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With the heat rising, Doug Oliver exits PGW

Councilman Jim Kenney raised concerns about the soon-to-be mayoral candidate starring in PGW TV commercials.

Doug Oliver.
Doug Oliver.Read more

ADUST-UP about soon-to-be mayoral candidate Doug Oliver's high-profile participation in a PGW television commercial has put an early end to his employment at the publicly-owned utility.

Oliver's exit yesterday came after City Councilman Jim Kenney, who is mulling a run for mayor, went public with complaints about the PGW spokesman appearing in a prime-time television commercial for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP.

PGW's board on Thursday discussed Oliver's future and considered asking him to resign.

Oliver submitted his resignation yesterday, effective at the end of the day, but said he was not forced out of his job.

"This is the decision I made, based upon the optics of how this thing was shaping up," he said.

In his resignation, Oliver wrote that "it has become increasingly apparent how difficult it is" to gear up for his campaign and "simultaneously protect the interests of PGW."

Kenney on Tuesday had a City Hall staffer make a verbal request to the Philadelphia Board of Ethics for an advisory opinion on Oliver's status as a PGW employee and soon-to-be candidate.

Shane Creamer, executive director of the Board of Ethics, this week said his agency could not confirm or deny that it received a request about Oliver.

Kenney said PGW customers are paying to give Oliver valuable "face time," a political advantage that could help him raise his name recognition as he prepares to run for mayor.

Oliver said he has appeared in the LIHEAP commercials for PGW in previous years.

Oliver announced an exploratory committee in November to consider a run for mayor.

He said this week he would resign from PGW at the end of the month and announce his candidacy in February for the May 19 Democratic primary election.

Oliver in October described his plans in a letter to Howard Lebofsky, PGW's ethics officer.

Lebofsky, in a November memo, replied by noting that PGW policy prohibited employees from seeking public office. But Lebofsky added that Oliver's exploratory committee did not "rise to the level" of being a candidate for office.

Oliver worked for PGW from 2004 to 2007 and then joined Mayor Nutter's administration as press secretary, serving from January 2008 to September 2010.

He then returned to PGW.