Rick Mariano Is Stealing Your Money

I had a friend who once delivered a package to Aaron McKie’s house, when he was still a member of the 76ers. McKie wasn’t there, but if he was, my friend said he was going to ask him where the hell his money was, since he was stealing it with his poor play.

Similarly, columnists and radio talk show hosts occasionally say that the government is “stealing your money” with some sort of stupid program, some politician who does nothing, &c. Usually, my thinking is that whatever program or pol is being railed against would in no way be as bad as what could happen to the money if it wasn’t there.

Oh, you’re against the National Kumquat Regulatory Board, which grants licenses for the selling of kumquats? (Note: This government body may not exist.) Well, it could be worse. Without the National Kumquat Regulatory Board — the NKRB — the money spent on salaries, office space, supplies, a website, a cartoon mascot, &c. would probably be simply burned and the ashes flushed down an official government toilet. That’s how things work in the government.

However, this issue here is pretty cut and dry: Rick Mariano is stealing your money. The city councilman, who was convicted last week of bribery and related charges, is in jail and is not resigning from City Council. He’s in jail. He can’t do anything for his constituents. But he’s still collecting a paycheck. And he’s going to keep doing this until he’s sentenced, when he’ll officially be kicked off Council.

And Brian O’Neill, the minority leader in Council, says that any attempt to ask Mariano to resign would be “grandstanding.” So, basically, a councilman who was convicted in taking $30,000 in bribes — which is not even a good bribe, meaning that Mariano’s even a bigger idiot than we thought — is not stepping down and is in jail collecting a paycheck.

Councilman James Kenney said that having Mariano resign would be piling on. “His office should function, and it’s a couple of months and he’ll be gone,” Kenney said. “He’s lost everything. He’s lost his income and pension and his political infrastructure and his former friends. I can’t see where piling on can be helpful to anyone.”

Aww, poor baby! He committed a crime and now he’s paying for it. I’m sorry to break up this big City Council circlejerk, but getting a felon out of office — who sold his office for not even much money — seems like something that’d be pretty easy for politicans to support.

Hey, I understand Mariano keeping the money — it’s money, he wants it, there’s no law saying he can’t stay on the payroll. But the City Council members who say that not only he should remain on council, but anyone asking him to resign is wrong, is just simply fucking disgusting. And about 100 times more embarassing than Mariano’s conviction in the first place.

But, you know, it’s not surprising.

Council poll: Rick can work [DN]