Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration on Wednesday announced the first 10 residential blocks that will each receive $100,000 in beautification upgrades as part of the city’s Curbside Appeal program.
“Every Philadelphian deserves to live on a block they can be proud of,” Parker said in a statement, adding that the program “gives neighbors the resources to come together, improve their surroundings, and strengthen the sense of community that makes our city special.”
The first 10 blocks set to receive services under the program, including debris removal, tree trimming, lawn restoration, and sidewalk repairs, are:
1300 block of South Ruby Street
1700 block of St. Paul Street
1800 block of Hart Lane
2200 block of South Sixth Street
2500 block of North Marston Street
3000 block of Titan Street
3200 block of North Howard Street
5000 block of Newhall Street
First block of Hobart Street
First block of Wiota Street
In May and June, residents were encouraged to nominate blocks for the program through their Neighborhood Advisory Committees or Neighborhood Community Action Centers, the so-called mini-City Halls Parker has established throughout the city to make services more accessible.
The next round of nominations for the program will take place in the spring.
“By partnering directly with neighbors, we’re helping transform blocks in ways that reflect the priorities of the people who live there while building stronger, more connected communities,” Jessie Lawrence, the city’s director of planning and development, said in a statement.
Council approved the H.O.M.E. initiative, which is funded primarily through $800 million in city bonds, in June 2025. Lawmakers then clashed with the administration last fall over income thresholds for some of the housing programs it funds, with Council successfully pushing through changes that prioritize poorer residents.
The city issued the first $400 million in H.O.M.E. bonds earlier this year, and is scheduled to issue the next tranche in 2027.
Philadelphia State Rep. Chris Rabb’s former campaign treasurer, whom he accused of draining his campaign account and disappearing in the middle of his run for Congress, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal fraud charge.
Yolanda Brown, a campaign operative formerly based in Florida who worked for Democratic political candidates and social justice causes across the country, appeared in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. She admitted to embezzling a total of about $1 million from 20 clients, including Rabb, between 2022 and 2026.
Brown, who now lives in Virginia, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and will be required to pay restitution. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 26.
Rabb, a progressive, went on to win the Democratic nomination in May. He is expected to prevail in the November general election to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. There is no Republican candidate, though he faces a long-shot independent opponent.
Rabb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For years, fraud claims from several political campaigns piled up against Brown, who operated Brown Financial & Consulting Services Group and at times worked under her married name, Yolanda Rumph. She was accused of financial impropriety in several states, The Inquirer reported, including shaving money from accounts she controlled and embezzling from a nonprofit client.
But she continued working in politics and, in August 2025, signed on to work for Rabb, who was in the midst of a highly competitive Democratic primary run for an open seat in Congress representing about half of Philadelphia.
State Rep. Chris Rabb at an event with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna July 28, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The following month, Rabb said that Brown had made a series of unauthorized withdrawals from his campaign. The amount of money embezzled totaled more than $160,000, which constituted most of what was in his campaign’s account at the time, according to paperwork Rabb’s campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Khambrel Davis, Brown’s attorney, said in an interview with The Inquirer in March that Brown was innocent and merely the victim of a rogue employee who had stolen from her clients.
But on Wednesday in court, Brown acknowledged that she executed a scheme to defraud her clients of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Livermore told U.S. District Judge Chad F. Kenney that Brown “embezzled client funds in her control to pay for her own personal expenses without authorization from her clients.”
He added that she “often used client funds to repay other clients from whom she had previously stolen funds.”
In charging documents, prosecutors wrote that in one instance, Brown steered about $19,000 from the account belonging to Rabb’s campaign — identified in court filings as “Political Campaign #1″ — into a separate account that she controlled. She then transferred $6,000 of that money into her personal bank account.
That transfer was one of multiple unauthorized transfers that Rabb’s campaign detected. Prosecutors often formally charge a limited scope of wrongdoing if a defendant has agreed to plead guilty.
Prosecutors described the fraud perpetrated against Rabb’s campaign as part of an “overall scheme” in which Brown defrauded about 20 clients of a total of more than $1.4 million. They wrote that she had repaid clients more than $400,000, for a net loss of about $1 million.
John Dougherty was for years an unparalleled kingmaker in Philadelphia’s Democratic Party — a charismatic labor leader and fundraiser who helped anoint a generation of future mayors, City Council members, state and federal legislators, judges, and governors.
Some of Dougherty’s key supporters in his clemency push, The Inquirer has learned, included two former Republican congressmen; Dougherty’s lawyer, who once ran as a Republican for mayor and, later, for U.S. Senate; and a onetime candidate for Philadelphia City Council with ties to organized labor, who said he was one of Trump’s earliest local backers.
All had relationships with Dougherty, owing to his years of political activism as head of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — even if his support mostly benefited fellow Democrats.
