Employees of the Republican-controlled Philadelphia Parking Authority said they were told by their superiors to contribute to the GOP, or risk losing their jobs, a newspaper reported. Five employees said they were pressured on the job to contribute $275 per year, the Philadelphia Daily News reported for Tuesday editions. Campaign finance records show dozens of $100 contributions this year from workers making $25,000 or less. State law forbids demanding political contributions from public employees or contractors.
"It's extortion," said Michael J. Vecchione, who was hired two years ago to work in the authority's impoundment lots. The four other employees spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity.
Vecchione, 38, said he had been on the job about a month when his supervisor asked him to buy a $100 ticket to the Republican City Committee's fall dinner.
"I told her, "I'm not really a political person.' Then she told me, 'You should understand, this is a patronage job and you have to buy three tickets a year.' At that time, I refused to pay, but two days later another supervisor came up and said I was still under probation. If I didn't buy the tickets they could fire me."
Vecchione said he got another call from a woman in the office of state House Republican leader John Perzel. Perzel, now the House speaker, engineered the Republican Party's takeover of the Parking Authority from the Democratic-controlled city in 2001. "I told her, no one ever told me before I was hired about buying these tickets. And she said, 'I'm telling you now,"' Vecchione said. Prompted by an inquiry from the newspaper, the Parking Authority's executive director, Joseph M. Egan Jr., sent a memo to all 823 authority employees last week warning them that they could be fired for soliciting money on the job or threatening workers who refuse to contribute.
"Employees must be free from any pressure, real or perceived, to contribute to any activity or group," Egan said. Parking Authority employees also said they had been asked to work the polls. Several said the political activity appeared to be organized by Vincent J. Fenerty, Egan's top deputy and a Republican ward leader. Fenerty denied pressuring employees to make a political contribution, but acknowledged accepting a $100 donation from Vecchione on authority time. Fenerty, however, described Vecchione as a "disgruntled employee" and said Vecchione approached him with the $100. Vecchione said Fenerty had pressured him for the money.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/09142004_nw_parkingauthority.html
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