City ethics initiative passes in landslide

About 87 percent of voters expressed dissatisfaction with the ethics of Philadelphia politics in Tuesday's local elections.

The city voted in favor of a proposed amendment to the Philadelphia City Charter that limits the size of contracts awarded to campaign contributors.

Christopher Sheridan, policy director for nonpartisan political watchdog group the Committee of Seventy, said this marks the largest margin of approval for a city ballot question in recent history.

Sheridan said progressive areas -- like University City -- and more conservative communities voted similarly on the bill, a rarity he attributed to the issue's broad-based support from local interest groups.

Though there was no organized opposition to the bill, several individuals distributed anti-amendment cards to voters on Tuesday.

The new amendment prevents individuals or businesses that have made sizable political donations from receiving professional-service contracts from the city.

It applies only to contracts for which there is no bidding process and mandates disclosing these contracts to the public.

Before the amendment became law yesterday, politicians could legally grant no-bid contracts to private companies that were also major campaign contributors.

This so-called "pay-to-play" practice has been the subject of a number of recent FBI investigations, which have led to the conviction of more than a dozen Philadelphia politicians in the last year.

The FBI probes and the recent indictment of City Councilman Rick Mariano on federal corruption charges have cast a shadow over city politics.

"Any politician who looks at the turnout [on Election Day] and thinks we don't need ethics reform in Philadelphia is sadly mistaken," said Philadelphia Forward Executive Director Brett Mandel, whose organization works to effect positive change in the city.

Mandel said that these reforms are necessary for the city to prosper politically.

"An unethical government that makes sweetheart deals wastes money and shuts people out of work who aren't politically connected," he said. He added that the new law will "restore public confidence" in the government.

Dan De Rosa of the Penn Democrats said that eliminating financial corruption in politics may encourage more students to become civically involved.

De Rosa, a College senior, voted in favor of the measure.

"Philadelphia has a long history where people have thought that in order to participate in politics you have to be a high-level donor," De Rosa said. "For students wanting to be involved, it's important to get rid of that culture."

City Councilman Michael Nutter -- who was instrumental in drafting the adopted amendment -- hopes it will set a precedent for further reform legislation.

Julia Chapman, Nutter's chief of staff, said the councilman plans to present new ethics proposals at City Council meetings next week.

Plans include the establishment of an independent ethics board.

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