John Dougherty in 2015 with then-City Councilmember Jim Kenney. The two were childhood friends, and Dougherty helped support Kenney’s successful mayoral campaign.
The former Council candidate, Daniel Pellicciotti, said his efforts to help Dougherty included meeting with Trump at the White House and speaking with him over the phone. Pellicciotti said that he told Trump about the significant health challenges faced by Dougherty’s wife, Cecelia, and that Trump was sympathetic to Dougherty’s situation — and willing to send him home.
“He just said, ‘This is crazy.’ Exact words,” Pellicciotti said. “‘He needs to be home with his wife, taking care of her. Besides, it would be cheaper for the government.’”
Former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, meanwhile, said he signed a letter to Trump last year and contacted anyone he could “just to try to get this on the president’s radar.”
He said that he had been following Cecelia Dougherty’s health situation closely and that advocating for her husband “became a personal thing for me.” Earlier this year, he attended a court hearing in Reading at which Dougherty begged a judge to be released.
“I’m very thankful that the president had the compassion to put politics aside and do the right thing,” said Barletta, who met Dougherty in the early 2000s as mayor of Hazleton.
President Donald Trump with then-Rep. Lou Barletta in 2018.Keith Srakocic
And Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator who competed against Trump for the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2016, said he “did what he could to be helpful” in supporting Dougherty’s efforts.
“Those two years Dougherty spent in jail away from his wife were probably 20 years because I know how much he loves her and how much he was really hurting,” Santorum said. “So to me, this was the humanitarian thing to do, and I supported it.”
The backing from GOP pols may help explain how Trump — a famously partisan president — ended up granting clemency to a longtime Democrat in one of America’s bluest cities. Trump was soundly defeated in Philadelphia in each of his three elections, and some of Dougherty’s longtime Democratic allies were among his fiercest critics.
The Republican lobbying might also add context to Dougherty’s decision to change his voter registration and join the GOP. Dougherty — long known as Johnny Doc — switched parties not long after being released this month from a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa.
Dougherty has not spoken publicly since his release, and his lawyer, George Bochetto, said Dougherty was focused on caring for his wife.
Bochetto, who ran for Philadelphia mayor in 1999 and U.S. Senate in 2022 — both times as a Republican — generally declined to discuss details about the lobbying effort. He did say he had been in regular communication with White House aides about Cecelia Dougherty’s health challenges, and he called Trump’s decision “a magnificent gesture of compassion.”
The White House press office did not respond to questions about who was involved in advocating for Dougherty. A spokesperson said only that the commutation was granted to let him “care for [his] terminally ill wife.”
Multiple attempts at release
Dougherty and Bochetto had taken several paths to try to secure an early release from his six-year sentence, which began in 2024 after Dougherty was convicted in separate bribery and embezzlement trials.
A few months after Dougherty reported to prison, Bochetto filed emergency motions asking U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to allow Dougherty to serve the remainder of his term on house arrest so he could be his wife’s primary caretaker.
Schmehl denied those requests twice — including after a hearing in May at which Dougherty testified about how he was the only person who could provide the type of round-the-clock assistance his wife needs. She has long been paralyzed and largely nonverbal after suffering a debilitating brain injury.
John Dougherty in 2024.Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer
After failing to persuade the judge, Dougherty turned to others in his orbit as the request pivoted toward the White House — where Trump, as president, has wide latitude to commute sentences and grant pardons in federal cases.
But his allies, including Pellicciotti, persisted. A former business agent for the laborers union, he said he was friends with Cecelia Dougherty before he knew her husband, and he has known both for decades.
A former Democrat and nephew of the late Councilmember Francis Rafferty, Pellicciotti ran unsuccessfully for Council in 2003 with backing from Dougherty’s electricians union. He said he switched his registration to Republican when Trump ran for president and backed his 2016 campaign.
“Nobody in Philly was really backing him. I have a lot of respect for him. He don’t forget his friends,” Pellicciotti said.
In addition to their politics, Pellicciotti, 64, of Roxborough, shared something else with Trump: a felony conviction. Pellicciotti pleaded guilty in 2005 to bribing a Philadelphia public official with cash in exchange for obtaining a designation for his demolition company as a woman-owned business.
When Pellicciotti was sentenced to probation and a fine the following year, Dougherty and other union members were in the courtroom to pat him on the back.
That experience with the criminal justice system did not come up in Pellicciotti’s conversations with Trump, however. “I really think it had strictly to do with him doing the right thing for John and Celi,” he said.
Help among friends
Barletta and Santorum declined to provide many details about the depths of their advocacy but agreed that their central motivation was support for Dougherty and his wife.
In addition to Dougherty’s long friendship with Barletta, his ties to Santorum date to 2006, when his former union, Local 98, backed Santorum’s unsuccessful reelection campaign against Democratic challenger Bob Casey.
Santorum said Dougherty was always uncharacteristically gracious about acts that benefited his members — despite the senator’s political affiliation.
