“Freindly Fire Zone”

Get a hit just one out of three times, and you’re in the Hall of Fame. Get nine out of ten problems right on a math test and you’re a star student. Nail one of the biggest political dirtbags in Pennsylvania history with 100 percent success --- gaining convictions on every one of 137 federal counts ---  and you’re the bad guy.  You’re the one who gets roundly reamed out in very public fashion.  You’re the one criticized for disregarding the law.

In becoming the new poster boy in the “What the F&*# was he thinking?!” category, United States District Judge Ronald Buckwalter did the unthinkable --- again --- by giving former State Senator Vince Fumo a Get Out Of Jail (Almost) Free card. 

Convicted of charges in 2009, ranging from public corruption to tax offenses, and from fraud to obstruction of justice, Fumo received the appallingly light sentence of just 4 ½ years.  People routinely get sentenced to a whole lot more for a whole lot less.

But this Judge, who before the trial was viewed as somewhat competent, made a series of mistakes after conviction, including incorrectly reading the sentencing guidelines. So he was forced by an appeals court to re-sentence Fumo.

Despite the fact that:

A) Every one of the convictions still stood,
B) Federal sentencing guidelines called for 17 to 22 years,
C) The public and legal community had been outraged at the original lenient punishment, and
D) Fumo showed absolutely no remorse --- none ---, which the Judge acknowledged,
E) Buckwalter gave Fumo six more months.  That’s not a typo.  Not six more years, which itself would have been woefully inadequate, but six short months.

Just writing that is enough to make you vomit.

Ronald Buckwalter is an absolute disgrace to the federal bench, and his flagrant disregard for justice calls into the question the very nature of lifetime judicial appointments.  There is simply no rational explanation for his pig-headed decisions regarding Fumo, but making the sin mortal was chastising the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

That’s like a parent blaming the teacher because his child bombed the test.

The investigation, which started under then-U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan, was thorough and professional, without so much as a single black mark. The investigators brought what they believed to be an iron-clad case against Fumo, and a jury of Fumo’s peers obviously agreed.

In appealing Buckwalter’s original sentence, the Office again acted responsibly, correctly noting Buckwalter’s mistakes, and seeking the only thing that everyone but Fumo and his dwindling posse wanted: justice.

*****

An appropriate punishment at the original sentencing should have ended the Fumo saga, but like the referee who feels compelled to upstage the players and become the center of attention, Buckwalter seemed to want the headlines for himself.

Mission accomplished Judge.  But at what price?

His disparagement of the U.S. Attorney’s office without a doubt provided ammunition for future defendants to argue that they too are the victims of overzealous, politically-motivated prosecutors. Wittingly or not, Judge Buckwalter opened a Pandora’s Box that will be very difficult to close.

In calling the prosecution excessive, Buckwalter stated that Fumo should not have been charged with so many counts, when in reality, he could have been charged with more. He even went so far as to label the prosecution’s efforts “unfair.”

Unfair?

No, the prosecution was more than fair.  They didn’t commit the crimes.  Vince Fumo did.  What’s patently unfair is letting him off easy because he was an “effective” legislator (which, by the way, is one of the biggest myths in all of Harrisburg, but that’s another story.) and because he was involved in charitable works.

Excuse us, Judge, but what does that have to do with anything?

You do the crime, you do the time.  It’s that simple.  And for the other factors that may have played a role in leniency, they too should have been irrelevant.

If, because of poor health, Fumo would have died in prison if given a longer sentence, so be it. If, because he would have been a very old man getting out of prison had he gotten the lengthy punishment he deserved, that’s his problem.  No one held a gun to Fumo’s head to embark on a life of crime.

To give Fumo what is perceived by most to be special treatment is, in some respects, the biggest crime of all.  Not illegal, of course, as sentencing is at Buckwalter’s discretion, but criminal in the sense that justice was not adequately served.

Perhaps more than any other city, Philadelphia has a reputation for rampant, institutionalized corruption. For decades, the bad guys always seemed to operate with impunity.  From rigged elections to pols illegally living it up on the taxpayers’ dime, the perception, rightly so, was that the politically-connected could operate above the law, and the average Joe got the shaft.

But then a funny thing happened. After witnessing numerous convictions at the city, county and state levels, most notable in the Bonusgate scandal, the public started to believe again.  Hope was renewed.  Turns out that the people, through their honest, hard working prosecutors, were fighting City Hall --- and winning.

Faith in truth, justice and the American way, now restored, hit its pinnacle when Vince Fumo, once untouchable, was brought back down to Earth, led away in handcuffs. But when the original sentence was announced, the collective breath of our society was forcibly expelled, the result of an immense kick to the gut.

Yet hope remained, if by a delicate thread.  It wasn’t over.  Maybe, just maybe, things would be made right, and Vince Fumo would finally “get his” at the re-sentencing. But as before, the people were left devastated, angry, and dumbfounded. Somehow, Fumo escaped the fate he deserved.

