Philadelphia CIO Dianah Neff last week announced that she is leaving the job she has held since May 2001 to become a senior partner with Alpharetta, Ga.-based Civitium LLC, a consulting business for municipal wireless systems. The company had done business with the city under two separate contracts until August 2005, helping Philadelphia create plans for a citywide wireless network. Her last day of work for the city is Sept. 8.

A spokesman for the mayor's office late Monday confirmed that Street wants the ethics board to review Neff's resignation, but said that no wrongdoing is implied by the review. The spokesman refused to comment further on the matter.

In an interview, Neff said she is comfortable with the ethics board review.

"It's being overly cautious," which is appropriate because the mayor's administration has been scrutinized in the past over ethics issues, Neff said. "I have no problem" with a review, she said, adding, "I believe there's no issue here, and I believe that's what they'll find."

Neff said that Civitium has not done any work for the city since the two past contracts were completed last August. That work cost about US$300,000 and involved radio frequency analyses to ensure that the planned wireless network wouldn't interfere with other systems, she said.