Philly mayoral candidate Helen Gym has lots of big plans, but it’s unclear how she’d pay for them

Helen Gym unveiled a public-safety plan Monday with a long list of new and expanded city services, including an army of therapists, free crime-scene cleanup, nighttime hours at libraries and recreation centers, and guaranteed jobs for some people under 30.

But the Philadelphia mayoral candidate and former City Council member did not offer a cost estimate. Asked how she’d fund the guaranteed employment proposal, Gym said her administration would first focus on vulnerable young people and those who live in underserved communities.

“I assume it’s going to be a significant effort, and I think there are significant dollars that are currently available,” she said, “but we don’t have a commitment or a plan right now.”

A spokesperson said Tuesday that Gym was referring to “the city’s lack of clear plan and commitment,” not her campaign’s.

The ambitious strategy to tackle the city’s persistent gun-violence crisis, which she announced in a West Philadelphia park alongside district Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, leans heavily on social services. It comes two weeks after she released a detailed education agenda that includes free SEPTA passes for all city students and a $10 billion plan to modernize school buildings.

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Gym, the most progressive of the five major contenders vying for the Democratic nomination ahead of the May 16 primary, is not the only one who has floated new strategies without specifying how the city would pay for them. For instance, former Councilmember Cherelle Parker’s plan involves hiring 300 new police officers, and businessman Jeff Brown’s includes expanding workforce development programs — proposals that were unveiled without specific funding streams.

But compared with her rivals’, Gym’s proposals on public safety and education include, by far, the largest expansions of city services and programs. They include more funding for public defenders and police oversight; “universal” access to mental-health treatment in neighborhoods most affected by violence; city assistance for block parties; a fund for funeral expenses; and improvements that make every school a “community school.”

Opponents have already criticized Gym’s agenda. During a debate last week, Parker called Gym’s education plan “imaginary” and said, “What taxes will you raise? What services will you cut?”

After the debate, Gym retorted that Parker’s comments were “from somebody who doesn’t have a creative way on how to leverage investments for our schools.”

Gym has been noncommittal on whether or how she would change the city’s tax structure if she were elected. She has said she would convene a new tax commission to “overhaul” it. As a City Council member, she opposed reductions to the city’s wage and business taxes, and has on the campaign trail been critical of opponents who say they would cut taxes but not city services.

To pay for her education plan, Gym said, the city can borrow cash over 10 years to fund capital projects, and should explore increasing the share of funding the School District receives from city property taxes. The $10 billion facilities proposal is alone a large expense — under the current administration, the proposed capital investment for the entire city for the next six years is $13.2 billion.

As for the public-safety plan, which also includes expanding antiviolence programs that target people at risk of violence, Gym said Monday that the city could redeploy some of its existing $200 million budget for prevention programs outside policing.

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Gym said she sees city dollars as “seed funding” for much of the work, and would also aggressively advocate for more state dollars and tap philanthropic organizations for support.

“Once we start to show and demonstrate what the plan actually looks like, how we’re going to engage people,” she said, “I think that you’ll see an outpouring of interest and energy.”

Asked whether she would redirect part of the $800 million police budget to cover her priorities, she said she “wouldn’t call it taking money away; I think there may be overlap in there.”

While the plan is largely focused on services outside law enforcement, it also proposes promoting more police officers to the detective level to expand the ranks of investigators who can probe shootings and homicides. She said the city must also invest more in modernizing its crime lab.

Other parts of her proposal do not necessarily require new funding streams, such as declaring a citywide emergency over crime.

She said the next administration must be ambitious in how it tackles the biggest issue facing the city.

“I’ll be damned if I lose another young person to these streets,” Gym said. “We’ve got billions of dollars at our disposal. And we’ve got more to offer than anything that these corners do.”