And with that, all the goodwill and hope that had been cautiously accumulating evaporated in a heartbeat. Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

The bitter hardness that is Philadelphia’s attitude just got stiffer.  As a direct result of the Fumo travesty, no longer do folks believe in fairness, but instead have reverted back to the “they’re all corrupt, they’re all in it together” mentality. And who can blame them?

No matter how you slice it, the bad guys came away with the better hand, and the good guys finished last.  Thank you, Judge Buckwalter.

There is no worse death that the end of hope. And more than anything, that’s why Philadelphia is dying.

Case closed.

Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television/radio commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com  His self-syndicated model has earned him the largest cumulative media voice in Pennsylvania. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

It’s Business As Usual at the DRPA.  And despite all the “reform” rhetoric flying around, don’t expect real changes anytime soon.

The reason is simple.

The people charged with implementing the reforms are the very same ones who have been, and still are, completely immersed in the conflicts, nepotism and cronyism that need reforming.

That’s like criminals running the prison, inmates taking charge of the asylum.

Given their legacy of abject failure, from accumulating massive debt to spewing outright lies, The DRPA’s Big Four executive braintrust simply has no credibility.  (It was The Big Five, but Jon Corzine was given the boot last year).

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has been virtually silent during the recent brouhaha, and, as the person in charge of the DRPA since 2002, that tells you all you need to know.

Rendell feigning indignation that corruption occurred on his watch as DRPA Chairman is like throwing ballast off a sinking ship.  It just doesn’t cut it.

His awful reform spin aside, Rendell is gone in months.  Two down.

That leaves CEO John Matheussen, Chairman John Estey, and Vice Chairman Jeff Nash, with their new-found piety and wounded vanity.  Despite PR tours and crisis management spin, their attempts at reforming the DRPA have fallen woefully short of the mark. 

You simply cannot lead when your followers have lost faith in your abilities.

The only viable solution is to wipe the DRPA clean, and Flush The Johns ---and Jeff too.

Need more ammunition for why they need to go?  Consider these recent beauties:

Estey’s Insulting FOX 29 Interview

During a recent interview on FOX’s Good Day Philadelphia, Estey, a partner at Ballard Spahr, was asked about possible DRPA conflicts with his law firm.  His response: “The truth is, I don’t know where that came from….my firm doesn’t do any work for the DRPA.”

Oh really, John? How utterly disingenuous can he be?

Ballard Spahr billed over $80,000 in 2010 alone, and $186,000 in 2009!  When did the firm stop its DRPA business dealings?  Five minutes prior to the show? 

And even if some of that billing was carried over from other years, that absolutely should have been disclosed by Estey. But it wasn’t.

What Estey also conveniently failed to mention was that Ballard performed almost $3 million in legal work for the Authority since Gov. Ed Rendell appointed himself DRPA Chairman in 2002. 

Which is interesting, given that Rendell worked at Ballard for the three years prior to his election.

Oh, and just to be clear: Ballard, its attorneys, and the Philadelphia Future political action committee --- which is registered at the Ballard offices, and whose Treasurer is Rendell confidante, political powerbroker and former Ballard Chairman David Cohen ---  donated nearly $1.5 million to Rendell’s campaigns. 

And Rendell’s Governor committee is registered at the Ballard Spahr offices!

For comparison, Ballard billed a total of only $480 in 2001 ---the year BEFORE Rendell was elected.  Quite a jump by any standard.

And despite Rendell’s claims that he had no influence in how Ballard was selected, Ballard Chairman Arthur Makadon was quoted in a 2009 news article, stating that the choice is "effectively up to the Pennsylvania governor."

Call me slow, but those two statements seem contradictory, and raise a whole lot of other questions that need to be scrutinized in great detail.

Are Rendell and Estey Really Clueless On Audits?

One of the reforms Estey has championed is allowing the Pennsylvania Auditor General to conduct an audit of the DRPA. 

In fact, the stated purpose of Estey’s upcoming resolution is to “…permit the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office…to audit the performance of the Authority.”

Sounds great as a 30-second sound bite.  But the reality is an entirely different animal.

As in….that audit CAN’T occur.  Not now, not ever.

The Pennsylvania Auditor General (currently Jack Wagner, who has been one of the only consistent voices of reform) has an automatic seat on the DRPA Board.  As such, it violates government auditing standards for Wagner to conduct a forensic audit on an agency on which he sits.

Estey and Rendell either don’t know this, making them incompetent, or they do, making them complicit in deliberately misleading the Board, the public, and the media.

And it isn’t like the DRPA is being audited regularly, anyway.  The governing rules of the Authority, known as the Compact, REQUIRES a management audit every five years. 

But this being the DRPA, where rules are for other people, they just released the audit THAT WAS DUE IN 2006!  Since the Authority footed the $500,000 bill, the audit’s independence was immediately nullified.  In fact, one Board member called it a complete waste.

To use a phrase made famous by former DRPA Board member Vince Fumo, now vacationing in federal prison, it’s Other People’s Money.

