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DN Editorial: DROP: Two to go

WE HAVE KNOWN City Councilman Frank DiCicco to be a dedicated lawmaker and a savvy operator, particularly in his championing of a citizens' plan for the Central Delaware Waterfront. So the fact that he has done the right thing and announced that he won't be running to retain his Council seat because of his participation in the DROP program isn't a complete surprise, but he should be lauded nonetheless.

WE HAVE KNOWN City Councilman Frank DiCicco to be a dedicated lawmaker and a savvy operator, particularly in his championing of a citizens' plan for the Central Delaware Waterfront. So the fact that he has done the right thing and announced that he won't be running to retain his Council seat because of his participation in the DROP program isn't a complete surprise, but he should be lauded nonetheless.

DiCicco's approach to the blow-back on elected officials' entering the controversial retirement program - which gives them a big pension payout and a chance to exploit a loophoole that would allow them to retire for a day and return to office - was not defensive entitlement like so many of his colleagues, but what appeared to be an honest attempt to see if there were fixes to the program that would satisfy critics. In the end, he said he didn't have the stomach for the fight to get re-elected.

He did the right thing.

Our only question is, after all the battles over this controversial perk, why do the last two DROP participants, Marian Tasco and Frank Rizzo, remain the only members who do have the stomach for it? *