The ‘resign-to-run’ rule has been in place since 1951, when the city’s Home Rule Charter was adopted. It currently prohibits municipal employees — including those elected to the Philadelphia City Council or any position — from running a political campaign for any elected office while still employed by the city.
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General Council Member Isaiah Thomas (D) introduced the bill in the fall that would potentially change this rule, but not completely eliminate it. Thomas has proposed allowing employees, including elected officials, to seek positions outside Philadelphia government without resigning from their positions. The resignation requirement remains in effect for anyone seeking to run for mayor, district attorney or a running seat.
To implement the change, it must first be adopted by the city council. Because the proposal would subsequently amend the Home Rule Charter, it would ultimately be decided by voters in the form of a ballot question, likely during the May primaries.
Thomas originally proposed abolishing the ‘reject-to-run’ rule entirely.
Three attempts to change the dismissal in the past two decades have failed. The idea was rejected by voters in 2007 and 2014, and in 2020 the legislation never left the City Council.
Advocates hope the narrower scope this time could make it more palatable to voters.
The impact of the resignation became clear in the run-up to the 2023 mayoral elections, when six of the seventeen council members – Democrats Allan Domb, Derek Green, Helen Gym, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Cherelle Parker, along with Republican David Oh – resigned to run for mayor. Rebecca Rhynhart also resigned as city comptroller to enter the race. Only Parker currently holds elected office.
Jordana Greenwald, an attorney for the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, spoke at Thursday’s council meeting and said the council had proposed a list of recommendations for the legislation in December, but not all of those changes had been made. The changes were intended to prevent “additional politicization of the workplace that could result from the increased opportunity for current elected officials to run for office.”
Thomas had introduced his bill in December to work with the ethics committee to address a number of concerns. He and other council members agree with “98% of those recommendations,” he said, but some would require a second charter change. Under state law, only one charter amendment can occur on a subject at a time. If the first measure is approved, he plans to propose a second ballot measure to address some of these concerns.
“I am committed to multiple rounds of bylaw amendments and ballot measures to position us to get this done in a way that the Board of Ethics supports, as long as City Council members and the general public support it as well,” Thomas said.
The Committee of Seventy, the government’s nonpartisan body and election watchdog, said it supports the limited changes to the dismissal rule, but only if it comes with term limits for councillors, creating “stronger safeguards for ethical, transparent governance.” The group is proposing a three-term limit, which would allow the current council member to serve three additional terms.
“While Philadelphia has strict ethics and campaign finance regulations, they are not currently written to address the legal and ethical challenges that are sure to arise as incumbent officials seek other office,” the Committee of Seventy said. said in November when Thomas introduced his legislation.
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