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Monday, March 16, 2009
Nutter on Fumo verdict: "A stunning conclusion"

Mayor Nutter commented on the verdict as he left his City Hall office to attend a ceremony for slain police officer John Pawlowski, who was shot to death 30 days ago.

"It's certainly kind of a stunning conclusion to what has been a pretty stunning trial. ... You know, the jury has spoken. We are a nation, state and city of laws. All of us are accountable to the law, especially those of us in public service who have, of course, a higher standard we all have to adhere to. ... It's just kind of a bit of a surprise, I guess. ... I certainly wish Sen. Fumo and his family the best in these very trying and difficult times. He in the true sense of public service certainly did many things beneficial to Philadelphia and our region and the Commonwealth. But I think that today's jury verdict is further evidence that no matter how much good you do in public life, no matter even what your good intentions may be, none of us, none of us, are above the law, and we'll all be held accountable for things that we do."

Nutter did not think Fumo's criminal actions would hurt Philadelphia's image.

"It's certainly not helpful, but I think the citizens of this city are smart enough to understand that what an individual may do is certainly not indicative of what generally goes on in the city of Philadelphia." The mayor also pointed out that Sen. Fumo was a state official, not a city official.

So what is Fumo's legacy now?

"It is not for me to write histories or legacies. ... This situation is certainly not good for those of us in public office and how the public thinks about people who are in high elected office. ... I would say, the system worked. It did what it was supposed to do. It held an official accountable."

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

Posted by Marcia Gelbart @ 12:31 PM  Permalink | 29 comments
Comments   
Posted 12:39 PM, 03/16/2009
Nezhy
Nutter, you're clueless. Go get our tax money to save this city. Lurie that crook owes 8million, and you're closing libraries. You're Mayor Street with a haircut.
Posted 12:47 PM, 03/16/2009
CleanupPhilly
Perhaps Nutter needs a reminder that Vince was charged for things involving large profile Philly non-profits and that Vince victimized Philly business for shakedowns. Without further campaign finance and ethics reform with teeth, Philly's image as a pay-to-play town is more confirmed than ever.
Posted 12:48 PM, 03/16/2009
CleanupPhilly
A better response would have been "Philly needs to do more in the area of campaign finance and ethics reform, and I've proposed bills to Council that I plan to re-introduce and pass this year."
Posted 12:48 PM, 03/16/2009
leemarcu
Nutter is a puppet...
Posted 12:48 PM, 03/16/2009
davesju93
Mayor Nutter: about what are you so stunned? That he committed the crimes? That he actually got held accountable?
Posted 12:48 PM, 03/16/2009
tonyS
Nutter SHOULD have said: "The crook got what he deserved, and it's a terrible blemish on the City and Citizens of Philadelphia."
Posted 12:52 PM, 03/16/2009
thebaron
Huh??? Does the Mayor live on Earth? Fumo was a crook...137 times over, and who know swhat else he go away with already.
Posted 01:01 PM, 03/16/2009
CleanupPhilly
Nutter needs to publicly acknowledge that the FBI can't be the state and city Board of Ethics even as Nutter helped to create the Philly Board of Ethics, and deserves credit for that. The FBI can't be the City Controller, and shouldn't be the arm of city government that finally performs audits as required by law, or the FBI is coming after officials in city next.
Posted 01:04 PM, 03/16/2009
Jethro Heiko
The Mayor caved on the slots parlors this past Friday-slots parlors that are the result of Vincent Fumo, the architect of the slots law. Many of the problems this city faces are due to the acceptance of corruption by residents, organizations and businesses in our city.
Posted 01:12 PM, 03/16/2009
CleanupPhilly
Fumo also deserves credit for the strip clubs and the layout of the Delaware River waterfront where he had a chance to impact the local landscape. Instead he chose to go old-school, shaking down business to fund his mini-government nonprofit instead of doing things right and trying to fix the city. Who's naive now, Vince? Who is naive about how you get things done?
Comment removed.
Posted 01:30 PM, 03/16/2009
CleanupPhilly
Nutter should have said, "it's a new day, a new way."
Posted 01:35 PM, 03/16/2009
amdela
none of us are above the law? i beg to differ. the phila archdioscese is above the law and so is lynne abraham for aiding and abetting their protection of child molesters. bush cheney rumsfeld and even scooter libby are above the law for war crime and crimes against humanity plus raiding the national treasury...when do we see justice? fumo didnt pay off the right people....the republican justice dept came after him like they went after street and only got mariano....if the republicans had gone after the bush regime with such gusto bush would be in prison where he belongs. i wonder if fumo and mariano will be cell buddies?
Posted 01:40 PM, 03/16/2009
PhillyS1980
Nutter wishes Fumo "THE BEST." Yeah, cuz he slept with him as well. All politicians in Philly ARE corrupt Michael. The only nitwits who believe you are the newcomers with stars in their eyes.
Posted 01:41 PM, 03/16/2009
artofnoise
Sorry Mayor Nutter, unfortunately,it is indicative of what generally goes on in the City of Philadelphia. Very sad, but true. Hopefully, this verdict will wake some of the politicians up. But, sadly, I don't think it will. They will just work harder at hiding the "dirt" that they do.
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