Record Ethics Board fines and repayments for Blondell Reynolds Brown

City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown used $3,300 in campaign funds to repay a personal loan from Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr., son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), and covered it up as a payment to a printing firm, she admitted in a settlement agreement released Monday by the city Board of Ethics.

Brown admitted dozens of other omissions, misstatements, and misrepresentations in her campaign finance reports and personal financial disclosure forms for 2010 and 2011, when she was seeking a fourth term.

Brown and her campaign committee, Friends of Blondell Reynolds Brown, agreed to a record $48,834 in fines and repayments. Much was for taking excessive election contributions from Progressive Agenda PAC, run by her 2011 campaign manager, John D. McDaniel.

Also in 2011, Progressive Agenda PAC received $59,700 for work on Mayor Nutter's reelection campaign.

Despite McDaniel's checkered city work history, including violation of the City Charter's ban on political activity, Nutter recommended him for a city job in 2012. He draws $87,125 a year as an assistant managing director in charge of a volunteer information program at Philadelphia International Airport.

The settlement agreement said Brown needed about $30,000 in 2010 to avoid foreclosure on her home. She raised most of it, but still needed $3,000 to $4,000, and approached Rep. Fattah, a longtime mentor.

Shortly thereafter, the Ethics Board said, she received a call from Fattah Jr., who gave her a $3,300 check. Brown instructed McDaniel to repay Fattah with campaign funds, according to the settlement agreement.

Among other Ethics Board disclosures:

During the 2011 campaign, Brown's committee failed to disclose 27 contributions totaling $36,034, including $13,500 in cash from sources that were not identified.

Brown admitted four instances in which she deposited campaign contributions totaling $1,400 into her personal account.

The campaign failed to disclose 74 expenditures, including $18,413 to McDaniel and $10,250 to Progressive Agenda. It made more than $45,000 in unexplained cash withdrawals, also left out of its public reports.

To hide the campaign's involvement in a primary ballot challenge against one of her opponents, the campaign paid $1,116 to Progressive Agenda as a "contribution." The PAC then paid the money to the lawyer who handled the challenge, Sharon Losier.

Brown repeatedly violated the city's financial disclosure requirements by failing to list various income sources, including rental income, payments from McDaniel, the loan from Fattah Jr., a $500 honorarium from the Hardy Williams Education Fund, and a $2,500 award from the Obermayer law firm given to an outstanding alumna of the Philadelphia public schools.

Brown would not talk to reporters Monday. She issued a news release saying she had "cooperated fully with the Board of Ethics in an effort to clear up any oversight and/or omissions made . . . so that my campaign may begin with a clean slate effective immediately. . . ."

McDaniel's PAC received $59,700 from Nutter's campaign in 2011, including $33,200 for circulating petitions before the primary election, and a $26,500 "contribution" a month before the general election.

Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald said the mayor had not been aware of the Ethics Board probe but took the issues "very, very seriously." He said the administration "will fully and completely review the report and take appropriate action."