With City Council seats up for election this year, here’s a recap on what they do

Does anyone remember the song, I’m Just a Bill from Schoolhouse Rock? Like U.S. Congress, Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body that creates the bills that become law in the city.

The 17 City Councilmembers in Philadelphia have a hand in every piece of legislation that comes across the Mayor’s desk to sign and they oversee the public hearing and meetings for residents to consider the bills. Let’s go further into what that means for the city.

The main purpose of City Council is to create laws for Philadelphia, everything else is in service of that responsibility.

In addition to creating laws, City Councilmembers:

Voting for a councilmember dictates the type of policy that will be turned into city law, how responsive a councilmember is to their constituents, and the efficiency of councilmembers collaborating to keep the legislative system moving.

There are two types of City Councilmembers, At-Large Councilmembers and District Councilmembers. Out of 17 total, there are seven At-Large Councilmembers and 10 District Councilmembers that represent the city as a whole and by individual district, respectively. However, the difference between the two comes with a particular power that is hotly debated.

It’s called “Councilmanic Prerogative,” giving District Councilmembers an unchecked final say in land-use decisions in their geographical area. These land-use decisions come in the form of adding or removing bike lines, selling vacant parcels of land and opting out of roadway changes.

How it works: If a District Councilmember wants a specific kind of land use, the rest of City Council will defer to their decision and vote alongside them.

Most recently, the practice was put back into the public eye during the federal bribery trial of Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson — who was subsequently found not guilty of the charges.

All councilmember candidates must be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the U.S. and at least a one-year resident of Philadelphia (District Councilmembers must have lived in their districts for at least a year).

Of the seven at-large members, no more than five can be from the political party with the largest number of registered voters in the city — which is the Democratic Party. There are no party restrictions on District Councilmembers.

A city councilmember term is four years, with no term limits. To put it into perspective, City Councilmember Darrel L. Clarke, the current City Council president who will not run for reelection, has been on City Council for over 20 years.

City Councilmembers currently make $142,751 per year, while the City Council president currently makes $179,167 per year.

Yes, you can contact a Councilmember At-Large and your District Councilmember. Look through a list of each councilmember and their contact information at phlcouncil.com/council-members.

In Pennsylvania, local governments cannot vote to remove an elected official, nor can the public petition to recall an elected official. However, elected officials themselves can quit — it’s called resigning.

If a councilmember resigns (this election season, several councilmembers have resigned to run for mayor), a special election would be called to fill the vacancy and finish the rest of the resigned councilmember’s term. These special elections are usually planned to coincide with an already scheduled primary, general or municipal election to save the city money and resources.

Philadelphians themselves can’t recall elected officials. While the city’s Home Rule Charter has a provision explicitly outlined for the public to gather enough signatures and request an elected official to resign or face a recall election — state law does not allow local municipalities to conduct their own recall elections.

There’s potentially another way, which involves the state legislature impeaching a local elected official — as seen most recently with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ failed attempt to impeach Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner — however, impeachment of a Philly politician by the state legislature is very rare and has never been successful.