Anderson@Large

Corruption is What Makes Philly

In the run-up to the Democratic convention, the 2016 Democratic National Convention Host Committee launched #WhatMakesPhilly, “a social media campaign to energize Philadelphians about the Convention coming to town and highlighting what makes the city the unique.”

What makes Philly unique? It continues to live down to its reputation as “corrupt and contented.” One of the longest serving congressmen, Chaka Fattah, is now serving time in federal prison. City Council Majority Leader Bobby Henon is under FBI investigation.

District Attorney Seth Williams, who no longer has a law license, is under indictment. One of the candidates running in the May 16 primary election to succeed him is in debt up to his eyeballs.

And we now know the real winner of the host committee’s #WhatMakesPhilly social media campaign was the committee’s executive director, Kevin Washo. Last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Washo paid himself a $310,000 bonus:

On Nov. 25, all 12 of the host committee staff received bonuses. In addition to Washo’s $310,000 check, rewards ranged from $13,357 for the office manager, who was paid $3,000 monthly, to $220,000 for the chief financial officer, who was paid about $8,000 monthly.

In the host committee’s report to the Federal Election Commission, Washo's bonus is described as “Consulting Services-Political.” On Dec. 23, 2016 -- five months after the convention ended -- he collected $13,805.96 in “salary.” By then, Washo had already been hired by powerhouse law firm Cozen O'Connor “to assist clients with government relations across Pennsylvania as well as in Washington, D.C., and New York.”

Washo may soon need a lawyer.

Philadelphia Magazine detailed the other bonuses.

The nearly $1 million in bonuses were authorized by Host Committee Chairman Ed Rendell. Philly’s culture of corruption is so embedded that Rendell, a former mayor and governor, brazenly said:

No donor did this out of the kindness of their heart. They all wanted access. They got exactly what they donated for. No donor should feel cheated.

Why should donors “feel cheated?” After all, they received “access” and a tax deduction. Millions of dollars in donations to the host committee were funneled through the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau Foundation. The financial scheme appears to violate the absolute prohibition on political campaign intervention by a Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. The bonuses also facially violate IRS rules against self-dealing.

Speaking of self-dealing, the host committee donated $75,000 of Other People's Money to, ahem, the Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement.

On Mother’s Day, I decided to file a complaint about these greedy mothers (half the word) with the IRS and the FEC. When I visited the host committee’s website to find out who was on the board of directors, I discovered the site has been partially wiped clean (perhaps “with a cloth or something”), including its home page, sponsors and area partners.

Also on Sunday, Gov. Tom Wolf issued a statement denouncing Rendell and Washo for not returning the $4 million surplus to the state:

I am disappointed that when the host committee discovered there was a surplus, the first call was not to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to discuss returning the money to the taxpayers. The commonwealth supports large events that have an economic benefit to Pennsylvania and the region, but when there is leftover funding, that money should be returned to taxpayers. I am disappointed that the surplus was instead spent on bonuses and grants.

Wolf requested that Auditor General Eugene DePasquale review the host committee’s audit report.

UPDATE: Three Republicans -- Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne -- have called for an audit. In a letter to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, they wrote:

The revelations over the past several days are particularly troubling. It is undisputed that the DNC had no less than $4 million I unencumbered funds upon completion of the event. A small group of individuals including former Governor Rendell chose to allocate the excess on targeted special interest initiatives and exorbitant bonuses, one greater than $300,000. We were not contacted at any point by the officials at the DNC, the Governor’s Office, or DCED (who administered the grant) about the surplus. No efforts were made to return any portion of the surplus to the Commonwealth.

Kevin Washo and the other host committee staff will have to use their taxpayer-funded windfall to pay for lawyers.

Stay tuned.

Data Privacy Day 2016

Thursday is Data Privacy Day, “an international effort held annually on January 28 to create awareness about the importance of privacy and protecting personal information.”

I’m an open data advocate who’s equally concerned about privacy. So on Saturday, I nearly spilled my coffee when I read that Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt disclosed that two critics of his office missed voting in some elections. Schmidt shared the data in retaliation to their calls to abolish the elections commission which is “led” by a chairman who doesn’t vote and seldom shows up at the office.

As a longtime voting rights activist, I want people to vote. I also want them to stay engaged beyond Election Day because that’s how you bring about change. That said, I believe one’s voting habit is no one’s business unless that person is receiving a taxpayer-funded six-figure salary to oversee elections.

