Rizzo ready to return to Philly public office — as mayor or Democratic councilman

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     Former City Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr. has said he's considering a run for mayor. How would his candidacy change the race? (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

    Former City Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr. has said he's considering a run for mayor. How would his candidacy change the race? (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

    A former Republican City Councilman in Philadelphia who lost re-election in 2011 after taking an unpopular retirement payment is eyeing a comeback.

     

    Frank Rizzo Jr. said he is thinking about running for mayor next year, but he’s waiting for the field to take shape to make a decision. If he doesn’t go for the city’s top job, the son of a legendary mayor said he’s got a “plan B”: Run for City Council again, this time as a Democrat.

    “I still feel a desire, a commitment to want to help the city of Philadelphia that I love so much,” said Rizzo Jr. “If I don’t run for mayor, you can bet I’m going to run for City Council.”

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    Political insiders blamed Rizzo Jr.’s defeat in 2011 on his enrolling in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, commonly known as DROP, and losing the support of the city’s GOP.

    “If I had to think about it over again, maybe I would have made a different decision,” he said of taking the DROP payment. “But based on the lawyers, based on all of the information that I had … it was appropriate.”

    Only two candidates have officially entered the mayoral race: former city solicitor Ken Trujillo and past Redevelopment Authority director Terry Gillen. State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams and former District Attorney Lynne Abraham plan to announce this week.

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