Sister Mary Scullion named to city ethics board

Mayor Nutter today nominated Sister Mary Scullion, the high profile advocate for Philadelphia's homeless population, to the city's five-member Board of Ethics.

Nutter also named attorney Nolan N. Atkinson Jr. to the board, and renominated former federal prosecutor and Ballard Spahr lawyer Kenya Mann Faulkner for another term.

If Nutter's picks are approved by City Council, the Board of Ethics will be at full strength for the first time in five months. In December, the board lost its vice chairman, Richard Negrin, who departed after he was named interim executive director of the Board of Revision of Taxes. Another seat had been empty since September.

"We share the mayor's desire to set a gold standard for accountability within the government and among its partners, and hope that the Ethics Board will send the message that resources are highly precious, and what we do with them matters greatly to every Philadelphian, including those most vulnerable," Scullion said in a statement.

If confirmed, Scullion would be the second member of the clergy on the board, joining Damone B. Jones Sr., the pastor of Bible Way Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. The board is chaired by Richard Glazer, a founder of the Cozen O'Connor law firm.

The Ethics Board enforces city ethics laws and provides ethics training for municipal employees.