Latino power broker Carlos Matos broke new ground last week in his interview with the Latino newspaper Enfoque Comunal. Matos, who is married to Deputy City Commissioner Renee Tartaglione, told Enfoque owner Efrain Roche that this is the last election he is supporting Seventh District Councilman Rick Mariano and that it is time for a Puerto Rican to be the councilperson. Matos and Mariano successfully teamed up last year to oust former 33rd Ward Leader Donna Aument and replace her with Matos ally Candido Silva.

Matos is also the leader of the 19th Ward and has helped Mariano with his campaign.

It is strange that Matos would choose to do an interview now about the 2007 race even before the 2003 Democratic primary, especially since Mariano is being challenged by Kathleen Fitzpatrick.

Matos works for his sister-in-law, State Sen. Tina Tartaglione, in her district office and did not return calls for comment. Neither did Mariano.

Still Courting the Supremes

Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge James DeLeon said he has gained enormous support since last week’s media frenzy over whether he made a mistake in lowering the bail for a defendant who allegedly shot and killed Qaid Staten last week.

DeLeon continues his campaign in the Democratic primary for the one open seat on the Supreme Court in the wake of the death of the 17-year-old, who was the son of labor leader Sam Staten Jr. -- who is also DeLeon's co-finance chair for his campaign along with Local 98 businessman John Dougherty.

DeLeon took issue with coverage of the incident in the Inquirer and Daily News because he said that he was not the last judge to see Staten’s alleged killer, Stephen Spurell, in court before the murder and that the District Attorney’s office was to blame for not objecting to lowering Spurell’s bail. "Spurell was in court before me on Jan. 16 on two different robbery charges," said DeLeon. "And the District Attorney’s office made no objections to any bail set at that time. I lowered the bail because this was the fourth listing and the DA’s office was not ready to hear the case. They also could have objected to the bail but they did not, and as it turns out, he did not make bail and went back to jail," said DeLeon. (Spurell later made his bail and was released.)

DeLeon said that Spurell had six court appearances in both Municipal and Common Pleas Court between Jan. 16 and March 25, and that the DA’s office never argued to increase bail.

"Judge DeLeon was under no obligation to lower bail," said Cathie Abookire, spokesperson for District Attorney Lynne Abraham. She said that DeLeon was correct when he said that the prosecution wanted a continuance. However, that was because one of Spurell's robbery victims was an off-duty police officer who fired his gun at Spurell after he was robbed; therefore the officer had to go through an in-house investigation before he could appear as a witness in the trial.

DeLeon pointed out that shortly before Spurell allegedly shot young Staten, Spurell allegedly shot Andre Bradle, who is still in critical condition.

"The police could have arrested him then," said DeLeon. "He had already failed to appear in court on robbery charges, so there was a warrant out for him."

DeLeon said that the attacks on him are unfair and that he is being targeted because he is black and running for a higher office.

"I continue to have the support of the Democratic party," said DeLeon, "and I am considering taking action against those involved in slandering my name."

No Free Dice Here

There is a business owner in Old City asking more than $10 million for three of his buildings. When he asked about his unrealistic price, he replied, "I’m waiting for Gov. Rendell to pass riverboat gambling."

When Rendell was mayor he was pushing the gaming concept and now, as governor, he is pushing it even harder by supporting slot machines at racetracks.

With gambling looming, Councilman Jim Kenney initiated a Council committee hearing last Thursday to allow residents to have a say about Rendell's proposed gambling legislation. After hearing from numerous community activists, Councilmen Kenney, Frank DiCicco, David Cohen, Michael Nutter, Brian O’Neill and Darrell Clarke voted to give Council the control over gambling, thus taking the power away from the Zoning Board, which is made up of mayoral appointees. Like Rendell, Mayor John Street favors gambling.

Clarke, an ally of Street's, said it is inevitable that gambling will come to the city, so it is better to have control now.