Voters are still getting mailers from an outside group boosting Jeff Brown for mayor despite a judge’s order

An outside group boosting Jeff Brown for Philadelphia mayor was ordered last week to stop spending money to influence the election — but voters are still getting advertisements from the group in the mail.

The nonprofit that was sued by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics over allegations that it illegally coordinated with Brown says it can continue circulating literature ahead of the primary election, under certain circumstances. But the city’s Board of Ethics disagrees on what those ads can look like, and the matter will likely need to be settled in court.

On April 10, a city judge told leaders of the nonprofit For A Better Philadelphia and a political-action committee it funds that they must, at least temporarily, stop spending money to influence the outcome of the May 16 mayoral primary election.

But over the past several days, residents in Northwest Philadelphia and Center City received mailed advertisements from the nonprofit — and could continue to. The literature says: “The same elected officials who made our city dangerous and dirty want to run the city?” It shows a man dubbed “Nazeer, North Philly” next to a speech bubble that reads: “Nah, bro!”

The mailer reads: “Philly needs a new leader to stop the violence and clean up our neighborhoods,” and, “We need someone who knows how to work with us in every neighborhood — to stop the violence, pick up the trash, and create a better Philadelphia for all of us.”

Two words it does not say: “Jeff Brown.”

Dan Siegel, a consultant for For A Better Philadelphia, said that the mail was paid for before the court order and isn’t meant to influence the outcome of the election. The group is a 501(c)4, so it is not allowed to engage primarily in political activity, but it can do issue-advocacy and voter-engagement work.

“This piece of communication was a great example of protected get-out-the-vote activities and issue advocacy and is the kind of work that For A Better Philadelphia was created for, has a history of doing, and we look forward to continuing,” he said.

But Shane Creamer, executive director for the Board of Ethics, said mailers and fliers that contain campaign slogans are generally considered “electioneering” expenditures. He said he’d argue that they are subject to Common Pleas Court Judge Joshua Roberts’ order to stop spending money meant to influence the election.

Whether the advertising contains campaign slogans or influences the election will likely be up to a judge to decide.

The mailers are primarily orange and black — the same colors Brown’s campaign uses — and lean heavily on anti-establishment rhetoric that Brown, a ShopRite proprietor, has embraced.

The only major candidate to have never held elected office, Brown has focused much of his messaging on the failures of his rivals to tackle some of the city’s largest problems. He’s running as the anti-politician, and has often said that his competitors don’t deserve to run the city that the didn’t fix when they held elected office.

His most notorious slogan, “pick up the damn trash,” is not on the mailer — but “pick up the trash” is.

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A hearing is scheduled for Monday in the case against For A Better Philadelphia. The city’s Board of Ethics alleges the nonprofit and the political-action committee arm of the group, also known as a super PAC, illegally coordinated with Brown and members of his campaign. Super PACs are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, so long as they don’t coordinate with the candidates or campaigns they are boosting.

The outside spending group raised millions to boost Brown and is the first political organization to play a significant role in a city mayor’s race, with most of its money coming from the nonprofit, which has not legally had to disclose its donors.

The board is also seeking $162,000 in fines, which would be the largest-ever financial penalty for violations of city campaign-finance rules related to coordination with outside groups.

For A Better Philadelphia has defended its activities and said it expects to be vindicated of wrongdoing in court. Brown called the ethics probe a “political hit job” and said, “This is about the political establishment not wanting the change that we so desperately need.” Several of his rivals have also in the past been fined by the Board of Ethics for campaign-finance violations.

Brown has acknowledged that he raised money for the group before he announced his candidacy for mayor in November.

Inquirer staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed reporting.