Council candidate Derek Green fined by Ethics Board

Philadelphia City Council candidate Derek Green has been fined $1,200 by the city's ethics board for agreeing to speak at fund-raisers for a political action committee while a city employee.

But the board did not fault Green for making that political action committee - the Green Fund - his own campaign fund once he quit his job and announced his bid for office.

"When [the Green Fund] became his candidate committee, he was not a city employee, and therefore the political activity rules no longer applied to him," said Shane Creamer, executive director of the Ethics Board.

Green, a Democrat and former staffer for Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, is running for an at-large seat. He was the top vote-getter in the May primary.

According to the Ethics Board, before he quit his job with Tasco, Green agreed to speak at four events for the Green Fund, a political action committee run by one of his friends.

Green only spoke at one event. But by agreeing to speak at each, he violated a law that bars city employees from taking part in any political fund-raising. He has been fined $300 for each event.

Green did not return a request for comment Friday.

The Inquirer reported on Green's connection to the Green Fund in April. At the time, the candidate said he had nothing to do with the fund's creation.

According to the Ethics Board, prior to making the fund his own campaign fund, Green did not ask his friend to raise money for him.

Separately Friday, the Green Fund was fined $2,000 by the Ethics Board for failing to report 72 contributions, totaling $22,950. The board said the Green Fund filed an amended finance report in June.