Time to sling that mud
The race to replace state Rep. Frank Oliver, retiring after four decades in North Philadelphia's 195th District seat, took a nasty turn this week, when Republican Jim Kernaghan labeled his Democrat
rival, Michelle Brownlee, a "deadbeat and tax cheat."
Kernaghan's camp combed through city Revenue Department accounts and court records that show Brownlee and her husband owed $26,036 in property taxes and water bills on six properties, including their own home.
Brownlee, who retired last year after 37 years on Oliver's staff, said that she and her husband fell behind on their bills in a tough economy but have signed on to payment plans with the city for five of the six properties.
"I'm not worried about it," Brownlee said of Kernaghan's complaints, which have been compiled into a tough campaign pamphlet that is about to make the rounds in the district.
Brownlee added that she and her husband started making payments before she declared her candidacy and that she hopes to sell some of the properties to pay the debt.
Kernaghan called on Brownlee to release city tax records to prove that she properly reported any revenue from renting the properties. Brownlee declined.
"This is just the mind-set of the political class in this city," Kernaghan said yesterday.
Brownlee, who also faces independent Warren "Fuzzy" Bloom in the Nov. 2 general election, took some heat during the Democratic primary campaign, during which opponents noted her 2002 arrest for forgery after she notarized a deed in a real-estate deal that turned out to be a scam. Brownlee cooperated against the guy running the scam, who went to prison.
Brownlee entered the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program and her criminal record was wiped clear after she stayed out of trouble for six months.
A tax by any other name . . .
