Philadelphia Airport Chief Pulls Out of 2 Contracts

Posted on Tue, Nov. 11, 2003

Airport Chief Pulls Out of 2 Contracts
He has recused himself from work with two airport vendors. His brother and
son hold jobs at the firms. The announcement followed criticism.

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA


Philadelphia's airport director, Charles J. Isdell Jr., disqualified
himself yesterday from involvement in the contracts of two of the
airport's major vendors because his relatives work at the firms.

The announcement came after City Controller Jonathan Saidel and the
nonprofit group Common Cause criticized Isdell for allegedly helping his
brother get a job with one contractor - Redwood Airport Management Inc. -
at the same time Isdell was supervising the firm's work as part of his
overall duties at Philadelphia International Airport.

"It adds to the perception of cronyism. It certainly is, at the minimum,
the use of government influence in the hiring process," Saidel said.
"Sometimes the perception of conflict of interest can be as bad as an
actual conflict."

Airport spokesman Mark Pesce said yesterday that Isdell, 53, "did not
exert any undue influence or pressure" to get his older brother, John, 59,
hired two years ago by Redwood.

That firm, in partnership with Boston's Marketplace Development Co.,
selects and monitors the bars, shops and other concessions at the airport.

Charles Isdell's son, Kevin, 27, is a technician with Elliott-Lewis Corp.,
a firm that runs the airport's computers. He was hired this summer.

Pesce said that Charles Isdell "disqualified himself" yesterday from any
involvement with Marketplace/Redwood and Elliott-Lewis.

Pesce said city Commerce Director James R. Cuorato would "handle all
signatory responsibility for the contracts" with Redwood and Elliot-Lewis.

John Isdell works as a compliance officer for Marketplace/Redwood,
checking that concessionaires abide by its rules. He declined comment
yesterday, referring all questions to Redwood president Ricardo Dunston.

The Redwood job was first disclosed by the Philadelphia Daily News
yesterday. It quoted Dunston as saying Isdell asked him to interview his
brother.

"It was: 'Can you sit down and talk to him?' " the newspaper quoted
Dunston as saying that Isdell asked him. "I said sure. We talked to him
and were comfortable he could fit into our operations."

Dunston, who did not return phone calls seeking comment for this article,
told the Daily News that Isdell never ordered him to hire his sibling. He
did not give the brother's salary.

Marketplace/Redwood has a 10-year contract with the city. Its current
contract expires in 2008.

Spokesman Pesce said Marketplace/Redwood paid the city about $8 million a
year in return for operating at the airport.

Federal agents have subpoenaed records from Marketplace/Redwood as part of
their wide-ranging investigation into how Philadelphia government
contracts are awarded.

The investigation first became public Oct. 7, when Philadelphia police
discovered an FBI listening device planted in Mayor Street's office.

The airport has been a key focus of the FBI.

On Sunday, The Inquirer reported that federal officials subpoenaed records
of an airport contract involving Imam Shamsud-din Ali, a Street ally. Last
week, the newspaper reported that the wife of Ronald A. White, a Street
confidant, was a partner in four airport bars.

Elliott-Lewis, which does about $3 million a year in business with the
airport, recently hired Isdell's son. Pesce declined to comment when asked
what role, if any, Isdell had played in the hiring of his son. Kevin
Isdell did not return a telephone call yesterday seeking comment.

Pesce said he could not provide details on how Charles Isdell would do his
job if he needed to recuse himself from the two major contracts.

Controller Saidel said he would seek written clarification today from the
city Law Department on how the airport director would exclude himself from
contacts with the two companies.

Saidel's office is currently auditing contacts between the airport and
vendors there. He has said he is expanding the audit to also cover the
contracts between Marketplace/Redwood and the airport concessionaires.

Christine Ottow, a spokeswoman for Street, said yesterday that relatives
of political officials should not be banned from working for firms doing
business with the city.

"Qualified people should not be precluded from working with private
companies as long as there's no relationship between their hiring and that
company having business with the city," said Ottow, stressing that she was
not specifically addressing the Isdell case.

Isdell received support from Arnold Staloff, a member of the airport
advisory board, which is composed of city business leaders.

Staloff said that although the circumstances around the hiring of Isdell's
brother might raise eyebrows, he was confident that Isdell would properly
avoid conflicts of interest.

"Charley is an ace," said Staloff, who previously employed Isdell's
brother at the now-defunct brokerage firm of Bloom Staloff Corp.

"He would make sure that his brother and son would be given no advantage."

One of Philadelphia's top-paid officials, Isdell, who did not respond
yesterday to repeated requests for comment, makes $150,000 a year as the
city aviation director.



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