Hyper-quick round-up

• Councilman Mariano's resignation, with apology, is now in. Apparently his mea culpa left many unimpressed, and they're happy to see him go. Bizarre quote for the day:

  To make up for his misdeeds, Mariano said, he would like "to go to Iraq or Afghanistan and teach government or teach basic electrical theory."

  Let's start with jail and see how that works out...
  
  
• Just in case the voters weren't turned off enough, John Dougherty has asked a judge to boot Michael Nutter, his once and future rival, from his Council seat because of his declared interest in the office of Mayor. (Because someday we hope to be down to only five sitting Council members.)
  
  
• For those confused by the previous story, and/or by the controversy over Philadelphia's attempt to regulate campaign contributions, the Daily News offers a primer on the law and the recent mayoral hopeful fallout. In a related vein, Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr., who sponsored the measure in question, argues that it shouldn't be overturned in cases currently under consideration. Really, the state needs to have campaign finance regulations, which would eliminate the need for local laws, but apparently we can't swing that.
  
  
• Finally, Above Average Jane shares her formula for evaluating candidates for public office, and in particular for discerning the real character of the person behind the chat and public appearances.

  It is important to look at policy positions, campaign finance reports, press releases, votes, and the like, but it is also important to look at the person. If you find someone you can trust, you can skip a campaign finance report now and then and feel comfortable that if he or she didn’t vote the way you like on an issue, there is probably a good reason for it, even if you never know what that reason is.

  I agree. I look forward to seeing the results of her applying her standards to some of the candidates in current races (which I suspect will be forthcoming) . . .