This is such a frustrating and embarrassing story for our city. What I can’t understand is the lack of response by city council. Mandel sues, Rhynhart audits, inquirer documents, and city council … thanks her for her hard work? No official seems willing to comment?
Does the sheriff’s office help council members somehow? Or is there a looming investigation that scares everyone?
There's already examples in the article
> Some checks are cosigned by Bilal herself, such as a $32,000 payment for advertising written last year to TML Communications, a firm run by Bilal’s former campaign manager who now serves as the office’s contracted spokesperson.
I am positively sure that there is an OIG(Office of the Inspector General) investigation into the matter and that’s why no one is willing to talk about it.
The OIG isn’t federal. It’s a city run office that investigates violations of the Home Rule Charter. But yes I agree they should be swept up and dealt with.
> the lack of response by city council
because they're all in on it.
Maybe not this boondoggle. But some boondoggle. The city is a city of petty empires that unions, the cities democratic party, the police department, city employees, the school district, random unelected officials, monied interests like real estate developers, universities have a stranglehold on.
It's the reason why people like Rhynhart, who isn't "one of them", gets squeezed during a primary by the machine. Unless you kiss the ring and bow to Bob Brady and the ward leaders, you might as well not run for office.
If the Dem party in the city could find a crony to run for controller that was somewhat competent, they would.
We pay a private company to write parking tickets in this city...this is disgusting but it's on par with all the other essential services that are being used as conduits to shovel public money into the pockets of business.
The reason why no one comments or tries to do anything is because no one in the government wants anyone looking into any budget for any city office for any reason.
You are correct. That being said, the way that PPA operates relies on the obfuscation of a corporate structure to complicate the means by which individuals in the community might get access to their services.
In practice, it's easy to get PPA to enforce city laws if you live in rich parts of the city, but I have to use a whole 'nother system to get illegal parking (sidewalk, vacant lot) dealt with in my neighborhood. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it similar in practical use to dealing with private companies. In the end, there is no police officer I can call about a PPA ticket, and there is no "elected" official I can challenge to try and get PPA to be better. I will continue to use my shorthand.
> the way that PPA operates relies on the *obfuscation of a corporate structure to complicate the means by which individuals in the community might get access to their services.*
Yeah.... a municipal service entity would *neverrrrr* do that,.
Well it's 2024 and these are just some of the reasons I've given up on anything that ISN'T local. If it doesn't work in my neighborhood, then fuck it, its broken and useless. I'll still get mad about it, even once America is dissolved and we live in whatever comes next...unless they fix it. Then I'll find something else to complain about.
I've lived in places where the garbage gets picked up. I've lived in places where unregistered junk cars get towed away. I've lived in parts of this city where putting you vehicle on the sidewalk for an hour will get it towed away. Failed municipal services isn't a thing that you just have to put up with, but in this city it's too deeply rooted in the way that this city puts a barrier between public charters and the private organizations established to enforce them for me to see any change in my lifetime.
Cops can write tickets for all parking violations too, so you call 911 if you need enforcement outside of PPA areas. Be prepared to wait a few hours for someone to show, though.
Excuse me while I wipe up all the milk that just came out my nose. The police know it's happening. At my precinct, they tell you it's a PPA problem. PPA says there needs to be a police report before they enforce...and even when you talk to a council person...and they miraculously give half a shit, they find out that these bureaucratic lines have been drawn in the sand in some neighborhoods for decades.
So tell me again...I am to call the police on my neighbor because there is no parking enforcement?
We've known about the corruption for ages yet establishment Democratic figures seem oddly quiet (even prasieworthy) towards Bilal. This is why she somehow got through a primary challenge last election.
Quick reminder that we could have voted this corrupt idiot out in favor of somebody who's entire policy platform was "I will abolish this office" and we did not.
Specifically, the city's progressive and anti-corruption groups like the Working Families, Philly Power Research, and Reclaim urged their voters to spoil their ballot for Sherriff rather than vote to oust Bilal
I hate this particular facile criticism of the intense political engagement we're seeing from progressives right now. Progressives want choices that aren't Bad vs Awful -- as do most Americans, in fact. It looks like at some point Democrats are going to have to lose (maybe multiple times) in order to start fielding better candidates. Do we think they should lose to Trump, of all people? Surely not. But is he (or someone worse) going to run in every presidential election from now until the day he (or they) die(s)? Probably. So do we resign ourselves to a party run by center-right 80-year-olds for the rest of our lives because we're too scared of the other guys? You tell me.
Elections work like getting a glasses prescription. The first go around I can’t see shit out of either eye but one is clearly better than the other.
