No taxpayers $ for Jones' second district office, Bass hoping for one
Get inside the halls of Philadelphia power with PhillyClout: Inside City Hall, the blog by the Philadelphia Daily News' city hall reporters.
No taxpayers $ for Jones' second district office, Bass hoping for one
Jan Ransom
This Friday City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. will celebrate the opening of his new digs –a second office in the Fourth Councilmanic district.
Rent at his first district office located in Wynnefield was paid for with campaign funds, and taxpayers paid $2,450 in furniture made by inmates in city prisons’ PHILACOR shops. Jones said the $600-a-month rent at his latest office located at 5462 Ridge Ave., in Roxborough will also be paid for through campaign dollars.
The city, Jones said will donate a “beat-up” 2003 Dell Computer and a phone.
Some Council members have said that district offices are essential for constituent services and traveling downtown for many residents can be a hassle.
“State representatives have district offices, congress members have district offices, people can go into the neighborhood and be serviced by those entities,” Jones said. “Yes I am a legislator, but I am an ombudsman for city services.”
Following through on his campaign promise, Jones, whose district includes Roxborough, Manayunk, Andorra and part of West Philadelphia, said he needed another district office because some residents like those in Andorra may have difficulty traveling to Wynnefield.
Council members Marian Tasco, Brian O’Neill and Bobby Henon each have a district office.
O’Neill’s district office is located in Bustleton and Tasco shares state Rep. Mark Cohen’s district office. An aide from Tasco’s office said the Councilwoman does not pay for the space which is used one day a week.
Henon, who is also set to open his new district office this week located at 6730 Torresdale Ave., will pay the $500-a-month rent through campaign funds. He too is waiting to receive a city computer for the office.
Councilwoman Cindy Bass said she tried in vain to acquire city-owned vacant property to turn into a district office, but she was shot down by the Vacant Property Review Committee. She had hoped to fund the office through Council’s capital budget, adding that she was short on campaign dollars.
“We’re still working on getting a district office,” she said. “We’re not going to let bureaucracy stand in the way.”
"Some Council members have said that district offices are essential for constituent services and traveling downtown for many can be a hassle". Isn't their job to "go downtown"?— Just_Recently_Banned- With all the Special Interest Money (PAC) thrown around in the last election, council members shouldn't have any trouble funding their District offices!!! If it isn't, then they need to go back to their political benefactors (PAC), and secure the funds!! It shouldn't come out of Council's Capital Budget, or any funds that effect their constituents!!!!!— Dadair1
Follow Chris on Twitter
David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
Follow Sean on Twitter
