Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority leader resigns to work on city lobbying

Terry Gillen, who clashed with developers and City Council members during her two-year-plus tenure as leader of the city's Redevelopment Authority, has resigned to work for Mayor Nutter on federal lobbying efforts.

She will be replaced by Ed Covington, a Wachovia Bank executive new to government work. He was until recently marketing manager for community lending and investment for Wachovia's mid-Atlantic region.

As a banker, Covington knows how to get deals done, the mayor said.

The change was voted on at a special RDA board meeting Wednesday and later announced by Nutter at City Hall. It was effective immediately.

Gillen is a confidante of Nutter's who worked as his senior adviser for economic development before he named her to lead the RDA in June 2008.

"We're in much, much, much better shape than when we arrived," Nutter said, praising Gillen's RDA work and crediting her for "a tremendous turnaround" at the authority.

Among Gillen's accomplishments, Nutter noted her ability to gain $67 million in competitive federal grant funding for stabilizing neighborhoods. In other initiatives, the RDA made efforts to better market its vacant land, hiring Realtors to promote properties and listing all vacant lots and buildings online.

But her brief tenure was also rocky, noted for run-ins with high-profile developers and Council members who were angry at the slow pace of developments in their districts.

As RDA's director, Gillen took an active role in managing the agency's crushing inventory of 3,000 vacant properties. In one initiative, the RDA moved to take back land from developers who had long ago defaulted on their redevelopment agreements with the agency.

But it was RDA action in two default cases - against the University City Science Center and a developer trying to sell his land for a Mormon temple - that drew especially harsh criticism from Council. At a hearing on the science center last June, City Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell castigated Gillen for blocking projects supported by Council members.

In the case of the land for the temple at 17th and Vine Streets, the RDA and developer Stephen Klein reached a settlement in August, allowing the project to move forward.

Blackwell and Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, the Council members who exhibited the most frustration with Gillen, would not comment directly Wednesday on her departure, though they were clearly relieved. After the mayor's news conference, Nutter's aides took Covington to meet individual Council members.

"I'm happy to meet him," said Blackwell, adding that she hoped to "revisit some issues that were kind of stuck."

Gillen called disputes with Council "part of what comes with the job."

She denied being pressured by the mayor to leave, and Nutter similarly said the change was not influenced by Council's frustrations with her. Both said they began talks during the summer about other administration initiatives she could work on.

"Every now and then, I have the right and responsibility to move people around as best suits the needs of the government," Nutter said.

During his 2007 mayoral campaign, Nutter talked about opening a full-time Philadelphia lobbying office in Washington. The city has never done so, relying on lobbyists hired on short-term contracts.

As his director of federal legislation - a newly created position - Gillen will manage the city's two current lobbyists as well as the administration's relations with the White House and Congress.

Specifically, Gillen will coordinate the work of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Borski of Northeast Philadelphia, who retired from Congress in 2003 and receives $65,000 annually from the city, and Peter A. Peyser Jr., a longtime Washington lobbyist hired July 1 by Nutter at an annual cost of $100,000. He is now at the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome.

The pair both represented the city in Washington when Gov. Rendell was Philadelphia's mayor, and Borski has worked for the city since. Rendell's successor, Mayor John F. Street, dropped Peyser for most of his eight-year tenure.

"The job got harder in the last 24 hours, so I'm a little nervous, but I'm looking forward to it," Gillen said Wednesday, referring to the Republican takeover in the House.

Gillen will continue to receive $155,000 in her new position, the same she got as RDA chief, including a 5 percent salary reduction imposed on many top-earning staffers to help the administration cut costs.

Covington will be paid $175,000 a year, and won't be subject to the reduction since the RDA is not part of the city's general fund. Gillen had remained on the payroll of the mayor's office when she moved to the RDA.

Nutter on Wednesday also announced he was creating a second administration position, appointing Lydia Hernandez Velez as deputy managing director for aging. "In this new role, she will help city agencies rethink how they approach issues that seniors face - everything from public safety and mobility to housing and health care," Nutter said.

Hernandez Velez, who has worked with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and oversaw consumer fraud issues for the state Banking Department, will be paid $90,000 a year.

The mayor also appointed Otis Bullock as executive director of the Mayor's Office of Community Services, where he had been serving in an acting capacity. Previously, he directed outreach efforts for Nutter's mayoral campaign and founded his own law firm.

Bullock will be paid $95,000 annually.

The salaries of both officials will be subject to 3.75 percent pay reductions.