Local 98 leader spurns ‘Johnny Doc’ as union election approaches and legal tussle brews

There’s an election looming, and Clout hears John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty is sizing up opportunities to influence the outcome.

We’re not talking about May’s Democratic primary for mayor.

Instead, Dougherty appears to be angling to oust Mark Lynch, who replaced him in November 2021 as business manager for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

That came one day after Dougherty and former City Councilmember Bobby Henon were convicted on federal bribery charges.

Dougherty, who in three decades built Local 98 into a political powerhouse that spent millions on elections, called Lynch “the right choice at the right time” when he handed over control in 2021.

Now Dougherty says backing Lynch caused him problems with Local 98 members unhappy with the new union leader. And Dougherty said Local 98′s leadership has acted “with vindictiveness” toward him in a legal fight with the union’s insurance carrier about paying his legal bills.

He also complains the union shut down his cell phone, cutting access to records from his legal battles and his wife’s medical care.

Lynch sounds as done with Dougherty as Dougherty is with him.

In a statement, Lynch said he has worked to “put an end to the toxicity that has poisoned this union for far too long” and wants to “restore the union’s good name.”

“I have neither the time nor interest in responding to the attacks of individuals whose own past actions have resulted in their current situations,” Lynch added in a clear nod to Dougherty’s continuing problems paying for lawyers in his criminal cases.

One potential challenger in the June election: Todd Neilson, a Local 98 business agent recently fired by Lynch. His brother, State Rep. Ed Neilson, is a former Local 98 political director under Dougherty.

Todd Neilson, who is still an elected member of Local 98′s executive board, was reluctant to discuss union business in Clout.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “Right now, I’m unemployed. I’m keeping my options open.”

Tim Browne, Local 98′s elected vice president, said he will challenge Lynch, who fired him as director of organizing a week after taking over.

Dougherty has been in a legal battle — and has been scoring victories — with Local 98′s insurance company, seeking money to help pay his growing legal expenses from his first trial and two more ahead.

Lawyers for Local 98, under Lynch’s leadership, opposed that, suggesting that would be a misuse of union funds.

Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal still doesn’t want to talk to Clout about the nearly $7,000 in city money she spent in December for an office party at Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philly.

We reported on her $6,662 party tab last week and asked her about it at Democratic City Committee headquarters on Tuesday after Bilal, who is so far running unopposed for a second term, won the party’s endorsement. Bilal walked past us, turned back, and then flashed the middle finger of her right hand over her left shoulder.

She was far more talkative Wednesday during an afternoon appearance on WURD 900 AM, where a pair of hosts eagerly cast Bilal as an excellent elected official treated unfairly by reporters who would dare ask questions she refused to answer and then write “unflattering” stories.

Bilal said the staffers she invited to the party worked “their butts off” during the pandemic and deserved it.

“They were worth it,” she said. “And I would do it again.”

Bilal and the hosts also lamented that The Inquirer’s editorial board asked candidates for mayor if they support abolishing the Sheriff’s Office. The concept of folding the Sheriff’s Office into other city agencies to save money and to end a long history of controversy and corruption has been discussed for at least 15 years, long before Bilal became sheriff.

Bilal also suggested The Inquirer is out to get her because she cut the newspaper out of her budget for advertising sheriff’s sales — something Clout didn’t know (or care about) before her WURD chat.

Democratic City Committee’s endorsement process Tuesday was — mostly — a happy affair. But the party’s rejection of incumbent Register of Wills Tracey Gordon and embrace of Northeast Philly Ward Leader John Sabatina Sr. sent a ripple of tension through the room.

Gordon, who last month hired former State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown despite her conviction for taking bribes from a lobbyist, has a long track record of feuding with the party and chair Bob Brady.

Brady confirmed that North Philadelphia Ward Leader El Amor Brawne Ali castigated the party’s other ward leaders for not backing the incumbent and that Brady pushed back.

“She said things that weren’t true,” he said. “I wasn’t going to take that.”

Brawne Ali, known as “Miss El,” did not respond to Clout’s hails.

Elizabeth Lowe, who handles compliance issues at the pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, is also running in the Democratic primary for register of wills.

Gordon, in a statement from a spokesperson, declined to comment on the endorsement process and touted her work in office.

“Her body of work and unwavering advocacy for every resident of this city is a foundation that she will proudly stand on as she seeks reelection,” the statement said.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.