Philly City Council is eying new sprinkler system law to prevent fires — with support from a convicted ex-councilmember

A bill introduced in Philadelphia City Council on Thursday would require sprinkler systems in certain high-rise apartment buildings, a safety reform driven by disastrous blazes in recent years, including the January fire in Fairmount that killed 12 people.

The bill, introduced by Councilmember Mark Squilla, would mandate property owners to install fire-dousing systems in all buildings roughly six stories or taller than 75 feet, and the proposal has already drawn opposition from real estate groups.

While Squilla’s proposal has been years in the making, his bill has another set of fingerprints on it, too: his former colleague, Bobby Henon, who has continued to advocate for the sprinkler expansion since leaving office in January.

Henon was convicted on bribery and honest services fraud in November for doing the bidding of former building trades leader John J. Dougherty in exchange for a $70,000-a-year union salary from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. After his conviction, Henon stepped down from his committee leadership roles on Council, but continued to perform legislative work through his resignation in January, as permitted under state law.

But in February, weeks after he tendered his resignation papers, Henon continued discussions with both Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration and Council colleagues about pursuing the sprinkler legislation, according to emails obtained by The Inquirer.

Kenney spokesperson Kevin Lessard confirmed two administration officials met with Henon at the ex-lawmaker’s request to “discuss several outstanding issues he had been working on and wanted to bring to the Administration’s attention.” The administration said it is reviewing the legislation introduced in Council.

As a citizen now, Henon’s lingering influence on Council represents an unusual gray area for ethics watchdogs.

“It doesn’t look great to have a Council member who left office and is now heading off to prison to be working on these matters,” said Patrick Christmas, policy director of good government group Committee of Seventy. “He should have gotten it done before leaving office.”

Henon would be required to register as a lobbyist if he was getting paid by a third-party group to push legislation, according to the Board of Ethics. But Shane Creamer, the board’s executive director, said that Henon if is acting on his own behalf, “there wouldn’t be any issues.”

Financial records submitted by Local 98 show the union paid Henon $73,944 through 2021, though it remains unclear if he is still on payroll this year. Henon, who is scheduled for sentencing in June, could not be immediately be reached for comment Friday.

Squilla, who took over as chair of Council’s Licenses and Inspections Committee after Henon stepped down, saw no problem with Henon’s involvement, considering their long engagement on building safety issues.

Squilla in 2018 sponsored a bill requiring sprinkler systems in all historic buildings, and in recent years, he said he worked closely with Henon on extending the mandate to high-rise buildings. It’s the next step in what he eventually hopes will be a citywide mandate to prevent catastrophic blazes.

“I don’t know if you can lobby somebody who wanted to do it in the first place,” Squilla said. “[Henon] was asking questions, but there was no lobbying as far as I’m concerned.”

Some landlord groups are already pushing back against the bill as an unnecessary and expensive mandate. In a statement, the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors questioned whether sprinkler systems were as effective as hard-wired smoke detectors, which are already required in high-rise buildings.

“In addition, the decision to install additional fire safety devices should be a consumer choice, not a mandate,” said Melody Zimmerman, director of government affairs for the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors.

Squilla said the 2018 arson of an Old City building that displaced hundreds and crippled businesses on a busy street could have been quelled by automated sprinkler systems. January’s catastrophic fire inside a Philadelphia Housing Authority-owned rowhouse in Fairmount was also motivation for the bill, even though the property in question was not tall enough to require sprinklers under the proposed legislation.

“If this passes, we would like to do all buildings,” Squilla said. “We’ll get pushback from all landlords. But it’s a small step,” he added, noting the cost of new sprinkler systems runs several thousand dollars.

Squilla said he’s open to amendments to relieve the economic burden on property owners, including possibly creating exemptions for buildings with ample fire escape options or other measures.

The bill, which is co-sponsored by Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, will next go before Squilla’s committee for a hearing.