You gotta love Seth.
According to today's Daily News:
A report released yesterday by the city inspector general showed that when Jones left the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation to run for office, he took over the lease for his company car.
...
PCDC is a nonprofit entity that receives city, state and federal money, which it lends to neighborhood small businesses and start-ups.
...
But outgoing Inspector General Seth Williams said he hoped that the next administration would take a close look at quasi-government agencies like PCDC.
"It is clear to me that the next administration would be very prudent to review the number of quasi-government agencies that we have, many of which do very good work," Williams said. "We need to analyze the manner in which we allocate funds and how those funds are spent."
Mayor-elect Michael Nutter did not return a call for comment. He has named a new inspector general as part of his administration.
I am sure the new OIG selected by Mayor Nutter will do a good job, but this makes me sad Seth is leaving. I have no doubt he is going to be a great DA, but this is just one of the many things Seth did as OIG to prove that he was no politically-appointed hack.
After all, Curtis Jones is a part of the Fattah camp which was more friendly with Mayor Street than not. As someone who was appointed by Street, and is running for election for DA, were he a hack, he'd of probably kept quiet.
But he's not and you gotta love him for doing his job with integrity, regardless of the risk of political fall-out from Fattah or remaining members of the Street camp (if such a thing ever really existed).
I saw the story about Seth's
I saw the story about Seth's IG investigation of Jones and the PCDC last night on the television news. I applauded.
What's extra-astonishing in the IG office looking into the propriety of Jones's campaign interactions with the PCDC aren't Jones's connections, but that Jones is an incoming councilman, presumably with a four-year term ahead of him. It would be one thing if there were dirt on Carol Campbell or Matt McClure. But to call out a soon-to-be-sitting councilman for how we got there? Amazing.
Seth Williams's call to look closely at the quasi-government agencies is spot on. I believe that comparatively, very little meaningful corruption happens within city government itself -- that kind of patronage is a shell of what it was, unless you're a Republican at the Parking Authority -- but is at the seams of the government and the private sector, and public and private funds and projects. CDCs, nonprofits, businesses who work with the city -- that's where the real bodies are buried.
I hope that Seth's parting shot will help the new IG's office get off to a running start.