Philadelphia City Council

Philadelphia City Council
Philadelphia City Council
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
President	Kenyatta Johnson, Democratic ; since January 2, 2024
Majority Leader	Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Democratic ; since January 1, 2024
Minority Leader	Kendra Brooks, WFP ; since January 1, 2024
Structure
Seats	17
Political groups	Democratic (14); WFP (2); Republican (1);
Elections
Last election	November 7, 2023
Next election	November 2, 2027
Meeting place
	Philadelphia City Hall
Website
	City Council Website

The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each member's term is four years, and there are no limits on the number of terms a member may serve.

History

While William Penn's original 1691 charter for the city of Philadelphia included a "common council," no records exist of this body ever having been convened. Its successor, the Proprietor's Charter of 1701, constituted the city as a municipal corporation with a non-elected council made up of major city officials who selected their own successors. The colonial city government was abolished during the American Revolution and replaced in 1789 with an elected council including fifteen aldermen and thirty common councillors; these then elected a mayor and recorder who also were members of the council. In 1796, a bicameral city council was created including a 20-member Common Council and 12-member Select Council; the sizes of both bodies increased with the population of the city, peaking at 149 members of Common Council and 41 in Select Council, the largest municipal legislature in the US. It was replaced with a single 21-member chamber in 1919, which remained in effect until the adoption of a Home Rule charter in 1951.^[1]^[2]

Composition and term

The 1951 Home Rule Charter established the council as the legislative arm of Philadelphia municipal government, consisting of seventeen members. Ten council members are elected by district and seven from the city at large. At-large council members are elected using limited voting with limited nomination in which voters may only select five candidates on the ballot, and which guarantees that two minority-party or independent candidates are elected.^[3] Each is elected for a term of four years with no limit on the number of terms that may be served.^[4]

The members of City Council elect from among themselves a president, who serves as the regular chairperson of council meetings. In consultation with the majority of council members, the President appoints members to the various standing committees of the council. The president is also responsible for selecting and overseeing most Council employees.^[5]

Legislative process

Every proposed ordinance is in the form of a bill introduced by a Council member. Before a bill can be enacted, it must be referred by the president of the council to an appropriate standing committee, considered at a public hearing and public meeting, reported out by the committee, printed as reported by the committee, distributed to the members of the council, and made available to the public. Passage of a bill requires the favorable vote of a majority of all members. A bill becomes law upon the approval of the mayor. If the mayor vetoes a bill, the council may override the veto by a two-thirds vote.^[4]

Under the rules of the council, regular public sessions are held weekly, usually on Thursday morning at 10:00am, in Room 400, City Hall. Council normally breaks for the summer months of July and August.

Gerrymandering

In a 2006 computer study of local and state legislative districts, two of the city's ten council districts, the 5th and the 7th, were found to be among the least compact districts in the nation, giving rise to suspicions of gerrymandering.^[6] The Committee of Seventy, a non-partisan watchdog group for local elections, asked candidates for council in 2007 to support a list of ethics statements, including a call for fair redistricting, which should take place after the 2010 United States Census.^[7] In 2011, the council approved a redistricting map with more compact boundaries, eliminating the gerrymandered borders of the 5th and 7th districts; it took effect for the 2015 elections.^[8]

Councilmanic prerogative

Councilmanic prerogative is the legislative practice where a Philadelphia city council member has final say over land use in their district.^[9] Chicago has a similar practice called aldermanic prerogative.^[10] This unwritten practice affords council people who represent a geographically defined district unchecked power over land use decisions as it’s custom for the 16 other council members to defer to them.^[11] A Pew study from 2015 uncovered that 726 of 730 Council votes on land use decisions were unanimous with only six total dissenting votes.^[9] This system can lead to conflicts of interest between council members and developers who want to change land use zoning or want to buy property below market rates in order to sell it at a higher price.^[11]^[12] Since 1981, of six council members convicted of misconduct all revolved around land-use.^[9]^[11]

Critics of councilmanic prerogative argue that it undermines government transparency and accountability, often operating in obscurity, thereby hindering development, fostering public mistrust, favoring political insiders, and allowing narrow interests to override broader city goals. District council members argue that prerogative appropriately empowers elected representatives to oversee land use projects, allowing them to safeguard their communities' interests, enhance development quality, and secure funding for local initiatives, based on their intimate knowledge of the neighborhoods they represent.^[9]

City council members

As of January 2, 2024^[update]:

