PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The conviction of Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon drew a muted response from most other members on Monday, even though the verdict is likely to have a huge impact on the legislative body.
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State law says Henon does not have to resign until his February sentencing, but Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez renewed her call for him to resign immediately.
“He should seriously consider resigning and lifting this cloud that council has,” she said. “We have enough work to do to gain the public confidence and the public trust.”
That, however, seems unlikely. Henon’s staff said on social media that they are open for service, and council will be redrawing district lines between now and February, giving Henon an opportunity to influence who succeeds him. Names already floating around include City Commissioners chair Lisa Deeley and former Councilman and current state Rep. Ed Neilson.
Council President Darrell Clarke is determined not to let council be distracted by the intrigue.
“Council will continue to do its work. We have a significant level of challenges before us,” he said.
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Patrick Christmas, policy director of the independent government watchdog group Committee of Seventy, hopes council will take lessons from the verdict, like considering public financing for elections and making the Office of the Inspector General permanent.
“There’s very clearly a whole set of changes around transparency for the job and perhaps additional limitations for these jobs,” he said.
The jury essentially found that Henon’s salary from the electricians union was a bribe. Christmas said it’s clear that council also needs to reassess its policy allowing outside employment — if not an outright ban, at least reforms.
“The fact that Councilman Henon only had to disclose his employer, the work address of the employer and that he was an ‘electrician’ says enough about how inadequate the current requirements are,” added Christmas.
Sanchez says she intends to introduce a bill to do just that.
“We get paid a lot more than the average citizen we represent, and we have to build public trust that we’re a full-time council as they elect us to be,” she said.