About Blondell
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
About Blondell
Funny, wasn't it less than a week ago that we were talking about the rot of corruption here in Philadelphia, and the frustrating fact that dishonest pols or crooked cops tend to get away with it here, even after they've been publicly exposed?
CITY COUNCILWOMAN Blondell Reynolds Brown has been mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate in 2015. If elected, she'd be Philadelphia's first female mayor.
Maybe that talk was premature.
Brown, an at-large Democrat serving her fourth term, is the focus of a blistering report issued by the city Board of Ethics that details years of sloppy bookkeeping - and potential criminal activity involving her campaign finances.
The settlement agreement approved Monday requires Brown and her campaign committee to pay a whopping $48,834 and submit to Ethics Board oversight after board investigators discovered that she'd deposited campaign contributions into her personal account and failed to disclose transactions.
If Joe Biden were writing this, he'd call it a BFD...because in the local political world, this is a big deal. The ethics panel didn't find one lone trangression by Brown that can be plausibly denied as a solitary mistake. Instead, we have a pattern of shady financial transactions, and intentional deception to cover her tracks. At the center of it all is an off-the-books personal bailout -- tapping campaign funds -- that on some level involved a) a sitting U.S. congressman and b) that congressman's son, whose actions had already been under investigation by the FBI. So here's a few things to consider:
1) That whole thing about how people get away with corruption in Philadelphia is about to get a pretty good test. Will Brown walk away with what amounts to a slap on the wrist and some damage to her reputation? Or will more serious charges result? Hopefully the latter.
2) In the past I've given Nutter a mixed-to-positive rating, and the main reason for the slight positive bias was the lack of corruption in his administration compared to his predecessors (see "Street, John"). Well...now here's a big blemish. Why did Nutter give a high-paying job to Brown's campaign manager -- a pol with a dodgy past that included a widely publicized City Charter violation? Shame on you, Michael Nutter. Between that and the fact that Philadelphia's policing remains mired in the 20th Century, your administration is now rated mixed-to-negative by Attytood.
3) I did have one personal reaction to the Brown story that I found odd, and must be a sign of creeping old age. I felt a small tinge of sympathy for Brown, and let me explain before y'all crucify me. As someone in my 50s (as Brown, now 60, also was when this went down in 2011) I've seen a lot of people in my age group struggling with three things a) divorce, which can cause remarkable financial hardship b) sending a kid or kids to good colleges, which can cause remarkable financial hardship and c) taking care of an elderly parent, which can cause remarkable financial hardship. Brown hit the trifecta of all three, and so it's not surprising that the bank was foreclosing on her house and that she desperately needed cash. She wasn't building a mansion with gold doorknobs or toilet fixtures. Still, that kind of mess isn't a license to act unethically. That's why she needs to face the music.
4) That music will surely drown out her hope of becoming mayor in 2015, I predict. That's also ironic, since we're mourning the passing of Happy Fernandez, the first and last high-profile woman to seek the Philadelphia mayorality. It's a shame that here in the 21st Century her torch is still waiting to get picked up.
I'm sure you'd feel that same tinge of sympathy if she were a Republican too. HAH! If this were a Republican that experienced all of those hardships (as many do), you would have no tinge of sympathy. Also, in this city the Republican would get more than a slap on the wrist, but I doubt more than that will happen to her. She has friends in high places who will help because helping her won't prevent them from getting re-elected. She's a Democrat and this city's population cannot and will not vote for anyone that's not a Democrat.— kmon- I think she will get away with it because she is black, and black people seem to be allowed to do whatever they please in Phillt with no repurcussians. — FixThisCityPlease
- Brother, I agree. The poison of progressive black liberalism can be clearly discerned. What we're seeing is just one instance of it. I attribute most of it to the novelties of Obama and the wealth redistribution underlying the toxicities of social justice. Indeed, the disparity between what whites and blacks can get away with in Phila. Is vast beyond understanding. It won't end until laws are consistently enforced without respect to both race and class. The people need to wise up. — jverlin
- Wow, racist much? Want to know how we can fix this city? By FixThisCityPlease leaving it.
- "She wasn't building a mansion with gold doorknobs or toilet fixtures"
wrong. she was sending her daughter to a fancy academy on the main line that costs $16k per year! if money was so tight, send the girl to a philadelphia high school, and we'd save on the wear and tear on the city owned vehicle she uses to drive her daughter to merion every day— hannibal barca - And the beat goes on. As average a mayor as Nutter is who can lead the city in the future? Is there anyone who wants to deal with all the nonsense in City Hall?— TK in Downingtown
- Look on the bright side: at least she's not making trips to the Dominican Republic to rape children like a certain U.S Senator from New Jersey.
At least not as far as we know.— Mr. Smith - Yes, let's hope the FBI is to occupied with Mendez to focuse on Blondell at this moment. — Taxpaying Voter
- Who cares what's going on in New Jersey? — Thad Lawrence
- "Look on the bright side: at least she's not making trips to the Dominican Republic to rape children like a certain U.S Senator from New Jersey."
Or a certain right-wing radio host whose first name is the same as a Canadian rock band.— Phil Perspective - Chris Christie for Mayor of Philadelphia...or someone equally outspoken and willing to p$%s off the right people.— 19151
- 19151 - outspoken people do not make great leaders. Christie has dropped the ball in NJ and he's only in the picture because he had a Rudy Giuliani moment.
I predict Christie will mutter Sandy the same way Rudy does 9/11 constantly - Doubt it. The Democrats in NJ are some of the most corrupt in the country, behind the Chicago gang. The party will be in shambles after the Menendez fiasco. Christie wins running away.
- She's as relevant as cromagnon Palin.— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- she can still run for mayor right?— rysagr
- Andrew Sullivan
- Blinq
- Blogorrhea
- Blonde Sagacity
- Free Republic
- Instapundit
- James Taranto
- ScrappleFace
- The Corner
- Buzzmachine
- Eat the Press
- Editor and Publisher
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Media Bloodhound
- Mickey Kaus
- Pressthink
- Romenesko
- The Inksniffer
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Above Average Jane
- BlankBaby
- Citizen Mom
- Keystone Blog
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- Phawker
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Philly Future
- Phillyblog
- Phillyist
- The Clog
- The Next Mayor
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Young Philly Politics
- Afro-Netizen
- All-Spin Zone
- Atrios
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- Booman Tribune
- CorrenteWire
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- iFlipFlop
- Kiko's House
- MyDD
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Rowhouse Logic
- Slacktivist
- Suburban Guerilla
- Tattered Coat
- upyernoz
- AmericaBlog
- Andy Borowitz
- BuzzFlash
- Crooks and Liars
- Cursor
- Daily Kos
- David Sirota
- Drudge Report
- Echidne of the Snakes
- Fire Dog Lake
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hullabaloo
- Jesus' General
- Jon Swift
- Josh Marshall
- Juan Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Mad Kane
- Majikthise
- Matthew Yglesias
- Oliver Willis
- Raw Story
- Swing State Project
- Talk Left
- Taylor Marsh
- TBogg
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Think Progress
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- A Citizen's Blog
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Beer Leaguer
- Dick Polman
- Phillies Nation
- Philling Station
- Shallow Center
- The 700 Level
- The Good Phight
