Costello News

Last week's City Paper had a nice article on Rich Costello, running for the 172nd house district. See "Pestering Perzel" by Tom Namako.

In other news, from the inbox:

Rich Costello, candidate for the State House of Representatives in northeast Philadelphia, called on his opponent, former speaker John Perzel, today to answer for the pattern of unethical practices that surrounds his term in office.

Former House candidate Lowell Gates filed a lawsuit against Perzel and Michael Karp, a political ally of Perzel’s and his appointee to the Commonwealth Financing Authority. Gates alleges that Perzel and Karp caused numerous illegal “robocalls” to be made during the run-up to this past April’s primary election. According to the suit, the calls were made from a pirated number, lacked the required legal disclaimer and contained false and slanderous information about Perzel’s political enemies.

“This is just another example of how John Perzel is using his office to accumulate personal wealth and power, not to serve his constituents,” said Costello. “This is only the latest evidence in a long list of Mr. Perzel’s abuses of power. The claims made by Mr. Gates exemplify a disturbing pattern of underhanded tactics used by former Speaker Perzel.”

Costello is referring to his campaign’s recent discovery a contract between the Republican caucus and Aristotle International Inc, overseen by John Perzel during his term as majority leader and as Speaker of the House. While the contract was supposed to be for constituent service software, the contract makes explicit reference to elections, voters and yard signs. The evidence shows clearly that the computer system was used for political purposes. One section of the contract explicitly states, "The [Republican] caucus will provide the necessary staff to provide for the proper editing of the address lists for all districts so that all districts will be properly loaded and ready for use in the elections."

“Over his thirty years in Harrisburg, John Perzel has changed from a responsible legislator into a man consumed with his desire for personal power and wealth without regard for legal or ethical guidelines or for the concerns of the neighborhood” said Costello.