Among the more interesting revelations was Perzel's desire to have 2007 Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox move to the other side and run as a Republican. That's his current strategy in his ongoing attempt to wrest power from the Democrats, who have a big lead in mayoral candidates. The moneyed Knox, whose wife, Linda, is a Republican, has appeal.

But that appeal, it seems, will go unrequited. When reached later for comment, Knox called himself "a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat" and said he could never run as a Republican.

Perzel addressed a litany of other issues in his address, which took place at the Union League.

On his relationship with Gov. Ed Rendell, Perzel said he talks with the governor frequently and Rendell says "OK" to almost all his requests, but doesn't follow through. So, Perzel says, he calls Rendell chum David L. Cohen at Comcast to make sure it gets done.

Perzel touted the state takeover of the school district, adding that PGW should be privatized to save money. He said the agency has too many employees and ineffective management, while taking it to task because "we still use metal pipes, while other cities are now using plastic."

On gambling, Perzel is no fan of Donald Trump. "Once everyone finds out how he runs his operations and how he never gave anything back to the community," he said, "no one will want him [here] either."

From his perspective, casinos should be situated near the Pennsylvania Convention Center. "But the site selection should be left up to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and not the friends of Mayor John Street," he dug. "I think table games are a foregone conclusion, because the casino operators will complain they can't make money unless they have them."

Perzel said he absolutely would not apologize for voting for the state pay raise. "How can I recruit qualified people to run for office when they are making money as CEOs?" he asked.

Perzel's wife, Sheryl, a Hannah Penn Club member, is the chair of the annual Speaker's Ball, which will be held at the Convention Center on March 18. Actor Gary Sinise of Forrest Gump fame, Charles Kopp, Bennett Levin and the crew of the USS Pennsylvania will be honored. Proceeds benefit the House Scholarship Program.

Bill Devlin, founder of the Urban Family Council, dropped into the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) gala last Saturday night. There, Senate candidate Bob Casey Jr. spoke to a packed ballroom at the Center City Marriott. Although rumors abounded that Devlin, a conservative opponent of same-sex marriage, was going to rush the stage to give Casey a letter, it never happened. Instead, Devlin handed Casey his letter privately and urged him to withdraw as dinner speaker because of Devlin's belief that the goal of HRC is the destruction of traditional marriage.

After Casey spoke to the pro LGBT-rights group, Devlin chatted with Stacey Sobel, executive director for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"He hasn't read the legislation in the Marriage Protection Amendment," said Sobel, who has been lobbying Harrisburg officials against the bill. "I told him that the amendment will hurt all families, not just same-sex partners."

Conservative House Republicans are trying to amend the state's constitution to define marriage as only being between a man and a woman. Additional clauses, inserted to prevent the creation of Vermont-style civil unions, would make the amendment apply equally to all unmarried couples.

Casey played to his audience with a Howard Dean-style delivery. The usually mild-mannered Casey was fired up and said what HRC members wanted to hear. In other words, he dissed his opponent, U. S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

"Santorum's politics are to divide and conquer," Casey said. "This state needs a new U.S. senator who can take us in a new direction! Santorum looks to send jobs overseas and then says we need to stay the course.

"[Santorum] calls public schools 'weird socialism' in his book. And I'm tired of hearing him say, 'I'm right and you're wrong and you don't know any better.'"

Casey drew attention to his anti-discrimination policy based on gender preference as auditor general and now as treasurer. He promised more funding for HIV research.

"We may not agree on everything," said Casey, who is pro-life and doesn't support same-sex marriage, but is for domestic partnership. "I don't fit into a box and I hate labels."