Indeed, at last year’s Code for Philly Apps for Democracy Hackathon, I expressed my dismay that a team had developed an app, Social Voting, which would allow users to check to see whether their neighbors voted. Vote-shaming is of a piece with slut-shaming and fat-shaming.

Disclosing voting data sows distrust of government. If private citizens believe their voting record will be open to public scrutiny, they will be reluctant to register to vote.

From Fired Up to ‘Wee-weed Up’

A year ago today, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Obama’s supporters left Invesco Field “fired up, ready to go.”

A year later, President Obama’s job approval rating is 50 percent and his supporters are “wee-weed up.”

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert recently wrote:

It’s still early, but people are starting to lose faith in the president. I hear almost daily from men and women who voted enthusiastically for Mr. Obama but are feeling disappointed. They feel that the banks made out like bandits in the bailouts, and that the health care initiative could become a boondoggle. Their biggest worry is that Mr. Obama is soft, that he is unwilling or incapable of fighting hard enough to counter the forces responsible for the sorry state the country is in.

More and more the president is being seen by his own supporters as someone who would like to please everybody, who is naïve about the prospects for bipartisanship, who believes that his strongest supporters will stay with him because they have nowhere else to go, and who will retreat whenever the Republicans and the corporate crowd come after him.

As for Obama’s supporters having “nowhere else to go,” Obama voters in, say, Virginia and New Jersey may decide to go to the mall rather than their polling place in November.

Obama may not have lost his mojo, but it ain’t working on a broad cross-section of Americans, according to Gallup’s weekly poll.

Among black Americans, Obama’s job approval is 91 percent, down from 96 percent at the beginning of August.

Obama's Moment

On the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.€'s iconic "€œI Have a Dream"€ speech, Barack Obama assured his place in history as the first African American presidential nominee of a major political party.

Obama's acceptance speech was delivered in a packed Invesco Field at Mile High. The doors were thrown open seven hours before he was scheduled to appear. The lines snaked for blocks, across railroad tracks and under a bridge. After a 45-minute wait for the light rail, it took me nearly an hour to get into the stadium.

The neoclassical stage at the 50-yard line stood out like a holding penalty. To me, it evoked the Lincoln Memorial. For some, the set design resembled an ancient Greek Temple.

The atmosphere was more like a rock concert than a political convention. To while away the time, Obama supporters did the wave, text-messaged and enjoyed performances by will.i.am, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald, and Stevie Wonder who sang €œ"Signed, Sealed, Delivered."€

Rep. John Lewis led a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At an earlier commemoration, Lewis recounted:

Dr. King said that he has a dream that's deeply rooted in the American Dream. We're here in Denver making a down payment on that dream.

Indeed, Obama walked on stage and marched into history:

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Obama's speech was entitled "œThe American Promise."€ Like Dr. King 45 years ago, he appealed to the better angels of our nature:

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

Obama offered the hope of a new promissory note:

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma.

We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President – when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000, like it has under George Bush.

There was never any doubt that Obama would give a good speech. His supporters left Invesco Field "fired up, ready to go." But as I sat in the stadium, I wondered whether undecided voters who were watching at home were turned off by the theatrics and spectacle of 80,000 foot-stomping supporters chanting, "€œYes, we can."€

Obama'€™s convention bounce will measure whether his acceptance speech was good enough to convince undecided voters that he shares their values and is ready to lead.

It's Over: Dems Nominate Obama

After an epic nomination battle, Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. And with that, Obama made history as the first African American standard-bearer of a major political party.

During the roll call of the states Hillary Clinton moved to suspend the rules and nominate Obama by acclamation:

In the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, let's declare with one voice Barack Obama is our candidate.

The motion was passed on a voice vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, chairwoman of the convention, formally extended the nomination to Obama.

To no one’s surprise, Democratic National Committee Secretary Alice Germond advised the delegates that Obama accepted the nomination and will deliver his acceptance speech tonight at Invesco Field.

The delegates erupted in applause. There was a palpable sense of relief that the Clinton-Obama drama had come to an end. The delegates cried, exchanged hugs and danced as the band played "Love Train."

A couple hours before the roll call, Clinton held a reception for her delegates. She said she wanted an opportunity to thank her 1,920 delegates in one place at one time:

This has been a joy. Yes, we didn't make it but boy did we have a good time trying.