“Johnny cared enough that he said, ‘Well, look, this guy has done more for my workers and those families than anybody, and we’re going to support him,’” Santorum said.
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum announcing his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race.KEITH SRAKOCIC / Associated Press
Other local figures with ties to Trump who were rumored to have helped Dougherty’s lobbying — such as Philadelphia lawyers Michael van der Veen and William J. Brennan, who represented Trump during his second impeachment trial — declined to say if they were involved.
In any case, Trump made Dougherty’s release official earlier this month. In addition to cutting his prison term short, the commutation erased Dougherty’s obligation to pay about $1.6 million in restitution.
Pellicciotti, for his part, was glad that Trump bestowed mercy on his longtime associate.
“All credit goes to God,” he said. “We did a lot of praying about it.”
Staff writers Gillian McGoldrick and Anna Orso contributed to this article.
Kendra Brooks, a progressive who made history as the first third-party candidate to win a seat on Philadelphia City Council in 100 years, is considering challenging Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in the spring Democratic primary election, according to two sources familiar with her thinking.
The sources, who were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly and did so on the condition of anonymity, said Brooks is mulling a campaign but has not yet made a decision. She declined to comment Friday.
To run in the Democratic mayoral primary, Brooks would have to resign from her seat on Council. Under state law, she could remain a member of the Working Families Party or switch her party registration to Democrat..
A bid for the mayor’s office would pit Brooks, the de facto leader of the city’s Working Families Party and democratic socialist faction, against Parker, a centrist who has long been aligned with the city’s Democratic Party establishment.
“People want to see leaders fighting for something,” Brooks said at the time, “and right now we don’t see our city fighting for anything.”
Aren Platt, the executive director of the mayor’s political campaign arm, declined to comment.
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks joins Chester Mayor Stefan Roots (right) and protesters at a rally outside City Hall Sept. 17, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Brooks’ supporters see the mayor as potentially vulnerable as progressives have ascended nationally and notched wins over more traditional Democrats. That includes Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory last year in New York City and Abdul El-Sayed’s win in the Michigan Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
Closer to home, the left is emboldened by State Rep. Chris Rabb, who was backed by Brooks’ coalition and in May won the Democratic primary for a seat in Congress representing about half of Philadelphia. He toppled two centrist Democrats who were each supported by party leaders, big donors, and politically powerful labor unions.
Despite the energy on the left, no progressive has officially launched a run for mayor ahead of the May primary election. Shania Bennett, the mayor’s former director of youth engagement, who has never run for office before, said this month that she will challenge Parker. Bennett said recently that she had not yet hired a campaign team or developed a policy platform.
Any challenger to Parker faces significant hurdles. No Philadelphia mayor has lost reelection in modern history, and Parker would be backed by the city’s Democratic Party, which can now spend unlimited amounts of money in coordination with its chosen candidates under a new board of ethics policy.
Parker will also be supported by the deep-pocketed building trades unions that boosted her in the crowded open mayoral primary in 2023.
“We’re going to put all the resources, both financial resources and people resources, to bear to make sure that Mayor Parker has a second term,” said Ryan Boyer, the head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council. “I want to be clear and vociferous that the Philadelphia Building Trades … are fully and completely behind Cherelle Parker.”
In this March 2025 file photo, City Councilmember Kendra Brooks, left, listens to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker deliver her annual budget address.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Parker is likely to see support from a super PAC bankrolled by city developers, and she also has her own massive war chest. Her campaign had $1.4 million in the bank as of May, according to the most recent campaign finance paperwork available. Brooks had $17,000 on hand as of her last report in January.
But Brooks, who has won citywide election twice to represent the city as an at-large member of Council, could be a formidable opponent. She is one of the most prominent left-wing politicians in the city, and she is well-known in national progressive circles.
The Working Families Party’s chapter in Pennsylvania recently commissioned a poll that showed Brooks as broadly popular with the city’s Democratic primary electorate but with much lower name recognition than Parker, according to polling documents obtained by The Inquirer.
According to the survey of 900 respondents, 35% said they had a favorable view of Brooks, with just 4% saying they had an unfavorable view. Nearly 40% of respondents said they did not know who Brooks was.
Nearly all of the respondents knew of Parker. Forty-eight percent said they had a favorable view of the mayor, and 40% said they had an unfavorable view. Those findings are similar to a June Suffolk University/Philadelphia Inquirer poll.
Nick Gavio, a spokesperson for the Working Families Party, said in a statement that the organization often conducts polling on public opinion in the city and that the survey was “one test among a battery of others that we conducted in Philadelphia ahead of the 2027 elections.”
“We are pleased that the Working Families Party and Minority Leader Brooks are so popular,” he said, “which we believe reflects our focus on the issues that matter to the working people of this city.”
