McCaffery fliers distort the facts about opponents

After months of mostly genteel debate between the five candidates for district attorney, the race turned nasty this weekend, as Dan McCaffery bombarded voters with misleading fliers about two of his opponents.

McCaffery, the brother of a state Supreme Court justice, mailed out one flier trying to tie opponents Seth Williams and Dan McElhatton to former Mayor John F. Street.

The specific allegations, criticizing Williams's performance as city inspector general and McElhatton's work on the city ethics board, were inaccurate.

McCaffery alleged that Williams "never once investigated the scandal-ridden Street administration" during four years as inspector general. In fact, Williams spent just two years in the post. His work led to demotion of the acting city health commissioner and exposed a bribery scam in the city Water Department.

McCaffery alleged that as an Ethics Board member, McElhatton "did nothing but ask a federal judge for leniency for Leonard Ross," who had used his clout with Penns Landing developers to raise money for Street's re-election.

In fact, McElhatton was involved in the effort to strengthen the Ethics Board by making it an independent agency, in charge of enforcing the city's campaign contribution limits - which McCaffery was accused of violating, just last week. (The board also levied a $3,750 fine against Williams, for misreporting a series of campaign expenses.)

In another mailing, McCaffery repeated earlier allegations that Williams made "plea deals for violent criminals." But the only deal McCaffery has cited did not involve a violent crime.

McCaffery also criticized McElhatton for "defending convicted child molesters." McElhatton did represent one accused child molester in a case dating to 1982, but he said it was a court appointment that he felt obliged to handle. "You take the good [cases] with the bad," McElhatton said, noting that his client was found not guilty of the most serious charges against him.

In a telephone interview, McCaffery defended his campaign mailings.

"I don't necessarily look at those as negative attack ads," McCaffery said. "These are facts and I'm pointing out facts about people's records. . . . My opponents like to do things a little more back-handed. I'm a lot more in your face."

McCaffery said that he blamed McElhatton for newspaper stories questioning McCaffery's ethics in a 2004 real-estate deal, when he turned a quick $89,000 profit after purchasing a house from an estate being handled by his law firm. The law firm's handling of the matter appeared to violate the state Supreme Court's Rules of Professional Conduct.

When asked about factual inaccuracies in his mailers about Williams, McCaffery disputed a KYW radio advertisement placed by Williams, describing John Dougherty, the leader of electricians union Local 98, as McCaffery's "number one supporter."

"That's absurd," McCaffery said. "John Dougherty is one of 200 people supporting me. . . . I can't tell you the last time I saw John Dougherty."

The flying fur reflected the closing days of a five-way race, the results of which remain unpredictable, with most authorities predicting a light turnout when the polls open tomorrow morning.

McCaffery, with strong financial support from the building trades and other unions, is the only candidate who's had the money for broadcast television ads.

Williams entered the race with the best name recognition, thanks mostly to his race four years ago against DA Lynne Abraham, who is retiring.

McElhatton's candidacy has been buoyed the past week with endorsements from Mayor Nutter and the Daily News.

The other two Democratic candidates are Brian Grady and Michael Turner. All are former assistant district attorneys, now in private practice.

The winner will face the unopposed Republican candidate, Michael W. Untermeyer, in November.

Grady, who specializes in criminal defense work, and Turner, a commercial-litigation specialist with a large Center City firm, have both tried to stay above the fray the past week, while their three opponents hammered each other.

But their names also figured in some weekend campaign intrigue.

A mysterious one-page leaflet surfaced in Roxborough, where Grady lives, suggesting that Grady had entered the D.A.'s race in a deal with Williams, "just to siphon votes away from McCaffery."

The only evidence cited was a debate aired on CBS 3 this weekend, in which Grady and Williams each identified the other as the candidate they would favor if they couldn't vote for themselves.

The leaflets, printed on orange or green paper, were signed, "Concerned Families of the 21st Ward" and urged voters to support McCaffery.

Meanwhile, lawn signs supporting Turner, including his picture, appeared in minority areas of West Philadelphia. The signs said they'd been paid for by "HPAC." Turner's campaign manager, Harry Cook, said he knew nothing about the signs or the organization. *