COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LAW AND GOVERNMENT - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, October 16, 2006 2:00 p.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO BILL 060617 - An Ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of the proposal set forth in a Resolution approved by Council proposing amendment of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to repeal the "resign to run" provision... RESOLUTION 060638 - Resolution proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to repeal the "resign to run" provision... - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The Committee on Law and Government has a quorum, with Councilmembers Wilson Goode, Jr. and Frank Rizzo. We will now take testimony on both an ordinance and resolution to suggest a change to the Philadelphia City Charter, which now requires elected officials to resign to run for another office. Let me read the bill first. 060617 is an ordinance 14 providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of the proposal set forth in a Resolution approved by Council proposing amendment of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to repeal the "resign to run" provision, so that, effective January 1, 2008, City officers and employees may become candidates for nomination or election to public office without first resigning from their City office or employment; fixing the date of 3 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 a special election for such purpose; prescribing the form of a ballot question to be voted on; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election. The accompanying resolution, 060638, is what's required in order to get a provision on the ballot. There will be a projected amendment to this bill. We had heard some discussion from the Administration relative to the fact that it, as written, would include every City employee, which was not our desire. We wanted this to affect public officials, elected officials only, and we will be offering an amendment to such a case. Currently, the Philadelphia City Code requires officials to resign from their existing office prior to running for a different one. While the intentions behind this requirement were more certainly decent, today it merely 4 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 puts that official and their constituents at a disadvantage. As an elected official, the decision to pursue another office is no doubt difficult. One must weigh their aspirations against leaving their constituents short of representation and taking a financial risk while campaigning for the office they're pursuing. By eliminating the "resign to run" provision, an elected official who decides to run for another office would no longer face these difficult realities. Rather, they could continue to carry out their term and represent their constituents while vocalizing and publicly campaigning for a different office. It is important to note that this type of requirement does not exist on the state or federal level. This is significant because the inconsistency allows Pennsylvania officials to run for another state or Philadelphia office 5 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 without resigning, while Philadelphia officials are required by law to resign if doing the same. And the same is true at the federal level. Therefore, I believe it is time to amend our Charter so that we do not have to lose talented and intelligent elected officials simply because they decide to seek another office. Mr. Stalberg from the Committee of Seventy has requested the opportunity to testify. Please identify yourself for the record.
Good afternoon. I'm Zach Stalberg, President of the Committee of Seventy, a non-partisan, non-profit group fighting for better government in the City. Thanks to Chairman Kenney and the Committee on Law and Government for allowing me the opportunity to testify. The Committee of Seventy helped draft the original document, the City 6 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 Charter, 55 years ago. We believe in maintaining the integrity of the Charter, but also realize that occasionally it is necessary to amend it in order to provide better government. The Committee of Seventy strongly supports the amendment that would eliminate the requirement of an elected official, any elected official, to resign from their current office before running for another office. We also support the clarification which would make it certain that this bill did not affect appointed employees of the City of Philadelphia. The authors of the original "resign to run" provision feared that by allowing current officials to run for office, some might have the tendency to use their current position to unduly influence employees under their supervision or to neglect official duties in the interest of their candidacy. That Charter was overwhelmingly driven by 7 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 years and years of patronage control and so they were very interested in writing into it provisions which would have the effect of limiting the downside possibilities. While this attitude was consistent with the era's rigid approach to government, the ill-effects of "resign to run" became clear early on as Mayor Richardson Dilworth was forced to resign his post in 1962 to run for Governor. At that point, the mid-century municipal reform effort essentially ceased. Today, "resign to run" rules are rare. Neither New York nor Pittsburgh's Charter requires current City officeholders to resign before running for a higher office, nor is "resign to run" in place in either the federal or Pennsylvania governments. " First, the elimination of this requirement will result in more candidates entering the 8 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 field. By requiring current officeholders to resign before running, many qualified competitors are effectively locked out of a particular race. While one of those foreclosed potential candidates may have a strong chance of winning higher office, he or she may not be willing to take the professional risk or the financial burden of becoming unemployed for a term of months or years while running for another office. Logic dictates that the quality of service of elected officeholders will increase as the voters have more options. A second benefit is that the City will not prematurely lose the services of high-quality officeholders who plan to run for another office. Currently, elected officials choosing to run for another office must give up their post prematurely, sometimes at a great loss to the City. Again, "resign to run" restricts high-quality officeholders by forcing them to make a practically 9 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 unnecessary choice, often to the detriment of Philadelphia citizens. Furthermore, if the "resign to run" rule were eliminated, District Councilmembers would not have to leave an entire district unrepresented between the time of his or her resignation and the later refilling of the seat. A third benefit is that Philadelphia has the potential to be better represented in Harrisburg and Washington by allowing local officeholders to run for state and national office. As mentioned earlier, Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania cities without "resign to run" have an advantage over Philadelphia, and at its best, local officeholders can look to state and federal local level representation of the city or region without first losing their seat. In other words, some of Philadelphia's best officeholders who may represent our best interest very well in 10 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES.
060638 Harrisburg or Washington would be foreclosed from those candidacies because of the "resign to run" rule. Similarly, because state and federal officeholders do not have this requirement, its elimination will place local candidates on a level playing field with state and federal officeholders seeking office in Philadelphia. In sum, the elimination of the "resign to run" requirement will allow more dedicated Philadelphians to run for public office and enable all Philadelphians to have real choices at the polls. We hope this Committee will support the end of this archaic rule.
Thank you very much for your testimony. It's important for the record to be clear that this provision, if voted out of Committee and out of Council and voted on in November by the voters, would not take place or go into effect until 2008. So there's no impact on this 11 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 upcoming mayoral election. So any speculation to that is contrary to the intentions of the bill. Any questions for Mr. Stalberg? (No response.)
