William Penn Foundation gets clarification, will consider city agency grants

The William Penn Foundation said Wednesday that it would resume consideration of grant requests from city agencies, after the city Board of Ethics ruled that the foundation's largesse would not trigger the city's lobbying ordinance.

If it were subject to that ordinance, the foundation would be forced to register and make quarterly financial disclosures.

In a brief statement attributed to spokesman Tim Spreitzer, the foundation thanked the board for clarifying the scope of the lobbying ordinance.

"We look forward to resuming the foundation's thoughtful consideration of grant requests from city departments and city-related agencies," the statement said.

Mayor Nutter asked for the Ethics Board ruling last week, after the foundation informed the city that it was suspending new grants to city agencies until the issue was clarified.

Nutter cited two grant proposals - a request to the foundation to help fund design work for a trail on the west side of the Schuylkill, and potential applications to the Bloomberg Philanthropy's Mayors Challenge, which helps finance solutions to urban problems.

"Neither of these examples constitutes an attempt to influence administrative or legislative action," Nutter said in a letter to the Ethics Board.

The board agreed Wednesday, voting, 4-0, to send a letter with its findings to Nutter.

The Ethics Board made no reference to a pending complaint, filed by Parents United for Public Schools, regarding the William Penn Foundation's funding of work by the Boston Consulting Group to study school closings and other issues for the Philadelphia School District.

The parents' group contends that in this instance, the foundation was trying to influence the School District's decision-making and should have been required both to register as a lobbying principal and to provide details of its arrangements with the consulting firm.