House
09-20-2008, 12:09 PM
Does Fox 29 have some dirt on City Council?
By CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Daily News
brennac@phillynews.com (brennac@phillynews.com) 215-854-5973
City Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. returned from summer vacation yesterday with attention-grabbing legislation that could change the way voters elect at-large Council members. But his chief legislative aide, Latrice Bryant, drew all the eyes during Council's first session in three months when she held up a series of handmade signs that accused Fox 29 News and its reporter Jeff Cole of being racist.
Cole has made a specialty of following city employees around on the sly, filming them doing things they don't want made public.
Cole, following Goode as he left Council's chambers, said that he had videos of Bryant attending to personal business while she was logged in as working at her City Hall office. The videos include Goode and Bryant entering his home with a case of beer and Bryant leaving Goode's house on another day at 11:30 a.m., "appearing as if she may have spent the night there."
Goode, clearly frustrated, turned outside his office door and wagged his finger at Cole, saying: "Now you're being disrespectful. Leave my office."
Cole refused, so Goode went into his office and closed the door.
It had started as a troubled day for Goode and Bryant. Cole tried to interview her as she arrived for Council, wearing wrap-around shades indoors, but she grabbed the television-camera lens and gave it a shove. Goode cautioned Cole: "Don't you ever disrespect a black woman like that again."
Inside Council chambers, Bryant held up signs drawn with pen on loose-leaf paper. One had a cross through Fox 29, another said "Fox 29 are racist" and a third said "Jeff Cole K.K.K."
Council members and staffers eyed Bryant and the signs uneasily, whispering to each other.
Goode later told reporters that he hadn't seen Bryant's signs because she had sat a few feet behind him.
Goode said that he had learned of problems with mistakes on the time sheets that his employees submit to be paid. Employees were filling them out days after they were due so that they were "prone to make mistakes," he said.
"I've dealt with the issue," Goode said while walking to his office. "Since then, I've remedied it. They now have daily reporting."
His tone turned tougher when Cole asked why Goode and Bryant were entering his house during working hours carrying a case of beer.
"I will walk into my house with who I walk into my house, at any point - it's my business," said Goode, adding that he did not remember the incident. "It could very well have happened."
Bryant, who earns $90,000 a year, did not respond to a request for comment. She has been a city employee since 1993, starting in the Register of Wills Office. She left Goode's office briefly in 2004 in an unsuccessful Democratic- primary bid against state Rep. Rosita Youngblood.
Goode did not respond to a question from the Daily News on whether he and Bryant have or have had a romantic relationship.
Even when the topic yesterday was his legislation, Goode faced a tough time. He introduced a proposal to change the city charter to allow voters to nominate six at-large Council members from their political party. The charter currently lets voters nominate five, leaving two of the at-large seats available for the minority political party. The Republicans, outmanned five-to-one in Philadelphia, get those two seats.
Councilman Jack Kelly, an at-large Republican, called Goode's plan an undemocratic affront.
"The bottom line for me," Kelly said, "is that although Democrats hold a significant registration advantage in this city, Councilman Goode's bill would serve only to disenfranchise tens of thousands of loyal, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens simply because they have an 'R' next to their name." *
By CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Daily News
brennac@phillynews.com (brennac@phillynews.com) 215-854-5973
City Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. returned from summer vacation yesterday with attention-grabbing legislation that could change the way voters elect at-large Council members. But his chief legislative aide, Latrice Bryant, drew all the eyes during Council's first session in three months when she held up a series of handmade signs that accused Fox 29 News and its reporter Jeff Cole of being racist.
Cole has made a specialty of following city employees around on the sly, filming them doing things they don't want made public.
Cole, following Goode as he left Council's chambers, said that he had videos of Bryant attending to personal business while she was logged in as working at her City Hall office. The videos include Goode and Bryant entering his home with a case of beer and Bryant leaving Goode's house on another day at 11:30 a.m., "appearing as if she may have spent the night there."
Goode, clearly frustrated, turned outside his office door and wagged his finger at Cole, saying: "Now you're being disrespectful. Leave my office."
Cole refused, so Goode went into his office and closed the door.
It had started as a troubled day for Goode and Bryant. Cole tried to interview her as she arrived for Council, wearing wrap-around shades indoors, but she grabbed the television-camera lens and gave it a shove. Goode cautioned Cole: "Don't you ever disrespect a black woman like that again."
Inside Council chambers, Bryant held up signs drawn with pen on loose-leaf paper. One had a cross through Fox 29, another said "Fox 29 are racist" and a third said "Jeff Cole K.K.K."
Council members and staffers eyed Bryant and the signs uneasily, whispering to each other.
Goode later told reporters that he hadn't seen Bryant's signs because she had sat a few feet behind him.
Goode said that he had learned of problems with mistakes on the time sheets that his employees submit to be paid. Employees were filling them out days after they were due so that they were "prone to make mistakes," he said.
"I've dealt with the issue," Goode said while walking to his office. "Since then, I've remedied it. They now have daily reporting."
His tone turned tougher when Cole asked why Goode and Bryant were entering his house during working hours carrying a case of beer.
"I will walk into my house with who I walk into my house, at any point - it's my business," said Goode, adding that he did not remember the incident. "It could very well have happened."
Bryant, who earns $90,000 a year, did not respond to a request for comment. She has been a city employee since 1993, starting in the Register of Wills Office. She left Goode's office briefly in 2004 in an unsuccessful Democratic- primary bid against state Rep. Rosita Youngblood.
Goode did not respond to a question from the Daily News on whether he and Bryant have or have had a romantic relationship.
Even when the topic yesterday was his legislation, Goode faced a tough time. He introduced a proposal to change the city charter to allow voters to nominate six at-large Council members from their political party. The charter currently lets voters nominate five, leaving two of the at-large seats available for the minority political party. The Republicans, outmanned five-to-one in Philadelphia, get those two seats.
Councilman Jack Kelly, an at-large Republican, called Goode's plan an undemocratic affront.
"The bottom line for me," Kelly said, "is that although Democrats hold a significant registration advantage in this city, Councilman Goode's bill would serve only to disenfranchise tens of thousands of loyal, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens simply because they have an 'R' next to their name." *