Council Committee of the Whole Budget hearing
Photo credit: Philadelphia City Council Communications Office
As the Councilmember representing an area that includes Philadelphia’s stadiums, the Navy Yard and ports, Kenyatta Johnson already had a lot of responsibilities. Being Council President has added to that.
By Denise Clay-Murray
Every Thursday morning, the floor of Philadelphia City Council chambers in City Hall is packed with Council staffers, visitors and Councilmembers waiting to start the council session.
There are groups taking pictures with the Councilmembers, who will be presenting resolutions and honoring them once the session starts. Lobbyists are discreetly making the rounds. Journalists are trying to get some questions answered about the agenda items that were just placed on the Final Passage Calendar during the caucus session preceding the meeting.
But promptly at 10 a.m., the sound of a gavel hitting a podium, followed by a member of the Sergeant of Arms saying, “Quiet please!” fills the air.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson is ready to start this session of Council. On time.
Johnson, who was sworn in as Council president in 2024, represents a district that includes some of the city’s biggest economic drivers in the sports stadiums and the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
He’s had a lot to deal with during his tenure, including the debate over the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposed downtown stadium, 76 Place. While those opposed to the stadium going in Chinatown were elated, the fact that the Sixers would ultimately do the one thing they didn’t want to do — partner with Comcast and the Philadelphia Flyers to create a joint stadium — some believe that the change represented a failure on the part of both Johnson and Mayor Cherelle Parker.
But while the job has its challenges, it’s one Johnson is glad to do.
“Every day, I get up and it’s not, like, ‘I’m going to work,’” he said. “I’m having a good time. I’m enjoying myself.”
The SUN spoke with Johnson about his tenure as Council president so far, the adjustment that comes with going from just representing your district to being the man in charge, the city budget, and what he considers his biggest challenge. Hint: It’s not being Council President.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Anthony Phillips announce the re-opening of the Driveway Repair Program
Photo credit: Philadelphia City Council Communications Office
SUN: Thank you, Council President, for some of your time. You’ve held this position for a year now. What’s it been like and what made you decide to run for Council president?
CP: I decided to run for City Council president based on different members encouraging me to think about running, and most importantly, the opportunity to run to lead a body, which means a whole lot to me. My last year has been very, very humbling in that I have the opportunity to serve in this great institution. But most importantly, I get to be the leader of 16 dynamic, hardworking elected officials. And so, it’s been very, very inspiring.
SUN: Still, it’s got to be a little different going from being one of the 17 to being the head guy.
CP: I’ve always had leadership qualities. Whether it’s serving in the state house under Gov. Ed Rendell and [Gov.] Tom Corbett, as a student attending Mansfield University and serving as the president of my student body, or the chair of the Board of Student Governors, which represents all 14 state schools, I’ve always — for some reason or another, just based upon me being a hard worker and most importantly, supporting the individuals within the organizations I’m working with — risen to a position of leadership. So, I think it was a natural graduation to the position, just based upon me working with my colleagues, my colleagues trusting in me, and also, most importantly, encouraging, empowering and supporting my colleagues to be the best that they can be.
SUN: Was this an office you had to campaign for?
CP: Yes, absolutely! You have to secure nine votes. And for me, and I humbly say this, a lot of the work that I’ve done, just supporting my members who are in this body, making sure that when they come to City Hall, they know their way around. They know what the charter is.
They know about the difference between an at-large member versus a district member and all the nuances of being a good council person.
I’ve always tried to encourage new members with my institutional knowledge in terms of being supportive of them. And then also, you know, for me, the position is always not about me, but it’s about us being able to work collectively with individuals who want to see the City of Philadelphia move forward.
SUN: What’s considered “moving forward” looks different to different people. And one of the places where that difference showed up was when it came to the 76 Place stadium project. And depending on what side you were sitting on, that either went very well or very badly. From your position, which was it?
CP: Well, all of my members, the 12 members who voted for the passage of the arena project, did their due diligence, did the hard work on a proposal, and that’s why the proposal passed 12 to 5. After that, it’s out of our hands. And so, I believe that the members who worked with me to pass the bill did all the hard research and work necessary to make sure that it was going to move Philadelphia forward. The fact that it didn’t isn’t on the members — it’s on the individuals who were responsible for the actual development proposal.
SUN: Throughout the 76 Place hearings, I kept hearing people say “Put it in the Stadium District!” I used to live in the Stadium District, and game days weren’t always the best experience. What have you heard from those residents?
CP: They’re excited that we’re getting a new stadium. I think we’ve done a great job in terms of managing crowd control when people are going to games and leaving games. I think we’ve done a good job in terms of working with the police to make sure that we are focusing on, one, the issue of public safety, but two, making sure that when people are leaving, there’s no trash and debris inside the neighborhood. I think we’ve done a good job in terms of addressing the quality of life. I haven’t gotten any calls from the people living in deep South Philadelphia saying, ‘Hey! No! You should have kept it downtown! Don’t build it inside this area!’ And that’s from the RCOs, which are the neighborhood organizations, to the individuals who live inside the neighborhood.
