After a one-week delay, City Council yesterday approved a $230 million bond issue for the Philadelphia airport, setting aside concerns about how Mayor Street chooses the batteries of lawyers and underwriters who profit from such deals.
Only about $40 million in bond proceeds will be used for something new - security upgrades and an explosives-detection system at the sprawling airport. The rest is for a complicated refunding called a "swaption."
Last week, Council members Michael Nutter and Brian O'Neill led the charge against the bill, urging the Street administration to renegotiate the fees for the lawyers and underwriters.
Though it wasn't publicly discussed at the hearings, Council members were also concerned that the airport bond team was put together by former City Treasurer Corey Kemp, now on trial on corruption charges in federal court.
Mayor Street's top political aide, George Burrell, also added Simone White as the co-underwriter's counsel to the team. White is the daughter of the late lawyer Ron White, who, until his death, was a central figure in the corruption probe that netted Kemp.
Neither Nutter nor O'Neill attended yesterday, and Council approved the bill in a 9-to-5 vote.
"While I don't question the need of the airport project, I still question the process of how this deal was put together," said Councilman Frank DiCicco, who voted against the bill along with Jack Kelly, Frank Rizzo, James Kenney and David Cohen.
"Had we passed an ethics bill, I think I'd be much more comfortable looking at this bill," Kelly said.
But Council President Anna Verna said only the airlines would be harmed if Council rejected the bill. And Councilwoman Marian Tasco noted, "Until we are able to do something about how the bond process works, we still have to continue to do business."
A second airport bond issue, for $125 million in terminal improvements, remains stalled in Council because of a dispute over how much oversight Council should have in bond refundings.
Meanwhile, Street said yesterday that he's instructed his finance director to review how other cities handle bond work, to reduce the city's costs.
But Street also defended the current system, noting the city negotiates "some very, very stiff fees, and we are more than competitive."
Suggesting that the media spotlight ought to be shone on how the state, school district or Pennsylvania Convention Center handle bond issues, Street said, "People say that it costs us more, but I can tell you that we pay significantly less."
But Street said he wouldn't make changes unless they were cost-effective. "Unfortunately, I'm stuck with who I am. I can't play a game with this," he said.
