City Council leadership vote leads to infighting

Jannie Blackwell's campaign for Council's No. 2 post is in jeopardy because of an aide's legal troubles. The new year has gotten off to a tumultuous start for City Council member Jannie Blackwell, who is pursuing a powerful Council post at a time when her top aide is facing federal corruption charges. Blackwell, a Democrat whose district includes West Philadelphia, is attempting to become Council majority leader as well as chairperson of the powerful Finance Committee -- a position that would make her third in line for the mayorship. But as in our nation's capital, partisanship has stepped in -- only this time the battleground lies between two groups of Philadelphia Democrats, the party which holds 12 of 15 seats on the local legislative body. City Council will elect a new leader tomorrow to succeed longtime Council President John Street, who resigned last month to pursue a mayoral bid. Since then, the Council's Democrats have broken into two camps of six people -- one led by Council member Anna Verna and the other by Council member Marian Tasco. Verna, who represents Northeastern Philadelphia, has been the expected winner since the three Republican members announced their support for her earlier this month. "She does have the necessary nine votes to win," said Kathleen Murray, Verna's chief of staff. But Blackwell's ascension is not as guaranteed --Eespecially after the indictment of longtime volunteer Michael Youngblood, a controversial figure inside City Hall. Tasco's proponents are supporting Council member Michael Nutter for the Finance Committee slot, though they have agreed to support Blackwell for majority leader as a compromise, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, Verna has refused such a compromise, saying she wants Blackwell to serve in both positions. The indictment of Youngblood -- who was at one time a paid City Council employee before Street cut him from the payroll -- served to exacerbate the rift between the two sides. But Verna was quick to defend her ally. "[Blackwell] has the commitment and the stamina to serve this Council well," she said in a statement released by her office. "Jannie Blackwell was not involved in any way with Michael Youngblood's alleged criminal wrongdoing." But as city officials have been almost unanimous in condemning Youngblood, a convicted drug dealer, Blackwell told the Inquirer last week that "this whole issue has been, and continues to be, politically motivated and inspired," de-emphasizing the importance of the charges. Blackwell did not return repeated calls for comment this week. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Youngblood was charged January 5 with 36 counts of extortion, bank fraud and tax offenses. In 1995, Blackwell tapped Youngblood to head the building of a 400-bed homeless shelter in the city, a project from which the subsequent indictment arose. Youngblood, 41, whose real name is Michael Williams, allegedly extorted $36,000 worth of cash and valuables from contractors and also forged checks totaling more than $16,000. The indictment also alleges that while Blackwell granted Youngblood access to her personal bank account, Youngblood used the account to launder the money. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Jeffrey Joseph contributed to this article.