Philly’s best-known fiscal watchdog eyes a spot in Harrisburg

PHILADELPHIA—Ask a handful of people who know Jonathan Saidel, and most will use the same word to describe how he’s feeling right now: restless.

It’s understandable. In the 1990s, he was a political star, a City Controller in Philadelphia who built a reputation as a fiscal reformer, transforming an office of less-than-token importance into a thorn in local politicians’ sides. He was in office less than a year when he blocked former Mayor Wilson Goode’s attempt in 1990 to shore up the city’s finances through what Saidel considered an unwise, short-term bond offering, instantly catapulting himself to a household name in Philadelphia. By the time he left in 2005, the City Controller’s office he left behind was nothing like the one he inherited.

Today, by contrast, he’s part of a quiet, private law practice, mixing representation of labor unions and pension plans with some work in government relations.

“It’s not the same as being right in the mix,” Saidel, a Democrat, told pa2010.com nostalgically during a recent interview at his law office here. “When you’ve spent your whole life being involved in the mix when there’s problems, it’s not easy to sit on the sidelines.”

He may soon get off the sidelines again. The man almost everyone describes as a tireless political glad-hander who was made for the game is angling for a new job as Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor. With few Democrats diving into the race, name-recognition in the vote-rich southeast and the widespread assumption that Saidel would be a tireless campaigner for the party’s top-ticket nominee, he could very well get his wish.

“I think that the office of Lt. Governor’s been under utilized,” Saidel said. “When I began as Controller in 1990, Philadelphia was on the brink of bankruptcy. There was a concern that we wouldn’t even be able to meet payroll. If you can help to reshape the economic future of a city like Philly, I think that knowledge and experience can be used to serve the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Even if he wins the party’s nomination, Democrats are expected to have a hard time holding the Governor’s Mansion after 8 years. But to his supporters, Saidel is the perfect fit for the ticket.

“He has an excellent understanding of people and the political process,” said Alan Butkovitz, Saidel’s successor as City Controller. “I think he’d be very helpful to the Governor in dealing with the Senate, the legislature and all the people the Governor can’t touch personally.”

If there’s one thing Saidel has going for him, it’s a significant head start. Interested in the office for over a year, he’s the only Democrat to say he’ll definitely run. Saidel already has a political action committee and used the occasion of his 58th birthday this month to hold a fundraiser. At events he seems more at ease than almost any other politico in the room. At a recent meeting of Philadelphia Democrats, he stood by the door to a ballroom on the Delaware River waterfront, shaking the hand of everyone in reach with a tight, two-hand clasp and a pat on the shoulder.

To say he lives for this is an understatement.

“He thives on it and therefore he needs it,” Butkovitz said. “I think he gets a big charge on interacting with people. He’s really good at the political game, and people gravitate toward things they’re good at.”

Perhaps more important, he’s friendly with Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, who is widely considered the party’s early gubernatorial front-runner. The two came to know each other when Onorato was the County Controller.

A resident of northeast Philadelphia, Saidel is unmarried and has four children. With dark hair that is graying around the edges, he has a still-boyish face that would almost look droopy if he wasn’t always smiling. Deeply-connected within Philly’s Democratic circles—he calls Gov. Ed Rendell “Eddie”—he says he’s already been traveling the state to explore counties with which he’s less familiar.

His statewide run won’t be his first trying breaking back into politics—he was exploring a run for Philadelphia Mayor in 2007 before stepping aside for Congressman and local party chairman Bob Brady, a close ally who lost in that year’s primary. Saidel chaired Brady’s campaign that year, and while some of Saidel’s allies think it was him who deserved the chance to run, he doesn’t seem to ruminate on the potentially missed opportunity.

Asked by The Inquirer in 2007 if Brady pushed him out, Saidel said simply: “You can’t get pushed [if] you’re willing to listen. I thought he had a better opportunity to win.”

And he’s quick to admit his burning desire to get back in the game.

“I miss it,” Saidel said. “I miss helping people. If you get involved in politics for the right reasons—and that’s helping people—you do miss that ability to do that as an elected official.
Too many people get involved for the wrong reasons, but the right reasons are you just enjoy helping people.”

Pausing a moment to let the point sink in, he added softly: “I do miss that.”