Clout: Ex-DRPA commish lands gov't job

REMEMBER Whitney White? Probably not. Allow us to refresh your memory.

White is the former Delaware River Port Authority commissioner who resigned last summer after a Daily News story delved into his bankruptcies, a so-called think tank in Northern Liberties and a network of failed corporations that had sought government contracts.

Nice enough guy, White seemed, but probably not a person you want overseeing a debt-ridden public agency with a $290 million budget and a history of cronyism.

"I thank you for the opportunity to have served the Constitution, People, and Government of Pennsylvania, in a faithful, effective, and honorable manner," White wrote to Gov. Wolf two days after the People Paper story was published. "I shall again be available to serve the State of Pennsylvania when called upon."

Turns out that White - who had set up several failed companies with the idea of purchasing bio-based products and reselling them to the federal government at a profit - took his services across the river to Salem County, N.J.

In February, the City of Salem quietly hired White's Global Institute for Strategic Investment (GISI) to perform "consulting services" related to the development of its port district, Mayor Charles Washington Jr. confirmed in an email to Clout.

The Daily News reported in July that GISI, which White described as a "think tank," had a Washington phone number, but was located in the basement - a.k.a. "Suite 1B" - of a Northern Liberties rowhouse, where the city had filed four tax liens for about $14,000 in unpaid property taxes.

White, who was fired from a Chester government job in 2012 and filed for bankruptcy at least four times, said he lived in the house, which is owned by his wife.

We were tipped off to White's new government job by Rod Miller, a local gadfly in Salem who got wind of the hire and had planned to hand out the Daily News story to council members.

"I don't know where this is going to head, but our city is really famous for getting ripped off," said Miller, who ran unsuccessfully for a council seat in 2013.

Mayor Washington tells us that Salem will pay GISI $15,000 for one year of consulting.

Who knows? Maybe White has righted the ship. Good luck, Salem. Miller, keep an eye on that situation for us.

Clout took notice when young buck Ben Waxman's appropriately named political action committee, WaxPAC, reported having $74,000 cash on hand in early December as he was ramping up his campaign against State Rep. Brian Sims in the 182nd District.

Upon further inspection, we noticed then that $50,000 was actually a loan from his mother-in-law, Barbara Wertheimer. And upon further inspection last week, when Waxman filed a new round of campaign-finance reports, we noticed that he actually paid Wertheimer back in full in early January, a month after the first report was filed.

Our question: Was this really a loan, or was it more a clever ruse to portray Waxman's campaign as viable and therefore attract additional support? Or was it like when the Starbucks barista tosses a few bucks in the tip jar at the beginning of the shift? Success breeds success . . . it takes money to make money . . . etc.

Waxman assured us Thursday that we were reading too much into the loan. He described it as more of a safety net that it turns out he didn't need. The money was never spent.

"When you first get started, you don't know how much you're going to be able to raise," said Waxman, noting that he is 31 and doesn't have a lot of rich people in his Rolodex. "I never worked on Wall Street, I went to Juniata College."

Either way, Waxman must be doing something right. He was able to raise about $62,000 on his own and locked down the endorsement of the Democratic City Committee, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and other groups by, he said, making the public-schools crisis his main priority.

"We had a pretty revolutionary strategy," Waxman said. "I called all the committee people and asked them to vote for me."

What will he think of next?

Similar situation up in Northeast Philly's 202nd District race, which has featured allegations of slashed tires, strategically placed dog poop, and possibly stolen garbage.

Challenger Jared Solomon appears to have gained the upper hand over longtime State Rep. Mark Cohen. And by longtime, we mean nearly 42 years.

Solomon, a community organizer and Army JAG Reserve officer, has received the Democratic City Committee endorsement over Cohen, who was elected the year "Kung Fu Fighting" topped the Billboard chart.

Cohen has accused Solomon's supporters of harassment and other forms of political chop-socky, but the challenger attributes his momentum to a changing district and Cohen's inability to change along with it.

"They see the increasing poverty and crime and quality-of-life issues plaguing the neighborhood and they want to see a change in the district," Solomon said of voters. "It's time to move on."

Clout is not issuing an endorsement in this race - we prefer to keep the air in our car tires - but don't be surprised if Solomon pulls off an upset next week.

- Staff writers William Bender and Chris Brennan contributed

to this column.

On Twitter: @wbender99 and @ByChrisBrennan Email: benderw@phillynews.com and brennac@phillynews.com