“He is our access”

Deputy Mayor for Labor Richard Lazer made a relatively short appearance on the witness stand Thursday afternoon to answer questions about his interactions with his longtime acquaintance and former employer, union boss Johnny “Doc” Dougherty, particularly in connection with an incident in which Dougherty’s car was towed and the enactment of the town’s sugary drink tax.

The towing incident happened in September 2015, when Lazer was working both for Jim Kenney’s mayoral campaign and for Dougherty, who had hired him as a political consultant at $ 4,000 a month for the union. de Dougherty, IBEW Local 98.

Lazer said he needed a second job at the time, in addition to campaign work. He only worked two hours a week for the union, responding to calls from union officials about municipal services, he said. Lazer’s wife also works for Local 98 as Dougherty’s administrative assistant.

In September 2015, shortly before Kenney won the general election for mayor, Dougherty called Lazer one evening to complain that his car was being towed after double-parking at Pennsport Mall in South Philadelphia. Lazer contacted the towing company, who then agreed to refund the money Dougherty had paid for returning the car.

In response to questions from Dougherty’s attorney Henry Hockeimer, Lazer said he was involved in arranging a series of board hearings on abusive towing companies several years previously, and that Dougherty did not was not the only person to have contacted him regarding issues with the towers.

Prosecutors allege Dougherty asked board member Henon to call for public hearings to investigate the towing company, and bribed him to act with a salary of $ 70,000. Defense attorneys said Dougherty had good reason to complain about the tow truck driver – who had not offered him non-cash payment options, as required by law – and that the problems towing were a legitimate topic for a city council hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Barrett also made bugged phone calls in which Dougherty, who was also a close confidant of Kenney, advises Lazer on handling the town’s problems and later on securing the job of Deputy Mayor.

In an August 2015 appeal, Dougherty said he wanted Kenney to tell Brian Abernathy, then head of the Redevelopment Authority, to stop trying to “move” city-owned plots to that Kenney take office. “Tell him… don’t move a thing until we get there, from now on,” Dougherty said to Lazer. Abernathy became the city’s deputy general manager, and later general manager, under Kenney.

Shortly after Kenney’s election, Dougherty called Lazer to tell him he would support his candidacy for Deputy Mayor of Labor, a position in which he would be the administration’s main contact with Local 98 and d other unions.

“I’m going to say… we need access and he’s our access,” said Dougherty, referring to Lazer. Lazer said he must provide a desired salary range as part of his candidacy for the post, and Dougherty said he should ask to be paid less than 5% of other deputy mayors.

The jury also heard Dougherty, Henon and Lazer discuss the tax on sugary drinks. Dougherty is accused of bribing Henon to support the tax as a revenge against the Teamsters union, which includes drink truck drivers, because he viewed them as rivals in some union matters.

In February 2016, Lazer called Henon to ask if he would bring in soda tax legislation to the board – Henon is not committing – and spoke to Dougherty about the vote-whipping strategy and the rationale for it. the tax. As the tax has encountered opposition from the beverage industry and some residents, Dougherty tells him he doesn’t mind if it passes.

“Richie, you don’t have to explain it to me,” said Dougherty. “I don’t care, whatever. I don’t care. I don’t drink a ton, I don’t think it’s a bad tax, I think it’s the price to pay for doing business , Okay.

Hockeimer attempted to portray Lazer’s conversations with Dougherty as conventional politics, as opposed to the union leader wielding undue influence. “In Philadelphia, organized labor is a big problem. It is one of the few towns where this is still the case, ”he told Lazer. “Did you need Mr. Dougherty’s help to get the soda tax passed?” “

“Yes,” Lazer said.

Lazer said he believed an earlier effort to pass a soda tax under Mayor Michael Nutter had failed in part because he lacked support from Labor, and the Kenney administration was seeking this time. ci broad support of the work. The Council finally approved the tax in April 2016.

The trial takes place two years after federal prosecutors filed a sprawling indictment of 116 counts against Henon, Dougherty and several people with ties to Local 98. The charges were split into two trials, the ongoing case focusing on the corruption charges against Hénon and Dougherty.

Disclosure: Electricians Union Local 98 represents engineers, camera staff, editors, audio and maintenance technicians at WHYY.