PhillyTablet Inquirer Daily News
Mobile
Home Delivery
philly.com
email
font size
comments
3
options
 
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

PICA Eyes Row Office Reform

The city's elected row offices were the hot topic today at the monthly meeting of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority.

The state agency, which provides oversight for the city budget, is readying an analysis of the city’s elected row offices. Today’s discussion provided some insight into the report, which is expected to be released within several weeks.

One thing the report looks at is the cost of elections in Philadelphia, compared with the 14 other biggest counties in the state. According to PICA, in Philly, where elections are run by three elected commissioners, elections cost $9 per every registered voter, compared with an average of $4.60 per voter in the other counties.

More detail on all the city row offices – and the savings on consolidating some of them – will be provided when the full report comes out, said PICA Executive Director Uri Monson.

There are six row offices in Philadelphia. In a report released in the spring, the watchdog group Committee of Seventy recommended that sheriff, register of wills, clerk of quarter sessions and the city commissioners — which are run by six elected officials — be eliminated.

In 2005, voters in Allegheny County — which includes Pittsburgh — approved a plan to get rid of the clerk of courts, coroner, jury commissioners, prothonotary, recorder of deeds and register of wills. The offices were consolidated and elected officials replaced with three appointed posts, for a savings of over $1 million and reduced political influence in city government.
 
Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 2:02 PM  Permalink | 3 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:17 PM, 10/20/2009
    I agree that the elected row offices should be eliminated. It was put in during Lincoln Steffens' time as a progressive reform to limit the power of corrupt, all powerful boss type mayors. The only problem was that the party of the boss quickly learned to co-opt the offices under their control by funding the election of their hand chosen candidate, a system that exists in Philly to this day. Boss politics in big American cities became machine politics. The problem with the machine is that they are notoriously ineffective, unprofessional forms of government, and Democracy has evolved considerably since the early 1900s. The political machine disincentivizes and even dismantles proper functioning of those offices, as you see time and time again in Philly. Whole sets of data are simply thrown out or ignored in every elected office if it contains inconvenient or incriminating details. What you'll find when professional auditors get into these offices is the need for forensic reconstruction, often times, of data that simply was lost or never implemented. I think its important to now prevent still more sabotage of data as this reform occurs. This is also why deed fraud is so easy in Philly. Elected officials fight reform that professionalizes and upgrades systems, because it's less easy for them to manipulate an objective well-protected data set that uses best practices, upon request by the party leader such as Fumo.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:21 PM, 10/20/2009
    It is time for Philly to evolve from a political machine system to a professionalized government where the rule of law is enforced because data has integrity. This is possible because of information technology, such as a 311 system, online reporting and data capture, and quality controls. This will lead to professionalized budgeting by objective and outcome, and revenue using objective assessments based on real data.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:42 AM, 11/15/2010
    That wasn't any "STUDY". PICA merely compared counties election budget divided by the number of registered voters without even any cursory review of operartions, demographics or anything. Let's look at the size of average voting districts in the counties and compliance with State law. State law currently mandates that voting districts, or Divisions, be no more than 1200 registered voters. Philadelphia has had no more than 15 - 35 Divisions which have exceded that limit at various times druing the past 15 - 20 years. Previous state law provided for 600 - 800 registered voters per Division. A 1988 court decision in Philadelphia provided a range of 550 - 900 voters per district. A few years ago those counties experiencing population growth requested that the State law be changed so that upper limit be raised from 800 to 1200 so they would not have to spend money to buy the additional needed voting machines, rent facilities or pay the additional 5 - 6 poll officials per district. Even with the increased numbers, many of the counties mentioned in this "study" have only 40 - 75 percent compliance with the new law - Philly 98%. While Philadelphia did not object to this change, the City Commissioners recognized that voting district size is a critical factor in promoting voter participation. The smaller the district, then the closer the polling place is to the voter - yes distance impacts turnout. The lower number of registered voters per district means shorter lines at poll during peak elections and voting times - yes lines impact voter participation. It's simple voting 101. Unlike those election officials in other counties the City Commissioners did not want to sacrifice voter particiption by changing district size so that polling places were further away from homes and that a 50 - 100% increase in the number of voters assigned would result in longer lines, and more disenfranchisement of voters. Some Study - didn't do any work whatsoever in determining cost
    — ElecFact


3 comments
About The Philly Clout Team
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
 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.

Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
 Follow Catherine 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.
 Follow Jan on Twitter



Share your tips

Catherine Lucey
luceyc@phillynews.com

Chris Brennan
brennac@phillynews.com

Jan Ransom
Ransomj@phillynews.com
Advertise Here