Editorial: Moving ahead on ethics

The fight to rid City Hall of its pay-to-play political culture received a double boost last week.

A Philadelphia judge on Thursday tossed out a lawsuit that unfairly targeted the city's ethics watchdogs for doing their job so well. The same day, Mayor Nutter nominated three strong candidates to the Board of Ethics. If approved by City Council, the nominees will put the board at full strength for the first time in months.

The moves mean that the ethics board should be well positioned to crack down on political candidates who run afoul of the city's ethics rules and tough campaign-finance law. Enforcing the campaign rules, in particular, is crucial to breaking the link between big-money political donations and the conducting of City Hall business.

Nutter's nominations - including the widely respected homeless advocate Sister Mary Scullion - can only strengthen a panel already known for its tough policing of the city's political players.

In addition to naming Scullion, Nutter assured continuity by re-upping former federal prosecutor Kenya Mann Faulkner for another term. He also nominated veteran city lawyer Nolan N. Atkinson Jr., who will round out a board that is accomplished and diverse.

Having left the board at less than full strength for many months over the last year, the mayor's appointments are an encouraging sign that ethical reform remains high on his agenda.

By tossing out a slander lawsuit filed against the ethics board by former Democratic district attorney candidate Daniel McCaffery, Common Pleas Judge Gary Glazer also sharpened the watchdog's bite.

After agreeing to pay a $1,500 fine over an alleged campaign-finance violation last spring, McCaffery contended in his lawsuit that the board had damaged his reputation. But Glazer ruled the ethics board immune from such claims.

Moreover, the judge put other disgruntled candidates on notice with his ruling that the ethics board should be able to "enforce campaign laws for the public good . . . without the harassment or intimidation arising from retaliatory lawsuits."

In other words, candidates and city officials properly cited by the ethics board will just have to take their medicine.

That may not be good news to the many pols - including some members of Council - who are chafing over the ethics board's crackdown on campaign-financing missteps. But it's good news for cleaning up City Hall.