Today, Philadelphia City Council adopted legislation that would drastically reduce the scope of the City Charter’s “Resign to Run” provision, which bars elected officials and city employees from seeking a different office without resigning their current post. While the Committee of Seventy has supported efforts to eliminate this provision in the past, the proposal adopted today serves political interests, not the public interest, and undercuts the core reason to revisit this issue at all: increasing competitiveness and accountability in City elections.
Thankfully, voters have the final say. Should Mayor Parker approve it, the version of “Resign to Run” legislation that passed City Council today will appear on the ballot this May. We hope that voters reject this proposal as they have done twice in the past.
We deserve reform that works for all Philadelphians, not just serves the interests of a few elected officials.
BILL NO. 241056 and Resolution No. 241070, as amended, would allow city elected officials to run for state and federal office while retaining their city office. It would not allow city employees to do the same nor would it apply to municipal races. Council’s efforts to change the city charter without including city employees is at best self-serving.
“Resign to Run” has been in the City Charter since the 1950s to prevent public officials from misusing city resources to support political campaigns or neglect their duties while running for another office. Philadelphia voters have twice rejected efforts to eliminate it – a rare outcome – signaling deep public skepticism.
Although Philadelphia has strong ethics and campaign finance rules, they are not currently written to address the legal and ethical challenges that are sure to happen when sitting officials seek another office.
As the reform advanced today is written, the same underlying issues remain. Council missed an opportunity to modernize those rules, address gaps in the law, and pair the resign to run reform with forward-looking term limits – such as allowing Councilmembers to serve up to three terms, with current members eligible for three terms after adoption.
Seventy would have supported eliminating “Resign to Run” if it was done alongside term limits, safeguards that strengthened public trust, and applied to all City employees. Piecemeal changes – especially those crafted for specific political interests – fall short of the kind of reform Philadelphians expect and deserve.