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks talks with Dominique Howell (right) in chambers as City Council returns for its fall session Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. Howell is a long-time constituent and was there with the non-profit Liberty Resources, part of the Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Several other leftist politicians in the city have been rumored to be considering running for mayor against Parker, but none have said publicly that they intend to launch a campaign.
One is District Attorney Larry Krasner, the third-term prosecutor who is one of the most prominent progressive district attorneys in the country. Krasner has been increasingly critical of Parker, and in June said that he would not rule out the possibility of running against her.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the steps Brooks would have to take to run in the Democratic mayoral primary. She could remain a registered member of the Working Families Party or switch her party registration.
After a federal judge said last week that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner may have committed federal crimes, questions quickly emerged about the prosecutor’s political future.
Krasner, an outspoken Democrat and one of the nation’s most well-known progressive prosecutors, has recently entertained entreaties to run for higher office, including a possible bid for Philadelphia mayor next year.
But in the week since U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond said he had referred Krasner and a top supervisor to the Department of Justice for investigation, Krasner has largely stayed quiet, and few elected Democrats have publicly come to his defense.
Behind the scenes, many insiders asked: Could this episode damage Krasner too much for him to mount a campaign for another office?
In a statement Tuesday, Krasner said he had already told another progressive considering a bid for mayor that he would defer to her.
“I’m a big believer in Councilmember Kendra Brooks,” Krasner said, referring to the City Council member who The Inquirer reported is considering a run for mayor. “Prior to these accusations, I told her that if she runs for mayor, I will not consider running.”
And he framed the legal conclusions by Diamond — a federal jurist appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush — as merely “accusations,” citing others who have been targeted for investigation by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.
He referenced the New York attorney general, a former FBI director, and a DOJ employee who was charged after throwing a sandwich at a federal agent and has since become a symbol of resistance to Trump’s administration.
“Ask Letitia James, James Comey, the ‘sandwich man’ or the guy who took peeling paint from the reflecting pool what they have to say about accusations,” Krasner said. “Or ask dozens of innocent people whose exonerations this DA’s office supported what they say about accusations.”
Krasner’s statement Tuesday was one of the first public comments he has made regarding the case since Diamond’s criminal referral, aside from a brief statement last week saying that he disagrees with Diamond’s conclusions and could not comment further because the matter is pending in court.
The uncertainty around Krasner alsohas some city Democrats contemplating a dramatic outcome: Could criminal charges or judicial discipline sweep Krasner from office before the end of his term in 2030?
And if that happened, who would replace him as the city’s chief law enforcement officer?
District Attorney Larry Krasner standing with District Council 33, for the 39th Annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade on Sept. 7.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
At least two elected Democrats have spoken to ward leaders about filling the district attorney’s role if Krasner were to be forced from office, according to sources familiar with the conversations who were not authorized to speak about them publicly.
But some of Krasner’s allies say this is all much ado about nothing. They maintain that Diamond’s legal conclusions and the referral of the matter to the Department of Justice were politically motivated and that Krasner will weather it, as he has past tribulations.
“They’re trying to do something that they’ve been trying to do for years, which is go after Krasner’s head,” said Sergio Cea, political director of the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, which has supported Krasner since his first run for office in 2017. “What they’re trying to do is roll back the gains that Philly voters pushed forward.”
Silence from elected officials
Krasner has always been something of a political outsider. He has never been endorsed by the city’s Democratic Party and has been critical of its leadership.
City Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, a member of the progressive Working Families Party and a longtime supporter of the district attorney, said in a statement Tuesday that he has confidence in Krasner’s ability to lead his office.
“There’s no question,” he said. “DA Krasner can and should be doing the work that Philadelphians have tasked him with through their votes.”
Aside from O’Rourke, most of the city’s top officials have declined requests for comment about Krasner’s recent legal jeopardy, including some of his ardent supporters.
Some say that Krasner has not asked them to weigh in, and that they are hesitant to take a position on a complex legal issue. Others say they do not want to distract from a midterm election that is just six weeks away.
Jack Inacker, a Democratic strategist based in Philadelphia, said he was not surprised that few elected Democrats have spoken on Krasner’s behalf.
“You’ve got these major dustups all the time, it seems now,” Inacker said. “Krasner being so antagonistic to everyone doesn’t get him allies.”
Inacker also said the courtroom allegations are “esoteric in nature,” making it challenging for elected officials to stake a position.
Newly reelected District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks to reporters during a news conference outside the District Attorney’s Office on Nov. 5, 2025.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The case before the federal judge centers on Dennis Johnson, who has sought for more than a decade to have his 2009 murder conviction overturned. In 2022, a former assistant district attorney working for Krasner filed paperwork to support Johnson’s bid.
But four supervisors in Krasner’s office later testified that they found errors in that 2022 brief, and that Krasner was involved in conversations about attempting to mislead the court to cast the former prosecutor as rogue.
Krasner has denied wrongdoing.
