Phila. elections chief agrees to pay $4,000 ethics fine
City Commissioners Chairman Anthony Clark has agreed to pay $4,000 in fines for ethics violations in connection with efforts to secure a raise for his brother, a commissioners' employee.
City Commissioners Chairman Anthony Clark has agreed to pay $4,000 in fines for ethics violations in connection with efforts to secure a raise for his brother, a commissioners' employee.
Clark, in a settlement reached with the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, agreed that he failed to properly notify the city of his ability to affect his brother's pay, remove himself from discussions involving that pay, and cooperate with an investigation into his actions.
That last charge was evidenced by an implied threat Clark made to the commissioners' budget officer when he learned she was to talk to investigators in the case.
He also agreed to take part in ethics training.
Clark did not respond to a request for comment made to his office. The three city commissioners oversee Philadelphia elections.
Clark was initially accused of four violations of the City Code, including threatening to retaliate against the budget officer. J. Shane Creamer Jr., executive director of the Ethics Board, had sought $8,000 in fines.
Negotiations between the Ethics Board and Clark resulted in the agreement on three violations and $4,000 in fines.
"We believe this is an appropriate resolution," said Michael J. Cooke, director of enforcement for the Ethics Board.
The case stems from a request Clark made of his deputy in September 2013 to find a way to increase the pay of his brother, Alex, a low-level employee.
The deputy spoke to a human resources manager, who in October increased Alex Clark's pay rate to "Clerical Supervisor II," though Clark never did the work that goes with that title. That change meant about $4,700 more a year for Alex Clark.
The raise was quickly rescinded after commission staffers questioned its appropriateness. A complaint was filed in November 2013 with the Ethics Board's enforcement staff, which started an investigation.
Among those interviewed by investigators was Valerie Crawford-Keith, the commissioners' budget officer.
Crawford-Keith told investigators that Clark had warned her that there could be changes in the commissioners' office and that it would be good to "have someone on your side." He also told her that although she was a civil service employee, "that doesn't mean nothing can happen to you," according to the charges brought against Clark by the Ethics Board.
Clark, who was first elected in 2007, recently won renomination to his post in the May 19 Democratic primary. Last year, Philadelphia City Paper reported that he had not voted in five consecutive elections, from spring 2012 to fall 2014. He resumed voting after the article appeared.
