Who could be the next Fumo in town?

FOR YEARS, former state Sen. Vince Fumo affected your life in ways you probably never knew - how your bridge tolls were spent, who set your property taxes or ran Fairmount Park, who sat in judgment on your civil and criminal disputes.

In a 30-year career, Fumo accumulated power and influence on a scale rarely seen, raising and spending enormous amounts of money and building influence among elected officials, judges, and countless boards and agencies that make policy, control jobs and award contracts.

So what happens now, as Fumo awaits a jury's verdict in his federal corruption trial? Will the Fumo empire endure? Will it find a new leader?

No, say most Fumo allies and observers.

While friends, allies and appointees of Fumo will remain embedded in influential positions for some time, the network has lost its nerve center and will no longer function as a team.

The organization, say former Fumocrats, is finished.

"A lot of guys he helped get where they are have already abandoned him," said City Councilman Frank DiCicco, a close friend of Fumo's.

DiCicco cited the recent vote by the Board of Revision of Taxes to raise Fumo's real-estate taxes. Two members closely associated with Fumo's nonprofit organization, Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, didn't even show up. Fumo's taxes more than tripled.

Fumo's once-bustling Tasker Street office in South Philadelphia, with the lavishly furnished and windowless basement often called Fumo's bunker, now stands empty, available for a commercial tenant.

Larry Farnese, who won Fumo's Senate seat last year with Fumo's help, said that he never considered moving into the office. "We wanted a fresh start," Farnese said.

Joseph McLaughlin, director of Temple University's Institute for Public Affairs and a veteran of city and state politics, said that Fumo was one of a kind.

"I think it will be a long time before somebody assembles the range of influence he did," McLaughlin said "I think that was somewhat unique to Vince."

It's unclear how much Fumo's departure's strengthens his bitter rival for much of the past 10 years, electricians union leader John Dougherty.

There's little reason for players in the Fumo world to pledge allegiance to Dougherty, and hard feelings remain between the two camps.

Dougherty lost to Farnese in a three-way Democratic primary to replace Fumo in the Senate, and he has had to deal with a federal investigation into his dealings with a friend and electrical contractor, which has yielded no charges against Dougherty.

But he remains an influential force, with a political committee that raises and spends nearly $2 million a year.

Dougherty acknowledged in a brief interview that Fumo wielded enormous power, but said, "I don't think, nor do others I've talked to think, that that power is transferable.

"The void he leaves will not be a political void, but intellectual," Dougherty added. "He's a smart man, and you can't take that away from him."

Here are some pieces of the Fumo empire and where they stand today:

Elected allies

Fumo dominated the city's Senate delegation, was minority chair of the Appropriations Committee and used his fundraising ability and political machine to help candidates and build alliances across the state.

The city's seven-member state- Senate delegation is without a clear leader. The Democratic appropriations chair, which had been held by a Philadelphian for 30 years, is now in the hands of western Pennsylvanian Jay Costa.

It's hard not to see Fumo's departure as a loss in city political clout.

"Nobody else I know had the capacity to do what he did," said John Estey, who served as Gov. Rendell's chief of staff.

DiCicco and fellow City Council member Jim Kenney, both of whom came from the Fumo organization, remain close to one another and have political careers that will allow them to stand on their own. They'll now operate without Fumo's advice or his ability to influence others.

Citizens Alliance

The South Philadelphia non-profit that Fumo founded and controlled became a significant force after Fumo got the organization $17 million in a controversial deal with Peco Energy.

Federal prosecutors say that Fumo illegally tapped Citizens Alliance funds for personal and political purposes, seriously tarnishing its reputation.

But the organization exists, and according to its most recently available tax return, has more than $22 million in assets. It's now run by Christian DiCicco, son of Councilman DiCicco, and sources said that it has narrowed its focus to neighborhood cleaning and improvement.

No one from the organization returned the Daily News' calls or responded to a request for a list of the board members. The state Attorney General's Office is investigating Citizens' past spending activities, and could revoke its status as a charitable organization.

It's not clear what would happen to Citizens' bank accounts and real-estate assets if that were to occur, but other community organizations have had informal discussions about keeping those resources in the community.

Fumo friends see those discussions as an attempt to cannibalize the organization and split its money up among competing organizations.

Fumo brain trust

Fumo always understood that more information and better brainpower gave him an edge in policy and political fights, and he assembled a team of talented staff and consultants.

While some of Fumo's Harrisburg staff, including budget analyst Randy Albright and communications man Gary Tuma, continue to work on the Senate Appropriations Committee, most have scattered.

Former committee executive director Paul Dlugolecki has retired, and staff attorney Christopher Craig wasn't retained by the Senate leadership. Political consultant Howard Cain was charged with tax evasion and testified as a prosecution witness in Fumo's corruption trial.

Political consultant Ken Snyder is now a sucessful media man making campaign ads for candidates around the country.

The Philadelphia port

Beginning in the early '90s, Fumo became a powerful force on the Delaware River Port Authority, which runs the PATCO High Speed Line and controls toll money from the bridges spanning the Delaware.

Fumo used his influence to control jobs and steer millions to Philadelphia economic-development projects and to favorite causes, including Citizens Alliance.

Fumo also had enormous sway over the Penn's Landing Corp., which controlled a long stretch of the Delaware waterfront.

That agency was recently replaced by Mayor Nutter with a more broadly representative organization, and Fumo's influence on the DRPA is mostly gone.

City and state agencies

Communications consultant Larry Ceisler recalled a moment after the 1987 mayor's race in which Fumo helped Wilson Goode win re-election over Frank Rizzo.

Ceisler, then on Goode's staff, recalled a list coming in from Fumo with people he wanted appointed to city boards and commissions.

"I think he batted pretty close to a thousand on that list," Ceisler said.

The list of Fumo friends and allies who've served on government boards, commissions and agencies is too numerous to mention.

Fumo often used his influence, political leverage and persuasive powers to get his picks appointed by mayors, governors and legislative leaders.

Those appointees gave Fumo policy input and access to jobs and contracts, which he in turn leveraged to increase his power.

Among Fumo friends still in place are Turnpike Authority Chairman Mitchell Rubin, Christian DiCicco and Jim Schwartzmann on the SEPTA board, and Joe Russo and Harvey Levin on the Board of Revision of Taxes.

Fumo himself remains on the Board of City Trusts, which manages enormous assets, including the trust that funds Girard College.

Many in Fumo's world say that his influence waned in the last few years as he focused on his legal problems.

With his departure, many of his friends will finish their terms on boards, but won't get direction from him or his successor in the state Senate.

"There's a vacuum there that won't be filled by any one person," Kenney said. *