Councilman Kelly sues over smear campaign
Republican City Councilman Jack Kelly is suing a Lawncrest man for a smear campaign that Kelly says nearly cost him last year's general election.
Republican City Councilman Jack Kelly is suing a Lawncrest man for a smear campaign that Kelly says nearly cost him last year's general election.
Kelly sued Paul D. Corbett and Corbett's loosely assembled group, Citizens Opposed to Politicians Who Pander to Perverts, in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas last month, asking for at least $50,000 in defamation damages. He is paying his own legal expenses.
Kelly argues that Corbett, also a Republican, and other members of COPPP "publicly and privately embarrassed and shamed" him by distributing flyers in church parking lots in the weeks before the November election.
The flyers said that "Councilman Kelly voted with the homosexual lobby to remove the Boy Scouts from their city rent-free headquarters. The scouts can remain only if they agree with the homosexual agenda which would promote sodomy to our youth."
Kelly was one of 16 Council members who voted in May 2007 to break the $1-a-year lease with the Cradle of Liberty Council, Philadelphia's Boy Scouts of America chapter. The vote came after the Law Department asserted that the city could not subsidize a private organization that discriminated against gays. The city subsequently increased the rent to $200,000 annually.
The Boy Scouts remain in the building. The city is trying to enforce the new lease in state court, while the scouts have filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit.
Kelly, an incumbent, edged out Republican David Oh for an at-large seat on Council by just 123 votes. Kelly was not declared a winner until two weeks after the election as both sides argued over absentee ballots.
"Kelly nearly lost the election and was forced to spend tens of thousand of dollars in legal fees, consultants, and advertising to maintain his City Council seat since the election results were so close," wrote Kelly's attorneys, George Bochetto and Scott Sigman.
John Cerrone, Kelly's acting chief of staff, said Corbett had defamed Kelly. "The councilman absolutely will not tolerate Mr. Corbett's or anyone else's nefarious and downright vitriolic actions, now or in the future," Cerrone said.
Corbett, 79, was unperturbed yesterday. He accused Kelly of "whining."
"If the electorate is informed of the homosexual agenda, they will vote against it," Corbett said, "and the distribution of the few thousand flyers we put out proved it. Someone had to do it, and I'm proud that I led the effort."
Kelly and city officials have said Corbett should have registered COPPP as a political committee if it funded political activities. Kelly referred the case the District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, Cerrone said. Abraham spokeswoman Cathie Abookire said she was unable to determine the status of Kelly's complaint yesterday afternoon.
Corbett said he had seen no reason to register COPPP. "This is a moral and religious battle more than a political one," he said.
