NOTE: This post has been corrected.
Council today also announced that they are awarding $150,000 in financial consulting contracts -- $125,000 to Charles McPherson, a retired Council employee, and up to $25,000 to Econsult/Fairmount Group.
McPherson retired April 9, 2009*, after 37 years of service. He last served as Council's chief financial advisor and left with a $528,434 DROP payment. Before his departure, Verna tried and failed to get his retirement date extended by a year.
McPherson has been volunteering for Council since his retirement. Under state law, McPherson could not bid on a Council contract until a year had passed since he left his job.
Council President Anna Verna said Council did not have the expertise to do financial analysis without outside help. She scoffed at the idea that the McPherson contract was an inside deal.
"That's not true," Verna said.
*The original version of this post said McPherson retired April 9 of this year, but he actually retired in April, 2009. PhillyClout apologizes for the error.