9 on Council sign resolution on firing prosecutors

Nine members of Philadelphia City Council on Thursday signed a resolution urging District Attorney Seth Williams to fire three prosecutors entangled in the so-called Porngate scandal. The members also called on the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate, adding their names to a growing group.

"This is not something that's going away," said Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who introduced the resolution. "This is something that is really only gaining steam and gaining momentum."

The resolution was introduced a week after the five female members of Council held a news conference making similar demands. Joining Bass in backing the resolution are Council members Jannie L. Blackwell, Blondell Reynolds Brown, W. Wilson Goode Jr., William Greenlee, Kenyatta Johnson, Curtis Jones Jr., Marian B. Tasco, and Maria Quiñones Sánchez.

The resolution will likely be called up for a full vote next week; the support of nine of Council's 14 members means it is likely to pass.

Prosecutors Frank Fina, E. Marc Costanzo, and Patrick Blessington sent or received emails with pornographic content while working for the Attorney General's Office.

Williams has said that the men, who now work for his office, have been disciplined and ordered to undergo sensitivity training. His office has not responded to repeated inquiries about whether that training took place and, if it has, what it entailed.

Bass on Thursday questioned why the office was "operating in such secrecy."

"Who conducted it? When was it conducted? What kind of training was it?" Bass said. "These are all very valid questions that the citizens of the city of Philadelphia want to have answered. And we call on our district attorney to do the right thing and tell us."

A spokesman for Williams did not respond to a request for comment on the resolution.

tnadolny@phillynews.com 215-854-2730 @TriciaNadolny