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After 40 days, Nutter orders probe into why firm backed out of running MLK

MAYOR NUTTER's decision yesterday to launch an investigation into the latest messy Philadelphia School District controversy seems like a noble attempt to get to the bottom of the situation.

Mayor Nutter announces that he has assigned the city's chief integrity officer to investigate. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer)
Mayor Nutter announces that he has assigned the city's chief integrity officer to investigate. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer)Read more

MAYOR NUTTER's decision yesterday to launch an investigation into the latest messy Philadelphia School District controversy seems like a noble attempt to get to the bottom of the situation.

But his involvement, the latest development in the continuing saga surrounding Martin Luther King High School, begs the question: What took him so long?

Nutter's announcement came more than a month after Mosaica Turnaround Partners, the company first chosen to run King next year, was apparently bullied out by School Reform Commission Chairman Robert Archie and state Rep. Dwight Evans, who was intent on keeping the school in the hands of a company friendly to him.

That company, Foundations Inc. - which has donated money to Evans and which Archie's law firm has represented - announced last week that it, too, was withdrawing its bid after it was reported that there had been a secret meeting over the issue involving Archie and Evans.

Yesterday, 40 days after that meeting, Nutter acted, calling on his chief integrity officer to investigate. The meeting was first reported publicly last week by the Public School Notebook.

Phil Goldsmith, managing director under former Mayor John Street and former chief executive officer of the district, said that Nutter had to weigh in "because he has to set the moral tone of the city."

"That's what he ran on. You can't sit back and watch this crap going on. This is his appointee," Goldsmith said, referring to Archie. "He's got to do it when it also involves his friends and his appointees."

By calling for the investigation, Nutter is tackling a controversy involving Archie, a longtime friend and supporter.

"I think he needs to show that he's cognizant of it and that he's concerned about it," said political consultant Larry Ceisler. "[If] they do an investigation and nothing comes up, at least he can say he looked into it."

In a letter sent to Archie yesterday, Nutter said he was "particularly concerned about the many unanswered questions surrounding the withdrawal" of Mosaica after King's School Advisory Council (SAC) voted for the company to run the school.

Nutter, who told the Daily News last week that the meeting involving Archie was "strange," spoke with Archie on Sunday. Nutter refused to go into details, other than to say they spoke about why the meeting with Mosaica had taken place.

Nutter instructed Chief Integrity Officer Joan Markman to interview Archie, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, members of her staff and other SRC members. The two charter operators and Evans will also be interviewed, Nutter said.

However, absent from that list are SAC members, who, after demanding that the district honor their first choice, or take King off the turnaround list for next fall, called for an investigation into Archie's actions.

Conchevia Washington, the SAC's chair, said she's become weary of the adult bickering and has decided to concentrate on helping students get through the school year. "We've been dealing with this for over a month," she said. "Whatever Mayor Nutter is looking for, I hope he finds it."

With the parents at the center of the controversy not involved in the investigation, it's unlikely that a full picture will emerge of how a positive community process was destroyed by political bullying.

And according to Goldsmith, Nutter's chief integrity officer may not be enough. He said that an office with subpoena powers - such as the district attorney or U.S. Attorney's Office - needs to get involved to make sure the investigation is done properly.

Milton Street agrees.

"To have someone who reports to you conduct the review is a conflict of interest," Nutter's Democratic primary-election challenger wrote in a letter to the mayor. He said Nutter should let the inspector general, district attorney or city controller handle the investigation.

The situation has also created a rare opportunity for Ackerman - usually the district's lightning rod for criticism - to go on the offensive.

Ackerman, who for weeks had kept a safe distance between herself and the drama, while denying any firsthand knowledge of the meeting, finally admitted over the weekend that Deputy Superintendent Leroy Nunery had briefed her after the private meeting.

Through a spokeswoman, Ackerman said that she then told the SRC members that she was concerned about Mosaica backing out.

But it's also a tricky political dance for Ackerman, who reports to the SRC. With her boss in the hot seat, Ackerman has had to tread softly, so as not to throw Archie under the bus while trying to keep her own hands clean.

Daily News staff writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report