Philly DA’s spokesman to pay fine for ethical lapse

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics has fined the spokesman for District Attorney Seth Williams $600 for engaging in banned political activity.

Cameron Kline, the DA’s communications director, last month issued a press release attacking Republican mayoral candidate Melissa Murray Bailey on behalf of the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club. Kline served on the club’s board of directors.

The problem is that the city charter says no appointed city employee can be “an officer or member of a committee of a partisan political club, or take any part in the management or affairs of any political party or in any political campaign.”

After the city Republican Party’s executive director Joe DeFelice s complained, Kline resigned his board membership in the club, spoke to the Ethics Board and admitted his infraction. He’ll pay the fine, get ethics training, keep his job, and he promises to obey the rules from now on.

The board also fined real estate developer and former City Council candidate Ori Feibush $4,000 for failing to report some significant contributions, as well as paying some campaign expenses from his personal funds rather than his campaign committee.

And the board fined the Friends of Thomas Sanchez $1,500  for filing campaign finance reports late, and City Commissioner Anthony Clark $1,500 for failing to report a $11,500 contribution to his campaign in the closing days of the May primary campaign.

You can read the details of all three cases here.