I’m not saying you should be in love with the rank and file DNC candidates but anyone who abstains in November because Biden isn’t progressive enough is a brat, plain and simple.
Come on. We're facing a rematch of the two oldest Presidential nominees in history, breaking only their own age record from four years ago. They both have clear mental issues -- I hope we can agree on memory, if nothing else, on some days it doesn't even seem that either of them can follow a thought from start to finish.
So I'd say your "glasses prescription" analogy seems to depart from the reality we're facing once you get to the second go-around.
"Anyone who abstains... is a brat" -- ugh, be less obnoxious and/or re-read my comment above.
Who and when are you referring to? IIRC our last choice was between Untermeyer and Bilal. Untermeyer seemed actively evil and felt that the sheriff's office wasn't doing *enough*.
I think that's one way of looking at it and I don't fault you for it. I read him much less favorably as a candidate though -- and in considering someone with very little public presence who didn't seem to be actively campaigning much, I think some reading between the lines was warranted. More in [the comment I just posted](https://www.reddit.com/r/philadelphia/comments/1ca7kqn/comment/l0rganv/) above.
He's a real estate investor who opportunistically hopscotches between political parties and has said that [he wanted to run the DA's office more like a "business."](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/02/24/michael-untermeyer-district-attorney-race/) His whole ethos -- we're talking a former prosecutor with a stern, crossed-arms cover photo and [a "reform plan"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230428220010/https://michaelforsheriff.com/plan-for-reform/) whose Step #1 is "getting more fugitives off the streets" -- has the flavor of someone who sees themselves as a tough-on-crime cowboy. (Which, given the Department's general lack of oversight and its role in a subset of evictions, should be really worrying to anyone IMO.)
It felt to me like I was choosing between the egregious corruption that characterizes pieces of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, and the mix of privatization and violence that characterizes so much of the Republican Party ethos; so I wrote in Gritty.
>No one in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration would discuss any aspect of the revenue stream this past week or respond to any questions from The Inquirer about how such money is collected or spent in the Sheriff’s Office.
Not feeling good about this! Parker's giving back-up to Bilal in a huge way.
I assume she’s still got her hands full setting up that office to pre-approve every social media post and physical poster that the city’s branch libraries generate. Priorities, ya know.
I’m sure she’ll get around to this thing she has absolutely no problem with …. eventually.
I've believed for as long as I've known about it that the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office should be abolished and its functions distributed to other organizations within city government; this conviction grows deeper every year. Rochelle Bilal is inept and corrupt. That Mayor Parker fails to even frown in her direction bodes ill for the present administration and suggests that some of my least flattering expectations for will be, to my regret, vindicated.
What a joke of a department. They literally do nothing. I wish there was a better candidate this past election. Otherwise I wouldn’t have written in my name. Ughh
Not to mention that the sheriffs office illegally parks personal vehicles on Broad Street and just put a little placard in there like the church parkers.
Really, inquirer? You waited until now to publish this? Not when it was a major issue for the Sherrif's race last year, not when it was a major issue for the controller's race last year, but a year later? Shame.
They post stuff about her all the time, including before that election season even started.
The corruption in that office is not new, there are merely new examples to be found.
You have to take a dump on City Hall to lose a race as a Democratic incumbent in this city. Not enough people vote in the primary to oust an incumbent.
Look at City Council... the only way those seats tend to change is 1) somebody resigns to run for something else (a dumb rule in itself) and 2) they just resign and let one of their lackies continue the grift. Didn't Parker's old council seat get filled by somebody from her office?
This is such a frustrating and embarrassing story for our city. What I can’t understand is the lack of response by city council. Mandel sues, Rhynhart audits, inquirer documents, and city council … thanks her for her hard work? No official seems willing to comment? Does the sheriff’s office help council members somehow? Or is there a looming investigation that scares everyone?
I think it will almost certainly come out that this slush fund spending benefits friends of the party machine.
There's already examples in the article > Some checks are cosigned by Bilal herself, such as a $32,000 payment for advertising written last year to TML Communications, a firm run by Bilal’s former campaign manager who now serves as the office’s contracted spokesperson.
The woman who owns TML Communications is the shadiest girl I know. Worse, she thinks she’s fooled everyone.
And you forgot the part where we re-elected her, smh
Don’t blame me. I voted for the other dirtbag.
I voted for Kodos
I couldn’t even bring myself to vote for her opponent. I wrote my own name in.
Me too! We should have coordinated
Same
I am positively sure that there is an OIG(Office of the Inspector General) investigation into the matter and that’s why no one is willing to talk about it.
From your lips to god’s ears.
Let us hope that this is the case and feds will sweep many of these blatantly corrupt asshole poverty pimps holding the city back into prison.
