Editorial for November 29, 2007 edition:


What a disgrace

Can it be that the once-lovable City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski is making us regret our decision to endorse her virtually uncontested bid for an eighth term in the Nov. 6 election?
The 73-year-old veteran politician, whose greatest official accomplishment by far is the creation of the wildly effective anti-blight program called CLIP, is planning to resign in January for one day — just so she can receive a pension check in the lump sum of $300,000 as part of the city’s DROP program.
Although she probably still would have demolished her invisible "challenger" Michael Ebsworth at the polls, Mrs. Krajewski should have been honest with the voters before the election by telling them of her scheme.
She is full of baloney when she tries to justify the money grab by saying it’s perfectly legal. That’s eerily similar to Gov. Ed "Fast Eddie" Rendell’s explanation two years ago that he signed state legislators’ middle-of-the-night pay raise because "it’s legal and that’s all I’m going to say about it."
"It’s an abuse of the resources of the city," former city solicitor and federal judge Nelson Diaz said Sunday morning on Channel 6’s Inside Story.
All of the good-government people out there, including Mayor-elect Michael Nutter, should be outraged by the Krajewski money grab, and City Controller Alan Butkovitz should withhold the $300,000 payment, but don’t expect him to show that sort of courage — as a state legislator in 2005, Mr. Butkovitz voted for the illegal pay raise.
Come on, Joan. Admit it. You pulled a fast one on the voters in the 6th Councilmanic District and all Philadelphia taxpayers. If you take the money, you should be ashamed of yourself. ••

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