Tracey Gordon couldn\u2019t extract enough campaign cash from her office staff to fund her bid for a second term as Philadelphia\u2019s register of wills.<\/p>\n
But two years after she left office, taxpayers are still paying for Gordon\u2019s alleged misconduct<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the city agreed to pay $250,000 to a former clerk who, like several other register of wills employees<\/a>, said he was fired after he refused to contribute to Gordon\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n Nicholas Barone alleged in a 2023 federal lawsuit<\/a> that Gordon, through an intermediary, had first requested a $150 contribution in late 2021. <\/p>\n When Barone told his supervisor he couldn\u2019t afford to contribute, Gordon asked for $75, according to the lawsuit. Barone balked again. <\/p>\n Then, in January 2022, Barone received a termination letter, effective immediately. The letter came four days after a performance review found he was exceeding expectations, according to his suit.<\/p>\n \u201cShe pressured everyone to make a donation and sort of made it known, if you\u2019re not donating, you\u2019re not going to be employed,\u201d said Barone\u2019s lawyer, James Goslee.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Philly\u2019s Register of Wills office is making political hires while lawsuits pile up. It could get expensive for taxpayers.<\/a><\/p>\n In addition to the Barone settlement, the city has paid $400,000 to settle four other federal lawsuits brought by former Gordon staffers. They alleged that Gordon, who was elected in 2019, had essentially turned the register of wills office into an arm of her unsuccessful reelection campaign.<\/p>\n Patrick Parkinson, a former administrative deputy in the office, claimed in his lawsuit that Gordon \u201ccontinually and relentlessly badgered\u201d him<\/a> for campaign money, then fired him in 2022 when he refused. His suit was settled in 2024 for $120,000.<\/p>\n Barone\u2019s case was unusual in that it was the only one that got as far as a trial, which began Monday. Several former employees testified about how Gordon had politicized the office. Gordon testified last.<\/p>\n The city then agreed to settle before the jury began deliberating. Goslee said her testimony was a \u201cdisaster\u201d for the defense. <\/p>\n \u201cShe just wasn\u2019t a good witness, I\u2019ll put it to you that way,\u201d Goslee said. \u201cShe should not be in politics or be allowed anywhere near public office.\u201d<\/p>\n Reached by phone Thursday, Gordon initially declined to comment. She called back five minutes later.<\/p>\n \u201cIn connection with the allegations brought against me, I maintain I did nothing wrong,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cAny decision to settle the case was a decision made by the city of Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the city\u2019s law department declined to comment.<\/p>\n The register of wills office is a somewhat obscure row office in City Hall that employees approximately 100 people with an annual budget of about $5.2 million. It issues marriage licenses, processes inheritance-related records, and does other nonpolitical work.<\/p>\n But it also has a reputation as a Democratic patronage operation<\/a> going back at least to the 1980s, with jobs being doled out to people with political connections.<\/p>\n Goslee said he was hoping that Barone\u2019s case might lead to some \u201cstructural change.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very important public interest case,\u201d he said. \u201cThat system of entrenched, compelled patronage really needs to come to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t appear to be happening yet.<\/p>\n Gordon was defeated in the 2023 Democratic primary<\/a> by John Sabatina Sr., an estate attorney and Northeast Philadelphia<\/a> ward leader. He took office in January 2024.<\/p>\n The city has since paid out $256,000 in settlements to nine former register of wills employees who filed lawsuits alleging that Sabatina fired them to make way for his own patronage hires. Five cases are still pending.<\/p>\n Legal discovery in those cases has produced an internal list that the incoming Sabatina administration<\/a> appears to have used to determined who would be fired.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a hit list,\u201d lawyer Timothy Creech, who is representing most of those ex-employees, said in September, comparing Sabatina to a \u201cTammany Hall\u201d-style party boss, a reference to the former New York City political machine<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t to save money,\u201d Creech said. \u201cIt was specifically to hire their own people.\u201d<\/p>\n Several of the 30 office employees on the list are described by their connections to Gordon, including \u201cTracey niece,\u201d \u201cTracey\u2019s friend, 7th Ward committee person,\u201d \u201cLast Tracey hire.\u201d The suggested action for most of those employees was immediate termination. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have enough immediate terminations to allow us several hires in the next two weeks,\u201d reads a note at the bottom of the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n Another note appears to indicate that some firings were planned before Sabatina had replacements: \u201cWe don\u2019t have people lined up for all of these jobs and we need to make sure we use up all of the funds set aside in the budget for salary.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabatina has declined to comment on those cases.<\/p>\n Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy good-government group, said it is not acceptable for the city to spend more than $900,000 to settle lawsuits stemming from politics in the register of wills office.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can all think of a thousand better things we could do with these funds,\u201d Cristella said. \u201cThe patronage mill better start printing money to keep up with these payouts because taxpayers in this city can no longer foot this bill. When is enough for Council and the mayor to meaningfully reform the row offices?\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, Philadelphia\u2019s fiscal watchdog, passed a resolution<\/a> to recommend that City Council and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker<\/a> abolish the register of wills office, along with the sheriff\u2019s office, another row office with a long history of problems. <\/p>\n Neither Parker nor Council has shown any interest in taking action.<\/p>\n