Seeing none, we thank you for your attendance and your testimony.
Ms. Jones, would you like to offer testimony. Good afternoon. Please identify yourself.
Good afternoon. I'm Loree Jones, Secretary of External Affairs for Mayor John Street.
I'm here to offer testimony regarding Bill 060617 and Resolution 060638, which, if implemented through change to the Home Rule Charter, would enable City officers and employees 12 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 to become candidates for nomination or election to any public office at the local, state or federal level without first resigning from their office or employment. The Administration does not support the proposed change to the Home Rule Charter as offered. Allowing any and all City officials and employees to run for any and all political offices would introduce politics into the day-to-day operation of government to an unacceptable degree. The citizens of Philadelphia deserve the full-time and focused service of City employees. Any move to eliminate the "resign to run" requirement should be limited to the Mayor and members of City Council. And I do note the change that Councilman Kenney introduced a few moments ago. Thank you, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Councilman Goode, please. 13 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638
I understand the distinction that you're making between elected officials and employees with regard to it upsetting the normal course of business. Do you not think that that's covered by the independent Board of Ethics and by the Office of Inspector General?
Our position is that it wouldn't necessarily be covered by that and that you'd be introducing politics into the day-to-day operations of the City. I'm not sure that the citizens of Philadelphia would be well served by potentially 20,000 employees who have the responsibility of providing service in the Water Department and providing service in the Fire Department, fixing the streets, picking up trash, serving as DHS workers, with them simultaneously seeking elected office. 14 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638
But any infractions or lapse of judgment on their part because of their political ambition, wouldn't that be covered by a combination of their supervisors, management and Inspector General and an independent Board of Ethics?
You raise a good point. I think that any of that could be referred to them, but our sense is that you could eliminate that all together by requiring -- and I appreciate that the Councilman has actually introduced a change to that already saying that he would not have it apply to all City employees but solely for elected officials, but I think it would present a significant challenge and a significant barrier if every City employee in all positions would be able to simultaneously work for the City and also run for office.
And, in fact, I co-sponsored this legislation and 15 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 still support it, but before I knew this amendment. And I will still support it, but would not have supported it had we not had an independent Board of Ethics, would not have supported it if I didn't believe we have a strong person in the position of Inspector General, and as long as there are ethics guidelines in place, I don't understand why employees cannot exercise their right to run. I think along with elected officials bringing experience and better candidacies because of their government experience, that in addition to that, they are employees with decades of experience that have watched Mayor and Councilmembers come and go and bring a wealth of experience that would still be worthy of being elected to office.
I definitely agree, having worked with many of the employees at the City of Philadelphia, that they do have the integrity and that they have the experience to serve as elected officials, 16 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 and I definitely would encourage those people who have served in this government to do so. It would just be our position that it would be a cleaner process and would be less likely to have politics interfere with the daily operations of the City if those individuals made that choice and then resigned from their positions and ran separately.
If presently an employee of the City government wanted to run for an office, isn't there a provision for leave of absence? Wouldn't that be satisfactory, if a person took a leave of absence without pay or used their vacation time, et cetera, that may have accumulated? Would that satisfy you?
That would certainly come closer to it, and it is true that people have -- public employees 17 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 at the present have an opportunity to leave to even work on a political campaign. It's obviously something that's not encouraged. And I think that there is the letter of the law and there's also the spirit of the law, and I think that what the citizens have come to expect of City employees is that they completely step down from office. I appreciate that. We may be technically allowed to use a leave of absence, and that's something that's open to people. I think what we'd like to do is to ensure that we're separating that out as much as possible.
Thank you very much. Any other questions? (No response.)
Hearing none, any other witnesses on this bill? (No response.)
Thank you very much. What I want to do for the record now in the public hearing is to read the amendment which will be proposed in the public meeting. This is an amendment to amend Section 2 of the bill 9 as follows: "Section 2. There shall be placed on the ballot the following question to be answered 'yes' or 'no' by the qualified electors participating in the election: Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended" -- and we're taking out "to repeal the 'resign to run' provision" -- "so that effective January 1, 2008, City" -- and we're removing "officers and employees" and inserting "elected officials" -- "may become candidates for nomination or election to any" -- and we're adding the word "any" -- "public office without first resigning from their City office" -- and we're eliminating the words "or employment." 19 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 So the amendment shall read, "Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended so that, effective January 1, 2008, City elected officials may become candidates for nomination or election to any public office without first resigning from their City office." If there's no other discussion relative to the public hearing, I would like to move into the public meeting. This convenes the public meeting of the Law and Government Committee. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Rizzo for a motion to approve the amendment, which was read into the record during the hearing.
I move that the proposed amendment to Bill No. 060617 be adopted. (Duly seconded.)
Moved and seconded. All in favor? (Aye.) 20 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638
Councilman Goode for the record is opposed to the amendment. Now I will ask Councilman Goode to make a motion on the amended bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 12 060617 as amended be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next Council session. (Duly seconded.)
There are none opposed. Bill No. 060617 as amended is reported out of this Committee favorably and a request made for rules 21 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 suspension to allow first reading at our next Council session. Thank you very much for your attendance. Thank you. Hold on. Councilman Goode just slowed me down, for a good reason. I'd like to just reconvene the public meeting again to ask for a motion on Resolution 10 060638. Well, first I'd like to ask for the amendment that will apply to the Resolution 060638 to be moved.
It's 22 10/16/06 - LAW - BILL 060617 - RES. 060638 unanimous on the resolution. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Goode for a motion on Resolution 060638 as amended.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Resolution No. 8 060638 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation. (Duly seconded.)
That will conclude the business of the Law and Government Committee. Thank you for your attendance. (Committee of Law and Government adjourned at 2:20 p.m.) - - - 23 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on October 16, 2006, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)