KAREN HELLER: Council incumbency is nearly papal in its security. Members die in office. People with IQs no higher than toasters cakewalk through elections in perpetuity, all the while able to collect multiple incomes and pensions while slogging through three months of no legislation. The only time a member gets ejected by a somnolent citizenry is when he or she does something truly heinous. Like driving without a license for 25 years.
Philadelphia is such an oasis of promise that any little boy can grow up to be a member of Council.
Provided Daddy was mayor first.
Three former mayors’ progeny – Frank Rizzo, Bill Green and Wilson Goode Jr. – sit in council. It’s our version of the Junior League.
As the old adage goes: Politicians, old buildings and prostitutes become respectable with age. This is a boon to politicians’ children. Sharif Street’s mistake was running for Council while Dad was in still office and not yet some romanticized version of an addled collective memory.
Where else can a guy like Frannie Rizzo, a former Peco lineman, rise to become a vaunted councilman?
Indeed, the money shot in his bio is that he has introduced “Ethics legislation regulating Lobbyists, banning Gifts, prohibiting Nepotism.”
Prohibit nepotism? How would Council ever reach a quorum?
Some citizens might argue that City Council meets too often, and they may be right. MORE