Mayor Kenney's appointee to lead the city's Zoning Board
of Adjustment resigned Wednesday, three weeks after his home and office were
raided by FBI agents investigating the powerful electricians union and its
leader, John Dougherty.
James Moylan, a South Philadelphia chiropractor and
longtime friend of the union chief, made the decision to step down in
consultation with the mayor and his administration, mayoral spokeswoman Lauren
Hitt said Wednesday.
"The Mayor believes Dr. Moylan has done an exemplary
job as the chair of the [Zoning Board]," Hitt said in a statement.
"In the spirit of Dr. Moylan's dedication to public service and his strong
character, he has decided that the city cannot afford the ongoing media focus
to distract from the board's important work."
Moylan, 53, did not respond to a request for comment
Wednesday. A source close to the chiropractor said Kenney asked him to resign
over the weekend.
The mayor made the request, the source said, in advance
of a scheduled zoning board meeting Tuesday, saying he was concerned that the
committee's business would be overshadowed by media attention tied to the Local
98 investigation.
Moylan's resignation was first reported by WHYY.
The search warrants served on his Pennsport house and
office last month came shortly after a series of coordinated raids by the FBI
on the hall of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
and more than a dozen other sites tied to Dougherty and his close allies,
including City Councilman Bobby Henon.
Henon, the majority leader in Council, is a former
political director for the union who remains on its payroll.
In each instance, the warrants sought evidence of
possible crimes including embezzlement of union funds, intimidation of
contractors, and extortion by an unnamed government official.
Sources familiar with the probe say investigators are
also examining Local 98's prolific contributions to political campaigns.
Federal authorities subpoenaed finance records last month
from Kenney's campaign, which received significant backing from Dougherty and
the union during his mayoral bid last year.
Dougherty has denied any wrongdoing, and a spokesman for
the union chief declined to comment Wednesday.
The mayor has repeatedly said he has no reason to suspect
he or any member of his administration is a target of the probe.
In February, Kenney appointed Moylan, who has worked as a
political consultant for Local 98 in the past, to lead the zoning board, a
five-member panel that plays a vital role in shaping city development and
grants exceptions to building restrictions.
At the time, the chiropractor was serving as president of
the Pennsport Civic Association. But his connection to Dougherty spans at least
two decades.
A union spokesman has said that it was Dougherty who
encouraged Moylan to move his family to Pennsport and set up his practice there
in the early 2000s.
More recently, Moylan spoke in Dougherty's defense after
a May 2014 fight that broke out between a group of nonunion bricklayers and the
union head and other Local 98 members. The rumble happened near the
chiropractor's office at 1301 S. Third St.
The bricklayers told police that Dougherty and his
members started the altercation. Moylan said he saw as many as five men near
Dougherty, with three "coming at him" and two others standing nearby
with pipes.
The matter remains under investigation by the FBI and a
separate state grand jury probe led by the Attorney General's Office.
Source: Philly.com
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