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Philly City Council is proposing a new public safety director role. Is it a needed change, or a power grab?

The bill says the director must be a “law enforcement professional” with at least five years’ experience as the head of an agency. City Council would need to approve the mayor's appointee.

Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke (at the podium) stands alongside Trenton officials during a news conference about the city's gun-violence reduction strategy.
Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke (at the podium) stands alongside Trenton officials during a news conference about the city's gun-violence reduction strategy.Read moreJessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

A Philadelphia City Council proposal to create a cabinet-level position overseeing public safety would grant lawmakers an unusual level of power over the next mayor, including the ability to dictate the qualifications and responsibilities of the person in the role and to reject the mayor’s choice for the new position.

The chief public safety director — who must be a former head of a law enforcement agency — would coordinate departments including police, fire, prisons, recreation, and emergency services. Council members who support the bill said the intention is to strengthen cooperation among disparate agencies as the city faces a persistent gun violence crisis.

Council President Darrell L. Clarke, who is retiring at the end of the year, characterized it as a needed shift in the status quo.

But a senior official in Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the legislation publicly, expressed serious reservations about the plan, saying it could limit a future mayor by dictating how they form their leadership system.

The official also said requiring a law enforcement professional to administer the city’s public-safety response could make it harder for a future mayor to create a plan that focuses on social services, such as mental-health support or jobs programs.

A Council committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the proposal Wednesday. It comes amid a spate of high-profile crimes, including the killing of a Temple University police officer and a shooting in Strawberry Mansion that left seven people, including children, wounded.

Kenney, who is term-limited, will be replaced in January, so the legislation if approved would likely only affect his successor. Clarke said he spoke to Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and that she expressed support.

Council members over the last two years have criticized Kenney’s approach to handling gun violence, with lawmakers repeatedly expressing frustration over what they see as a lack of urgency. The crisis is in many ways defining the race to replace Kenney, and the candidates hold widely differing views on how to stem shootings.

The proposal can be seen as part of Clarke’s years-long effort to shift power from the executive branch to Council.

Philadelphia is one of many large U.S. cities that have what is known as a “strong mayor” form of government, in which lawmakers set funding levels and policy but the mayor’s administration has autonomy over implementing the city’s goals.

» READ MORE: To address gun violence, Philly leaders need to ‘figure out a way to like each other,’ Council president says

The goal of centralizing executive responsibility in one office is to foster a unified government approach to tackling the city’s issues and to ensure voters know who they can hold accountable if something goes wrong.

But in Clarke’s view, it is only fair to Council members that they have a greater role than just writing laws because they are held responsible by their constituents for the city’s failings on issues such as the gun violence crisis. While announcing last week he is not seeking reelection, Clarke said it is appropriate that Council has grown more powerful in relation to the administration during his tenure.

“One thing after another, Council [said], ‘Since we’re going to be held responsible for the outcome in the neighborhoods, we should be a part of that process,’ ” he said, pointing to previous instances in which Council gained greater roles in education and zoning matters.

The director would need at least five years’ experience as the head of a law enforcement agency, and would be confirmed by a majority of Council, according to the bill.

The new role requires a change to the city’s Home Rule Charter, a document akin to a constitution, so voters need to approve its creation through a ballot question. The question could appear on the primary election ballot in May.

Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Clarke, said while the bill grants Council an “advice and consent” role, the eventual appointee will still report to the mayor.

“The person is in the cabinet, the person is appointed by the mayor, [and] obviously it’s got to be somebody the mayor wants in the job,” Grace said. “The goal here is collaboration and coordination and less who controls who.”

He said the goal is for the chief public safety director to coordinate all city services related to public safety, including law enforcement and community-based programs outside of it. The legislation says the director would organize resources within the public-safety agencies and “all other relevant departments.”

The legislation says the director, who is to be paid $265,000 annually, should provide department heads with guidance and initial approvals of budgets and policies. It also says the director is responsible for security in all city-owned facilities, including schools and rec centers.

Aside from those tasks and other advisory responsibilities, the proposal grants little direct power to the public safety director, but says the office may acquire “any other powers, duties, and responsibilities as established by ordinance.” That means Council could add to the director’s powers in the future.

Mayors generally have freedom to shape the top rungs of city government and oversee public safety issues as they see fit. Former Mayor Michael A. Nutter had a deputy mayor who oversaw public safety issues and reported directly to him. Kenney instead employs a deputy managing director for public safety who does not report directly to him.

Few other roles in a mayor’s administration require Council approval.

The legislative body confirms the mayor’s appointees to a handful of boards — including the school board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment — as well as the city solicitor, who serves as a legal adviser to both Council and the mayor. Council also has the power to approve or reject appointees to be the city’s victim advocate and its chief assessment officer.

The mayor is empowered to appoint their own police commissioner, while voters pick the city’s judges and district attorney.