John Dougherty did exactly what you'd expect John
Dougherty to do Friday as federal investigators hauled box after box of
evidence from his Moyamensing Avenue home: The powerful union leader and
political kingmaker played it cool.
Sure, he paced. But he also offered swarms of reporters
wilting in the summer sun iced tea and doughnuts, and cocksure confidence.
"I've had many, many subpoenas and many, many
visits. I'm not making rookie mistakes. I've been doing this for 25
years," he said in his Cagneyesque rat-a-tat, while G-men carted away
their boxes and a computer.
But with each box investigators carried from Dougherty's
home and a nearby pub that bears his name, from the Electricians union
headquarters on Spring Garden Street, from the offices of union ally and City
Councilman Bobby Henon, from the home of a union bigwig in South Jersey, came
the weight of a question: Could this be the raid that brings down Johnny Doc?
With that question came a bigger, more nebulous one: If
Doc falls, will he pull Mayor Kenney down with him?
Could Johnny from the Block and all his boxes mean
trouble for Jimmy from Cantrell Street?
My colleague Craig R. McCoy reported last week that the
federal investigation focuses on Dougherty's personal finances and Local 98's
donations to political campaigns, including those to childhood pal Kenney and
his own brother, state Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty.
On top of that, there's the pesky state probe into
allegations of union intimidation and violence, including a South Philly
brick-tossing brawl between union and nonunion workers in 2014 (the nonunion
guys started it, Doc said), and a fight this year when Doc punched out a
nonunion worker at a South Philly work site (the guy insulted his family and
rushed him first, Doc said).
The mayor says he knows nothing about the federal
investigation. His spokeswoman says no one from the administration has been
questioned. The feds aren't hauling off any of the mayor's records.
But what's clear is that seven months into a very
promising administration, Kenney now finds himself in a spot where he surely
doesn't want to be. He's standing in the shadow, the stink, of the federal
investigation of his powerful benefactor.
The kingmaker could be in some trouble. What does that
mean for the king?
Kenney's neighborhood bona fides have always been part of
his appeal, never more so than in the mayoral race. Here was an old-school
politician with new-school sensibility. A neighborhood guy who could pass for a
dockworker at the corner bar but who embraced enlightened stances on social
issues - someone who had changed along with a changing city.
In that way, Kenney seemed a natural fit for leader of
our "New Philadelphia" - a city defined by the contradictions of a
shiny new downtown and the many neighborhoods still left behind. Someone who
could bridge old and new.
As mayor, he's worked to do just that. From the soda tax
to fixing up parks and recreation centers, and to helping shift conversations
toward poverty and inequality.
But the neighborhood progressive was propped up by the
oldest of old-school power brokers, Doc.
Doc with his seemingly unlimited union money and
unfettered power. Doc, who claims he's settled down, but who still runs into
street fights with his fists out. Doc, who has once again brought the power of
the FBI and the Justice Department and the state Attorney General's Office down
upon Philadelphia.
Doc, who says he's not making any "rookie
mistakes."
Maybe none of this goes anywhere. Or maybe it stops at
Doc.
Some political insiders I talked with said they don't see
the investigation threatening Kenney's ability to get things done. This is
still Philadelphia, after all, home of the Philadelphia Democratic Party. We
are not shocked numb by possible corruption.
Others believe a weakened Doc means a weakened Kenney. If
Doc's house and businesses were raided three months ago, would the mayor still
have had the muscle to push through his soda tax?
I hope he would have.
Either way, the pall of suspicion will likely linger for
months, if not longer.
What is clear is that despite all our city's newfound
polish and gleam, despite the success of the papal visit and the DNC, despite
all the growth and development and energy and life that have come to Philly in
recent years, despite all the efforts to end pay-to-play, at the bottom of
everything, the power structure of our body politic still gives federal agents
cause to come around collecting boxes.
Imagine what this city could be if it didn't.
Source: Philly.com
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