City should pay ex-cons - finally
Ten years after workers were screwed by a politically connected contractor and then the city, theyre finally getting paid.
GOOD NEWS. Ten years after workers were screwed by a politically connected contractor and then the city, they're finally getting paid.
In case you missed the columns I've written about the group I've dubbed the "Littlepage 40," in 2003 the LP Group 2, a company owned by Garnett Littlepage, hired a bunch of ex-cons to take down blighted buildings around the city.
After the city's Labor Standards Unit cited him for failing to pay the workers a prevailing wage, the city was supposed to hold Littlepage's payments until he paid them the difference.
But that didn't happen - or maybe it did. Who knows? Based on the bumbling spectacle at a hearing last week, it's hard to tell what's what, except that if the average Philadelphian handled their money the way the city does, they'd be broke. Oh wait . . .
Let me explain: A few minutes into a committee hearing called by Councilmen James Kenney and Mark Squilla, a miracle happened. Senior city Law Department attorney Michelle Flamer said that after some poking around, she discovered that the city - ta-da - has the money to pay the workers.
Say what? If I could read the thought bubble over Kenney's soon-to-explode head, it would have been short and sweet: "WTF?"
"It really does give you cause for pause . . . what's going on?" Kenney said.
Good question. City officials have insisted for years that they paid Littlepage in full for the work. Even if they wanted to pay the workers the $188,000 owed them - which they didn't - they said they'd have to take it up with Littlepage.
As recently as last month, City Solicitor Shelley Smith repeated the "too bad, so sad" defense. Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald, suggested the guys get a lawyer.
But then moments into last Tuesday's hearing, the money to pay the guys miraculously appeared. Flamer said their previous belief that they did not have the money was, well, wrong. She apparently discovered upward of $300,000 in an account somewhere.
The committee members were stunned. The ex-cons who attended couldn't believe what they were hearing.
Perritti DiVirgilio, the director of the Labor Standards Unit, told the committee that the day before, he had written a letter to the chairman of the Board of Labor Standards requesting that the workers be paid.
The committee, while bewildered, all agreed the workers should be paid immediately.
Mark Zecca, a former city attorney who represented the Labor Standards Unit and who testified, said nothing should keep the workers from getting what's always been owed them.
The workers were ecstatic. As I've said, this is life-changing money for these ex-cons still struggling to get their lives together.
One guy talked about finally being able to get a car to make it easier to get to work. Another talked about paying bills he's behind on.
"This is all we ever wanted," said Vernon Ray, a former employee of LP Group 2 who trained the ex-cons. "For 10 years, this is all we've asked for, to be paid what was owed us."
But Ray, who's been leading the battle, said he won't celebrate until the city actually puts the checks in the worker's hands.
Already, he told me yesterday, he's hearing some noise about the city holding more hearings before it pays the workers. Littlepage still insists he was exempt from paying workers a prevailing wage. At the hearing Tuesday, he said the city still owes him money.
If city officials want to drag their feet some more, they could hold up the money while Littlepage fights the city. But I'm hoping they finally realize it's time to do right by these guys.
Enough is enough.
Pay up. Today.
Phone: 215-854-5943
On Twitter: @NotesFromHel