Farrell’s Plan to Put 2 Ex-Aides on City Payroll Is Questioned : Politics: A potential challenger to the councilman suggests that the jobs may be payoffs for work they did in his unsuccessful Assembly campaign.

A potential challenger to City Councilman Robert Farrell on Monday raised questions about the propriety of Farrell’s attempt to hire his former campaign manager and a campaign aide to work for his City Hall office.

Farrell has asked the council to approve $25,000 personal service contracts for Marcella Howe, who managed his unsuccessful state Assembly race last June, and Anthony Thigpen, who worked for the campaign. Farrell still owes money to both for work they performed on his campaign.

The council is scheduled to vote on the contracts today.

Council staff hiring requests are generally approved without question and it is not uncommon for personnel to move between campaign and council staffs.

However, Kerman Maddox, who said he intends to run against Farrell when he is up for reelection next year, suggested at a press conference Monday that the two contracts may be payoffs for campaign work. He said the contracts raise “the appearance of political patronage.”

Farrell said Monday that the contracts are legitimate and that both Howe and Thigpen will be paid for work they perform for his council office. Howe will act as a management consultant during a reorganization of his office over the next five months and Thigpen will focus on issues such as unemployment and the economy, Farrell said.

“I believe that what I’m doing is perfectly legitimate,” Howe said Monday. The contract calls for her to re-evaluate Farrell’s staff and office and set up a management system, she said.

Howe said she has been paid $13,000 by Farrell for work on his campaign and is owed another $7,000, which is due to be paid in August.

Farrell also owes money to Thigpen, but Farrell said Monday he was unsure of the amount.

Attempts to reach Thigpen for comment were unsuccessful.

The district attorney’s office is still investigating Farrell for possible conflict-of-interest and disclosure violations that came to light in 1987. That investigation centered on reports that Farrell may have funneled more than $400,000 in financial support to his former wife’s small social service agency.

Prosecutors are trying to determine whether Farrell helped provide real estate gifts, rental payments, campaign contributions and a government grant to the Improvement Assn. of the 8th District, a nonprofit organization run by his ex-wife, Essiebea Farrell.