Here's a big no-surprise to anyone who follows local politics: The Delaware River Port Authority hired Gov. Rendell's former law firm as outside counsel one month after Rendell took office.
It's just the latest example of the often cozy relationship between politics and business in Philadelphia and Harrisburg that fuels the perception that you have to pay to play.
Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P. was paid more than $600,000 in legal fees in the last two years alone, The Inquirer reported Wednesday. That would more than cover the roughly $500,000 Ballard Spahr paid Rendell in the two years he was employed at the firm after his term ended as Philadelphia's mayor.
Rendell famously admitted to The Inquirer in 2002 that he did little work in return for his Ballard paycheck and rarely came to work. "My office is like a museum," he said while campaigning for governor.
At the time, Rendell promised to "completely sever" his ties to the law firm if elected. That's what makes the news that DRPA steered legal work to Ballard so troubling.
Rendell's spokesman said the governor had no involvement in DRPA's hiring of Ballard. But Ballard chairman Arthur Makadon said the choice of the firm was "effectively up to the Pennsylvania governor."
While Rendell may not have personally selected Ballard, he holds plenty of sway at DRPA. Most of its 16-member board is picked by the governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. And Ballard has been one of Rendell's top sources for campaign funds, raising and giving millions of dollars over the years.
One month after Rendell was sworn in as governor in 2003, Ballard was chosen as the DRPA's legal counsel from Pennsylvania. To balance the pinstripe patronage, the agency also picked a New Jersey firm, Brown & Connery L.L.P., which had ties to South Jersey Democratic power-broker George Norcross.
The DRPA-Ballard connection runs deeper. Rendell's former chief of staff, John Estey, usually sits in for the governor as the chairman of the DRPA board. And what a coincidence: Estey is now a partner at Ballard Spahr.
Estey says that the arrangement was already worked out before he was involved with DRPA and that he would never vote on a matter involving his firm. Good to know the ethics line exists somewhere.
No one doubts Ballard Spahr's legal acumen to handle DRPA business. The firm must know something about government work, since it feeds so much from taxpayer-funded (and often no-bid) contracts. Ballard reaps millions in fees to handle much of the bond work for Philadelphia. The firm also represents the city in its municipal labor negotiations and does much of the legal work for the Housing Authority.
Ballard's ties to City Hall have existed for years. When Rendell was mayor, his first chief of staff was David L. Cohen, who was Ballard's managing partner before leaving to become an executive at Comcast. In keeping with the revolving door between Ballard and the government, current City Solicitor Shelley Smith used to work at the law firm.
Former Mayor John F. Street received intense FBI scrutiny regarding alleged pay-to-play at City Hall. But it's a game with a long history.