Philadelphia’s primary election is five weeks away and there are still several candidates in the race to be the Democratic nominee for mayor. Who’s Running for Philly Mayor?, a new podcast from KYW Newsradio, wants to help voters get to know the candidates through one-on-one interviews with City Hall bureau chief Pat Loeb.
In this edition, Pat speaks with Allan Domb. Here’s a preview.
LISTEN TO EPISODE 2
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — You don’t get to be the “Condo King” by being afraid of a little hard work.
“I kept two full-time jobs. I’d go into the real estate office at 6:30 in the morning ’til 8:30, go to my full-time job from 8:30 to 6, then from 6:30 to 10:30 at night, I’d work in real estate,” said former City Councilmember Allan Domb, describing an earlier time in his career.
Domb really wanted to run for mayor eight years ago. He’d already made a fortune in real estate. According to a recent estimate, Domb owns more than 400 Philadelphia properties that are worth more than $400 million.
He was asked to take a look at how the city could best benefit from the closing of 30 public schools, and Domb had ideas. He returned a plan to sell every building, pre-zoned for its best and highest use to get top dollar.
“We could have saved tens of millions of dollars, made more money. It didn’t happen, for whatever reason, but I thought: Wow, there are some ideas I could help the city with that could make a difference,” Domb said.
A political consultant advised him to run for City Council first, before considering a run for mayor. He won an at-large seat, and he showed on City Council, too, he can be relentless in pursuing his goals.
He didn’t always have much success bringing about the change he was so sure would make a difference, but he was happy to chip away at problems. He says that motivated more than it discouraged him. And he believes he’d be able to get more done as mayor
“When you’re on Council, you can legislate all you want. It’s up to the executive branch to carry out that legislation. And when the executive branch doesn’t carry it out, there’s nothing you can do as a Council member,” Domb said.
“As the mayor, you can.”
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Domb says he’s running for mayor to give back to the city. He’s convinced he can clean up the streets and make them safer with his 10-point plan for public safety — from cracking down on crime to cleaning up vacant lots — and the unrelenting work ethic that helped him build a lucrative real estate empire.
“Philadelphia was amazingly good to me, amazingly good — and it’s my goal to do whatever I can to help our city.”
As a City Council member, Domb donated his salary to the School District of Philadelphia. As mayor, he said, he similarly donate his salary.
“Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. And at this point in my life, I just want to help Philadelphia,” he said.
LISTEN TO 'WHO'S RUNNING FOR PHILLY MAYOR?' EPISODE 2: ALLAN DOMB
Listen to the full interview on the KYW Newsradio original podcast Who's Running for Philly Mayor, in the Audacy app and wherever you get your podcasts.
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