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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Technology's many uses

Thanks to the indictment of state Rep. John Perzel (R-Pa.), we’ve been hearing a lot lately about shady government use of computer systems.

Well, today Bob Warner writes about a longstanding effort by the city’s Board of Ethics to use computing technology to give voters more information.

The board settled a battle between Municipal Court Judge Thomas N. Nocella and contractor Ernesto DeNofa over their failure in 2007 to submit computerized reports of campaign contributions and expenditures.

DeNofa and Nocella both worked for the Appreciation Fund, a political action committee started by the late Councilwoman Carol Ann Campbell. The PAC ignored warnings from the board about producing computerized campaign records and then balked at paying the fines it was assessed.

The PAC allegedly went to great lengths to avoid paying the fines, which totaled $39,000, draining its bank account after it lost a decision in Common Pleas Court about paying the fines.

But the Ethics Board persevered, arguing that DeNofa and Nocella should pay the fines out of their own pockets. Each has agreed to pay $8,220 to settle the dispute. A lawyer for the two has admitted this will help strengthen existing campaign finance laws.

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Every year, city government spends slightly more than $4 billion. Where does all that money come from? More importantly, where does it go? Are we getting the most bang for our tax buck? “It's Our Money” is a joint project between Philadelphia Daily News and WHYY, funded by the William Penn Foundation, designed to answer these questions.




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