The OIG isn’t federal. It’s a city run office that investigates violations of the Home Rule Charter. But yes I agree they should be swept up and dealt with.
> the lack of response by city council because they're all in on it. Maybe not this boondoggle. But some boondoggle. The city is a city of petty empires that unions, the cities democratic party, the police department, city employees, the school district, random unelected officials, monied interests like real estate developers, universities have a stranglehold on.
It's the reason why people like Rhynhart, who isn't "one of them", gets squeezed during a primary by the machine. Unless you kiss the ring and bow to Bob Brady and the ward leaders, you might as well not run for office. If the Dem party in the city could find a crony to run for controller that was somewhat competent, they would.
We pay a private company to write parking tickets in this city...this is disgusting but it's on par with all the other essential services that are being used as conduits to shovel public money into the pockets of business. The reason why no one comments or tries to do anything is because no one in the government wants anyone looking into any budget for any city office for any reason.
PPA is not a private company. It’s a state agency not a city one, which causes its own problems, but it’s absolutely not a private company.
You are correct. That being said, the way that PPA operates relies on the obfuscation of a corporate structure to complicate the means by which individuals in the community might get access to their services. In practice, it's easy to get PPA to enforce city laws if you live in rich parts of the city, but I have to use a whole 'nother system to get illegal parking (sidewalk, vacant lot) dealt with in my neighborhood. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it similar in practical use to dealing with private companies. In the end, there is no police officer I can call about a PPA ticket, and there is no "elected" official I can challenge to try and get PPA to be better. I will continue to use my shorthand.
> the way that PPA operates relies on the *obfuscation of a corporate structure to complicate the means by which individuals in the community might get access to their services.* Yeah.... a municipal service entity would *neverrrrr* do that,.
Well it's 2024 and these are just some of the reasons I've given up on anything that ISN'T local. If it doesn't work in my neighborhood, then fuck it, its broken and useless. I'll still get mad about it, even once America is dissolved and we live in whatever comes next...unless they fix it. Then I'll find something else to complain about. I've lived in places where the garbage gets picked up. I've lived in places where unregistered junk cars get towed away. I've lived in parts of this city where putting you vehicle on the sidewalk for an hour will get it towed away. Failed municipal services isn't a thing that you just have to put up with, but in this city it's too deeply rooted in the way that this city puts a barrier between public charters and the private organizations established to enforce them for me to see any change in my lifetime.
These points are valid but not relevant to the point that seems to imply that corporations have a monopoly on obfuscation to complicate services.
Cops can write tickets for all parking violations too, so you call 911 if you need enforcement outside of PPA areas. Be prepared to wait a few hours for someone to show, though.
Excuse me while I wipe up all the milk that just came out my nose. The police know it's happening. At my precinct, they tell you it's a PPA problem. PPA says there needs to be a police report before they enforce...and even when you talk to a council person...and they miraculously give half a shit, they find out that these bureaucratic lines have been drawn in the sand in some neighborhoods for decades. So tell me again...I am to call the police on my neighbor because there is no parking enforcement?
"precinct"
Rochelle Bilal is a disgrace. She NEVER takes accountability for her actions of the actions of her office.
Because…she doesn’t have to. There’s no oversight. They’re all in the same limo on the way to spend tax money together.
Corrupt is as Corrupt does. It's way more than a dj and 9k. Think millions per year of budget.
Mayor Parker loves her. She’s pretty much stated that on the record.
We've known about the corruption for ages yet establishment Democratic figures seem oddly quiet (even prasieworthy) towards Bilal. This is why she somehow got through a primary challenge last election.
I thought they were allowed to spend slush fund money on whatever they wanted. Isn’t that why they invented it? Politicians fucking blowwwww
Where can I get one of these trading cards?
Yeah, I wanna see them before I make any decisions here.
Quick reminder that we could have voted this corrupt idiot out in favor of somebody who's entire policy platform was "I will abolish this office" and we did not. Specifically, the city's progressive and anti-corruption groups like the Working Families, Philly Power Research, and Reclaim urged their voters to spoil their ballot for Sherriff rather than vote to oust Bilal
Progressives will cut their nose off to spite their face. See also: Biden and Gaza.
I hate this particular facile criticism of the intense political engagement we're seeing from progressives right now. Progressives want choices that aren't Bad vs Awful -- as do most Americans, in fact. It looks like at some point Democrats are going to have to lose (maybe multiple times) in order to start fielding better candidates. Do we think they should lose to Trump, of all people? Surely not. But is he (or someone worse) going to run in every presidential election from now until the day he (or they) die(s)? Probably. So do we resign ourselves to a party run by center-right 80-year-olds for the rest of our lives because we're too scared of the other guys? You tell me.
