Talk The Talk: Haile Johnston, City Council Hopeful
Haile Johnston is one of a clutch of progressives running for City Council in the May primary — candidates who very much have banded together to create a “New Philadelphia” platform. In large part, these are candidates who actively seek to make Philly politics no longer an oozing wound of shame, especially in City Council, where Philly really is still excelling at being the Last Great Soviet City. By living in and running for the 5th District council seat, Johnston finds himself in a place with so many competing concerns it’s dizzying. Check the map: The 5th includes Brewery Town and Fairmount, Temple University, parts of Northern Liberties and Fishtown, Rittenhouse Square and Strawberry Mansion, where Johnston resides.
After the jump, we rap with Johnston about how anyone could make any sense of all that — and in Philadelphia City Council, natch — and how he thinks the people of Philly are finally, at long last, ready for change.
Haile, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. We appreciate it. And we might as well get this out of the way first: What can you do that Darrell L. Clarke (current councilman in the 5th) is not, or has not? Council incumbency is almost like a birthright in Philly politics and we look at all this new blood like you and Vern Anastasio, and we think, “Awesome. But is it possible?”
Thank you for talking with me! Congrats and good luck with Philebrity.tv! First and foremost I want to bring a truly community driven and proactive approach to the problems facing the 5th District. I will work with community based organizations in our neighborhoods to address the root causes of many of our neighborhoods’ problems. The incumbent is known for having one of the poorest constituent service records in the city. I’d like to return service to the office and create an atmosphere where constituents actually feel like they are being served. Also, unlike the current approach to planing, I will bring more of a entrepreneurial vision to the office. We are faced with complex problems and only nuanced solutions will address them successfully.
You ask is it possible… We’ve been knocking on doors all over the district, from Strawberry Mansion to Rittenhouse to Fishtown and to Northwood. People are excited for new leadership! Everyone feels like they are undeserved, no matter where they are. I don’t see the “reform movement” that is growing here in Philly as a young, Center City thing as many people paint it. This movement is an outgrowth discontent everywhere. Old ladies on drug infested blocks are just as excited for change as Anne Dicker.
Fair enough. That brings me my next question: I was looking at your positions on crime and taxes, and I like that you’re not as quick as the mayoral candidates to make Philly a police state and actually address the social and economic causes that have created Murderdelphia. However, this bit struck me as off: “As we restructure taxes in Philadelphia, we must maintain the current level of services but alter the efficiency with which they are delivered.” First of all, there’s no way you’re gonna be able to do what you want to without raising taxes, and secondly, the “current level of services” is weak at best, depending which part of the 5th you live in.
You bring up a good point. But from my experience working at the Department of Public Health I don’t think we need to raise taxes to increase the quality of public services. The leadership of many City organizations are not empowered by Council to as effective as they possbily could. They need the autonomy when it relates to oversight to be able to more effectively do what they do. Furthermore, while we have many wonderful people who work for the City there are plenty that take their jobs for granted and our City suffers for it. We need leadership in Council that will have the political will to demand the work output from our City agencies that we deserve. We also need Councilpeople who lead by example. With poor leadership at the top, the trickle down effect is tremendous.
Most important of all is political will to demand what we as a City deserve. Few politicians have the gumption to demand improvement and efficiency, and then furthur burden the systems by using agencies as ad hoc constituent service tentacles.
OK, but this is Philadelphia City Council we are talking about here. If you win, you’re gonna have an even bigger Obama-problem than Obama would: Even if you and other progressive candidates get in there, you will be surrounded by Frank DiCiccos and Carol Ann Campbells and Joan Krajewskis. These are not people known for their ability to make the system work. How would you get these folks on the same page as you?
Our ability to be elected will be signal enough for them. As they see the current political power structure falling apart they are going to react the same way as the people in the State House have over the past year. People are tired of politics as usual and politics that don’t benefit people and communities. Nothing effects political climate more than an engaged electorate. The writing is on the wall and incumbents are reading it. Hell, even Bob Brady is putting up signs talking about change!
Philadelphia has been resisting change since before World War II and it has gotten us no where. People are cognizant of that and are more open to new vision than ever before.
I sincerely hope you are right, but please do not regard my skepticism as a slight on you – far from it. Let’s talk about the 5th district a little bit: It contains multitudes. All different kinds of people, walks of life, different neighborhoods. How do you keep everybody happy?
Free tickets to the Robin Hood Dell East!
Ha. That would be a good start, actually, and probably more than anybody in the 5th has gotten from their councilman in some time.
No seriously… It is a tough, dynamic landscape. Different communities have different issues. I would start by hiring a competent staff, which would differentiate me immediately form the incumbent… Next I would again look to work with strong community based organizations to address problems specific to their communities. Our City govenment by no means has all the resources to address everyones problems, but is is important to be able to empower organizations to be able to address issues themselves…
Does the City give you the budget for something like that? By that I mean, the 5th is crazy chopped up – it seems like it would take more people, more focus, more time, more money.
Council gets a budget of over $500,000 depending. Is that enough, no. But the question is how do you leverage other organizations and resources to have that money best spent. Public/private partnerships are critical. With funding cuts coming from Washington every year we need creative thinking to create new models for govenment service. And we also need to analyze best practices and new models from successful governing agencies in other cities.
Interesting. Would you mind giving me an example of a funding problem in the 5th and a public/private way to fix it?
Sure. Mander Recreation Center is right around the corner from my house at 33rd and Diamond. They currently receive no money money for programming. They have a staff person, but no money for programs. My wife and I run a non-profit we founded called East Park Revitalization Alliance. We have attracted significant funding from non-governmental sources to initiate and sustain programming for youth… Without any funding from the City our summer camp now serves over 70 children.
So what kind of places does the dough come from?
Private grant foundations and some corporations.
That’s so anonymous!
Philadelphia Foundation, Seybert, Westrum Development and others…
… but I see where you are going with this, and that definitely seems like it’s a new model for getting things done in cities where people historically can’t get anything done. Sadly, I guess that’s us right now.
Not sadly… People are doing it here; all over the City! We have some of the most brilliant, creative people in this City working hard and making new models that work. The next step is taking [it] beyond the non-profits and other NGO’s and to government. One of the single greatest things a Councilperson can do is create a climate for the successful interaction of and between organizations. The incumbent feels threatened by any organizatoins that is doing good without his blessing. That needs to change.
Damn skippy it does, Haile. I know you have to run, and I’d like to thank you for your time. And good luck out there!
Haile Johnston will be appearing at a meet-and-greet tonight at Johnny Brenda’s from 6 to 7:30pm.
