Paris Frazier, the independent candidate for city controller, won't appear on next week's Election Day ballot after all. Frazier, now retired from the city payroll, once worked for former City Controllers Tom Leonard and Joe Vignola. He later moved to the Department of Human Services and, lastly, the sheriff's office. His plan was to run with no party alliances -- that is, until Democratic candidate Alan Butkovitz had him thrown off the ballot.

Butkovitz has made a habit of getting his opponents tossed off; he successfully had primary Democratic challenger John Braxton removed when he challenged Braxton's financial disclosure forms. Braxton failed to list pension and investment income, which Butkovitz asserted was a "fatal defect." Butkovitz took Frazier to court claiming that Frazier failed to list pension income on financial disclosure forms and also challenged his nominating petitions. Early on, Frazier suffered the same fate as Braxton when a panel of Common Pleas Court judges ruled that Frazier should be removed because of the disclosure forms. The Commonwealth Court of Appeals overturned that decision, but Frazier's troubles weren't over because a Common Pleas Court judge determined that 1,600 of the signatures on his petitions were invalid. As an independent candidate, Frazier needed signatures of 5,857 registered voters to get on the November ballot. He submitted 7,071. Butkovitz challenged 2,000 of them, 1,600 of which he said were not signed by registered voters.

After extensive review of voter registration documents, the court agreed with Butkovitz on the unregistered voters. That left Frazier with only 5,471 signatures.

Frazier said he has no plans to appeal. The only names that will appear on the ballot for city controller are Butkovitz and Republican Hillel Levinson.

Last week, Republican Bill Scranton announced he will run for governor next year against Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell.

No surprises there, but the big question on Democrat's minds was -- will Scranton look to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi follower Nathaniel "Nat" Goldhaber again? Goldhaber was a top man in Scranton's administration when Scranton was the lieutenant governor under Gov. Dick Thornburgh.In 1986, Scranton lost narrowly to Democrat Bob Casey Sr. in the governor's race. Scranton and Casey were running neck-and-neck until, at the 11th hour, a young and unknown media consultant named James Carville devised the now infamous "guru ad" that showed an image of Scranton as a longhaired hippie who smoked dope and associated with spiritual advisors. Scranton had said earlier that he looked for spiritual advice for a drug problem when he was younger. That was enough fodder for Carville who jumped at the chance to use it against Scranton in this conservative state.

The commercial ultimately jump-started Carville's career.

Donna Gentile O'Donnell is the guest of honor tonight at a book party to be held at Drexel's Paul Peck Center, 32nd and Market streets. The wife of former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House Bob O'Donnell wrote Provider of Last Resort: The Story of the Closure of the Philadelphia General Hospital as her doctoral thesis. The book discusses the decline and political ramifications of closing Philadelphia's only black hospital, which operated from the 1700s until 1977.

O'Donnell, a registered nurse who is now managing director of the life sciences portfolio at the Eastern Technology Council, is pitching in with the retention campaign for state Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman. Newman is the target of a backlash from some angry voters who blame her and Justice Russell Nigro for the House and Senate pay raises.

"It makes no sense," says O'Donnell. "What these people don't realize is that if they don't retain Newman and Nigro, then the governor will appoint new justices and they will have to be confirmed by two-thirds of the Senate, the same crowd that took the pay raise."

Dr. Ted Hershberg, professor of public policy and history at Penn, who was O'Donnell's professor, will make remarks followed by a wine tasting hosted by Jonathan Newman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and son of Justice Newman.

Proceeds from sales of O'Donnell's book will benefit Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Local author and former City Paper contributor Meredith Broussard has succeeded Bobbi Booker as the Philly Media Bistro host. Booker resigned from the volunteer position last August after creative differences between her and Media Bistro founder Laurel Touby.

Broussard is touring with her new book, The Encyclopedia of Exes, a compilation of 26 young men's accounts of lost loves and failed relationships with men and women. Men baring their soul in the book include Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Ames and Neal Pollack.

Broussard does not suffer from any of her subjects' dilemmas. She was married last May to Penn sociologist David Grazian and they are expecting their first child.

"I want to continue the great work that Bobbi did," said Broussard. Her first Media Bistro event was held last month at O'Shea's and Broussard said it was well-attended. The next one is planned for December at World Café Live with a special guest.