Philadelphia Weekly

Everyone but philistines and Republicans from Utah understand that workers in the service industry survive largely on tips. So why all the fuss over allegations that plumbing contractors "tip" inspectors from the Department of Licenses and Inspections in return for quick approval of job-site work?

Charges had yet to be filed when PW went to press, but a recent Daily News story cited a source who claimed an FBI sting operation caught all 12 L&I inspectors engaged in illegal activity on camera. L&I spokespersons refused comment on the allegations last week.

Maybe some citizens naively think city workers aren't in the service industry. After all, they get decent salaries and pensions, unlike most bartenders, car jockeys and other conventional service-industry workers. If city employees have to depend on tips, then their lifestyles must be too extravagant, right?

But whose lifestyle isn't too extravagant these days? We've got to think in terms of payments on SUVs and those TV sets with the 40-inch screens. And miscellaneous expenses, like replacing the old video collection with DVDs and plunking down $379 for the four-slot, stainless steel, hand-assembled toaster from Williams & Sonoma.

And who can blame plumbing contractors for tipping? (The word "bribe" is so crass.) It should surprise no one that contractors would throw a few $20 bills or more at inspectors from a notoriously slimy city department to get the nod to fill excavation holes and move on to the next job.

In the context of the L&I story, tipping is just another word for doing business in the city. Time is money when you're an independent contractor, or when you work for a contractor who can't pay you until the people who ordered the job pay him. You're often at the mercy of the bureaucrats whose job, ostensibly, is to ensure public safety by inspecting your work.

Time is money for city workers too, but usually in a much more benign sense. The temptation to sit back and watch the clock and do just enough to avoid drawing attention must be strong when your job includes no performance-based incentives. If you don't know what we mean, try calling the Water Department or Rat Control or other city agencies with a complaint and see how long it takes to get a meaningful response.

Only the most enterprising city workers turn their workdays into opportunities to earn tips. The cop on the take is the most obvious example. But if the allegations are true, L&I inspectors are no slouches either. You want a prompt response to your request to approve a job? Show them the money.

If the inspectors broke the law, then they're merely upholding a proud tradition at L&I, whose alumni includes the legendary Frank Antico, a former inspector who was routinely tipped for making building permits materialize and building code violations vanish for topless bars and houses of ill repute.

Antico earned a modest salary throughout most of his long career at L&I, but was one of the most powerful men in the city and well-known as a shakedown artist by friendly city officials. He was so good at cutting through red tape for generous tippers that he attracted the attention of the FBI and was indicted in 1998 and sentenced last April to a five-year prison term for racketeering and extortion.

In the past 20 years many other lower-profile L&I inspectors have been suspended, fired and indicted for being too zealous in their pursuit of tips, usually from property owners who violated building code provisions. They have plenty of buddies in city government, so they go about their business with impunity until they get so greedy that the feds step in.

That's in case you've wondered why--among other things--there are so many vacant properties in Philadelphia that have been allowed to deteriorate to the point where they either fall down on their own or have to be demolished to avoid potential injury lawsuits.

The causes for Philly's decay are legion, but lurking somewhere in the history of many dilapidated properties are enterprising city workers and property owners who know what the score is: You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

The bottom line? Nobody likes people who get good service and then stiff their servers. If you want service, you'd better be willing to take care of the guys who do the dirty work.