Mayor Goode abruptly removed Hornblum and James Barber, a former state representative, from the six-member board last week with little explanation. The two had been frequent critics of City Prisons Commissioner J. Patrick Gallagher, who otherwise enjoys sound support on the supervisory board.
The Pennsylvania Prison Society yesterday urged Goode to reinstate the two men. The prison-reform group said that in removing Hornblum, in particular, the mayor had cut "the one board member who met his obligations." Hornblum is a member of the society's advisory board.
To back up his claim of being the only board member to visit the city's prisons with any regularity, Hornblum produced a copy of a page from the official visitors' log book at Holmesburg Prison, the city's oldest and most trouble-prone jail.
The page, titled "Board of Trustees," displays entries from Dec. 31, 1986, through March 21, 1991.
Hornblum signed the book on 23 separate dates, the log book shows. In contrast, the board's chairman, the Rev. Albert F. Campbell, visited the prison four times, the page indicates.
No other board member's signature appears on the sheet.
Hornblum added that board members received $100 a month to serve on the board - $50 for attending a monthly board meeting and $50 for visiting the prisons. Hornblum suggested that board members' failure to tour the jails represented a misuse of city funds.
Hornblum accepted no pay since May 1990, when he became chief of staff to Sheriff John Green. A city solicitor's opinion said Hornblum's acceptance of prison-board payment might constitute a conflict of interest.
