City Voters Want to End Tradition of Council Prerogative

By a 3-to-1 margin, Democratic voters in Philadelphia oppose giving individual Council members sole power over construction projects in their districts.

Sixty-six percent of Democrats say they want to end the practice, which is known as Councilmanic prerogative. Just 22% want to keep it in place. Only 12% have no opinion. Under the tradition, which is not codified in City law, other City Council members defer to the Council member in whose district a proposed construction project seeks approval. Critics argue the deferential process favors developers with close relationships to Council members and overrides City planning and zoning committees.

The practice featured prominently in the mistrial of 2nd District Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. The development project which was at the center of the trial eventually was approved because Johnson advanced a zoning-approval resolution in City Council.

Opposition to Councilmanic prerogative is strong across all categories of respondents, whether broken out by age, race, income, education level, or section of the city.

Among regions, the strongest opposition is in South Philly, where Councilman Johnson’s district sits. Eighty percent of respondents there want to eliminate the practice.

Even those who approve of the job City Council is doing strongly favor getting rid of the tradition, by a margin of 59% to 30%.