Knox is talking trash about a Center City District fee

So who is the messiest person in Center City?

Tom Knox believes it must be he - at least based on the $5,600 bill he said he received four months ago from the Center City District.

Knox, a wealthy businessman who may next year take a second shot at a mayoral run, recently joined a lawsuit contending the district's assessments for public services - such as cleaning - are unfair.

A quasi-governmental entity, the district draws its revenue from fees charged on 120 blocks worth of businesses and neighborhoods in Center City. But not everybody pays - and Knox didn't pay at his former Rittenhouse Square residence because it sits just outside the district.

Now that Knox has a new home, though, he has a new bill - and he doesn't like it.

"What frustrates me is the fact that they must think that I am the messiest person in the city, because they want me to pay the highest premium," he said of the $5,600 annual assessment on the $7.5 million condo he bought last year on the 46th floor of Two Liberty Place.

To fight the fee, he is now a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by someone else who says the district's charges are unequally applied: former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Russell M. Nigro.

The suit, filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, names as defendants the district and the City of Philadelphia.

"I have not paid, and I'm not going to," Knox said. "It's just not a fair system, and if I became mayor, I'd be trying to get it realigned." Of course, if he became mayor, Knox might also find that he was suing himself. - Marcia Gelbart

As it turns out, Mayor Nutter has trash on his mind a lot. He campaigned on making the city cleaner and greener, a big challenge in a town where many residents treat the streets like their own personal Dumpsters.

Maybe he should try the personal touch a little more often.

On Thanksgiving, as Nutter was making the rounds handing out free turkeys, he saw a man in West Philadelphia throw a large bag of trash out the window of his vehicle.

Nutter's driver flashed his lights and pulled up alongside the litterer, who stopped, got out of his vehicle, and immediately apologized when he saw the mayor. The driver promised to go back and pick up his trash. - Miriam Hill

Former Board of Revision of Taxes member Joseph Russo says he is not going to let a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling or two decisions from city judges stop him from trying to get his old job back.

Russo is the former BRT board member who, according to the city inspector general, abused his power and interfered with a property assessment to benefit his political patron, former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo.

For that, the city's judges fired Russo in May 2009. He sued to get his job back. He lost that battle in Commonwealth Court and, on Nov. 17 of this year, the state Supreme Court upheld that ruling.

But there he was, suggesting himself as a BRT appointee when the city's judges met Nov. 18 to name two members to the board, which considers property-tax appeals.

The city's judges, led by President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe, were not swayed. Instead of Russo, they chose South Philadelphia real estate agent Barbara Capozzi and Eugene Davey, previously a city assessor. The jobs pay $150 per meeting, with a maximum of $40,000 a year.

Russo says he is taking his fight to federal court.

"For me, this is about principle," he said. "I feel my reputation was tarnished with hearsay and lies." - Miriam Hill