Supreme Court nixes appeal to DROP 3 incumbents from ballot
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a group of voters seeking to remove from the May 17 primary election ballot three candidates who have or are now participating in the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a group of voters seeking to remove from the May 17 primary election ballot three candidates who have or are now participating in the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan.
That means City Commission Chairwoman Marge Tartaglione and Councilwoman Marian Tasco, both Democrats, and Republican Councilman Frank Rizzo are free to run for re-election.
The court affirmed the March 23 ruling by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Jimmy Lynn that the three candidates can remain on the ballot.
Justice Thomas Saylor issued a dissenting statement, joined by Chief Justice Ron Castille, that went to the heart of the case: elected officials signing up for DROP, running for re-election, retiring for one day to collect a six-figure payout and then returning to the city payroll.
That's what Tartaglione did in 2008 and what Tasco and Rizzo are expected to do on Dec. 30, if they are re-elected.
Saylor wrote that those "supposed 'retirements' amount to a mere pretense, or sham, designed solely to obtain the lump-sum DROP benefit involved and then to continue on in the same position as before."
The court, in its ruling, left open the possibility that the candidates could seek a court order to make the challengers pay their legal bills in these cases.
The challengers claimed the candidates had violated the "irrevocable commitment" they made to retire when the entered DROP but then ran for re-election.
Lynn rejected that as "absurd and tortured thinking" when he ruled against the challengers. Lynn cited the opinion of two city solicitors who said the retire-for-a-day option was legal.
Tartaglione collected $288,136 from DROP. Tasco is expected to collect $478,057 and Rizzo will receive $194,517.
The program allows city employees to set a retirement date up to four years in the future, with pension payments made during that time into an interest-bearing account while they're still on the payroll. When they retire, they can collect the DROP payment in a lump sum and start receiving pension payments.