May 29, 2008
Richmond City Council President Bill Pantele entered the race for mayor yesterday, announcing his intentions to change the city for the better and making sure residents know how to correctly pronounce his last
name.
“We’re going to fulfill the promise of Richmond together, and we’re going to do it right,” Pantele told supporters gathered downtown.
“And, just so everyone’s got it down, the last name is PAN-tuh-lee, not Pan-teel or Pant-A-eel,” he said. ”Like tele-phone, or, no, wait, that ‘tele’ is a little more like ‘tela,’ whereas the ‘tele’ in my name is more ‘telly’-sounding.”
“It’s Irish, I think, but not certain because we’re the only Panteles I know of,” he added, sighing. “Or maybe plural is Panteli.”
Pantele’s last-name clarification follows another personal explanation by mayor candidate Donnie Corker, who last week told city residents that, in his free time, he dresses up and sings in women’s clothing as a character called Dirtwoman, a name he was given in 1976 after being arrested for prostitution and defecating on the back seat of a police car.
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[...] by the Free Press 3 weeks ago, 2nd District Representative and City Council President William Pantele used last night’s fund raising event to announce his candidacy for mayor: “I want to [...]
Blah humbugger!
I used to think his name was pronounced Pan Teal. I’d lived here for two years before I realized I lived in the 2nd district and he was my councilman. Up till then I’d been calling Rudy McCollum (Don, spelling?). It wasn’t till when I was voting that I found out.