Philadelphia City Council Staffers Charged With DUI Are Canned
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Two Philadelphia City Council staffers arrested over the weekend on DUI charges are now out of work. And now city controller Alan Butkovitz is launching a probe of the use of city cars.
A spokesperson for City Council president Darrell Clarke says notices of termination have been sent to the two staffers who had been arrested.
The spokesperson, Jane Roh, says neither showed up for work this morning, so letters of their dismissal were being mailed.
Police say 50-year-old Robin Jones, a secretary in Clarke's office, was driving a city-owned vehicle early Saturday when she struck a building at 13th and Hamilton Streets.
Officials say she called for help from 41-year-old Rodney Williams, who works as a sergeant-at-arms for City Council and was driving another city vehicle.
Police charged both with DUI, and Jones was also charged with driving with a suspended license (see related story).
Both have been released on their own recognizance and face hearings next month.
In addition to cars assigned to some City Council members, Council has three "pool vehicles," and Roh says both Williams and Jones were involved in keeping track of those cars but neither had permission to use the vehicles over the weekend.
Council President Clarke says there are already rules in place prohibiting the employees' actions that took place.
"There's a policy in place," he said this afternoon. "It's just that somebody decided to take the keys."
City controller Alan Butkovitz now is investigating that part of the incident.
"There's too many city cars out there," he said today. "And we have to make sure there are tight controls on who gets access."
Butkovitz says it will take six months to complete his probe.
Meanwhile, Clarke says he's tightening the policy:
"Given the bizarre nature of this particular incident, I'm actually going to change that policy, and we are actually going to place the keys under lock and key."
Clarke says restitution for damage to car driven by Jones is unlikely.
