(This article appeared in the 4/5/04 joke issue)The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Mayor John Street yesterday on charges of fraud and embezzlement stemming from the city's notorious "pay-to-play" system of awarding contracts.
The FBI had been investigating Street and members of his administration since last September, along with several of Street's key fundraisers and friends.
"The city will be running as normally as possible under the circumstances," Street spokeswoman Barbara Grant said, adding that the administration will be working overtime to ensure all city services continue functioning smoothly in the next few days.
City Council President Anna Verna has stepped in to fill Street's role until further notice.
"We are treating this like any other day," Verna said. "It may be a sad day for Street, but the city needs to keep going while we wait for more information."
Keystone Information and Financial Services Vice President Iman Shamsud-din Ali, a friend and supporter of Street, will also be charged in the case, according to the normally tight-lipped FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi.
The chief executive of the Keystone firm, Mark Goldberg, contributed $9,000 to Street's mayoral campaigns between 1997 and 1999, and Ali was also involved in both contributions from the firm and many important contracts with the city.
The FBI also arrested attorney Ronald White, a major fundraiser and close political associate of Street, on charges of fraud.
White received key city contracts for legal work during Street's first term, collecting $1,980,600 in fees on bond deals. The city also paid White $2.4 million since 1997 for his work as a lawyer representing the city.
Although the FBI had originally claimed that Street was only the "subject" and not the "target" of the investigation, as the FBI looked deeper into the system of city contracts, illegal actions by Street became immediately obvious, according to Vizi.
The FBI would not comment on the specifics of the charges against the mayor, although new information will be released today according to the Mayor's Office.
"Is it really a surprise?" questioned City Council member David Cohen. "We all knew Street was guilty from the beginning."
A staunch opponent of Street, Cohen argued that only now after Street's arrest can the city finally begin to repair itself, with the full support of citizens.
"Philadelphians weren't happy with Street," Cohen said, apparently ignoring the results of last fall's election. "They were suspicious of his motives and concerned about his obviously warped sense of ethics."
"A mayor needs public support and public confidence, and Street was not a mayor who embodied any of the ideals important in running a city."
The City Council has scheduled an emergency meeting for today that will be closed to the press, and the Mayor's Office will hold a press conference tomorrow.
Street was re-elected in a landslide victory last November in his second victory against Republican Sam Katz and would have remained as mayor until 2008.
The "pay-to-play" tradition of rewarding political contributors with lucrative city contracts came under fire after the FBI's probe was discovered last fall, prompting outrage from across the city at Street's administration. Officials said the tradition, however, is likely to continue.
Undergraduate Assembly Chairman and College senior Jason Levy has vowed not to sleep until Street is cleared of the charges.
"He's my role model," Levy said. "What's wrong with a little pay-to-play?"
