City Car

One evening earlier this month, Robert K. Ross left his office at 16th and Arch Streets, climbed into a Chevrolet Blazer, drove to Germantown to pick up his two children, made a couple of other quick stops, and wound up at home - in Montgomery County. It was like any other commute from Center City to the suburbs. Except that Robert K. Ross is Philadelphia's health commissioner and, like 22,000 other city employees, is required by the City Charter to live in Philadelphia. And Ross was driving a city-owned vehicle.

Candidate Happy Fernandez campaigned for City Council in 1991 as a new- breed politician, pledging that one way she would distinguish herself from the old guard was by not taking a city-owned car. Times have changed. Councilwoman Fernandez will be driving a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria this fall, as will 12 other members of City Council. The cars cost $14,900 each, said David L. Cohen, mayoral chief of staff. They will replace 1988 models. "I did campaign on no Council car. The reason I made the pledge was because of the (city's)

Lame-duck City Commissioner Maurice Floyd elected not to go on trial yesterday by pleading guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident on Feb. 6, and of later giving a false report to police. In exchange for his plea, Floyd, 41, avoided probation, but was ordered to pay a total of $1,447.38 in fines, restitution and court costs. Floyd, of Gordon Street near 31st, lost the May 21 primary for nomination to another four-year term on the commission, which runs the city's elections.

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham is considering whether to prosecute City Councilman Angel Ortiz for driving without a license. "The district attorney is very concerned that Angel Ortiz has admitted to breaking the law while in office," said Abraham spokeswoman Cathie Abookire. "We are looking into it," Abookire said. Ortiz, who represents the city at-large, recently acknowledged not having had a Pennsylvania driver's license, although he has had a city car since 1984 and has been driving in Philadelphia since he moved here from New York in 1976.

More than a year after he left office, former Mayor W. Wilson Goode last week lost the security detail of police officers who protected and ferried him in a city car equipped with a cellular telephone. The withdrawal of the detail Saturday ended almost a decade of protection for Goode, whose security over the years sparked complaints about cost, size and the use of police officers for personal errand-running. "It was the police commissioner's prerogative that it was time to end the security," said the Philadelphia police spokeswoman, Sgt. Theresa Young.

Gentlemen in the percussion section, you're here to rehearse, not converse. We don't care what kind of exquisite medieval tortures you would inflict on the man who once sold you a Yugo. Let's get to work. Let's try a protracted drumroll, followed by a thunderous clash of cymbals. The Annual Inquirer Cheap Car Survey (ICCS) deserves an intro of this magnitude. Yes, the frost is on the pumpkin, and it's time for me to offer my fellow fiscally challenged Philadelphians a chance to motor to work or the mall in an affordable new car blessed with good mileage and an anxiety-lowering warranty.

A Philadelphia judge has set a new date of April 18 to sentence former Philadelphia City Council aide Robin Jones on her guilty plea to drunken driving in the crash of a city-owned car. Jones, 50, was supposed to have been sentenced Thursday, but Municipal Court Judge Joseph J. O'Neill issued a warrant for her arrest when she failed to appear. Jones arrived in court later Thursday but it remains unclear what happened. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Kotchian said O'Neill lifted the bench warrant Friday and scheduled the new sentencing date.

THE FORMER receptionist for City Council President Darrell Clarke - who was arrested and fired in September after crashing a city car while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol - steered into even more trouble Thursday morning. Robin Jones, 50, who pleaded guilty in February to driving under the influence and three related offenses, failed to show up for her sentencing hearing. Her attorney, Vivienne A. Crawford, also failed to show. A call to Crawford from the Daily News was not returned.

CARLA ANDERSON'S articles demonstrating Mayor Street's refusal to institute "Live Stop" leave me with many questions. How do these lawbreaking drivers get pulled over so many times and accumulate tons of money in unpaid tickets? Doesn't this mean they are scofflaws? Don't Traffic Court judges issue bench warrants for scofflaws? Doesn't the Philadelphia Police have access in each patrol car computer to those scofflaw warrants? Why don't the police arrest them instead of giving more tickets and letting them drive away?

City Election Commissioner Maurice Floyd surrendered to police and was arraigned yesterday on charges of fleeing an accident scene last month while driving a city car. A hearing date was set for April 17 after the arraignment before Bail Commissioner Stanley Sims. Floyd, 40, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and with filing a false police report. He was released after signing his own bail. Floyd arrived with his lawyer at the 18th Police District, 55th and Pine streets, at 11:20 a.m. to turn himself in to accident investigation officers.

