The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 19

Friday, March 8, 1991 The Philadelphia Inquirer 3-B Hot words over Clayton contract A new city D.A. may face election in fall, not 1993 Critics on Council questioned the amount of the raises and the length of the pact. By Thomas Turcol Inquirer Stall Writer School Superintendent Constance E. Clayton's new contract came under fire yesterday in City Council, where some members denounced it as an abuse of taxpayers' money. The assault was led by Councilmen Jack Kelly and James J.

Tayoun, who called for a Council investigation into the Board of Education's approval this week of a contract that will extend Clayton's tenure by four years and award her a 40 percent pay raise in the first three years. Both Tayoun, a Democrat, and Kelly, a Republican, said the board's decision was fiscally unsound as well as unfair to the new mayor who will be elected in November and who may favor a new superintendent. "Giving her this new contract is totally out of line," Kelly said. "We don't have two nickels to rub together," he added. "We're asking for more state money.

We're asking the taxpayers to pay more in taxes and accept less in city services. And we're asking department heads to cut personnel and operating expenses. How can the new contract be justified? "If she can't live on $100,000 a year, something's wrong and she should look for another line of work," Kelly said. "Anyone who says they can't live on $100,000 a year would opportunity to evaluate Clayton's performance. The mayor appoints the school board, which, in turn, selects the superintendent.

While Council does not have direct control over the appointment of school board mem-" bers, Council must approve all school district budgets. Clayton's contract expires at the end of October. The new contract is scheduled to run out on Sept. 30, 1995. The contract extension, approved by a 7-1 vote, will raise Clayton's $100,000 salary to $115,000 this fall.

She will receive an increase of $12,500 for each of the following two years, raising her salary to $140,000 a year by 1994. The final raise, for the 1994-95 school year, will be subject to negotiation, according to terms of the new contract. Neither the extension nor the raise was merited, argued Tayoun, who said the developments were especially troubling in light of the city's budget crisis. "She's spending more money than ever, her administration's top-heavy and they're giving her this kind of a raise. What kind of hold does she have on that board?" Tayoun said.

Tayoun, echoing a recurring complaint of Clayton's critics, said she has been able to "set up her own empire, causing good people to leave and circling the wagons whenever anyone raises questions about her." have a hard time justifying that to people in this city on fixed incomes." But one of her Council supporters rose to Clayton's defense. Clayton's critics, said Councilwoman Augusta A. Clark, are misinformed and "biased against the superintendent and public education." "I think she's done a fabulous job," Clark said. "Philadelphians feel better about public education today than they have in a long time." Still, Kelly maintained that the new pact was a thinly disguised attempt to save Clayton's job or at least guarantee her a buyout of the contract if she is replaced when the new administration takes office in January. In 1982, when the school board decided not to renew the contract of Superintendent Michael P.

Marcase, he collected his $54,000 salary for two years after his resignation. Kelly said that the next mayor, whether Republican or Democrat, should have the ri i inning. niiii mm I I rTfuinrTAn 1 rnrf ujJUviULJ 1 nil UJ wtniawiciJwwiMMHmwuii iiiiiiwibimiwh mm Caba inquirer Stall Writer Whoever replaces District Attor-nejp Ronald D. Castille when he resigns next week to run for mayor may face an election in November two years earlier than most people had expected. The prospect is embraced by Republican leaders including Castille, one of the first to raise the issue in political circles and opposed by the leadership of the Democratic Party.

If the position is placed on the ballot in November, the Republicans have a shot at filling both the mayor's and the district attorney's seats. One scenario even has Castille seeking his old Job, if he loses in the mayoral primary. The Democrats who expect that a Democrat, and probably a Democratic judge, will be named to replace Castille would lose the benefit of having an incumbent with two years' experience as a candidate in the next regular election for district attorney, in 1993. "It's just too important of an office;" said Democratic City Committee Chairman Robert A. Brady.

"Why would you have the two major offices in the city on the ballot at the same time? This pre-empts a primary, and I think that's too important." Castille has said he will resign Tuesday. Argument and gossip about the legal questions have been swirling for two weeks in City Hall, where Common Pleas Court judges are preparing to select Castille's replacement. But the prospect of running for election in November doesn't seem to have quashed anyone's desire for the job all four judges known to want the position said this week that, if they had to, they would run. "I'm ready to run, if I'm selected," said Lynne M. Abraham, considered by many to be strongest candidate for the position.

The other three are John Braxton, Eugene E.J. Maier and Russell M. Nigro. City Solicitor Charisse R. Lillie has been asked to resolve the issue.

Frederick L. Voigt, executive secretary of the Committee of 70, asked Lillie in a letter yesterday to issue a formal opinion on the matter. He told her that research by the election watchdog organization supports the idea that the remaining two years of Castille's term must be filled by election. That conclusion, Voigt said, takes into account "the judicially expressed preference" for elections to fill vacancies in elective office, rather than appointments. "No single legal authority completely resolves these issues," Voigt told Lillie.

"Answering them requires interpreting the Pennsylvania Constitution, Pennsylvania Election Code, decisions of our state Supreme Court and opinions issued by three of your predecessors," At the least, the question could provide a series of summer legal wrangles, if the two political parties decide to contest the issue through the courts. Ultimately, the state Supreme Court has the authority to decide the matter. If the predominantly Democratic high court gets the issue, politics could re-enter the picture, said some people. "Maybe there would be room for a Democratic majority on the Supreme Court to read the law to favor the Democratic Party," said one lawyer, who didn't want to be named. His thoughts were echoed by Democrats and Republicans, both those who believe the law requires an election and those who don't.

