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Fairmount Park Commissioner Failed to Disclose Finances for Seven Years
By Ed Goppelt
Monday, 09/09/02
(1031571356931)
Radio personality Mary Mason has
not filed any financial disclosure
reports with the City for the seven years she has been a Fairmount
Park Commissioner. Mason
now sits on the
Commission as Council President Anna
Verna's
representative, following the Board of Judge's decision in May not to retain her.
According to Fairmount Park Chief of Staff Barry Bessler, Mason has submitted a "rough draft" for this year to Park Staff, but has yet to sign her report. Bessler declined to provide Hallwatch with a copy of Mason's report on the grounds that the report had not yet officially been filed.
Mason, who has been on the Park Commission since 1995, is the only one of the incumbent Commissioners to have never filed a report. By law high city officials--Department Heads, Elected Officials and Boardmembers like Mason--are required to report annually on their finances. In my opinion, public disclosure encourages officials to deal responsibly with potential conflicts of interest.
The reports, which were due May 1 for incumbents like Mason, contain such basic information such as the official's creditors and sources of income. They are public documents and may be viewed either on Hallwatch or at the Department of Records (call Linda Townsel at 215.686.2263 for more info.) In my experience, most officials take their responsibility to disclose their finances seriously. For example, incumbent Commissioners Binswanger, Bloom, and Nix have all filed. Newly elected Commissioners Smith and DiBerardinis, who were elected this May, on the other hand have yet to file.
Mason, whose real name is Beatrice Elmore Turner, stars in the "Mornings with Mary" show on WHAT/1340-AM weekdays from 6-10 am. Although her show ranks only 22nd in its market, Mason appears to enjoy considerable clout with the City's politicians and media: one story reports how Mason ate lunch at Councilman Nutter's desk in Chambers while telling the reporter how she decided--ultimately--not to run against the Councilman. In 1997 Mason became a member of the Commission in her own right after Democratic Party Boss Bob Brady had June Hairston-Brown--a politically prominent black woman--removed to make room for Mason.