Philly Council subpoenas Parker administration official and Drexel president over Academy of Natural Sciences closure

Philadelphia City Council on Thursday took the exceedingly rare step of issuing subpoenas for testimony, compelling a member of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration and the president of Drexel University to appear at an upcoming hearing about the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Vincent Thompson, a Council spokesperson, said Friday that Council’s Committee on Legislative Oversight issued subpoenas to Deputy Mayor Patricia “Trish” Wellenbach, who is serving as a senior adviser to the Academy that is operated by Drexel University, as well as Drexel President Antonio Merlo.

Both officials did not appear for a hearing on the Academy’s closure on Monday, angering the Council members probing the matter.

A Drexel representative told Council that Merlo had to be on campus for a site visit by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and Wellenbach submitted written testimony that said she was not the “appropriate” person to testify, given she could not speak on behalf of Drexel or the Academy.

» READ MORE: The Academy of Natural Sciences Museum deficit may not be too large. But it depends on who you ask.

Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the committee, recessed the hearing and scheduled another meeting for Nov. 16, when Wellenbach and Merlo will now be compelled to testify. He signed the subpoenas Thursday on behalf of Councilmembers Jeffery Young, Jr. and Nina Ahmad, who have led the charge to investigate the museum closure.

Thompson said Friday that a representative for Drexel had confirmed to Council that Merlo will appear. He said the city’s law department accepted the subpoena on Wellenbach’s behalf, but had not confirmed as of Friday morning whether she would attend nor provided Council with requested documents.

The Parker administration and Drexel University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former president and CEO of the city’s Please Touch Museum, Wellenbach has long been a prominent in the city’s cultural circles. She joined the Parker administration last year as its chief strategy and partnership officer, and she was promoted this summer to the role of deputy mayor for strategic and philanthropic initiatives.

In September, Drexel and the Academy appointed Wellenbach to temporarily lead the Academy as a senior adviser. She is not being paid by Drexel or the Academy and has been effectively on loan from the city.

» READ MORE: City Council grills Drexel representatives for closing Academy of Natural Sciences museum

At the hearing Monday — which was attended by dozens of advocates who have formed a coalition to “Save The Academy” — Young, who represents the district where the museum is located on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ripped Wellenbach’s statement in half. He said her failure to show was “a disrespect to the Philadelphians as someone who is paid by the taxpayers.”

He said Council would issue subpoenas ahead of a second hearing.

While Council committees have the power to use the force of law to compel witnesses to testify or provide documents, they rarely use the power and usually rely on voluntary testimony.

Council has not issued a subpoena since before Council President Kenyatta Johnson took over the chamber in 2024. In 2022, then-Councilmember Helen Gym compelled testimony and records from the acting executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which Council was investigating over its finances and accounting practices.

It is especially notable for Council to subpoena a member of the mayor’s administration. Council is controlled by a supermajority of Democrats, and Philadelphia has for decades had a Democratic mayor. Parker’s administration routinely sends staff to testify before Council.

Young in 2024 floated the idea of compelling Parker and members of her administration to testify about how the city was developing a North Philadelphia facility to house people in addiction, but subpoenas were never issued and members of the administration testified voluntarily.

Council’s move comes at a time of heightened tension between the legislative body and Parker’s administration.

In the spring, Council rejected several tax proposals that the mayor advanced, and on Thursday, lawmakers passed legislation to probe whether the administration has delayed spending money that Council authorized to fund the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., program.

Members have also tangled all year with the mayor’s appointees who lead the school board. On Thursday, Thomas held a rally over the School District of Philadelphia’s controversial facilities plan, and demanded that Parker “take a clear and public stance” on the school closures that are a part of the yearslong plan.

» READ MORE: Six concerns raised over the future of the Academy of Natural Sciences in City Council’s hearing

The issuance of subpoenas is also indicative of how prominent the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences has become. Since Drexel in September announced its intention to close the 200-year-old museum the public, the decision has drawn international attention and outrage from advocates who say the city stands to lose a core cultural institution.

Council members this week seemed open to throwing the Academy a lifeline. Drexel’s executive director of operations Melissa Richman said Monday that the school can’t afford the $5 million to $6 million a year in support to the Academy as it faces its own massive deficit.

The William Penn Foundation has offered to pay for the museum to remain open for a year, but Drexel has not accepted that offer. The school is in the midst of renegotiating its existing affiliation agreement with the Academy, and those discussions are ongoing.

Staff writers Susan Snyder and Peter Dobrin contributed to this article.