Clout: Harrisburg gadfly sets reform pageant

FOR THREE YEARS, Harrisburg activist

Gene Stilp

has been using an inflatable pink pig, 25

feet long, to stoke voter outrage about legislative pay hikes and other Capitol shenanigans.

The recent Bonusgate charges accusing state House Democrats of using taxpayer money for political campaigns has provided Stilp with a new symbol - "Miss Bonus Babe 2008."

After hearing about the creation of a no-work job for a Greene County beauty queen, Stilp has scheduled a Monday-morning beauty pageant in the Capitol Rotunda.

"If you're interested in government reform, the only way to get noticed is to dress up like a beauty queen," Stilp said. He wants each of next week's contestants to don an evening gown and pick a reform that the Legislature has ignored.

Stilp and a friend, Dennis Baylor, have created a computer image for the contest. They put the head of state Rep. Babette Josephs atop the gowned body of legislative researcher Angela Bertucci, a former Miss Rain Day who was added to the House payroll while having a sexual affair with a top legislative aide.

Stilp contends that Josephs, 67, the Philadelphia Democrat who chairs the House State Government Committee, should be moving more quickly to abolish legislative bonuses and to tackle issues like campaign-

finance limits, reapportionment and the rewriting of the state Constitution.

"We want to encourage her to break this logjam of reform bills in her committee," Stilp said.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Josephs said she agrees with Stilp on the need for reforms.

"But things are always more complicated than they appear," she said. "Look at the stuff we've done on the fly and been criticized for, like allowing two casinos to be sited in Philadelphia neighborhoods. . . . We're either going to do it right, which will take some time, or do it by the seat of our pants, which I think is wrong."

Josephs added that, as a regular swimmer in Philadelphia and at the Harrisburg YMCA, she is disappointed that Stilp is not including a swimsuit competition in his beauty contest.

"I might not look great in my Speedo, but it's all relative," Josephs said. "Think of Ed [Rendell]. I compare favorably to him."

Fumo: Hard sell

State Sen. Vince Fumo has dropped the price on his Fairmount mansion by another half million.

This 27-room baby - a former convent "fully restored to its original grandeur with loving care by the current owner and no expense was spared," according to the realty agents - can now be had for $5.5 million, down from $7 million when the Green Street property went on sale last fall.

"It's a horrible time to sell a house, this market we're in," Fumo told the Daily News editorial board this week. " . . . It requires a unique buyer."

Hizzoner's security

We decided this week to check out Mayor Nutter's security detail - the police officers who travel with him and watch his back. How does it stack up against the unit that protected John Street?

Nutter's detail is about the same size - 14 officers and one sergeant, according to the Police Department, compared with 15 officers assigned to his predecessor.

Nutter's daily convoy of three vehicles appears much the same as Street's, who typically traveled with two or three.

But one thing has changed since Nutter took office: He's spending fewer of your tax dollars than did Street.

From January through June, Nutter's security force was paid $152,136 in overtime. During the same period in 2007, Street's detail recorded $238,661 in OT.

For the record, Ed Rendell had just seven cops in his security detail. And survived.

Nutter: Vacation watch

The Nutter administration's effort to keep secret the mayor's vacation location ended faster than a pina colada. Sources say he was in Aruba this week (and if they're wrong, we want a refund from the Marriott for the overpriced chardonnay we sent to his room).

John Timoney returns . . .

. . . but only for a couple days. The former Philadelphia police commissioner, now running the department in Miami, is part of a national tour put together by the U.S. Conference of Mayors to develop an urban-action agenda for the next president, whether it's John McCain, Barack Obama or Ralph Nader.

First stop is Philadelphia, Aug. 5 and 6, when Timoney and his boss, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, president of the Conference of Mayors, will join Mayor Nutter, Police Commish Charles Ramsey and others at the Westin Hotel on 17th Street in a conference on crime and public safety.

Short, Jones for federal bench

Clout may be early, but is not often wrong.

Last Sept. 21, we reported that attorney Carolyn Short of ReedSmith was likely to land a federal judgeship.

We talked with some colleagues who gave her high praise and noted that she was married to Joe Torsella, boss of the National Constitution Center.

Yesterday, President Bush nominated Short and three others - Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Mitchell Goldberg, Philadelphia Common Pleas President Judge C. Darnell Jones II, and Philadelphia defense attorney Joel H. Slomsky - for seats on the U.S. District Court here.

Senate confirmation is expected.

Phillies: Electrifying

Yeah, Phillies fans, that was a tough loss to the Mets yesterday.

But here's a statistic to cheer you up: The Phillies are undefeated on the annual T-shirt Day of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98.

Which happens to be today! Fans 14 and under will get a free Cole Hamels T-shirt at the game tonight, sponsored by Local 98.

Here's the team's record on the last five IBEW days:

6/1/03: Phillies 4 - Expos 1.

7/25/04: Phillies 3 - Cubs 2.

7/24/05: Phillies 5 - Padres 1.

7/8/06: Phillies 6 - Pirates 2.

7/28/07: Phillies 10 - Pirates 5.

And if they lose to the Braves tonight, it's our fault for jinxing them by pointing this out. *

Staff writers Bob Warner, Catherine Lucey, Dave Davies and Gar Joseph contributed to this report.