I've known Tommie St. Hill for years. But I've only recently discovered just how much smarter he is than yours truly.

For one thing, he left the daily grind of journalism while you-know-who didn't. And, for another, while he and I both live in the 'burbs, he still votes in Philadelphia.

Jeez, I wish I'd thought of that. St. Hill, a close associate of John Street, acknowledges that while he moved to the Main Line a couple of years ago, he voted in the mayoral primary this spring in North Philadelphia. God, how I wanted to vote in that election! Do you have any idea how boring it is to vote in Montgomery County, where the only recent scandal involved a contractor who accidentally air-conditioned a whole school instead of just the main office?

I live there because the schools are good and my neighborhood borders the city I adore - and where I assumed I'd given up the right to vote when I left town.

But St. Hill knew better.

On the day of the primary, he went back to North Philly and voted from his previous address, a condo on N. 21st Street. He voted for Street for mayor, and he voted for a former top aide of Street's, Darrell Clarke, for Street's vacated 5th District City Council seat.

All of which makes Julie Welker apoplectic. Welker was defeated by Clarke for the council nomination by a paltry 141 votes. She's filed a federal suit saying the election was stolen from her by voter fraud.

At a press conference this week, Welker cited as evidence the fact that St. Hill and his wife, Jennifer, a lawyer, don't live where they voted in the election. And neither, she said, does Milton Street, John's notorious brother, who voted from an address at 2530 Nicholas St.

That's illegal, Welker said.

Not so, according to the Oracle of Elections in this town, the Committee of Seventy's Fred Voigt, who says the rules on voting are pretty liberal. Voigt tells me it's legal to vote where you used to live, unless you also vote where you currently live, until you're notified to cut it out. And that's what Tommie St. Hill said, too.

"It's not illegal for me to vote in Philadelphia because I am only registered to vote in Philadelphia," he told the Daily News. "Julie Welker needs to stop whining and accept her defeat."

Tommie St. Hill is a cool guy, and where he votes is hardly a matter of great civic moment. Except that Julie Welker thinks what he did is sleazy and unethical - even if it somehow turns out to be, to her disbelief, legal. And she links it all to Democratic mayoral candidate John Street.

"I don't want to point fingers at any one person, I don't think that would be fair," she said of Street's responsibility. "What I can say is that he has a political machine, and it appears that his machine has some involvement and/or knowledge. . .because it's his machine that has controlled politics in North Philly for the past 19 years."

So, I called Tommie St. Hill and John Street yesterday to see if I could get the answers to a couple of questions that were nagging at me.

Like, regardless of whether it's legal or not, is it moral to vote in a community where you have no stake because you don't live there?

Is it fair to subvert the voice of the actual residents by helping elect an official they have to live with, but you don't?

Is it ethical to avoid the consequences of living in the city while enjoying the privileges?

I await your answers, gentlemen, since neither of you returned my calls yesterday.

And, if your replies quell my qualms, is there a city address you recommend for me to use in the November election?

Tommie St. Hill's old place is getting too crowded. The current resident, Wendy Stanton, voted in the last election, too.