Posted on Fri, Nov. 6, 2009
As chief investigator of the Police Advisory Commission, Wellington Stubbs II sleuths to uncover police misconduct.
But last week, Stubbs found himself at the center of his own misconduct scandal, when City Controller Alan Butkovitz accused him of violating city residency requirements by living in New Jersey and failing to fully disclose outside income as the city requires.
Yesterday, Stubbs, through his attorney, vowed to fight the accusations when he attends a still-unscheduled disciplinary hearing at which he faces termination.
"We deny [the charges] categorically," his attorney, Brian J. Zeiger, said.
Butkovitz accused Stubbs of maintaining his primary residence in South Jersey, noting that investigators saw him at least 14 times at a Camden County home owned by his wife.
Stubbs, a city employee since 2002, says he lives in Southwest Philadelphia.
The controller also reported that Stubbs' vehicle has New Jersey tags and insurance, that he receives mail in New Jersey and that he certified New Jersey as his primary residence on mortgage-refinancing paperwork.
He also held a second job in New Jersey for seven years for which he listed the Garden State as his home state, according to the report.
"The violations are so egregious and so accumulative that it's just completely implausible to make an argument that he forgot [to report the outside income]," Butkovitz said.
Still, Zeigler maintains that Stubbs is guilty only of "being a good father" to his two elementary-school age children, including a special-needs daughter.
"He and his wife are separated. He's taking care of his family, who live in New Jersey [with their mother]," Zeiger said. "He goes and visits the kids often - that's normal; there's nothing illegal about that. That's what we want people to do in our society."
Zeiger acknowledged that Stubbs' name is on some New Jersey records, but only because his children live there. Stubbs also has utility bills proving his residency in Southwest Philly, he added.
The Controller's Office gave its findings to the city Managing Director's Office for review. City officials didn't respond to requests for comment yesterday.
Stubbs' case is one of 20 residency investigations the Controller's Office has conducted in the past year, spokesman Harvey Rice said.
Ten remain under investigation, four were deemed unfounded, five resulted in terminations and one (Stubbs' case) is listed as pending, Rice added.
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