How can we stop the next Fumo?
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How can we stop the next Fumo?
Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about how to stop the next Vince Fumo. We know this won’t be the last time a public official flagrantly misuses tax dollars. There has been a lot of debate about Fumo’s relatively short sentence. I don’t know if it was fair. But I do know that fraud and corruption are rarely crimes committed alone. Fumo was able to use public money for enriching himself because far too few people were willing to tell him it was wrong.
Think about it. How does a bully on the playground get operate in immunity? No one stands up to him. Now, Fumo didn’t bully people with physical violence—at least that we know of. Instead, he bullied people with power. One of the reasons that he had so much power was because he controlled vast sums of tax dollars. He was able to deploy that money—which is OUR money—to achieve his desired political ends.
And no one was willing to tell him it was wrong. You only have to look at the names of the more than 250 people who wrote to the judge asking for lenience. It’s a who’s who of local politics. I count a governor, several senators, former judges, and a city councilman among the power brokers willing to go to bat for a convicted felon.
The argument goes like this: Yes, Vince Fumo often misbehaved. He regarded tax dollars and the levers of government as his own personal piggybanks. But he was also incredibly effective. He managed to bring billions of dollars to Philadelphia from Harrisburg and championed many worthy causes. And in South Philadelphia, ordinary citizens were happy the streets were clean. So, we should forgive the sins of Fumo and mourn the loss of the financial windfall that accompanied his time in power.
Of course, many of the people who wrote to the judge had a selfish reason to back Fumo. He wasn’t the only one who benefited from the corruption. He generated millions of dollars in fees for lobbyists, lawyers, and steered countless grants to favored non-profits. No, Fumo did not get rich alone. He was able to manipulate the political process because he had allies. And those allies were rewarded handsomely—with our tax dollars. Why blow a whistle on the process if it’s benefiting you?
So, how do we stop the next Fumo? People have to start saying no. Of course, that can be a dangerous thing. If you're a business and a lawmaker threatens your livelihood unless you play ball-- which is
exactly what Fumo did to Peco when he got them to write a checkfor $17 million-- how do you say no?
It's important to keep in mind that saying "no" is possible. Verizon did it. As detailed here (link to Sunday piece?) the head of Verizon managed to push back on Fumo's demands. It's not easy, especially in the real world.
Employees who are ordered to pick up dry cleaning or do political work on state time might have a hard time confronting their boss about ethical lapses.
So how do we stop the next Fumo? Have you confronted ethics conflicts or had to deal with politicians who offer quid pro quos? How can this culture be stopped? Send your stories or ideas.
How about a 2 party system for a start?— tr88- For starter's, no one trusts the Inspector General's offices in the State and in the City. They report directly to the Governor and the Mayor. They are also steered to do whatever a politician wants of them, to achieve political retaliation. Then their is the biggest joke of all, the State Police. They are an organization seperated from society. It is the tightest group known to law enforcement, and you do what your told by your commander. So who guards the henhouse, if we abolish these two agencies, what about local police. Empanel a group of the ten most outstanding citizens, in each county, let them act as headhunter's, for the best leader out there. As long as the police know their commander in chief is non-political, then maybe we have a chance. Get rid of the layer's of police forces, we can't afford them, and we cannot trust them.— FJG JR
How about term limits?— georgel- One place to start is to shine a bright light on the dealings of the 250 people who wrote letters in support of Fumo's light sentence. The public officials in particular should be held accountable to the public for their ethical 'flexibility'. One way to do that would be for news articles to consistently identify their Fumo support whenever they're in the news for anything that involves money or legislation. The public needs steady reminders about the teams these people really play for. Officially they are supposed to deal in the best interest of their constituents but we now have very strong evidence that they put other interests ahead of the public's interest. That's been said over and over but people still don't get it. That's why corrupt politicians are elected over and over. People really don't understand why corruption is a problem. It sounds like there are many more shoes to drop from the official investigations, and that makes it interesting, but in the meantime we need more of the good old fashioned journalism that help expose Fumo in the first place. The casino deal in particular is a blaring example of a major major issue that local media has lightly investigated. The squabble in Phila has been covered but the underlying issues--the dynamics that brought this to our doorstep--have been shrugged off. There's a lot of hard work to be done there. In addition, Philadelphia should join forces with international watchdog groups that focus on corruption in other countries. We have a lot in common with developing nations that are undercut by corruption and the more I read about this, the more I am shocked to recognize similar problems in our city/state/country.— MB6
