Ex-prosecutor to study Philadelphia Parking Authority
Pennsylvania House Speaker Dennis O'Brien has hired a former federal prosecutor to conduct an analysis of the Philadelphia Parking Authority to help determine what reforms, if any, the beleaguered agency needs.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Dennis O'Brien has hired a former federal prosecutor to conduct an analysis of the Philadelphia Parking Authority to help determine what reforms, if any, the beleaguered agency needs.
The idea, O'Brien said, is "to see how much money is coming in and where it's going."
"There may be no need for change, there may be need for major change," O'Brien, a Northeast Philadelphia Republican, said in a brief phone interview yesterday afternoon from the floor of the House chambers.
Reports in The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News have identified questionable spending practices throughout the agency, including overstaffing in the authority's administrative ranks, unusually high worker compensation claim rates, high salaries for top executives, and excessive spending on consulting contracts.
To explore those matters and others, O'Brien has hired veteran Philadelphia attorney L. George Parry.
Before going into private practice, Parry served as an organized-crime specialist with the U.S. Justice Department and later headed the now-defunct police corruption unit in Philadelphia's District Attorney's Office. He will be paid $250 an hour on a contract basis out of the speaker's budget.
In an interview, Parry said he intended to review documents and interview authority employees. He has no subpoena power and will receive no staff support from the speaker's office. His inquiry will be dependent on the Parking Authority's cooperation.
"This is just me walking around asking questions," Parry said.
He might not get many answers.
Parking Authority spokeswoman Linda Miller declined to say whether the agency would cooperate with O'Brien and Parry. Though she confirmed that the agency had been notified of Parry's inquiry in a letter, she would say only that "we are presently reviewing it."
Miller noted that the Parking Authority's books were audited by an independent firm each year. And she said the agency intended to cooperate fully with a pending performance audit that Gov. Rendell called for in November.
The scope of that audit remains unclear. It will be led by City Controller Alan Butkovitz, who is still negotiating its terms with Gov. Rendell's staff, said Deputy City Controller Harvey Rice. If those questions are settled soon, the audit could begin as early as next month, Rice said.
State Rep. John Perzel - who orchestrated the state takeover of the authority in 2001 and has been the agency's biggest political backer since - declined through a spokesman to to comment on Parry's inquiry.