Typical DRPA.

The only way to ensure an audit is conducted independently is to utilize an auditor as far removed from the New Jersey and Pennsylvania political scene as possible. 

The United States Government Accounting Office or Inspector General’s Office are the most viable options --- but neither are being recommended by the DRPA.

DRPA Salary Increases: Yes Or No?  Ask Dick Brown

According to the DRPA, there have been no recent salary increases for employees.  Yet Richard Brown, longtime General Counsel, had his $9,000 car allowance shifted to his salary.

Despite car allowances being eliminated last month as a “reform” measure, Brown’s $9,000 car allowance-turned-salary increase will NOT be retracted. 

In other words, he received a pay raise. His salary stands at $189,081.

Car allowances are taxed as income, but that money does NOT count toward one’s pension.  Could it be that the DRPA made this salary-increase arrangement for Brown, who is at or near retirement age, so that his pension could be padded--- a hefty increase that toll payers will be paying for the rest of Brown’s life?

Legal or not, such a move is a slap in the face to those who will be paying $5 to cross the bridges next year --- bridges that remain overdue for capital improvement projects due to a lack of money.

Board Has Been Kept In The Dark

On numerous occasions, including some in the DRPA’s recent “Age of Reform,” the Port Authority’s Board Of Commissioners have been kept in the dark regarding resolutions, conflicts, personnel matters and the overall direction of the DRPA.

Consider just a few:

-The Board wasn’t informed of Vice Chairman Nash’s conflict when the DRPA shelled out three $50,000 marketing contracts to his (now) ex-wife’s company, Live Nation. 

-The Board wasn’t informed when Corporate Secretary John Lawless --- a self-described whistleblower --- was escorted from the building by Matheussen for non-disciplinary reasons in April, despite the fact that Lawless doesn’t work for the CEO, but for the Board itself. 

-The Board hasn’t been consulted on the reform resolutions being offered at the August Board meeting.

- Several Board members were unaware that DRPA executives had Authority-issued credit cards, and still have no idea how much was spent, and on what.

This veil of secrecy has become so commonplace that several Board Members are openly calling for a change in DRPA leadership.

If the Authority’s own Board doesn’t even know what the leadership is doing, how can the public ever feel confident that they are getting straight answers, let alone the truth?

So much for openness, transparency and accountability.

Attitude reflects leadership

The attitudes of Matheussen, Estey and Nash have consistently exuded nothing but contempt for toll payers, the media, law-and-order politicians and the truth.  No amount of reform will change that fact, so the only answer is their removal.

Likewise, the leadership of Gov. Chris Christie will be forever damaged if he reappoints or endorses any of the current DRPA leadership.

After decades of abuse and scandal, Business As Usual at the DRPA must come to an end.

Governor Christie, the people are waiting.

Chris Freind is an independent columnist and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com
Readers of his column, “Freindly Fire,” hail from six continents, thirty countries and all fifty states. His work has been referenced in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, foreign newspapers, and in Dick Morris' recent bestseller "Catastrophe."
Freind also serves as a weekly guest commentator on the Philadelphia-area talk radio show, Political Talk (WCHE 1520), and makes numerous other television and radio appearances, most notably on FOX 29 in Philadelphia. 

He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Fast Eddie never gives up, no matter how short-sighted his ideas may be.

When we last left our lameduck leader during the 2009 fiscal debacle, which took 101 days to pass  a budget, the Governor was doing what Democrats do best --- transferring  money from the people to government coffers.  How? By initiating yet more tax increases on an already overtaxed public.

No surprise there.

At a time when Pennsylvania families are doing the responsible thing --- tightening the belt and exercising fiscal restraint --- the Governor does the polar opposite. Rendell has proposed a budget increase of 4%, in large part to pay for his pet projects, while incomprehensibly ignoring the fact that revenues are declining. 

But given the fact that Rendell hasn’t signed an on-time budget since taking office, why not go eight-for-eight?

It’s no secret that Philadelphia has a long and proud history of political corruption.

Once-powerful state senator Vince Fumo has donned prison orange after being convicted on all 137 counts of political corruption. Former City Treasurer Corey Kemp is doing hard time for fraud, extortion, welfare fraud, and filing false tax returns.  And Rick Mariano, former City Councilman, still calls federal prison home after his conviction on honest services fraud.

But fraud and corruption are not just limited to public officials.  It’s been a Philly tradition that dead people vote on a regular basis.

While that feat seems to defy the laws of nature --- one which would seem impossible to top --- we do indeed have a situation that does just that.

Believe it or not, the deceased have retained legal counsel to challenge the petitions of people running for Republican Ward Committee posts.

I’m not sure what’s more fascinating --- the deceased figuring out which lawyer to hire, or the attorney brilliant enough to so creatively expand his client base.

And just who is the uber-barrister responsible for this miraculous act?

Michael Meehan, General Counsel and de facto head of the Philadelphia Republican City Committee, who also chairs the powerful five county Southeast Republican Caucus.