State law requires the Board of Common Pleas Judges to appoint a replacement for Castille. The legal question is whether that person should finish Castille's term, which has two years remaining. A state law, passed in 1850, requires that a vacancy be filled in "the next general election." The city's Home Rule Charter, passed in 1953, requires that the district attorney run in the same elections as the city controller the next such race being in 1993. A lawyer active in the Democratic inner circle, who asked to remain anonymous, said the two laws are irreconcilable and, therefore, the Home Rule Charter overrides the state law. Even if the state law does rule, the lawyer said, the phrase "general election" should be interpreted to mean the entire election process from primary to general election.

Because Castille is resigning on the final day for filing election papers, it wouldn't be possible for candidates to file and run in a primary election for the District Attorney's Office. Several Democrats said Castille could have resigned earlier, if he believed in the need for an election to replace him. Without a primary, the leaders of each political party would select a candidate for the fall election. Brady said he was surprised that the GOP "would give us the chance to nominate a district attorney without a primary." Louis W. Fryman, an attorney for the Republican City Committee, said he believes an election is required.

"Under the Pennsylvania statutes, when there's a vacancy, that shall be filled in the next general election," said Fryman. "It's a clear direction." Lawyer Gregory M. Harvey, an expert in election law, said yesterday that he, too, thinks the vacancy should be filled in the November election. The City Charter and the state law, Harvey said, dovetail to provide for immediate replacement by a vote of the Board of Judges, and subsequent election in the fall. "There's some wiggle room in this interpretation," said Harvey.

"If the desire of the Democratic Party were to have an election, and the desire of the Republicans were to have an election, I can't see that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania would say that they were wrong." 'ygT" iii rr in tmimiHiti imiiiHim nnntiimff CASH BACK Bffij I SIM jPjl CAsS KSRS27QW iv im i iiiiimii in 'ytfuwr 1ZTZIZ 1 ON COOKTOPOVEN JLU 11 111 1 ii in Conservancy delays plan on public access Kir-'-' hCoatesville jiii KUDB220T KAWE460W Madena STRASBURGRD. i CHESTER COUNTY door. Sturdy, easy gliding RollerTrac bins. Only $419 for built-in dishwasher model KUDB220T. Sure-Scrub Multi-Level washing system.

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Ice and water through the Offer available at these authorized dealers. Prices may vary. Cash back direct from KitchenAid. Offer ends April 30,1991. By Frederick Cusick Inquirer Stall Writer After objections from neighbors of the Laurels in Chester County, the Brandywine Conservancy has postponed a plan to give thousands of its members access to the 800-acre nature preserve in East Fallowfield and West Marlborough Townships.

The Laurels preserve, in the horse country of Chester County, has remained closed to virtually all but those who live around it since the Conservancy acquired the property in 1985. Conservancy officials had proposed broadening access beginning March 1. However, Conservancy spokeswoman Lucinda Laird said yesterday, the nonprofit agency's trustees had decided Monday to postpone action on the proposal. "They wanted more time to review it more carefully," said Laird. The vote of the trustees followed a meeting Sunday between Conservancy officials and some nearby residents.

A Conservancy source said that the meeting was contentious, with some of the estate owners who use the Laurels urging the Conservancy not to broaden access. The Conservancy's proposal called for the institution of a pass system to the Laurels that would be limited to dues-paying members of the Conservancy. Under the proposal, any of the 4,000 members, who now pay a $30 annual fee, could get a one-year pass to the Laurels for an extra $30. In addition, Conservancy members who wanted to use the Laurels for horseback riding would have to pay a $150 annual fee. Members who just want to go Sot one day could pay $5, plus a $30 deposit.

The Conservancy's plan also would offer a "long-term pass" to the Laurels for any member who contributed $5,000 or more. In a Feb. 22 letter explaining the proposal to area property owners, H. William Sellers, the director of the Conservancy's environmental programs, argued that the conservancy had to find a middle ground between allowing unlimited public access or restricting it to a few area residents. "The Laurels can neither be a park Th Philedelphu Inquirer nor an exclusive sanctuary if we are to preserve its fragile ecological balance on the one hand and its shared community value on the other," Sellers wrote in his letter.

The Conservancy's proposal generated a counterproposal from the Buck Doe Trust, the local estate owners' association. According to a letter sent to the Conservancy chairman George Weymouth by James C. Sargent a West Chester lawyer who is president of Buck Doe Trust, the estate owners group wants the Laurels to remain closed to all but people from the immediate neighborhood. As for opening the Laurels to Conservancy members, Sargent's letter said the "members should be encouraged to participate in a limited number of annual nature walks and conservation programs sponsored by the Conservancy. "These activities should be designed to complement the solitude and pristine nature of the tract and not to intrude on the residents of properties adjacent to the Laurels," Sargent wrote.

In his letter to Weymouth, Sargent also said that "our purpose is not exclusionary or elitist but to make certain that the Laurels is managed properly at present and for the Paoli Home Appliance Center 95 East Lancaster Ave. Philadelphia Donatucci Kitchens 19th Washington Sts. Klein's Company 736 North Second St. Otto Faulhaber 7946 Oxford Avenue Tony Ferrara's 617 North 68th Street Phoenixville Lapella's 312 Bridge Street Queen Discount Ctr. 1000 Nutt Road Pottstown Kieffer's.

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