
It was the mayor who gave the news about Arena Sixers.
On the phone on the frosty January weekend, the chairman of the Kenyatta City Council Johnson learned that the agreement worth $ 1.3 billion, which he spent most of his first year as the best legislative leader of the city. The victory of He and the mayor of Cherielle L. Parker celebrated only a few weeks earlier, it was now Kaput.
The basketball team-the knowledge of the knowledge of urban legislators-said their long-lasting plan to build an arena in the city center, instead decided to stay in South Philly, leaving the highest officials from Philadelphia, looking flat-stop, and the members of the Council outraged.
Johnson recently thought about the town hall in this office, sipping tea. He leaned in the chair and smiled.
“My initial reaction, when I heard it, was:” In this process we devoted a lot of time, work and effort, “he said. “And I wanted to know how to go forward?”
His memory was classically Johnson: the chairman of the city council, who is still relatively new at work, generally maintains his movements near the vest, avoids the bomb and almost never engages in public removal, even when some of his colleagues.
Through the first year of Johnson, who has time for an unruly group of 17 legislators, his leadership style has become clearer. In moments of controversy he was very aware of his image as a leader and gained good will – even from once opponents.
Johnson enters his second year as the President of the Council bruised by Sixers, but in the solid control of the Chamber, enjoying the support of the vast majority of his colleagues. Public criticism of his leadership was minimal, and as the best legislator of the Council he repaired relations with some of his former opponents.
»Read more: After the defeat, Sixers Arena, the City Council of Philly is back and ready to work on everything else
It was not promised for Johnson, 51, Democrat from southern Philadelphia, whose erection to the President of the Council a year ago was the culmination of political history, which meant that it increased after the acquittal of federal corruption allegations. Two years ago, his legal problems were a conversation about the political class of the city. Nowadays they look like an ancient story.
Despite this, his biggest challenges may not come yet. He enters this year with a reputation hanging in balance after he spent most of the falls, which search the controversial project of the arena through the council, which then six broke. The accounts of its members with the Parker are fragile, and if Frays can make basic management of the old process.
Tests ahead of us are clear to Johnson. In a recent interview, he said that he was prepared for a meeting, maintaining his even approach-with more proactive plans in negotiations for the New Sixers Arena.
“That’s when leaders lead,” he said.
Supervising the Council during the transition period
It was at the beginning of last year and I already felt like everything in the town hall changed: a new mayor, chairman of the new council and one of the latest city councils in the latest memory after a wave of departures.
Johnson replaced Darrell L. Clarke, the outgoing president perceived as an elderly statesman who knew how the body works because he spent four decades in it. Johnson, chosen for the first time in 2011, has been a member for 13 years, but he was never in leadership.
A month for Johnson’s term as president, another person who knew how to run a program. Michael A. Decker, the chief of the council and the best administrator, died unexpectedly in February. He effectively presided over meetings and ensured compliance with the rules.
There was no obvious successor.
“Things have become true,” Johnson remembered. “You talk about the years, years and years of this institution, which may fall if it is not served correctly.”
Johnson canceled the meeting this week and moved to find a deputy. During the week he convinced Elizabeth McCollum-Nazario, a former employee who left the council many years earlier to return as the main body official.
Members said they were impressed by Johnson’s constant hand in the takeover of Clarke.
“Look only for the last year, because it refers to fresh leadership, fresh employees, fresh everything,” said Isaiah Thomas, a democrat who represents the city. “I praise Kenyatty for what he did to put us in the position in which we are now.”
Although Johnson and Clarke were created from separate political fractions – Johnson began as an adviser to Senator Anthony Hardy Williams in Western Philadelphia, while Clarke was a protagonal former mayor of John F. Street in northern Philly – men are similar in temperament. They both began as activists for the mottles market, and then transformed into council members who consistently sought a consensus with their colleagues, even in matters that turned out to be political mines of land.
