Center of a political storm

Nutter, now the presumptive mayor, resigned as chairman last spring. Problem gone. Mezzaroba, however, remains in his job - and some wonder if his continued employment is the reason for Rendell's latest actions.

In an Aug. 27 draft lease agreement between the state and the center, obtained by The Inquirer, there is a provision prohibiting the board from hiring an executive director "without the prior written consent of the Commonwealth." A second provision says the state may "in its sole discretion" require the center to fire the executive director.

Asked about the provisions, Masch said they were in fact intended for the center's chief executive. But he emphasized that the document was a "first draft" and that the governor's office was awaiting suggested revisions from the board.

"Our draft is being characterized as if it's some nonnegotiable demand when it is very far from that," he said.

At the same time, Masch defended the state's push for a stepped-up role regarding the center's everyday activities.

The city has been legally responsible for covering all of the center's operating losses. That obligation will, as part of the $700 million funding deal, soon shift to the state. And the obligation will presumably be much larger, since after expansion the center will double in size.

"For this reason, the Governor believes that it is appropriate for the Commonwealth to have at least the same and possibly even greater rights" than the city had, Masch told the board in a letter Thursday.

In an interview, Masch also noted that while the state is funding the entire expansion, state officials appoint just six of the 15 members on the center's board - two by the governor, and two each by Democratic and Republican state legislators. Four others are named by city officials. Philadelphia's four suburban counties, which pay nothing toward the center's costs, are entitled to one appointment each. A 15th member is appointed chair by the others.

"So the state," Masch said, "is on the hook."

"If there is a problem with the board's composition, then there should be an amendment," Pileggi, the majority leader, said. But if Rendell's goal now is to "do an end-run around the statutory framework," he said, "that would be outrageous."