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SARAH J. GLOVER / Staff Photographer

State Rep. John M. Perzel's office at 7518 Frankford Ave. in the Northeast. "I have never used public funds for my personal or political gain," said the former House speaker, who has represented the 172d District for 30 years.

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READER FEEDBACK

Perzel's fall from political spotlight to shadows

By Mario F. Cattabiani

Inquirer Staff Writer

HARRISBURG - At 59, John Michael Perzel has lived a life of contradictions.

He was a brilliant political strategist who had to repeat the 10th grade. He was among the state's most prolific fund-raisers but uncomfortable in crowds.

He went from being one of the most recognizable state politicians - the speaker of the House with aspirations for the governor's mansion - to little-heard-from back bencher two years ago.

Now Perzel, who serves on the board of one of the nation's leading private-prison companies, begins a fight to stay out of jail.

State prosecutors yesterday charged him with 82 criminal counts in a scandal involving multimillion-dollar software programs paid for by taxpayers but allegedly used for political campaigning.

Perzel's road to political prominence started in 1978 when the former dishwasher and maitre d', the son of a waitress and a Linotype operator, captured a seat in the state House representing a blue-collar neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia.

He steadily rose through the GOP House ranks to become majority leader in 1994 and speaker in 2003. For a dozen years, he had a hand in every critical piece of legislation coming out of the Capitol.

During his heyday, Perzel was an in-your-face, bare-knuckled street-fighter politician.

"He had a steely, Philly street-smart toughness about him," said G. Terry Madonna, a political analyst and pollster at Franklin and Marshall College. "He was a wheeler and dealer of preeminent magnitude."

A longtime Democratic foe, State Rep. Bill DeWeese, another former House speaker, once called Perzel "a political pugilist."

How pugnacious?

Look no further than an episode that is part of Philadelphia political lore.

In 2001, Perzel decided on a bold gambit for the state to take over the Philadelphia Parking Authority in a Republican power grab. The move came after a meeting in which then-Mayor John F. Street paid more attention to his BlackBerry than to the House majority leader. What Street did, in Perzel's mind, was show a lack of respect.

Two years later, Perzel became speaker after the death of his longtime mentor, Matthew Ryan (R., Delaware).

When Perzel took the gavel, he promised to be a bipartisan head of the lower chamber. And to the chagrin of his party, he lived up to that in many respects, allowing major pieces of Gov. Rendell's agenda to become law.

At the height of his power, Perzel jockeyed for the title of Philadelphia's most influential state legislator with then-Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, a Democrat.

Throughout his career, Perzel has funneled millions in state projects to his 172d District in the Northeast and continues to live in a modest home on Brous Avenue.

A community center in Mayfair and a building on the campus of Holy Family University in Torresdale are named after Perzel.

Perzel and his wife, the former Sheryl Stokes, were an item in high school, broke up, and went on to have failed marriages before reuniting. She had two children from a previous marriage, and together they have two sons. All are grown.

His wife is battling multiple sclerosis.

In the public's eye, Perzel's stock began plunging after the debacle that was the 2005 legislative pay raise.

Perzel helped orchestrate the pay grab and for months was unapologetic even in the face of fervent public backlash.

Then the political gaffes started coming. In trying to defend the raises, he said that tattoo artists in Philadelphia made more than legislators, and that even immigrant cow milkers in Lancaster County made between $50,000 and $55,000. Reporters were unable to find any who did.

In January 2007, after Democrats seized a one-vote edge in the 203-member House, Perzel was removed as speaker and relegated to rank-and-file status for the first time in two decades.

His GOP colleagues created for him the post of speaker emeritus, but that ceremonial label has since been dropped.

Since that point, Perzel has remained far from the political spotlight, rarely seen outside his district, rarely making headlines.

Until yesterday's news.

Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990 or mcattabiani@phillynews.com.

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Comments

Posted 09:50 AM, 11/13/2009

Esquisite

Wow! No comments? That's amazing.

Posted 10:05 AM, 11/13/2009

louie45

perzel and preski can now share a cell together

Posted 10:12 AM, 11/13/2009

whuttameye

To his credit for what it's worth. He's the only politician that's ever sent someone to knock on my door and ask if everything in neighborhood was okay or if I had any issues. And it wasn't even election season.

Posted 10:42 AM, 11/13/2009

JFM557

To be a politician is to be a crook to many favors to to many people

Posted 10:49 AM, 11/13/2009

puddydawg

Perzel is a good man for the Northeast. He's done a lot for the area. I also find it funny that one of the few powerful local Republican's is targeted for corruption. You can't swing a dead cat in this town with out hitting a corrupt politician.

Posted 11:07 AM, 11/13/2009

bgpoppapump

I don't have a problem with what he does. ACORN does it for the brother's, we need our own man. Like Tip O'Neill said, all politics is local. F Corbett.

Posted 11:41 AM, 11/13/2009

Esquisite

@puddydawg: I guess Perzel was as good for the Northeast as Fumo was for South Philly, huh? Fumo's done a lot too. I didn't hear too many Republican sympathizers for Fumo.

Posted 12:04 PM, 11/13/2009

extremeteam

Politicians should be "side-jobs." These guys make robbery a full-time job. Why even vote anymore.

Posted 12:07 PM, 11/13/2009

John Law

Why is Corbett being allowed to use the job he's repeatedly failed at to get the job he's not qualified for? It looks like this "Bonus Gate" affair and the pace of it's prosecution are being timed to help get Corbett free press for his election bid for Governor. We're paying for him and his staff to run for Governor...and then if he fails, he's still drawing a pay check, etc as a lame State's Attorney General! Why are we and our legislature letting him to get away with that? What about the Parole Board Corruption he's been told about, with evidence, for years now? What about the "Rendell Murders"? What about his repeated betrayal of public trust? Who investigates the Attorney General? Who does he answer to... by his own repeated lack of action... it's not the good, decent families of Pennsylvania! Why isn't the U.S. Attorney General (Eric Holder) investigating Tom Corbett!?

Posted 05:50 PM, 11/13/2009

mayfairforlife

John has helped thousands of people in the community both D and R, and has done everything he could to help out mayfair and the 172nd district. Corbett is so corrupt its not even funny. Do the research on the guy. When and Why he brought these charges is so obvious, just as to how he formed the "child predators unit" , TO GRAB HEADLINES AND INCREASE STATEWIDE NAME RECOGNITION FOR THE GOVERNORS RACE NEXT FALL.