What Philadelphia Deserves

In more corruption news:

On Tuesday, a jury convicted Imam Shamsud-din Ali of a number of crimes. As the Daily News put it:

MUSLIM CLERIC Shamsud-din Ali yesterday was unmasked as a crook, a conspirator, a racketeer, thief, a briber, an extortionist and a liar.

He cheated the taxpayers.

He ripped off the Muslim community, particularly shivering students forced to wear overcoats in the freezing Sister Clara Muhammad School - which he headed - by stuffing his pockets with school money.

He betrayed pols - Mayor Street, Council members Jannie Blackwell, Donna Reed Miller and others - who trusted him and paved the way for him to obtain city contracts.

Mayor John Street, from a press release, dated June 14, 2005 entitled "The Mayor's Statement on Imam, Christmas Verdict"

My administration has always had a zero tolerance for corruption.
It is important for all Philadelphians to have confidence that their government is protecting the integrity of its programs and providing the highest levels of quality service for its citizens.

And he closes with this line:

As Mayor, I will ensure the public gets what it deserves: honest and open government.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, in an editorial thursday called "Be mad; be very, very mad"

The ongoing federal probe of Philadelphia's insidious pay-to-play culture started with the FBI wire-tapping phone conversations of Muslim cleric Imam Shamsud-din Ali in a 2001 drug investigation. Ali, a fund-raiser and close friend of Mayor Street, was found guilty Tuesday of 22 federal charges, including 20 counts of fraud in which he used his influence to get city contracts that paid him even when his company did no work.

Juror Arlene P. Medearis rightly expressed what should be the feelings of all city residents. "As a Philadelphia taxpayer, I was angry how our own money was being spent and misused," she said.

Mayor Street ought to have been just as angry. Instead, he meekly voiced his respect for the jury's verdict while claiming he has "zero tolerance" for corruption and offering condolences to Ali's family.

Street has not been charged with any crime in the federal investigation, but the mayor nonetheless deserves criticism. He should have kept campaign contributors and political friends such as Ali and the late super-lawyer Ronald A. White out of City Hall's no-bid contract trough.

Folks, it's bad here in Philly. City Council and the Mayor's office need to come up with some way to really crack down on this corruption. A well-connected crook helped raise funds for our Mayor, and the best the mayor can say is:

This case was extremely troubling because it involved a recognized community leader and long-time friend. It is clear that the jury carefully considered the evidence and reached its verdict. We respect this decision and my condolences go out to the family of Imam Shamsud-din Ali.