Brian Hart, a Democrat who has been critical of Krasner and served as a media adviser to Dugan’s campaign, said this episode is more fraught for Krasner than his 2022 impeachment.
“The allegations aren’t coming from just Republicans,” said Hart, a public relations strategist. “They’re coming from testimony within his own office.”
The mayor’s race question
Some activists on the left wing of the city’s Democratic Party have said they feel emboldened to mount a serious challenge against Parker, who will be up for reelection next year. They cite recent wins by progressives both in the city and nationally.
And eight months out from the May primary election, several prospective candidates, including Brooks, are mulling whether to launch a campaign.
When asked then whether he might consider a future campaign for mayor — or even U.S. Senate — Krasner responded: “Do I have a plan to run for these offices today? No. But … it would be foolish for me to completely rule out those possibilities.”
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, seen here with Mayor Cherelle Parker at a news conference at Dilworth Park on Dec. 16, 2024.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Larry Ceisler, a public affairs executive based in Philadelphia, said a federal criminal investigation of Krasner could pose a logistical problem if it was conducted while he was running for mayor.
But politically speaking, Ceisler said, it might not be an impediment. An investigation by the Department of Justice under Trump — an entity many Democrats distrust — could rally progressive support.
“I think he would probably run with it as a badge of honor,” he said.
Ceisler pointed to former Mayor John F. Street, who in 2003 was locked in a tight race for reelection when police found an FBI bug in his office. Street blamed Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, and he went on to win the election a few weeks later.
“When these things happen, everybody puts on their respective jerseys, so the Krasner people are going to say, ‘It’s political,’” Ceisler said. “I think to the Krasner constituency, especially if he wants to run for mayor, or do something else, I don’t think this fazes them.”
Weighing a post-Krasner future
It is unclear where any potential criminal investigation or disciplinary probe of Krasner and his office might lead, and legal experts have said that a hypothetical investigation would likely take months.
But some Philadelphia Democrats are already contemplating what would happen if Krasner cannot finish the term that he began this year and that ends in 2030, with some quietly discussing contingency plans to fill the office.
Under state law, in the event of a vacancy, the city’s Common Pleas Court judges vote by secret ballot to appoint a new district attorney. The appointed interim district attorney would serve until the next general election. Those elections take place in even-numbered years.
During the three-week gap between when Williams resigned and Hodge was appointed, the district attorney’s office was led by Williams’ first assistant district attorney, Kathleen Martin.
Krasner does not have a first assistant district attorney. Robert Listenbee, who formerly held the role, retired in January, and the legally required position remains unfilled.
Staff writers Chris Palmer and Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.
A line in Philadelphia’s zoning code conflates drag performances with strip clubs, topless bars, and other adult cabaret venues. It’s a definition that City Council hopes to change.
Councilmember Rue Landau introduced legislation on Thursday to remove references to “male or female impersonators” in a section of the zoning code that regulates “Adult Oriented Services.”
As currently written, Philadelphia defines an adult cabaret as a place that “features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators or similar entertainers … dancing, performing or acting in a lewd, sexually erotic, exciting or stimulating manner.”
The distinction is similar to one found in a Tennessee law that prohibits so-called “adult cabarets” featuring “male or female impersonators” from being staged anywhere minors might see it. It also mirrors language used in similar drag bans struck down this year byjudges in Texas and Montana, and one currently up for consideration by the Idaho Senate.
If passed, Landau’s proposal would strike the provision regarding male and female impersonators.
The bill will first be considered by City Council’s Rules Committee. The legislation has the support of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, Landau said, and has also been shared with her colleagues in City Council, who Landau described as “supportive.”
Landau’s bill is inspired by recent events at South Street bar Tattooed Mom, which has long been a go-to venue for Philly’s LGBTQ+ artists, and particularly drag performers, in part because it doesn’t charge acts.
A crowd fills Tattooed Mom. The popular South Street bar is unable to host events with music for the foreseeable future.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Tattooed Mom owner RobertPerry told The Inquirer Friday that he brought what he called the “offensive and troubling language” to the attention of Landau’s staff, but was not involved in drafting the legislation.
The incident “opened my eyes to actually reading the code and having conversations … I think the [language] is so antiquated that people don’t even realize it’s there,” Perry said. “We might have initially spurred the conversation, but Landau did all the heavy lifting.”
Perry was initially instructed to seek an adult cabaret permit in addition to a special assembly license for Tattooed Mom, he told the Philadelphia Gay News in July. That same month, an L&I spokesperson told Philly Voice that the permit — which traditionally governs businesses such as strip clubs and adult theaters — is required to host drag and burlesque events.
Perry now believes that his bar doesn’t need one upon further research, he said Friday.
Regardless,Landau said Tattooed Mom’s predicament was the spark for her proposal.“They were cited in violation of this provision simply because they had a drag performance happening,” she said. “We don’t want that happening in Philly … A lot of folks rely on drag performances for their livelihood, and we just want to keep supporting them.”
