DRPA commissioner resigns following Daily News story

A POLITICALLY connected Delaware River Port Authority commissioner appointed by Gov. Wolf has resigned following a Daily News story that delved into his bankruptcies, a so-called "think tank" in Northern Liberties and a network of failed corporations that had sought government contracts.

Whitney White, who worked in the Clinton administration on the advance team that handled presidential travel, tendered his resignation to Wolf, effective Friday, following Wednesday's story about his financial history and his Global Institute for Strategic Investment.

"I thank you for the opportunity to have served the Constitution, People, and Government of Pennsylvania, in a faithful, effective, and honorable manner," White wrote. "I shall again, be available to serve the State of Pennsylvania when called upon."

Kyle Anderson, a DRPA spokesman, referred questions to Wolf's office. Wolf's director of communications, Mark Nicastre, said in an email only that the administration had accepted White's resignation and "will begin work to fill this position." He declined to elaborate.

White, 48, was recommended for the DRPA position by Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, a former state senator from Northeast Philadelphia. Stack spokesman Gary Tuma declined to comment on White's resignation.

The Daily News reported that White's global think tank was actually located in the basement - a/k/a "Suite 1B" - of a Northern Liberties rowhouse, where the city has filed four tax liens for about $14,000 in unpaid property taxes. White said he lives in the house. It is owned by his wife, records show.

White, who has filed for bankruptcy at least four times, also is behind several failed corporations that had apparently tried to buy bio-preferred products and resell them to the federal government at a profit. The companies also are registered at residential addresses.

White answered the phone at a number once listed for EmergeBio. The incorporators of that company include Brian Dougherty, son of Joseph Dougherty, the former Ironworkers union boss who was sentenced this week to 19 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy.

White's business partner, Adrienne Thomas, a lawyer who was an aide to former state Sen. Vince Fumo, has attended at least three DRPA meetings since White was appointed in March. White said he had asked her to attend the meetings.

White could not be reached for comment Friday, but he had previously referred the Daily News to William Sasso, a former DRPA commissioner whom he had described as "my attorney."

Reached Friday, Sasso said, "I don't know anything about that," when asked about White's resignation. He had no further comment.

The DRPA, which operates the PATCO rail line and four toll bridges between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is trying to bounce back from years of cronyism and fiscal mismanagement. In 2012, a New Jersey comptroller report found that DRPA commissioners and others had treated the agency "like a personal ATM." Its $1.6 billion debt currently eats up about half of the annual budget.

The Inquirer reported last year that the DRPA had paid $70,045 to Sasso's law firm, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, to represent him in a federal grand jury investigation. The work was billed at $250 an hour, DRPA's maximum for legal services, the paper reported.

Prosecutors reportedly were interested in how the DRPA had spent massive amounts of money on "economic development" projects unrelated to transportation.

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