Dear Marge,

I was reading a Marcia Gelbart story about a PICA report on elections, and I couldn't help noticing this comparison between City Commissioners and your peers in the burbs:

Among other points, (PICA board member William) Leonard focused on a chart that compared the 15 counties' number of registered voters and the annual spending by their election administrators.

In Philadelphia, where the city commissioners and a staff of 97 oversee everything related to elections, including training poll workers and preparing ballots and voting material, that figure is $9.18 per voter.

That amount is nearly twice as much as the median spending in the other counties, $4.68, and nearly three times the $3.26 per voter spent in Montgomery County, which has half as many residents as Philadelphia.

So I was thinking: Couldn't the School District and City Health Centers use that extra $6 per Philly voter that your office wastes on dozens of patronage "workers" aimlessly hanging out on Spring Garden Street spends on elections?

Apparently the idea that City Commissioners might waste precious Philly tax dollars so shocked the Nutter Administration, they were struck speechless:

That prompted Leonard, an appointee of Democratic state House Speaker Keith McCall, to question Philadelphia's efficiency and suggest the creation of a five-county regional authority to run elections.

"The mayor has always talked about regional efficiencies," Leonard said.

Then, turning to Philadelphia Finance Director Rob Dubow, an ex-officio PICA board member, he added: "Rob, I think we ought to do that, I really do."

Dubow did not respond.

Huh. Good thing the mayor's not protecting patronage. He's always saying he wants to promote regional cooperation too.

Oh, and understandably, you were similarly dumbstruck:

A spokeswoman for Margaret Tartaglione, the city commissioners' chairwoman, said she had no comment since she had not seen the report.

Hmmm.

I guess those of us who've started noticing that extra cent we're paying on every dollar we spend in town should probably just suck it up and not read that PICA report that's scheduled to be released in a few weeks.

That might lead us to return to that Committee of Seventy report called "Needless Jobs" that recommends

City Council should pass a proposed amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to eliminate elected City Commissioners, and submit the amendment to the voters for approval.

But then we'd have to go somewhere else to find those jaw-dropping examples of stereotypical patronage waste that we bloggers love to go on about (like, for example, the offices of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, the Register of Wills or the Sheriff).

And whatever office replaces yours might forego those cool secret passwords that you gave Dan and just make election results available to the general public.

Ugh. Where's the fun in that?

If the political class stops owning elections, who will own them? The people? In Democracy's Hometown?

Already missing the easy targets,

Sam

Even if it is kicking and screaming, you now have the chance to help bring the City Government one step closer to the modern age, by forcing them to provide all citizens with access to electronic voting results. But, first, for those who have not been following this, here is a quick recap of where we are:

• The City Commissioners publish election returns online, behind a firewall, where only a small group of people can view them.
• I requested a password, which they denied, stating that their system only allows 150 people to be online at once. (They also mentioned they are getting in a new shipment of slide rulers, and that their dictaphone needs repairs.)
• Vince Fumo alone has 10 of those 150 passwords
• The City Solicitor granted my appeal, ruling that password protecting election results for your buddies is in violation of any notion of open government and the PA Open Records law. So, I have my password. Maybe they thought this would end the whole thing? If so, they severely underestimated how annoying I am.

Does me having a password really get us anywhere closer to the goal of open access for everyone? Not really, but, the ruling from the City Solicitor does, and that is where you come in. Today, in partnership with Hallwatch and with help from Philly for Change, we are launching a faxbank, where with the City Solicitor's ruling in hand, you can send in your own open records request to the City, asking for your own password.

Here is the basic idea: If the City Commissioners want to plead technological incompetence, we are going to use the ruling from the City Solicitor to force their hand. If we can get 25, or 50, or 100 people to request their own passwords, the Commissioners will be forced to make a decision: Take the small, easy step of putting election results online for all Philadelphians, or take away electronic access for their buddies.

Which do you think they will choose?

But, this only will work if you help. So, can you take 2 minutes and to open up Philadelphia government, and then spread the word? Click here, and lets get this done.

Election results are not supposed to be a perk for the connected few. And they should not fall under a constituent service. This. is. a. democracy. These. are. election. results.

Filling out a request is incredibly easy, and the City has to respond to you within 30 days. Please fill one out, spread the word to any and all who might be interested, and of course, let us know how the office responds.