Landau is unaware of L&I citing other Philly venues for hosting drag or burlesque shows without a permit. “This is thankfully nothing that L&I is usually citing establishments” over, she said.
A crowd looks at art inside the South Street bar Tattooed Mom.
If passed, Landau’s legislation won’t green-light events with music at Tattooed Mom. All Philly establishments with an occupancy of 50 or more people that host music performances, dancing, or DJs are required to have a special assembly occupancy license, which costs $253 and must be renewed annually. To procure one, Tattooed Mom must first apply for a zoning exception.
The process involves holding a public meeting for community feedback followed by a separate hearing in front of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. As of March 2026, the wait time for a hearing is 180 days — or roughly six months — according to a manual from the City of Philadelphia.
Perry said he has yet to begin Tattooed Mom’s application.
John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, the former Philadelphia labor leader and longtime Democratic power broker whose prison sentence for a corruption conviction was commuted by President Donald Trump earlier this month, has reportedly switched political parties.
Claudia Vargas, a former journalist for NBC10 and The Inquirer, reported Friday that Dougherty changed his party registration on Sept. 11 to Republican, and that he has since moved from South Philadelphia, where he had served as a ward leader, to Center City.
Dougherty, who served less than two years of his six-year sentence, had been seeking an early release so he could care for his gravely ill wife, Cecilia. He was released Sept. 4 from the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa., his lawyer, George Bochetto, confirmed that day.
Neither Dougherty nor Bochetto could be reached for comment on Friday.
Dougherty was found guilty of bribing former Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon in one trial, and was convicted in a second trial for his participation in an embezzlement scheme that cost his union nearly $600,000.
He had petitioned U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to release him on house arrest so he could care for his wife. Schmehl repeatedly denied those efforts.
As a result of Trump’s commutation, Dougherty not only had his incarceration cut short, but also will no longer have to pay about $1.6 million in restitution to the union he was convicted of defrauding.
A representative for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers could not be reached for comment about the loss of the restitution funds.
Dougherty, whose conviction remains intact, also will not be subject to monitoring or house arrest.
On the day Dougherty was released, Bochetto called Trump’s decision “a magnificent gesture of compassion.”
Bochetto said he had been in regular communication with White House staffers about the health challenges faced by Dougherty’s wife.
A White House official said those circumstances figured into Trump’s decision, particularly because Dougherty’s father-in-law, who had been serving as the primary caretaker, died last year.
Bochetto said there was “absolutely no reason” to keep Dougherty locked up while his wife’s health was continuing to decline.
Federal prosecutors had opposed Dougherty’s early release.
Philadelphia City Council members are considering dueling proposals over how the city eliminates its garbage, with one lawmaker leading an effort to immediately block the city from shipping its garbage to a trash incinerator and another taking a longer-term approach.
Councilmember Mark Squilla on Thursday introduced legislation authorizing Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration to, within three years, develop a plan to dramatically reduce the city’s reliance on both trash incineration and landfills over the next 20 years.
Squilla’s proposal, which he drafted with input from Parker’s administration, is something of an alternative for lawmakers to consider as Councilmember Jamie Gauthier has for months pushed for a more aggressive approach to stop the city from incinerating trash this year.
Both lawmakers hosted news conferences this week alongside their allies to rally support for their cause, part of a long list of events Council members hosted as the legislative body returned Thursday for its first meeting of the fall session.
Councilmembers Mark Squilla and Katherine Gilmore Richardson (back to camera) greet each other as City Council convenes for its fall session Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The first meeting after the summer break typically has a jovial, first-day-of-school feel. But the mood briefly shifted Thursday when City Hall was evacuated and Council abruptly adjourned after a suspicious package was found on the floor where Council was meeting.
Police cleared the package, and Council resumed its business Thursday afternoon.
Here’s what else happened this week:
What was this week’s highlight?
Incinerator issue heats up: Gauthier has for months sought to pass legislation that would ban the city from continuing its long-term practice of sending about a third of its garbage to a trash incinerator in Chester, about 15 miles south of the city. She argues that incineration is bad for the environment and harms Chester residents’ health.
Parker’s administration opposed the legislation, called the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, and Gauthier in the spring failed to gain enough support for it in Council.
Now, Gauthier is trying to block the Parker administration from renewing its contract with Reworld, the incineration facility. The administration needs Council approval to enter into a new four-year contract with the firm.
Gauthier has several members on her side, including three fellow progressive lawmakers, as well as Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who is the Democratic majority whip.
City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier speaks at a rally outside City Hall early Thursday morning Sept. 17, 2026 where protesters called on Council to reject Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s waste disposal contracts. A coalition of elected officials, health and climate experts, and advocates from Philadelphia and Chester gathered to oppose the city’s sending its trash to an incinerator in Chester.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Squilla’s proposal in some ways offers members an off-ramp. His bill calls for a “circular waste” system that includes new techniques for waste disposal, such as composting and “anaerobic digestion,” a process that breaks down organic waste.