A Philadelphia judge has set a new date of April 18 to sentence former Philadelphia City Council aide Robin Jones on her guilty plea to drunken driving in the crash of a city-owned car. Jones, 50, was supposed to have been sentenced Thursday, but Municipal Court Judge Joseph J. O'Neill issued a warrant for her arrest when she failed to appear. Jones arrived in court later Thursday but it remains unclear what happened. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Kotchian said O'Neill lifted the bench warrant Friday and scheduled the new sentencing date.

Former Philadelphia City Council aide Robin Jones knew before her formal sentencing hearing that she would be spending 72 hours in jail. That was the state's mandatory minimum sentence for her guilty plea to drunk driving in the Sept. 8 crash of a city-owned car she was not supposed to be using. By failing to show for her sentencing hearing Thursday, Jones likely earned herself a lot more than a long weekend behind bars. After waiting for an hour, Municipal Court Judge Joseph J. O'Neill granted the request for a bench warrant by Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Kotchian.

THE FORMER receptionist for City Council President Darrell Clarke - who was arrested and fired in September after crashing a city car while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol - steered into even more trouble Thursday morning. Robin Jones, 50, who pleaded guilty in February to driving under the influence and three related offenses, failed to show up for her sentencing hearing. Her attorney, Vivienne A. Crawford, also failed to show. A call to Crawford from the Daily News was not returned.

A Philadelphia judge this morning issued a warrant for the arrest of ex-City Council aide Robin Jones after she failed to show for sentencing on her guilty plea to drunk-driving charges in the Sept. 8 crash of a city-owned car she was not supposed to drive. Municipal Court Judge Joseph J. O'Neill waited an hour after the scheduled 10 a.m. sentencing time before granting the request for a bench warrant by Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Kotchian. Neither Jones, 50, nor her lawyer, Vivienne A. Crawford, arrived for the sentencing and court personnel were not able to reach Crawford at her office.

A former Philadelphia City Council sergeant-at-arms was found guilty Monday of two counts of driving under the influence by a Municipal Court judge. Rodney Williams, 42, who had worked for Council since 2004, did not testify, and defense attorney Robin Colley Pitt called no witnesses during the hour-long trial before Judge Gerard A. Kosinski. Kosinski set sentencing for April 1. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Kotchian presented two police witnesses who testified about Williams' condition when he was stopped Sept.

Gentlemen in the percussion section, you're here to rehearse, not converse. We don't care what kind of exquisite medieval tortures you would inflict on the man who once sold you a Yugo. Let's get to work. Let's try a protracted drumroll, followed by a thunderous clash of cymbals. The Annual Inquirer Cheap Car Survey (ICCS) deserves an intro of this magnitude. Yes, the frost is on the pumpkin, and it's time for me to offer my fellow fiscally challenged Philadelphians a chance to motor to work or the mall in an affordable new car blessed with good mileage and an anxiety-lowering warranty.

THE TWO City Hall employees fired last month for allegedly driving drunk in two city-owned cars have been ordered to stand trial. Municipal Court President Judge Marsha Neifield on Friday set Nov. 14 as the trial date for Rodney Williams, 41, who is charged with driving while intoxicated. Neifield on Thursday set Dec. 12 as the trial date for Robin Jones, 50. Besides the DUI charge, she is accused of driving with a suspended license. Williams, who worked as a Council sergeant-at-arms, and Jones, who had been a receptionist in the office of Council President Darrell Clarke, took the keys to two Council pool cars without authorization on Sept.

Several city Republican leaders filed a complaint Thursday with the city Board of Ethics about Mayor Nutter's taking two aides with him to the Democratic National Convention. Rick Hellberg, who leads a faction of the local GOP, joined Republican ward leaders Michael Cibik and J. Matthew Wolfe in alleging that the two aides, Lauren Walker and Tumar Alexander, violated political-activity restrictions based on the City Charter. The Nutter administration says that neither of the city workers engaged in politics.

An article in Tuesday's paper about the firing of two City Council staffers who were charged with DUI while driving city vehicles misstated the circumstances that led to their arrests. Receptionist Robin Jones crashed the car she was driving in the Spring Garden section about 2:30 a.m. Saturday and called sergeant-at-arms Rodney Williams to come to her aid, authorities said. He also arrived at the scene driving a city car. The Inquirer wants its news report to be fair and correct in every respect, and regrets when it is not. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, contact assistant managing editor David Sullivan (215-854-2357)

On Friday, Rodney Williams was put in charge of maintaining the keys to three city-owned "pool cars" that are available for Council members and certain staffers. Instead, he took a set for himself and apparently allowed Robin Jones, a receptionist in Council President Darrell L. Clarke's office, to take another set, Clarke said. Both were arrested on charges of drunken driving about 3 a.m. Saturday after Williams crashed one of the city cars in the Spring Garden section and called Jones for help.