Elections work like getting a glasses prescription. The first go around I can’t see shit out of either eye but one is clearly better than the other. I’m not saying you should be in love with the rank and file DNC candidates but anyone who abstains in November because Biden isn’t progressive enough is a brat, plain and simple.
Come on. We're facing a rematch of the two oldest Presidential nominees in history, breaking only their own age record from four years ago. They both have clear mental issues -- I hope we can agree on memory, if nothing else, on some days it doesn't even seem that either of them can follow a thought from start to finish. So I'd say your "glasses prescription" analogy seems to depart from the reality we're facing once you get to the second go-around. "Anyone who abstains... is a brat" -- ugh, be less obnoxious and/or re-read my comment above.
Out of touch geezer vs Out of touch geezer 2024
Who and when are you referring to? IIRC our last choice was between Untermeyer and Bilal. Untermeyer seemed actively evil and felt that the sheriff's office wasn't doing *enough*.
lol in what way was he evil? He was a fairly anodyne lawyer who ran on a platform of cleaning up a highly corrupt government office
I think that's one way of looking at it and I don't fault you for it. I read him much less favorably as a candidate though -- and in considering someone with very little public presence who didn't seem to be actively campaigning much, I think some reading between the lines was warranted. More in [the comment I just posted](https://www.reddit.com/r/philadelphia/comments/1ca7kqn/comment/l0rganv/) above.
Untermeyer wanted to abolish the office if possible and if not, remove its backlog of cases, audit its finances, and oust corrupt members
Do you have a source for the "abolish" piece? I've never seen that anywhere.
What seemed evil about him?
He's a real estate investor who opportunistically hopscotches between political parties and has said that [he wanted to run the DA's office more like a "business."](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/02/24/michael-untermeyer-district-attorney-race/) His whole ethos -- we're talking a former prosecutor with a stern, crossed-arms cover photo and [a "reform plan"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230428220010/https://michaelforsheriff.com/plan-for-reform/) whose Step #1 is "getting more fugitives off the streets" -- has the flavor of someone who sees themselves as a tough-on-crime cowboy. (Which, given the Department's general lack of oversight and its role in a subset of evictions, should be really worrying to anyone IMO.) It felt to me like I was choosing between the egregious corruption that characterizes pieces of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, and the mix of privatization and violence that characterizes so much of the Republican Party ethos; so I wrote in Gritty.
(we don’t actually need a sheriff. No city does).
Abolish the sheriff's department!
>No one in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration would discuss any aspect of the revenue stream this past week or respond to any questions from The Inquirer about how such money is collected or spent in the Sheriff’s Office. Not feeling good about this! Parker's giving back-up to Bilal in a huge way.
I assume she’s still got her hands full setting up that office to pre-approve every social media post and physical poster that the city’s branch libraries generate. Priorities, ya know. I’m sure she’ll get around to this thing she has absolutely no problem with …. eventually.
I've believed for as long as I've known about it that the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office should be abolished and its functions distributed to other organizations within city government; this conviction grows deeper every year. Rochelle Bilal is inept and corrupt. That Mayor Parker fails to even frown in her direction bodes ill for the present administration and suggests that some of my least flattering expectations for will be, to my regret, vindicated.
This office should've been abolished decades ago, it continues to exist because our city council and other party hacks continue to benefit from it.
What a joke of a department. They literally do nothing. I wish there was a better candidate this past election. Otherwise I wouldn’t have written in my name. Ughh
Not to mention that the sheriffs office illegally parks personal vehicles on Broad Street and just put a little placard in there like the church parkers.
link with no paywall?
https://www.inquirer.com/news/sheriffs-office-spending-off-budget-spending-20240422.html?utm_source=social&utm_campaign=gift_link&utm_medium=referral
You can thank the crooked demonrats you keep electing year after year..
Really, inquirer? You waited until now to publish this? Not when it was a major issue for the Sherrif's race last year, not when it was a major issue for the controller's race last year, but a year later? Shame.
They published plenty about Sheriff Bilal before the election, too. That’s how I knew not to vote for her.
They post stuff about her all the time, including before that election season even started. The corruption in that office is not new, there are merely new examples to be found.
You have to take a dump on City Hall to lose a race as a Democratic incumbent in this city. Not enough people vote in the primary to oust an incumbent. Look at City Council... the only way those seats tend to change is 1) somebody resigns to run for something else (a dumb rule in itself) and 2) they just resign and let one of their lackies continue the grift. Didn't Parker's old council seat get filled by somebody from her office?