Council committee moves to loosen political constraints

Over opposition from the Nutter administration, the Committee of Seventy and a recent task force on ethics reforms, a City Council committee moved yesterday to loosen political restrictions on city employees.

The legislation, still awaiting final action by Council, would set up a public referendum in November's general election on whether to do away with the city charter's strict restrictions on political activity and let Council set the rules.

If the public votes for the proposal, City Council would be allowed to approve new regulations on political activity and change them by city ordinance, without needing further approval from voters.

At a public hearing yesterday, several Council members suggested that virtually all city employees should have the right in their private lives to wear campaign buttons, put political stickers on their automobiles and plant candidate signs on their front lawns.

Some Council members apparently want to go further, allowing some city employees to serve as party committeemen or ward leaders, work in political campaigns or do political fundraising.

"I think a city employee . . . who wants to be a committeeperson, as long as they don't have any sort of enforcement authority or ability to write tickets or make a decision that's going to impact somebody's life, I don't see any conflict with that," said Councilman Bill Green.

Under the current restrictions in the city charter, only elected officials can run for committeeman or ward leader. The city's appointed officials and employees are prohibited from "any part in the management or affairs of any political party or in any political campaign, except to exercise his right as a citizen privately to express his opinion and to cast his vote."

The proposed referendum, sponsored by 15 of the 17 Council members, would ask voters: "Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to authorize the creation by ordinance of standards of ethical conduct with respect to the political activities of City officers and employees, and to provide penalties for violations?"

Nutter's chief of staff, Clayton Armbrister, and the Committee of Seventy's president, Zack Stalberg, both testified that if Council wanted to change the rules on political activity, the changes should be specified in the proposed charter change.

"The citizens of Philadelphia decided in 1951 they wanted tough rules on political activity," Stalberg said. Because of the "vague and confusing" wording of the referendum, he said, "there's definitely a possibility that the voters could unknowingly give away their rights on this issue."