She then said:

I am here to release you as my delegates.

Clinton informed them that she signed her ballot for Obama earlier that morning.

I asked David Gray, an Obama delegate from Oklahoma, about the delegate voting process:

This morning was a special day because this is when the nominating process begins. At our caucus meeting, each delegate was given a paper ballot with Obama's and Clinton's name. We checked a box and then signed the ballot.

It is not a secret ballot so everybody knows where everybody stood.

After the historic roll call, all Democrats know Clinton stands with Obama.

Clinton Steals the Show

The Pepsi Center was jumping last night. There was a constant flow of people in the hallway. The floor of the Pepsi Center was buzzing and damn near impassable. I left the floor minutes before fire officials closed the doors.

While on the floor, I got a chance to interview Florida state Sen. Anthony C. "Tony" Hill Sr. before Hillary Clinton's speech. Tony was an early supporter of Barack Obama. And since Florida is a key swing state, the delegation is seated a few feet from the stage.

I asked Tony for his take on Clinton's prime time star turn:

I think that, again, Senator Obama has taken the high road. He has accommodated Clinton's historical run. It's just like in sports: someone wins, someone loses.

Tony had high hopes for Clinton:

Tonight, she will seal the deal as it relates to her supporters and people who feel they've been alienated or disrespected.

Clinton’s podium turn was preceded by a video narrated by her daughter Chelsea, who said her mother "had reached for the stars."

Clinton then walked out on stage dressed in an orange pantsuit. After declaring herself "a proud Democrat," she said the words that Team Obama has been waiting to hear:

Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines…

Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President. Clinton's words of unity were greeted with thunderous applause.

Did Clinton seal the deal with the "sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits?" Only time will tell.

The Washington Post reports that many Clinton supporters are still bitter:

Despite Clinton's plea for Democrats to unite, her delegates remained divided as to how they should proceed.

There was Jerry Straughan, a professor from California, who listened from his seat in the rafters and shook his head at what he considered the speech's predictability. "It's a tactic," he said. "Who knows what she really thinks? With all the missteps that have taken place, this is the only thing she could do. So, yes, I'm still bitter."

Clinton’s powerful speech may have included some dog whistles. Several folks I spoke with speculated about the call to heed the advice of Harriet Tubman and "keep going."

Clinton was also wearing “WomenCount orange,” the color of a new group that is committed to ending sexism and gender bias in the political process.

Hours before her convention speech, Clinton helped launch WomenCount at a reception. She told the 500 women gathered in downtown Denver:

WomenCount will continue to stand up against the pervasive bias that we saw in the media. WomenCount will continue to stand up and be a voice for those who feel that they are left out and left behind. There is so much work to be done and this is exciting and energizing work.

I stopped by the reception and spoke with several Clinton backers. I can assure they intend to keep going.

It's Ladies Night at Dem Convention

Women own Day Two of the Democratic National Convention. Fittingly, today is Women’s Equality Day and the 88th anniversary of ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.

From the midmorning meeting of the Women's Caucus to Hillary Clinton's prime time speech, the Obama camp will be asking: What do women want?

Prominent Clinton backer and fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell told the New York Times:

I don’t think that Senator Obama understands how deep this commitment goes to Hillary, and where this passion comes from.

And it's deep. From my conversations with delegates, convention guests and party activists, many are still angry that Clinton’s historic race was given short shrift by the mainstream media and the Democratic Party.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest child of the late Robert F. Kennedy and a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, told the AP that some Clinton delegates are just not ready to embrace Barack Obama:

There's a moment that you want to enjoy your bitterness.

And it’s not just white women who are clinging to their bitterness. Eula Tate, a former lobbyist with the UAW and Clinton delegate from Virginia, told me:

At the roll call, I'm obligated to support Hillary Clinton. I have not been released as a delegate. If she releases me, I will then have to make a decision about whether I want to be part of the Obama camp.

Tate is “real upset with Joe Biden”:

Hillary Clinton was the best qualified person to be president…I’m a yellow dog Democrat. I will not support the Republican, but it doesn’t mean that I will vote for Obama in November.

So, what do Clinton’s supporters want? They want more than catharsis. According to a new Rasmussen poll, nearly half of Democratic women want Clinton on the ticket.

The bottom line: Women want respect.