On the Records

Why a house vote about the transparency of government documents won't be happening. Plus, the latest on the Kelly/Oh race.

by Mary F. Patel

AHouse vote expected this week about the transparency of government documents won't be happening after all, thanks to a scheduling overload at the State Capitol.

State activists have been pushing for all documents to be made public. The Senate wants to provide easy access to paperwork from the governor's office while adhering to a status quo that makes the legislature's documents very difficult to obtain.

House members want transparency across the board, but one sticking issue is government e-mails. State Rep. Greg Vitali wants to protect all e-mails while state Rep. Babette Josephs says she believes e-mails should be public or private based on content. Josephs was engaged in a recent debate on the House floor on the matter, although her point did not make it into the bill.

"All communications based on government information should be public, but if a constituent contacts my office about an issue that is sensitive, they may not want that to be public," Josephs said. "That is where it should be kept private."

The House currently posts roll-call and committee votes on the Internet, makes expense records available electronically by request, prohibits private vehicle leases for members and requires public filing of per diem and expense reimbursements within 90 days.

Recent transparency changes implemented by House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese include mandatory ethics training for House Democratic Caucus employees, a ban on House votes occurring after 11 p.m. and prohibiting public service announcements and robo-calls 60 days prior to an election.

The Rivals Countdown

More than a week after voters went to the polls, the frantic tallying continues among the camps supporting Republican City Councilman at-large Jack Kelly and challenger David Oh, who were involved in a too-close-to-call race for the final seat.

According to the City Charter, at least two seats must go to the minority party, in this case, the GOP. Since Republican City Councilman at-large Frank Rizzo easily won re-election, Kelly and Oh saw the vote count start Friday and continue through the weekend and into the week.

At issue are some 2,200 absentee ballots and 1,400 provisional ballots that both camps hunkered down at election headquarters at Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street to examine. Each party scrutinizes every ballot, each registration is thoroughly checked and any ballot questioned by either party is set aside for hearing before a judge. (Oh has retained Greg Harvey as his election attorney while Kelly has engaged George Bochetto.) In some cases, voters submitted an absentee ballot but then ended up voting in person anyway, so their absentee poll should not be counted in the final tally. Provisional ballots are trickier; they are used if the polling location does not have a record of a resident voting, so their names must be thoroughly checked to ensure they are properly registered. Alternative ballots, which are used in cases when the voter is disabled, age 65 or older and if the facility is not handicap accessible, are also being scrutinized. No timetable was available Tuesday on when the election is expected to be finalized. With 99 percent of the precincts counted, Oh had a seven-vote lead at press time.

This and That

Actors Melissa Fitzgerald and Allison Janney, formerly of The West Wing, were in town Monday night to perform monologues from Voices of Uganda, a documentary about teenagers in northern Uganda who participated in a theater group along with American actors. Fitzgerald, a producer of Voices, just returned from filming in Uganda. The World Affairs Council sponsored the event at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia The same night, others gathered at the Kimmel Center to honor another humanitarian, Richard Gere. Gere received the Marian Anderson Award for his continued efforts to garner public support for Tibetan refugees and raising awareness for HIV/AIDS.

Gere and friend, fellow actor Diane Lane, were front and center at a VIP cocktail reception in a private room at the Kimmel Center before the dinner, concert and award ceremony.

Back on the black-tie circuit was former Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox, with his wife Linda. Knox said he is exploring running for another office. Unwilling to go into detail about potential offices, he said he has no regrets from his failed bid for City Hall.

Knox had hired Joe Trippi as his media consultant and came in second after winning candidate Michael Nutter. Trippi is now busy running the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

(rcpatel@aol.com)