»Read more: From the “loudest lips” to the chairman of the council: Darrell Clarke wonders about his career in Philly’s policy
A member of the Jamie Gauthier council, a progressive democrat who represents West Philadelphia, said that Johnson consistently made her feel to hear, including during negotiations in the arena, when she wanted Sixers to pay more for balancing potential displacement in nearby Chinatown.
Gauthier finally voted against the project, but said that Johnson was in favor of his position through this process.
“He really created a table for every member of the council,” she said. “I felt he wanted us.”
Despite the balls, Johnson maintains his relationship with the Parker
Council members quickly trusted Johnson, but his first months were not free from political friction.
There were several public spat between the members of the council and the Parker, of which the fight for one of its nominated for a school city was best known, which were approved by the council. Several legislators questioned Joyce Wilkerson, a sitting member of the board, and Johnson refused to raise the voting nomination on the side of his members.
But Parker didn’t withdraw. She formally asked Wilkerson to stay on the board until she chose a replacement. Nine months later, Parker did not.
There were murmurs that the council could sue places for the seating of Wilkerson, which was made without their consent. Instead, Johnson gave up.
“This back does nothing for us in terms of moving the city of Philadelphia,” he said.
This is the delicate balance, which the chairman of the council must hit the maintenance of the relationship with the mayor, the partnership has seen this city before. The former mayor Michael Nutter with legislators worsened so much that in his second term he could not get one member who would introduce the signed provisions regarding the privatization of the city’s gas utility.
Parker and Johnson, who came to power in times of great uncertainty in the city, know that their political fate is inextricably linked. None of them can develop their priorities without a second.
After spitting the school council, the Council still accepted the mayor’s budget proposal, advanced financing of her priorities and approved the Center City Arena Center, for which she followed the bat. Johnson said he and Parker meet every week.
Joseph P. McLaughlin, adviser to the two former administrations of the mayor, said that when Ed Rendell was an incoming mayor, Street was the chairman of the council and said the members: “There is no way to make us look good, unless the mayor looks good. “Street and Rendell had the famous productive working relationships.
“I think Kenyatta recognizes this, especially in the first year,” said McLaughlin, “You must support the mayor.”
Evolving from a member of the Council to the President of the Council
When Johnson was only a member of the District Council, he sometimes gained the anger of activists who thought he had hindered progress in his southern and south -western district of Philadelphia. Road safety groups and bicycle activists were furious in 2022, when Johnson used his power to block the sedatives of traffic on Washington Avenue in his district.
Last year, she saw the stunning death of cyclists in the city, including 30-year-old Barbara Friedes, who was killed, the police said after a speeding driver hit her while driving on a bicycle lane.
City leaders were under pressure. Christopher Gala, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition at Greater Filadelphia, said that shortly after killing Friedes Johnson, as the president of the council, he met with supporters and told them that he could better deal with the situation of Washington Avenue.
“He was like:” Yes, we could be better, so let’s be better, “Gala recalled. “He was very bright and had a look throughout the city, as it affects not only his voters, and not only his district, but on the whole city. And I really appreciate this view throughout the city. “
After the meeting, Johnson introduced the provisions regarding the prohibition of drivers to stop on bicycle lanes, which is a key priority for supporters. The Council adopted this during the weeks.
The episode and answer of Johnson show how it evolved from a member of the District Council – whose only task was to respond to voters in his corner of the city – in a leader in the whole city.
Another example was the disputed debate on the arena last autumn. Johnson set a week of time to carry out the interrogations regarding the Sixers’ Center City proposal, which would leave the Wells Fargo Center team, which is located in their own Johnson district.
He said that through the negotiating process he did not support the team in Southern Philly.
“Supporting and voting for this project, which actually left my district, was about me leading to what is in the best interest of the city of Philadelphia as a whole,” said Johnson.
He said a fresh plan to stay in the Johnson district in Johnson’s district.
“Fight for everyone,” he said with a smile.