Inside the John M. Perzel Community Center on St. Vincent Street in Mayfair yesterday, the coffee was hot, and so was the conversation.

Talk centered on the building's namesake, the state representative and former House speaker charged with 82 counts of corruption, allegedly misusing public money for campaign purposes and trying to cover it up.

Perzel, 59, is a local kid - a graduate of Lincoln High School, a product of the brick rowhouses of this working-class community. And Catherine Tashjian won't hear a word against him.

Like many in this Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, she supports Perzel.

"Let me tell you something: He's a gem for us, a gem for Mayfair," said Tashjian, 77. "Weigh what they said he did with the all the positive that he does for us, and it will come out he did more positive."

Tashjian's face flushed at the thought of Perzel in trouble. She and other senior citizens grouped around two tables ticked off things he has done for the neighborhood like beads on a rosary.

Perzel's legislative help got the community center, a haven for them, built in 2006. Perzel personally found a retired police officer to teach golf to 4-year-olds at the center, they said. His office helps them get tax rebates and handle problems with teenagers and troublesome neighbors, they added.

"I would testify in court for him," Tashjian said. "The goodness in that man is unbelievable."

What stands out in Ed Graber's mind is how Perzel helped him fix up a problem no one else wanted to touch - an insurance company was trying to keep cash owed to Graber from a long-ago policy.

"That money was mine, and he fixed it," said Graber, 66. "He looked it up in the computer, got me my money, had them send me a check. He'll help anybody from the neighborhood."

As far as Marian Gass is concerned, none of what authorities allege is true. That Perzel could do so much for Mayfair and misuse public money at the same time is impossible, she said.

"I don't agree with any of it," said Gass, 69. "He's a nice man, a good man, and somebody's jealous. Somebody's accusing him of something he didn't do."

Frank Tomasino, 84, isn't buying it either.

"I think he's just doing his job," said Tomasino.

Perzel, who has represented the 172d Legislative District for 30 years, is proud of his Mayfair roots. Son of a waitress and a Linotype operator, he worked as a dishwasher and maitre d' at Pavio's Restaurant on Bustleton Avenue before winning election to the Statehouse.

He served as speaker for nearly four years, until January 2007. The grand jury indictments of Perzel and nine others with ties to the Republican caucus were announced this week. Perzel has denied the allegations.

Nancy Gibson, 72, is torn up about the news of Perzel's charges and his being led into court in handcuffs, she said.

"This is all so terrible," said Gibson. "This is just politics. I don't know the other people, but I know him, and he never did anything bad."

And Dee Gill, whose son played football with Perzel at Lincoln, said she believed the truth had yet to emerge.

"He has said that he will present his side," said Gill, 77. "I'm waiting to hear. There's more than one side to every story."

Officials from the Mayfair Community Development Corp., which runs the Perzel Community Center and other neighborhood programs, said in a statement that they were sorry to hear of the indictments, but had faith in the judicial system "and its presumption of innocence."

"Our thoughts go out to John and his family at this time," the statement read. "We remain grateful to John for all he has done for Mayfair and his neighborhood."

Still, not everyone is pro-Perzel. Standing in line for lunchmeat and soft pretzels at the busy Marinucci's Deli at St. Vincent and Brous Avenue, just down the block from the community center, Debbie Altomari said she wasn't surprised to hear the charges brought against a politician she has long been suspicious of.

"I would never vote for him," said Altomari, 46. "Perzel's iffy. I never did like him."

Mark Herrmann, another deli customer, said he had nothing good to say about Perzel.

"I didn't hear about the charges, but I'm not surprised," said Herrmann, who has lived in the neighborhood for six years. "We had a problem with our neighbors and called his office, left several messages, and no one helped us. No one got back to us."

Shopping for lunch at a nearby 7-Eleven store on Cottman Avenue, David Wright said Perzel ought to have lived by the rule he always reminded his children to keep in mind.

"My motto is, if you know it's not right, then don't do it," said Wright, 43.

And at Kilbane's Irish Pub on Frankford Avenue, the business directly next to one of Perzel's local offices, longtime Mayfair resident George Brion shrugged when asked about the politician.

"My wife used to work the polls for him years ago, and she was a Democrat," said Brion, 67. "My kids worked for him. He's a nice guy, very congenial."

Perzel is no different from any other politician, said Brion.

"All politicians are crooked anyway," Brion said. "He's no more crooked than anyone else. They're all thieves, but some get caught and some don't."