Managing Director Carlton Williams said Wednesday during a news conference with Squilla that the city is looking to build out an anaerobic digestion system within four years.
Squilla said that while the administration is already working toward a more modern waste disposal system, passing a law would “codify what we had as plans and resolutions before.”
Gauthier said that she supports Squilla’s goal of moving toward a more sustainable system, but that his legislation “is a plan to create a longer-range plan.”
“It in no way changes the decision in front of Council,” she said. “We can move away from this practice right now.”
What else happened this week?
Severing the law department: The city law department serves as legal counsel for both the mayor’s administration and Council, a dynamic that can sometimes cause friction when the city’s elected officials disagree.
Council on Thursday approved a resolution by Thomas to hold a hearing “to consider the separation of the [law] department’s functions between the administration and City Council.”
Thomas has clashed with Parker’s administration, and he said he became interested in looking at the department’s structure due to concerns that Council was not receiving independent legal advice on some issues.
Lois Williams (left), dressed as a “sick person,” and Shari Hersh (right) in costume as a “smokestack,” join a rally outside City Hall early Thursday to call on City Council to reject Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s waste disposal contracts.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
He pointed to the Philadelphia School District’s controversial facilities plan, which involves the closure of 17 school buildings and was adopted by the school board in April over the objections of many Council members.
And he said recent legal proceedings around the city’s business income and receipts tax were “part of the motivation” to hold a hearing on the law department.
In 2025, after a Massachusetts company sued the city seeking to overturn a popular tax break program that primarily helped small businesses, the law department said it had determined the lawsuit was likely to succeed. The Parker administration eventually settled the case and persuaded Council to eliminate the tax break. Some Council members at the time complained that the city did not defend the tax break more vigorously.
The department already silos off some of the work it does on behalf of Council from the rest of the administration, such as when it drafts bills proposed by lawmakers. Council also may hire outside legal counsel, but must pay for those services out of its own budget.
A law department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Storage wars: Councilmember Mike Driscoll introduced legislation on Thursday that would ban new self-storage facilities from his district in lower Northeast Philadelphia.
The storage industry boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumer spending shifted from services to goods, many families struggled to afford larger homes, and low interest rates juiced development.
Northeast Philadelphia saw a particularly large boom in self-storage buildings because of its rich supply of properties zoned for industrial development. Driscoll said that advocates in the Tacony neighborhood felt their community had become oversaturated.
“They want more affordable housing and [self-storage units] are taking valuable sites for that,” Driscoll said.
ExtraSpace self-storage at Washington Avenue and S. 23rd Street, Philadelphia, Monday, November 4, 2024.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Self-storage facilities are gold mines for developers. They suffer little wear and tear, they have few utility costs, and labor costs are low after construction.
According to online industry search portal StorageCafe, Philadelphia has 89 self-storage sites containing more than seven million square feet of space. About a third of that has been built since 2019.
Other municipalities have moved to limit the spread of self-storage facilities in recent years. New York City banned them from industrial areas to preserve jobs, and Denver blocked them from properties close to light rail lines. Providence, R.I., in 2023 banned new facilities from the city altogether.
Driscoll said that he may further limit his legislation to the Tacony neighborhood.
“I don’t want to hurt another part of my district that maybe wants these things,” he said.
Embracing affordability: Multiple members of City Council said this week that tackling affordability is their primary objective this fall, including Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, whose office published a lengthy report outlining dozens of proposals aimed at reducing costs.
Some may be more realistic short-term goals than others.
The report, which was drafted by a Cost of Living Task Force made up of community advocates and industry leaders, recommended the city explore everything from opening municipal grocery stores to creating a local Medicaid supplement program.
Councilmember Nicholas O’Rourke with students and activists during a press conference about SEPTA in April.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
It also recommends restructuring existing housing programs to more aggressively target the poorest residents, and establishing a Transit Access Fund that would fund free or reduced-fare transit passes for low-income households.
O’Rourke, a member of the progressive Working Families Party, plans to hold a committee hearing on the task force report this fall.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson will also introduce an affordability measure this fall. He plans to bring forward legislation that would establish a permanent Food and Nutrition Security Coordination Office, he said in a statement.
Quote of the week
Jeffery Young, Jr. (left) with twelve year-old Jack Erfer of Wynnewood and councilmembers and Nina Ahmad (right) in supporting the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University before City Council resumes for its fall session Thursday.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
No bones about it: That was Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., who called for hearings on the planned closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday ordered a task force largely composed of members of her administration to explore whether the city should place new regulations on the construction of data centers — and to present her with its findings in about nine months.
The mayor, a Democrat who has not staked a position on whether Philadelphia should host the controversial “hyperscale” data centers that power artificial intelligence, signed an executive order establishing the task force on Wednesday.
