Staff Blog
The Incredible Frank Rizzo, Jr.
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Jeff Shields had a good story in the Inquirer this weekend pointing out the screwed-up reality that the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) for city employees is not necessarily saving the city money, but that we're unlikely to see it end, because the public officials with the power to do away with it benefit from it. Greatly.
Most upsetting are public officials who enroll in the plan, then retire briefly to collect a lump sum and stay on the payroll, as Joan Krajewski and Marge Tartaglione have done, and as Frank Rizzo Jr. is thinking of doing. Shields apparently asked the son of the legendary mayor whether this abuse of the system wasn't, well, an abuse of the system (especially at a time when the city is hurting for funds). Here's Rizzo's answer:
"It's fair criticism. It doesn't mean I wouldn't try to withstand the criticism," said Rizzo, who is due to collect just shy of $190,000 on New Year's Eve 2011. "It's a program that was available to me, and as long as it's an appropriate legal opportunity, I think that it would be an opportunity that you can't let pass by."
WHAT?!? That first part — "It's fair criticism. It doesn't mean I wouldn't try to withstand that criticism" — translates roughly to, "You're right, I'm taking money I shouldn't really get. But I'm going to do it and see if I can't get re-elected by people who still think I'm my father anyway, because I just don't care."
Great.
The second part has a little more merit: Yes, it's legal, and it is hard to turn down $190,000. But I'd think it's a little less hard when you make over $100,000 annually, as Rizzo does, are allowed to hold down a second job while doing so, and are plenty well-connected to find other well-paying work should you ever need to, which is unlikely.
Rizzo is basically daring the city not to re-elect him here.
