Philly Frustration Files: Hizzonner Dishonored

Sigh… Time Magazine has named Mayor John Street Worst Mayor in America (in a three-way tie with the mayors of Detroit and San Diego). And the City Council still won’t pass even a largely symbolic ethics reform bill.

How frustrating is it to be a progressive living in Philadelphia? Here’s a tale of two cities for your consideration. In Seattle if you want to know who has given money to a city election campaign you need only go to www.seattle.gov/ethics. In Philly, you have to walk to an obscure city records office and request access to the paper records. Oh, and you need to transcribe the records by hand. You can’t use a photocopier, camera, laptop, or anything other than a pen and paper (according to a friend who works for the city). In the age of Google can that be considered a public record? It’s almost as if people still use smoke signals to announce election results.