In a video message posted to social media, the mayor said the issue is of “grave importance.” She said she has heard from residents who are concerned that a large data center in the city could hike utility bills and drive pollution.
“This does not mean that a hyperscale data center is being built now; however, if a firm was to apply to the City of Philadelphia to build one of these hyperscale data centers, we want to make sure that we are fully prepared to know what the impact on Philadelphians would be,” Parker said. “We want the appropriate guardrails in place so that we do everything possible to protect our city.”
The task force will be made up of members of Parker’s administration, as well as a representative from City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office. The group is charged with gathering information from neighborhood groups, unions that represent construction workers, environmental advocates, public health experts, and others.
According to the executive order, the task force must present a final report to the mayor by June 30.
The mayor’s move came just two days after dozens of activists held a rally outside City Hall calling on Parker and members of Council to pass a multiyear moratorium on the construction of data centers in Philadelphia. They vowed to make data centers an electoral issue ahead of the May primary election, when the mayor and every Council member will be on the ballot.
The group, called No Data Centers in Philly, said in a statement Wednesday that Parker giving the task force until June to make its recommendations is too little, too late, and that “a task force does nothing to protect us now and takes time that we don’t have.”
“Across the country, data centers have relied on dirty deals to get built, with NDAs, backroom negotiations, and massive tax handouts,” the statement read. “We can’t let that happen here. The communities who will see their health, homes, and wallets hurt by a data center need to be at the table.”
President Kenyatta Johnson (right) is greeted by data center protesters in the hall while he heads toward City Council chambers Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, as the body returns for start of its fall session.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Parker’s order also comes as talks of regulating artificial intelligence have gripped Washington after a handful of tech executives called for a global slowdown on the advancing technology. There has been bipartisan backlash across the country to the data centers that power AI; however, President Donald Trump has said the industry does not need new regulations.
Last month, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order that effectively placed limits on data center construction in the state and required that the projects receive local backing before obtaining a state permit. It would also ban state agencies from using nondisclosure agreements.
In Philadelphia, no member of City Council has said publicly that they would introduce legislation to place a moratorium on data center construction. Lawmakers are not currently considering any specific proposal to construct a data center.
This summer, the city’s planning commission issued a report indicating that there are just two plots of land in Philadelphia that could accommodate a hyperscale data center: the former South Philly refinery site known as the Bellwether District and 2600 Grant Ave., a city-owned plot adjacent to Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
However, building a data center in either of those locations would face hurdles.
District Council members wield enormous power over land-use decisions in their districts, and the Council members who represent the two potential locations said they oppose a hyperscale data center in their jurisdictions.
City Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Democrat who represents the district where the Grant Avenue site is located, said in an interview Thursday that he “is a no, until we really figure this whole thing out.” He said he is concerned that a data center could drive higher utility bills for his constituents.
“I think we have to participate to be competitive in the global economy,” he said. “But it’s ripe for some problems, and I think we have to sort that out at the federal level.”
And Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who represents the area where the Bellwether district is located, said Thursday: “We don’t support any type of hyperscale data centers.” He cited concerns about environmental impacts and noise.
“I haven’t gotten to the point that it should be a moratorium,” Johnson said. “But we are looking at regulations.”
Bellwether district leaders have said no data center is currently in the works there.
Mia Fioravanti, senior vice president of corporate affairs for the HRP Group/The Bellwether District, said earlier this week at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia PAGE Real Estate and Construction Summit that there are no “data center users in our current project pipeline.”
Philadelphia City Hall was evacuated and City Council was abruptly adjourned on Thursday after sheriff’s deputies alerted officials to a suspicious package in Council, Council President Kenyatta Johnson said.
Police said the package was examined and determined not to contain a device, and the scene was cleared. No injuries were reported.
All 17 Council members, their staffers, journalists, and members of the public were evacuated from the building. Managing Director Carlton Williams said that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was safe and that she was not in the building when the package was discovered.
People who evacuated were permitted to reenter City Hall shortly before 1 p.m. Council reconvened shortly after, according to Vincent Thompson, a spokesperson for Johnson.
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore told reporters at the scene that no one was charged in connection with the incident.
Vanore said two police dogs alerted officers to something suspicious in the bag, but he said it is possible nothing nefarious occurred. The bag, he said, could have had residue from a firearm or fireworks that had been in it within the last several days.
As chambers were being evacuated, officers detained and removed a government employee. The employee spoke to a reporter while in handcuffs.
He said he believed it was his package that was at the center of the ordeal.
“I think it’s my bag that I left on the chair,” he said.
He said it was not a bomb.
Outside City Hall, members of Council and government employees milled about, many calmly speculating on the origin of the threat or lack thereof.
Councilmember Jim Harrity, a Democrat known as one of the chamber’s more colorful members, said plainly: “Hopefully it turns out to be not a bomb, but something else.”
