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Clout: Councilman 'ate it' on hoverboard, says he's fine

Allan Domb takes a spill; debunking rumors about Carpenters Union; KYW’s Mike Dunn lands Kenney admin job.

EVERYTHING WAS going smoothly last Friday on the third floor of City Hall. Freshman Councilman Allan Domb was just cruising around on a hoverboard - as only the "Condo King" can.

But if you caught Mike Tyson's recent experience on his two-wheeled menace-maker, you know that happens next.

No, it didn't explode . . . yet. Domb totally wiped out! Loudly.

We're told that some Council staffers actually came out of their offices to investigate the source of the thud.

"He ate it in front of Councilman [David] Oh's office," a City Hall source said, adding by way of further description: "He just went right on his ass."

We immediately contacted Domb to (1) ensure that the real estate broker didn't break anything in the fall, and (2) establish Clout as Philly's preeminent chronicler of City Hall shenanigans, particularly hoverboard wipeouts involving elected officials.

Domb, good sport that he is, called us back and said it was no big deal. He'd been using a hoverboard for the last two months and doing well, thank you very much (see the above Pipeline Philly photo from Billy Penn). Until he tried to get fancy.

"It was my own fault," Domb conceded. "I was trying to go really fast and jump off, which you can't really do. I found that out."

As did most of the third-floor staff.

Think of Domb as a gymnast - work with us here - who had a great routine, then botched the dismount. He just failed to stick the landing is all. (Thanks to friend-of-Clout and local photographer Paige Ozaroski Haedo, a former All-American Division I gymnast, for her help with the terminology here.)

"I was fine," Domb said. "No problem."

Nor will he be deterred by one colossal tumble. When we asked Domb if he planned to get back on the horse, the Condo King didn't need to think it over.

"Absolutely," he said.

Yeah, we meant hoverboard, not horse. But they're quite similar. Riding them is fun, but trying to go really fast and jump off is never recommended.

Also, can someone pull last Friday's footage from the third-floor security cameras and send it over? We'd like to take a look at that. Thanks.

Nothing to see here . . .

A persistent rumor is swirling around Philadelphia like that snow squall the other night. It's about a supposed leadership change at the Carpenters union. And it's not just some guy on a bar stool running his mouth; people who are typically in the loop with this stuff seem to be taking it seriously.

The specifics depend on whom you talk to, but the gist of the rumor is this: Union boss Ed Coryell Sr. and his son, business agent Ed Jr., are both out, and folks from the international Carpenters union - the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America - have temporarily assumed control of the day-to-day operations of the city union.

One problem: "It's bulls---," said a source familiar with the situation. "It's just not true."

We left a message at the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters on Thursday, and Coryell Sr.'s assistant, Doris Getner, assured us that the rumor is false.

"That is just someone spreading malicious rumors about us, but it is not true," Getner said. "Those rumors are false, that the leadership at the Carpenters union has changed."

Which raised even more interesting questions Thursday: Who is spreading the rumors? And why?

We didn't hear back from the union's international headquarters in Washington, but this has all the markings of a carpenter-vs.-carpenter dispute. If we can get to the bottom of it, we'll report back.

Mayor gets ex-KYW pro

Have you heard? Mayor Jim Kenney has hired Mike Dunn, the former City Hall bureau chief for KYW Newsradio.

Dunn is one of two deputy communications directors. He'll be working with communications director Lauren Hitt, who steadfastly refuses to follow us on Twitter for reasons that have never been articulated but, in all honesty, are probably valid because she seems like a reasonable person.

Anyway . . . Dunn. Good hire, Mayor. Straight-shooter. Stand-up guy.

"I think this position is a good fit for me as I shift to a public-relations role after many years as a radio reporter," Dunn emailed. "And having covered Jim Kenney for 20 years, I'm looking forward to being on the inside as his administration gets off the ground."

Dunn will oversee communications for several departments, including Finance, Budget, Office of Property Assessment, Law, and Streets.

And did you know that he wrote a novel? It's called Lord Bart and the Leagues of SIP and ALE, and is described as a "baseball steampunk adventure."

We would read that.

Wanna bet?

Indicted state Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been talking about running for reelection. This will never happen. Bank on it. In fact, we're willing to put our money where our mouth is on this one. Email if you're interested in wagering a steak dinner at the Palm, the Official Steak Provider of Clout.

- William Bender

On Twitter: @wbender99

Email: benderw@phillynews.com

Phone: 215-854-5255