Inquirer Editorial: Giving a no-bid contract to a Kenney supporter suggests pay-to-play

Ten years ago, Philadelphia passed a law to prevent ties between firms and individuals giving large campaign contributions and their receiving no-bid contracts, otherwise known as pay-to-play. But like parking in the middle of South Broad Street, some bad traditions die hard. Consider the Kenney administration's troubling decision to give an $800,000 no-bid contract to a law firm that employs a key player in the mayor's election: Ken Trujillo.

Trujillo's firm was hired to defend a lawsuit challenging the city's sweetened beverage tax, the signature legislation pushed through by Mayor Kenney. But the Kenney-Trujillo ties run deeper than that, as Inquirer reporter Claudia Vargas detailed.

After Trujillo dropped out of the mayor's race in January 2015, then-Councilman Kenney jumped in and hired some of Trujillo's campaign staff.

In February 2015, the Friends of Ken Trujillo political action committee gave Kenney's mayoral campaign a research book valued at $4,200.

In March 2015, the Friends of Ken Trujillo PAC donated $10,000 to a political action committee that supported Kenney.

In April 2015, the law firm where Trujillo was a partner at the time, Schnader Harrison Segal and Lewis, donated $5,000 to Kenney's campaign and another $5,000 before the general election.

In May 2015, Trujillo's former law firm, Trujillo Rodriguez Richards, where he retains an ownership interest, donated $2,500 to Kenney.

The city pay-to-play law set contribution limits at $11,500 last year. Firms or individuals that exceeded the limits are barred from receiving no-bid contracts.

One problem with the law: the city finance director, who is appointed by the mayor, determines how donations are categorized. The law should be changed to have an independent agency, like the city Ethics Board, make that determination.

At the very least, the various donations tied to Trujillo raise questions about the spirit of the pay-to-play law. Kenney said the contract was not payback for Trujillo's support. He said other firms had conflicts that prevented them from doing the work, and that the city's law department selected Trujillo without his involvement.

To be sure, as the former city solicitor, Trujillo is familiar with city and state law, as well as the city's authority to implement the new soda tax. But that does not get around the fact that the no-bid contract with Trujillo's firm was announced on the same day the city was sued. He will be paid $430 an hour for his legal services - 91 percent above the standard $225-an-hour rate that the city usually pays for outside counsel.

A second law firm also received an $800,000 no-bid contract to work on the case, raising questions as to what work the law department is doing.

Of course, there is a simple solution to avoid pay-to-play: Put contracts out to bid. Yes, there are arguments against bidding professional service contracts based on price. But the bid requests could consider other factors, such as experience and performance.

The real or perceived appearance of pay-to-play sends the wrong message that City Hall is only open to insiders and big campaign donors. The Kenney administration can do better than that to ensure pay-to-play hasn't returned to being standard procedure.