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Street, Katz trade barbs over ethics (Mayoral debate)
Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 10/22/03 | By Thomas Fitzgerald

Posted on 10/22/2003 5:40:05 AM PDT by randita

Posted on Wed, Oct. 22, 2003

Street, Katz trade barbs over ethics

By Thomas Fitzgerald Inquirer Staff Writer

Mayor Street maintained that a federal investigation into city contracts was an attempt to sabotage his reelection, while Republican Sam Katz called the probe an "exclamation point" on a long-corrupt political system that needs reform, during a televised debate last night dominated by sharp exchanges over ethics.

After 25 years in public office, "it was not until the last couple of weeks that anybody raised any question at all about my integrity," Street said. "The fact that there is an investigation does not mean that anybody has done anything wrong."

Street said he was "as much in the dark as anybody else" about the investigation and blasted "agents of the federal government... traipsing around with TV cameras behind them."

This, he said, "is not an accident."

The investigation is a "great opportunity to move on, to open up" government, Katz said. He said that the problems of corruption predated Street, but added later: "To say you're not responsible for it, and that you don't know... these are not genuine statements of integrity and trust that will engender confidence in the people of the city."

The hour-long debate, broadcast in prime time on WPVI-TV (Channel 6), took place exactly two weeks after the event that has obliterated almost everything else in the campaign - the discovery of an FBI eavesdropping device in the mayor's City Hall office. And it came two weeks before the Nov. 4 general election.

Katz was forced to answer questions about his own business dealings last night, including a lawsuit by former partners accusing him of deception and embezzlement.

Street, the Democratic incumbent, said Katz was "hypocritical" for preaching openness yet fighting in court to keep the lawsuit's details from the public. "Let the people of this city see exactly what allegations are being made," Street said.

Katz said that it was a "frivolous lawsuit" and that it was a civil case, unlike the federal criminal probe.

Polls have shown that the campaign, a rematch of the 1999 contest that Street won by a bare 9,400 votes, remains tight - despite, or even because of, the bombshell news that the federal government is investigating possible city corruption.

Many voters, particularly African Americans, are rallying around Street, whom they see as the target of an unfair investigation inspired by politics and race, recent polls show.

Last night's encounter was the third and final debate of the mayoral race, and the only one aired on broadcast television. With a larger potential audience than the other two debates, it represented perhaps the last, best chance for Street and Katz to break through the bugging-related din that has drowned out typical campaign discourse.

It also was probably the last time most voters would see the two candidates on the same stage before they cast their ballots.

Street and Katz argued over which candidate was exploiting racial divisions in Philadelphia. The mayor claimed that Katz supporters had tried to get Democrats to change their registrations to Republican by using his now-famous comments last year to an NAACP meeting that "the brothers and sisters are running this city."

Katz said that any supporters using race on his behalf should "stop it... . My campaign is about uniting people."

Street said: "All I know is in the last 3½ years since I've been mayor of this city, I don't recall one single significant racial incident in this city. I think that's important."

Katz said there needed to be "dialogue" about racial relations after the election, no matter who wins, "to bind up the wounds of this campaign."

In one of the few debate exchanges that did not deal with the federal investigation or its fallout, Street and Katz disagreed on fiscal policy.

Street laughed as Katz said that he would continue, but improve, the mayor's anti-blight Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. "There isn't going to be any money," Street said, predicting that Katz's pledge to slash the wage tax would blow a $1.2 billion hole in the city budget over the next five years.

"Tax reductions aren't everything," Street said. "You need to have the capacity to invest... in quality of life."

Katz said his plan would borrow $750 million to keep city programs alive while the tax cuts were implemented.

"John Street doesn't believe we can make ourselves competitive," Katz said.

After the debate, Street said he would try to overcome the furor over the federal probe. "The way the probe is being conducted is tantalizing, and it's difficult for people not to want to talk about it," he said.

In his own post-debate news conference, Katz said: "I think that it's an offense to the people of Philadelphia that somebody who has presided over a culture of corruption, that has brought onto the city government a massive and widespread corruption investigation, would suggest he is an innocent victim. Time will tell if he's innocent, but he's certainly no victim."

Last night's debate, held at the National Constitution Center, was sponsored by the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Tensions were running high even before the opening statements, as partisans of both candidates faced off in the streets outside the center.

Street's supporters appeared to far outnumber Katz's, but both sides were out in full force, some carrying bullhorns, others handmade signs. A few Street supporters were heard chanting "Ku Klux Katz" in response to choruses of "We want Sam." Others in the Street crowd were donning buttons that read: "Bug Bush. Elect Street."

Earlier in the afternoon, about 100 people gathered outside City Hall to rally on Street's behalf and to protest what many say is the investigation's unfair focus on prominent African Americans. Some speakers invoked the FBI's bugging of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I want you to understand that my father is a man of character and integrity... and we will continue to work to make sure that the people of this city and of this country are well served," said Sharif Street, the mayor's son.

Contact staff writer Thomas Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writers Angela Couloumbis, Leonard N. Fleming, Nathan Gorenstein and Michael Currie Schaffer contributed to this article.

© 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.philly.com


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: corruption; debate; ethics; johnstreet; mayor; philadelphia; samkatz; street

1 posted on 10/22/2003 5:40:06 AM PDT by randita
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To: blam; Dog
ping
2 posted on 10/22/2003 5:40:36 AM PDT by randita
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To: randita
If this was going on anywhere else, Katz would have a shot. Unfortunately, Philly regularly reports 110% voting by registered voters, How are you going to beat that?
I hope Katz finds a way but the rats know what's at stake here and they are great cheaters.
3 posted on 10/22/2003 5:54:16 AM PDT by jmaroneps37
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To: randita
Street news bump.
4 posted on 10/22/2003 9:58:39 AM PDT by blam
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