Just as the semester comes to a close for Penn students, so concludes a busy season of ethics reform in City Hall.
Spearheaded by the efforts of City Councilman Michael Nutter, Philadelphia has taken a number of steps since last month to remove itself from the shadow of corruption cast by recent scandals.
The ethics reform campaign gained a full head of steam on Election Day when voters passed a referendum limiting campaign donations by companies seeking no-bid city contracts by 87 percent.
Since then Nutter, considered by many to be a mayoral hopeful for 2006, has pushed ahead with a number of additional ethics reform measures designed to chip away at the city's perceived "pay-for-play" political culture.
Most recently, City Council unanimously approved five of six separate but related ethics bills on Dec. 1, including one that could lead to the creation of an independent ethics board.
Because the creation of the ethics board requires an amendment to the City Charter, it will have to go before the voters in May.
If established, the board would provide ethics training for all city officials and employees, enforce the city's ethics code and investigate breaches, file ethics complaints and be responsible for posting campaign finance information online.
Nutter's chief of staff, Julia Chapman, said that based on the overwhelming success of the November referendum, she expects the May proposal to pass easily.
"I'm certain that we're going to see the same, if not higher, approval," she said.
If passed, the measure will mandate that the board be created and staffed within three months.
In addition to creating the ethics board, City Council banned major political donors from receiving more than $50,000 worth of financial assistance from the city.
Political analyst Larry Ceisler said that while these efforts are a solid first step, they may not be enough to reverse corruption in the city.
"I think that the ethics reforms did not go far enough," Ceisler said. "But I do believe ... it makes people aware that those issues are out there."
