Philly Clout: Secret DNC donkey deal revealed

READERS OF THE Philly Clout newsletter during the Democratic National Convention may recall our preconvention item headlined, "Ed Rendell's Son Seals DNC Donkey Deal."

We reported July 22 that Scavify, a Fishtown company co-owned by Jesse Rendell, landed a contract with the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee as part of the "Donkeys Around Town" scavenger hunt involving 57 colorful donkeys set up throughout the city.

Jesse Rendell told us in July that his father, who chaired the host committee, was "aware of our business." Yesss, of course.

But no one involved would disclose how much money the host committee paid Scavify to use its app, which enabled participants to locate donkeys, check in via GPS, win prizes and whatnot.

Clout basically was told that everything was kosher, Scavify was the bestest and not to worry our pretty little heads about the money and other silly details.

This week, we learned that the committee paid Scavify $5,000 on May 23 and another $5,000 on July 26, four days after our report. So, 10,000 bucks total. Not bad. That's about middle of the road, as far as these donkey deals go.

The host committee - which had fought tooth and nail to keep its finances secret - finally disclosed its contributions and receipts Monday evening in a report submitted to the Federal Election Commission. It was time-stamped 7:19 p.m., around the time every political journalist who covers asses was preparing to watch or cover the presidential debate.

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee held a conference call in which Ed Rendell called the committee's fund-raising - a cool $85 million - and the Democratic National Convention itself "enormously successful."

But the Scavify contract never came up during the conference call. It's like no one in this city even cares about the shadowy world of political nepotism, smartphone technology and fiberglass donkeys.

Don't worry, Clout is on it.

Former PPA Executive Director Vince Fenerty made headlines this week for getting the boot from his $223,000-a-year job. (Well, technically he resigned before he could get the boot following two sexual harassment scandals and an impending dismissal.)

Back in 1983, Fenerty made news for a different kind of boot.

Fenerty had the only-in-Philadelphia distinction of being the first person to boot a vehicle in the city. Dozens of onlookers, then-Mayor Bill Green and the local press corps eagerly watched as he ruined some inattentive driver's day while cameras flashed.

For the play-by-play, here's then-Inquirer reporter Jane Eisner's account from that day:

"First, Vince Fenerty, a Parking Authority worker, pried a hubcap off the unsuspecting van. Then, very slowly (after all, this was new to him, and there were a lot of people around) Fenerty screwed on the bright orange clamp and tightened it with a long screw. He placed a lollipop-shaped metal device over the wheel, attached that to the clamp, locked it with a heavy push from the wrist, and voila, the job was done."

Voila, so is his.

Donald Trump's spokesman went ballistic Thursday after our colleague Aubrey Whelan wrote a story about when Trump allegedly called then-Inquirer reporter Jennifer Lin "that c---" to one of her editors and "s--- for brains" to her directly.

"This accusation is categorically false," wrote senior campaign adviser David Urban. "I find it incredibly coincidental that this person's crystal-clear recollection of one sentence, one word, spoken nearly 30 years ago, just happens to coincide with Mr. Trump's surge in Pennsylvania. This is nothing more than an avowed liberal reporter who is trying to exploit Mr. Trump's reputation as click bait for her tabloid stories."

We'd like to provide some context here.

In the small world of Washington politics, Urban crossed paths with Lin in 2012. He had been a Washington lobbyist for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, and Lin wrote that PHA's $10,000-a-month payment for lobbying apparently violated federal regulations.

Urban had worked closely with PHA Executive Director Carl Greene, who was fired from PHA in September 2010 after almost 13 years as head of the nation's fourth-largest public housing agency. Greene was fired in part for settling sexual harassment lawsuits with public funds and not informing the PHA board of what he was doing.

In June 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notified Greene that he would be barred indefinitely from working with HUD. The agency never took action against Urban's lobbying firm, American Continental Group, and there were no allegations of wrongdoing against the company.

We reached out to Urban on Thursday after his meltdown, but he said his phone was not working well, then didn't respond to subsequent emails.

For the record, Clout would trust Lin and Whelan over Trump any day.

On Twitter: @wbender99

Email: benderw@phillynews.com

- Staff writers William Bender, Julia Terruso, Claudia Vargas, Mark Fazlollah and Craig R. McCoy contributed to this article.