District	Name	Took office	Party
1	Mark Squilla	2012	Dem
2	Kenyatta Johnson, Council President	2012	Dem
3	Jamie Gauthier	2020	Dem
4	Curtis J. Jones Jr.	2008	Dem
5	Jeffery Young Jr.	2024	Dem
6	Michael Driscoll	2022	Dem
7	Quetcy Lozada	2022	Dem
8	Cindy Bass	2012	Dem
9	Anthony Phillips	2022	Dem
10	Brian J. O'Neill	1980	Rep
At-large	Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Majority Leader	2020	Dem
At-large	Isaiah Thomas, Majority Whip	2020	Dem
At-large	Kendra Brooks, Minority Leader	2020	WFP
At-large	Jim Harrity	2022	Dem
At-large	Nina Ahmad	2024	Dem
At-large	Rue Landau	2024	Dem
At-large	Nicolas O'Rourke, Minority Whip	2024	WFP

Presidents of the City Council

President	Term	Term end	Political party
James A. Finnegan	January 1, 1951 (1951-01-01)	January 14, 1955 (1955-01-14)	Democratic
James Tate	January 20, 1955 (1955-01-20)	January 6, 1964 (1964-01-06)	Democratic
Paul D'Ortona^[13]	January 6, 1964 (1964-01-06)	January 3, 1972 (1972-01-03)	Democratic
George X. Schwartz	January 3, 1972 (1972-01-03)	May 29, 1980 (1980-05-29)	Democratic
Joseph E. Coleman	October 30, 1980 (1980-10-30)	January 6, 1992 (1992-01-06)	Democratic
John F. Street	January 6, 1992 (1992-01-06)	December 31, 1998 (1998-12-31)	Democratic
Anna C. Verna	January 14, 1999 (1999-01-14)	December 15, 2011 (2011-12-15)	Democratic
Darrell L. Clarke	January 2, 2012 (2012-01-02)	January 1, 2024 (2024-01-01)	Democratic
Kenyatta Johnson	January 2, 2024 (2024-01-02)	Incumbent	Democratic

References

^ Fairley, John Archibald (1904). American Municipal Councils.
^ "City Council". Philadelphia Department of Records. November 8, 2000.
^ Marin, Max (August 1, 2019). "Independents are on the rise in Philly. Could they actually win a City Council seat?". Billy Penn. WHYY. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "About PHL Council". Philadelphia City Council. November 17, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
^ "Rules of the Council of the City of Philadelphia" (PDF). Philadelphia City Council. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
^ "The Gerrymandering Index: Using geospatial analysis to measure relative compactness of electoral districts" (PDF). Azavea. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
^ "City Council Ethics Agenda". Committee of Seventy. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
^ Graham, Troy (September 23, 2011). "Philadelphia Council approves redistricting map". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Philadelphia's Councilmanic Prerogative". Pew Trusts. July 23, 2015.
^ "HUD cites aldermanic prerogative fueling segregation in Chicago". CBS News. November 29, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Terruso, Julia (February 27, 2019). "The primary election issue most Philly voters have never heard of: councilmanic prerogative". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
^ Vadala, Nick (March 21, 2022). "Councilmanic prerogative in Philadelphia: What you need to know". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
^ "Paul D'Ortona, 88, Philadelphia Official". New York Times. October 20, 1992. Retrieved April 21, 2012.

External links

Philadelphia City Council website

[1] Fairley, John Archibald (1904). American Municipal Councils.

[2] "City Council". Philadelphia Department of Records. November 8, 2000.

[3] Marin, Max (August 1, 2019). "Independents are on the rise in Philly. Could they actually win a City Council seat?". Billy Penn. WHYY. Retrieved August 2, 2019.

[General_Information-4] "About PHL Council". Philadelphia City Council. November 17, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2019.

[5] "Rules of the Council of the City of Philadelphia" (PDF). Philadelphia City Council. Retrieved September 29, 2009.

[6] "The Gerrymandering Index: Using geospatial analysis to measure relative compactness of electoral districts" (PDF). Azavea. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2009.

[7] "City Council Ethics Agenda". Committee of Seventy. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.

[8] Graham, Troy (September 23, 2011). "Philadelphia Council approves redistricting map". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 20, 2015.

[Pew-9] "Philadelphia's Councilmanic Prerogative". Pew Trusts. July 23, 2015.

[10] "HUD cites aldermanic prerogative fueling segregation in Chicago". CBS News. November 29, 2023.

[Terruso2019-11] Terruso, Julia (February 27, 2019). "The primary election issue most Philly voters have never heard of: councilmanic prerogative". The Philadelphia Inquirer.

[Vadala2022-12] Vadala, Nick (March 21, 2022). "Councilmanic prerogative in Philadelphia: What you need to know". The Philadelphia Inquirer.

[13] "Paul D'Ortona, 88, Philadelphia Official". New York Times. October 20, 1992. Retrieved April 21, 2012.

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Philadelphia City Council

History

Composition and term

Legislative process

Gerrymandering

Councilmanic prerogative

City council members

Presidents of the City Council

See also

References

Further reading

External links

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