Union boss working his plan for Council

Electricians' union boss John J. Dougherty has been busy in the Republican at-large City Council race, trashing David Oh in favor of Joe McColgan and State Rep. Denny O'Brien.

Dougherty is backing candidates he believes will support Darrell L. Clarke for Council president. McColgan reported last week he had received $5,000 in July from the PAC run by Dougherty's union, IBEW Local 98. And O'Brien, the leading vote-getter in the Republican-at-large primary last spring, reported a $10,000 donation from Local 98 on Friday.

O'Brien and McColgan also could benefit from a vicious direct-mail campaign funded by Philadelphia Phuture, a Dougherty-linked PAC.

The fliers are typical of the bare-knuckles politics favored by Dougherty, somehow linking the deaths of two Philadelphia police officers to gun charges against Oh in the early 1990s that were dropped. Oh had flashed a gun in at least one confrontation near his home.

Oh has said he has not yet made a decision on the Council president's race. Dougherty and McColgan did not return requests for comment.

Big-time Oh allies have put out statements of support to counter the attacks, including U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, and former Gov. Ed Rendell. - Miriam Hill

Al Schmidt, who is battling incumbent Joe Duda for the Republican slot in the City Commissioners' office, has done two mailings trying to tie Duda to the hated DROP program, which provides lump-sum payouts to city employees who sign up and retire within four years. It's a stretch, considering Duda has never signed up for DROP and says he never will.

Schmidt says his mailers are legit because Duda is eligible for DROP and hasn't signed a waiver with the pension board disclaiming future interest. But any employee with 10 years' experience is eligible for DROP at age 55 or 60. And under the city pension code, those who waive benefits have a legal right to change their mind, pension officials say. So Duda's vow not to sign up is worth more than the paper Schmidt wants him to sign. - Bob Warner

Frank Rizzo was angry enough when Republican colleagues Brian O'Neill and Jack Kelly stripped him of his leadership position - the three made up the Council's entire GOP caucus - that he changed his registration to independent.

He wasn't too happy the other week, either, when O'Neill was asked at the start of a Council session if the minority party had any requests for leaves of absence.

O'Neill answered that there were none, "on behalf of Councilman Kelly and myself."

Last week, O'Neill was late to the meeting, leaving Kelly to field the Council president's customary question. He apparently decided to stop twisting the knife, and answered simply on behalf of the Republicans.

Rizzo then asked to be recognized. "On behalf of the independent member of Council," he said, "there will be no request for a leave of absence." - Troy Graham