- Pure and simple; You can't stop the next Fumo! Philadelphia politics are so dirty, so awash in fraud, corruption, lies, secret meetings, alliances and watching each others back. When you're in this dark profession, you swim in the same cess pool. These people hate each other, yet, they will write the most heart warming letters for one another when justice comes a knocking. I will never look at Rendell in the same light after reading his letter praising Fumo. That would be like him praising the Dallas Cowboys Team on DNL. They are all dishonest, lying frauds, milking the taxpayers for every dime they have, ciphoning a little for themselves while putting on a good front about how special they all are. Buckwalters early Xmas present to Fumo is just the beginning. Get used to it!! We deserve them!!— younged
- Look at how the paper's inform us. Look the money controlled? P Murphy for example mishandled finances, no outcry from the papers, and the money keeps going around. His voting record is not great, just good enough to keep him in power. We need more honest leaders, he is not one, nor should we settle for the likes of Fumo. http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=60031— Fisher
- The system of legislative grants and WAMS has to stop. Even though the vast majority of this money goes for good works, the process plants the seeds of corruption. And this is the time to do it, when the state is in a budget crisis. Fumo glided for years because he passed around money and forced good people to turn their heads to his criminal side. Just because he supported gay rights, belonged to the ACLU and worked a soup kitchen does not excuse bad behavior. The people who wrote those letters for them most part were the enablers who allowed this behavior to continue unchecked for many years. And the first person who should call to abolish the WAMS and this way of doing business is the guy whose hand was raised on election night by the architect of corruption.....Senator Larry Farnese....— PaulDeon
- Here is the link to Transparency International (http://www.transparency-usa.org/index.html), a watch-dog group which "works at home and abroad to combat corruption and promote transparency and integrity in government, business and development assistance." They offer "toolkits" to combat corruption (http://www.transparency-usa.org/news/tools.html), particularly, "Tools to Promote Transparency in Local Government". They believe, "increased transparency at the local level can help in combating urban poverty and enhancing civic engagement. Promoting transparency through the application of a range of public education, public participation, e-governance, ethics and institutional reform instruments can: Reduce citizen apathy...; Make service delivery contribute to poverty reduction...; Increase city revenues by increasing citizen confidence that the taxes collected are being used to improve the city...; Raise ethical standards by enhancing the quality of political and professional leadership and instilling a sense of public service among elected, appointed and potential officials." (Quoted from the Foreword. FYI I'm having trouble with the links today but there is a PDF with very good info. It contains: Assessment and Monitoring Tools; Tools to Improve Access to Information & Public Participation; Tools to Promote Ethics, etc.)— MB6
- The number for the President's Comment Line is 1-202-456-1111. Drop a dime on "Vince the Prince"...ask for more charges to be brought. Send him to the worst Federal hell hole possible and then have the new trails there...NOT CORRUPT KILLADELPHIA! I bet that would make alot of "CHUMPTED" U.S. Attorneys happy :-) We can not let the corruption stand and call ourselves AMERICANs. Make a call...see if President Obama lives up to his hype. Then when Mr. OPM is looking at alot more years in the Federal Penn...he'll roll over on Rendell and all the other "Elected Thieves and Betrayors". The U.S. Attorney General should treat this like one big "RECO" case. 12 days for each of the 137 Federal Convictions! Ladies and Gentilmen...THE MOON, HOLDS IT'S NOISE WHEN IT PASSES OVER "KILLADELPHIA", BECAUSE IT STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN OF CORRUPTION! Call the President's Comments Line...He's got to Stop this Corruption! The U.S. Federal Justice System just proved it can't!— John Law
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