With the many issues facing Philadelphia – like gun violence in neighborhoods that claim innocent bystanders, police-community relations, which worsened after Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown, an unarmed Black man, was killed in December of 2014 by a police officer while unarmed and fleeing, or a poverty rate of 26 percent, the highest among any major American city – the current Mayor can’t afford to be distracted by the drama unfolding in the life of Mr. Seth Williams, the unpopular District Attorney who was first elected in 2009 and who’s seeking re-election in 2017.
Nonetheless, Mr. Jim Kenney concedes that Mr. Williams – who made headlines this weekend after it was revealed that his ex-girlfriend, also a City employee, slashed the tires on his government cars – is, indeed, a distraction.
“It’s a distraction, it’s not my distraction,” the Mayor told me moments after he participated in a press conference to announce the grand re-opening of the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s 8th & Arch Street garage.
Last week, I penned a post questioning whether Mr. Kenney, eight months into his job as the City’s chief executive, should request the resignation of Mr. Williams, who, in addition to a scorned lover causing him headache, is embroiled in a controversy over his failure to disclose his acceptance of more than $160,000 in gifts. Mr. Kenney this morning emphasized that Mr. Williams is an independent elected official and that his fate isn’t for the Mayor’s Office to decide.
“The voters will decide whether he will return,” said Mr. Kenney, who noted that Mr. Williams’ circumstances, whether good or bad, has little to do with him.
Despite the controversies, Mr. Williams – who lost the support of many black faith and civic leaders last year over his handling of the case of Mr. Tate-Brown – appears intent on seeking another term.
Mr. Williams, the first African-American elected as Philadelphia District Attorney, has since apologized for Gift-Gate, though some see that as an admission of guilt, and the District Attorney’s Office will likely prosecute Ms. Stacey Cumming, who confessed to slashing the tires and who was among the gift givers that Mr. Williams kept hidden.
“She shouldn’t have done it,” Mayor Kenney said, though he declined to make the same moral judgment of Mr. Williams’ malfeasance.
Regarding Gift-Gate and the F.B.I’s investigation into Mr. Williams’ finances and his non-profit organization, the Mayor said he only knows what he’s read in the newspapers.
It’s hard to speculate about stuff you don’t know about, the Mayor said.
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Photo courtesy of the author.
Seth cares only about himself. He is a con-man. Looking to live the high-life on the public’s back. Prosecuted Judge Tynes for taking a $2K gift while he was taking $160,000.00. Horrible human being.