Your City, Your Budget Town Hall meeting
Photo credit: Philadelphia City Council Communications Office
SUN: But now, that it’s going to remain in South Philadelphia, there’s still one problem that remains: the problem of development on Market East. There’s money in the budget to investigate what to do regarding economic development in that area. Is anyone talking to you about ways to get those things done?
CP: [First District Councilmember] Mark Squilla, as well as Mayor Cherelle Parker, and obviously, me as the Council president, will embark upon making sure that the task force that [Parker] put together, is one that’s diverse and inclusive and represents the stakeholders who live and own businesses along the East Market Street corridor. I think people would say that it’s disingenuous if all of a sudden, we moved forward with a plan with no community or stakeholder input, because then people would say, you know, they’re not including us in this process.
They’re just rolling out development along East Market Street.
Although the arena proposal didn’t move forward, it’s still a win-win. We didn’t have Comcast at the table working to help develop East Market Street in the beginning, but now, through the partnership with the Sixers, we have one of the largest corporations in the country working in partnership with the city.
SUN: What could this possibly mean for Philadelphia’s Black community?
CP: During my tenure as City Council president, one of my priorities is making sure we address the issue of poverty, which is why I have a task force around food insecurity, a working group around addressing the issue of homelessness here in the City of Philadelphia, and I am really making sure that when we talk about the development that’s taking place inside the City of Philadelphia, Black people have a chance to participate, because that’s the key way that we build generational wealth. Putting more opportunities in front of families is the key way to alleviate the issue of poverty that we see in Philadelphia.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson (at the podium) with (from the left), Mrs. Carolyn Smith (Will’s mother), Will Smith, Councilmembers Curtis Jones (Dist. 4), Katherine Gilmore Richardson (at-Large), Jamie Gauthier (Dist. 3) and Anthony Phillips (Dist. 9) attending Will Smith’s street renaming.
Photo credit: Philadelphia City Council Communications Office
SUN: Right now, Council is holding hearings on the 2026 fiscal year budget. What are you seeing from your members regarding funding priorities?
CP: I think people, to be quite frank with you, are still reviewing the proposal first and foremost. They’re taking a deeper dive and looking at the borrowing for the mayor’s $800 million] housing plan. They’re looking at the budget for the wellness proposal that’s on the table. They’re taking a look at and doing a deeper dive on how we continue to stay on the forefront around the issue of gun violence. Right now, those are some of the key things that I know individuals are paying attention to, as well as Vision Zero — we’re making sure we’re supporting that as well. As we go through this process, members will start saying, ‘Okay, well, here’s what my priorities are in terms of this process. Here’s where I want to stick my flag as we move forward in this process.’ And so that’s what people [are] paying attention to.
SUN: Philadelphia is going to be the center of the universe in 2026. America will celebrate its 250th anniversary here, plus you have soccer’s World Cup, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and a host of other events. What do you think the city’s biggest challenge is going to be in terms of meeting the moment? How will Council help the city meet it?
CP: Let me frame it this way. I’ll tell you what my priorities are because I can’t speak from the challenge standpoint. My priority is making sure that all this money we’re going to spend in 2026 has an impact on all the neighborhoods throughout the City of Philadelphia, and also, from a business growth and development standpoint, Black and Brown and women owned businesses have an opportunity to have a seat at the table — particularly African Americans. And why I say that is because there is going to be a significant number of opportunities for businesses here in the City of Philadelphia to grow during that time period, and I want to make sure that it’s diverse. I want to make sure African American vendors have a seat here at the table. I want to make sure our Latino brothers and sisters have a seat at the table, and those individuals who are from marginalized communities have a chance to participate.
And so I’ve been laser-like focused on that particular issue. That’s the first priority for me, but also making sure that, as the mayor would say, we’re cleaning and greening the city, I would just love to see murals all throughout the City of Philadelphia in partnership with the Mural Arts Program. So those conversations are happening, I believe. And I said this the other day at an event, we’re going to rise to the occasion. We did it when the Pope was here. We did it for the NFL draft, and recently, we just did it with the Super Bowl. And I believe we will continue to have a great event with no crazy incidents, but us just enjoying ourselves as a city.
SUN: One last question. When we first started hearing that you were up for Council president, one of the things that kept coming up as a surprise to people was the fact that you were basically going literally from being under federal indictment to being Council president. When you look at that trajectory, which is not a trajectory that most people get, are you surprised by that at all?
CP: First of all, I want to also just say for the record that I was fully exonerated and found innocent by a diverse jury of my peers.
But I wasn’t surprised by taking this trajectory because one, my colleagues are very, very supportive of me. And two, I would be remiss if I didn’t start off by saying, I thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for allowing me to get through that period. But I’m also humbled, because I understand this doesn’t happen to most people, and I think it’s a reflection of my character. I had tremendous support all throughout the process and so I’m truly humbled not only by the outgoing support throughout that process, not only from my members — well, from the community at large. So, I pinch myself sometimes, and I thank God every single time somebody says, ‘Mr. President!’ I just say ‘Thank you, Lord, and I appreciate you for the journey,’ and for His grace and, most importantly, His mercy.
SUN: Thanks so much, Council president. We really appreciate it.
CP: Thank you.
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