August 4-10, 2005

political notebook

Better Watch Out

by Mary F. Patel

Two and a half months after Philadelphia NAACP president J. Whyatt Mondesire announced the NAACP was withdrawing its 1996 civil rights lawsuit against the city, the fate of the Integrity and Accountability Office (IAO) is still undecided.

The NAACP, the lead plaintiff in the case, filed the suit after a federal investigation revealed that police officers in the 39th District were framing alleged drug dealers before beating and robbing them. After the arrests and convictions of the offending officers and millions paid out by the city in fines, the court ordered ongoing police monitoring as part of the settlement, which resulted in the IAO.

U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell oversees the IAO reports and presides over the settlement.

Last May Mondesire said that the IAO was no longer useful because the police climate had changed under the leadership of Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson and that he was concerned about high legal costs. He suggested police behavior could be better monitored by the Police Advisory Commission.

Another plaintiff in the case was the Police-Barrio Relations Project, whose members cannot be located — which is a problem for the court. Essentially, the case is now between the NAACP and the city, although media outlets have been getting the public interested.

Recently, NAACP attorneys and city officials met in Judge Dalzell's chambers to discuss the suit. At that meeting, according to NAACP attorney Hugh Clark, Judge Dalzell wanted the parties to come back with some proposals before he made any decisions.

Clark said that one suggestion made was that the IAO will continue to monitor the situation, but the attorneys would be eliminated to save the expense.

Currently, there has been no IAO director since the departure of Ellen Green-Ceisler earlier this year. Mayor John Street has not yet filled the vacancy.

Judge Dalzell has called for another meeting in the fall.

Meanwhile, Mondesire is busy with his own plans. He is seriously considering running against U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah next year and is in the process of forming his campaign committee.

A September fundraiser in Center City is in the works. If he runs, the publisher of the Philadelphia Sunday Sun must give up his presidency of the NAACP and his position on the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations.

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No Debt Here
Seth Williams' fundraiser at Finnigan's Wake last week was billed as a "pay off the debt" party but it could very well have been fundraiser for Williams' ambitions to run again in 2009.

Williams lost the Democratic primary for district attorney last May to incumbent Lynne Abraham, receiving 44 percent of the vote.

"We ran an issues-oriented campaign," said Williams to the hundred or so guests gathered. "We stayed away from race baiting."

During his campaign, Williams pushed for an anti-crime partnership between the community, police, courts and legislators and a focus on rehabilitating repeat offenders.

"But now I will be busy practicing law and working on issues that affect young African-American men. I intend to be active in local and state politics, including working on getting a new mayor elected," he said.

Some of Williams's supporters at the event included City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell; state Reps. Tommy Blackwell, Louise Bishop, Marie Lederer and Mark Cohen; F.O.P. official Ken Rocks; and Transport Workers Union COPE directors Jim McBride and Randy Robinson. Wading into the Democratic scene was Republican district attorney candidate Louis Schwartz, who will face Abraham in November.

The host committee was comprised of an interesting group of mahoffs, including Mayor Street and U.S. Rep. and Democratic Party Chairman Bob Brady. Traditionally, party leadership supports the incumbent and Street and Brady supported Abraham.

The mayor didn't show up, but his son, Sharif, did, fresh on the heels of his own fundraiser last week. Williams said he heard that Abraham's campaign staff was calling around asking people not to attend.

"We don't stop anyone from going anywhere," responded Abraham's campaign manager, Eleanor Dezzi.

Dan McCaffery, a pro-bono attorney for the Democratic City Committee, attended the debt party although he supported Abraham in the primary. "I checked with the chairman about coming tonight and he said that it was fine to help pay off Seth's debt," said McCaffery, who served with Williams as an assistant D.A. under Abraham.

Williams said his debt was about $20,000, but his last campaign finance report showed an ending surplus of $8,874.65 with no unpaid debts and obligations.

Dezzi said Williams isn't telling the truth about his debt.

So, if Williams is stocking up for next time — which he obviously is — he may be facing McCaffery in the 2009 Democratic primary for D.A.

"I have been approached by union officials and ward leaders about running," said McCaffery. He stressed he would only run for an open seat.