was a top fund-raiser for Mayor John Street and a key figure in the ongoing F-B-I investigation of City Hall corruption. White and eleven others including former city Treasurer Corey Kemp were indicted in June, on charges that Kemp allegedly steered city business to White and his clients in exchange for cash and gifts.

Mayor: Don't like it? Go GOPBrothers & sisters are 'in charge'By RON GOLDWYNgoldwyr@phillynews.comAN UNREPENTENT Mayor Street wants to update the NAACP convention with some hot old news:In Philadelphia, the brothers and sisters are still in charge.Street, in welcoming remarks yesterday to the 8,000-delegate gathering at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, recalled how he "got myself in trouble" in 2002."I said in the city of Philadelphia the brothers and sisters are in charge," he declared. "They never let me forget it."Street apologized at the time. But yesterday he brought delegates to their feet roaring approval when he said he "will never apologize"...

Federal Investigations Target Drug Ring, Government POSTED: 5:03 pm EDT May 20, 2004 A Philadelphia religious leader is now seen as the link between two separate federal probes into a local drug ring and City Hall corruption. Shamsud-din Ali is an at a large mosque in West Philadelphia and a fixture in city politics. He also was on Mayor John Street's 1999 transition team. According to sources, Ali is believed to have connections with some of the 27 defendants named in two federal drug-trafficking indictments released Thursday. No city employees were named in the indictments, sources said. Federal investigators wouldn't...

Posted on Fri, Dec. 12, 2003 STREET PEPPERED WITH QUESTIONS ON MBEC TACTICS By MARK McDONALD mcdonam@phillynews.com IN HIS FIRST City Hall scrum with the media since his impressive re-election win, Mayor Street yesterday was dogged with questions related to the on-going federal probe of alleged municipal corruption. How, for example, does a successful female, African-American physician, married to a wealthy lawyer, become certified by the city's Minority Business Enterprise Council as a "disadvantaged business enterprise"? Of course, there was nothing hypothetical about this. The physician in question is Aruby Odom-White, the wife of Ron White, who is one of...

Posted on Sun, Dec. 07, 2003 FBI tapped 3 other offices Phones of Ronald A. White, a second Street ally, and the city treasurer were targeted. By Emilie Lounsberry and Nancy Phillips Inquirer Staff Writers Besides bugging Mayor Street's office, the FBI tapped the office phones of the city treasurer and two of the mayor's most influential political allies. Federal authorities placed wiretaps on the phones of Center City power broker Ronald A. White; city Treasurer Corey Kemp; and Imam Shamsud-din Ali, a prominent Muslim cleric, according to court-system sources familiar with aspects of the investigation. White, 54, a top...

Posted on Sat, Dec. 06, 2003 Lawsuit alleges abuses at PHA A housing agency staff lawyer contends law firm contracts violated policy . By L. Stuart Ditzen Inquirer Staff Writer A staff lawyer at the Philadelphia Housing Authority has accused the agency of attempting to bypass federal contracting rules in awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal work to private law firms. George V. Troilo contends in a federal lawsuit that the Housing Authority's acting general counsel, C. Marc Woolley, repeatedly ordered him last year and this year to violate federal rules in extending contracts to favored Philadelphia law...

THE FBI is scrutinizing an agency's $1.417 million purchase of an East Falls catering hall approved in the final week of the Rendell administration, part of the widening probe into possible municipal corruption. FBI agents visited the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia in April and also interviewed at least one official at home to learn more about the RDA's purchase of the Rivage Grand Ballroom, a cinder-block structure wedged on 0.63 acres between Kelly Drive and Ridge Avenue. City Councilman Michael Nutter, who represents East Falls and aggressively pushed for the deal, said he is a longtime friend of the head...

Posted on Sun, Nov. 16, 2003 FBI probe expands to new fronts A city agency plans to comply with a subpoena for records. Penn's Landing plans were questioned. By Emilie Lounsberry, Joseph Tanfani and Nathan Gorenstein Inquirer Staff Writers The already-sprawling federal investigation into corruption in city government has surfaced on two new fronts: the offices of the city Redevelopment Authority and the Penn's Landing waterfront. The agency became the latest in a string of city offices to be served with a federal subpoena seeking records, its executive director confirmed. And one of Mayor Street's closest advisers said in an...