Paperwork

DEMOCRACY is a beautiful thing. We think that pretty much every day, but especially around election time. For the purposes of making endorsements, this board meets one-on-one with candidates. We are always impressed with how wildly varied the candidates are - ranging from sophisticated attorneys to rowhouse laborers - most of whom share a commitment to the city that, at the risk of getting mushy, is inspiring. Running for office, especially here, is not for the faint of heart. But generally, the more people who try, the better we are. Still, it's not unreasonable to suggest there should be some basic standards for fitness to serve.

Two Delaware County jail employees have been suspended after a prisoner was prematurely released last week when they failed to finish reading the bail conditions for the inmate, officials said. At least seven inmates at the George Hill Correctional Facility in Thornbury Township have been mistakenly released this year through paperwork errors or confusion over identities. Officials have acknowledged problems with procedures and paperwork. Christianus Felten, 42, of Upper Darby, is again behind bars after spending a night out. Felten, in jail awaiting trial in an alleged burglary, was approved for electronic home-monitoring after his bail was reduced at a preliminary hearing Dec. 7, according to Robert DiOrio, solicitor for the Delaware County Prison Board.

A Delaware County man mistakenly released from jail in August is back behind bars after being apprehended in Wilmington on Friday, police said. David Wilson, also known as David West, 19, of Chester, was taken into custody without incident at 6 a.m. and now faces additional charges for his unauthorized furlough, according to Lt. Joseph Blackburn of the Delaware County Sheriff's Department. Wilson waived extradition at a Friday morning hearing in Delaware and, after a court hearing in Media, was immediately returned to the Thornbury Township jail.

Officials are investigating another unauthorized release of an inmate at the Delaware County prison. At least six people have been mistakenly turned loose from the Thornbury Township facility since May. Officials have acknowledged widespread problems with procedures and paperwork. In the latest case, Cyril M. Devine, 49, of Downingtown, was sentenced in August to two to six months of confinement after pleading guilty to child-pornography charges. He was to report last Friday and was eligible to leave the prison during the week for work, said Robert DiOrio, prison solicitor.

Two more prisoners are free from the Delaware County lockup after being mistakenly released. Bench warrants were issued for Ateia Polk, 32, of the 4500 block of North 11th Street in Philadelphia, and David Jeffrey Wilson, 19, of 100 block of West 22d Street in Chester, according to the District Attorney's Office. Both were freed due to paperwork errors, said Erica Parham, assistant district attorney. The county prison has been operated by Community Education Centers Inc. of West Caldwell, N.J., since January 2009.

Here is the fifth installment of waste in the legislature, as detailed in the recent grand jury report. PennDot concierge service Getting rid of the legislature's employees who work solely on PennDot paperwork would save taxpayers more than $1 million per year. PennDot has taxpayer-funded offices around the state and a website to help residents and businesses apply for driver's licenses, register vehicles, or handle title work. Even so, the legislature pays dozens of employees who do nothing but fill out PennDot paperwork for constituents who don't want to wait in line at a PennDot office or can't be bothered to do it themselves.

School district officials said these 15 administrators are not certified to run their schools. However, the district said, all 15 have taken steps to get their paperwork up to date. They are: Joe Dixon, Birney Elementary School Willie Fisher, Barry Elemen-tary Timothy Stults, University City High Kevin Parson, Clymer Elementary Schnee Grayson, Parkway West High Reginald Fisher, Frankford High Ignace Wolf, Wilson Middle School Angela Edwards, McMichael Elementary Saliya Cruz, West Philadelphia High Aaron Starke, Huey Elemen-tary Ron Reilly, Willard Elementary Beverly Wallace, Lincoln High Marilyn Quarterman, Ellwood Elementary Lynda Benhaim, Military Academy at Leeds Ximena Carreno, Munoz-Marin Elementary

A federal investigator who spent three years probing the company charged with fabricating records after the starvation death of teenager Danieal Kelly described wading through a rain-soaked Dumpster in 2007 to retrieve documents tossed out by someone at the agency. "I climbed up the Dumpster and jumped inside," said William McDonald, an agent from the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general's office. There, he spotted two white trash bags that turned out to contain telephone logs and reports subpoenaed by the government.

Within hours of Danieal Kelly's death, officials at the social services company responsible for the 14-year-old girl's safety were rushing to produce backdated paperwork in an effort that apparently included forging the signature of the teen's mother on a form, according to testimony yesterday in federal court. Written on the day of Kelly's death, Aug. 4, 2006, the document was an "encounter" form recording a home visit that had in fact occurred months earlier. Kelly suffered from cerebral palsy and lived in a West Philadelphia household with seven siblings.

Robert Bennett's father is a doctor - a longtime practitioner who cannot get his head around all the computerized medical recordkeeping. Robert Bennett's brother is also a doctor - part of a younger generation that grew up with computers and cannot imagine practicing medicine without them. Bennett is a Washington lobbyist who represents the beleaguered - the medical administrators who work for doctors like his father and brother. Administrators, he said, are drowning in insurance paperwork that is costing the nation's health-care system hundreds of billions of dollars a year.