The super PAC backing Jeff Brown’s mayoral campaign has agreed to sit on the sidelines through the primary

A judge on Monday approved a limited agreement between the Philadelphia Board of Ethics and For A Better Philadelphia, a super PAC backing Jeff Brown’s campaign for mayor, that will keep the political group on the sidelines through the May 16 primary.

The agreement does not affect the broader case that the ethics board is pursuing against For A Better Philadelphia, which is an independent expenditure committee that is legally required to operate separately from Brown and his campaign. Instead, it largely extends the terms of a temporary injunction Common Pleas Court Judge Joshua Roberts ordered two weeks ago to prevent the super PAC from seeking to influence the outcome of the mayor’s race while the overall case unfolds.

» READ MORE: Inside the Board of Ethics’ case against the super PAC supporting mayoral candidate Jeff Brown

The board has accused For A Better Philadelphia of violating the city’s campaign finance laws by illegally coordinating with Brown, pointing to extensive fundraising work he did for the group and its related nonprofit in the months leading up to the launch of his campaign.

Brown and For A Better Philadelphia have both denied wrongdoing in that case, which is unlikely to be decided before the Democratic primary.

Roberts canceled a hearing he had scheduled for Monday afternoon after the two sides filed the agreement they reached over the weekend. It’s possible the next hearing in the case won’t come until after the election.

Brown is one of the five viable candidates seeking the Democratic primary, which is likely to decide the mayor’s race given the party’s more than 7-to-1 voter registration advantage in the city.

The super PAC on Monday attempted to cast the agreement as a victory, pointing to the board’s withdrawal of its request for an emergency injunction against the super PAC seeking to influence the mayor’s race as evidence that the board wants to “extricate itself from its dubious claims.”

The injunction request, however, became unnecessary in light of the agreement, and the board is not withdrawing its lawsuit accusing For A Better Philadelphia engaged in a scheme to circumvent the city’s campaign contribution limits when Brown solicited donations for it in 2021 and 2022.

Brown called the ethics board’s case a “nonsense complaint” and echoed the PAC’s characterization of the board dropping the injunction request as a victory.

“I have run with honesty and integrity,” Brown said in a statement. “My customers, business partners and the Philadelphians I’ve served over the past 35 years know that. And they know I’ll bring that same honesty and integrity to City Hall, where it is desperately needed.”

Brown has admitted that he assisted the group with fundraising but said that work shouldn’t be viewed as coordination between him and the super PAC because he did it before launching his campaign in November. Among other fundraising activities, Brown in September invited guests to and appeared at a $100,000-a-head fundraising dinner for the super PAC and its nonprofit, which share the same name.

The board contends that it’s irrelevant whether Brown had announced his mayoral bid at the time of his fundraising efforts, a dispute that will likely play a major role in deciding the overall case.

Matthew White, an attorney representing For A Better Philadelphia, said that even if it loses that dispute, he plans to argue that just because Brown raised money for the group does not mean he coordinated with it to an extent that would violate campaign finance laws.

“What they’re essentially saying is that any time a citizen would participate in a process to raise money for a [nonprofit] to get out the vote [and] they later become a candidate, that that’s improper,” White told reporters Monday. “That just strikes me as very unfair and unconstitutional.”

Despite the temporary injunction two weeks ago, the nonprofit arm of For A Better Philadelphia has continued to distribute fliers urging people to vote. The fliers do not mention any candidate or election, but some share the Brown campaign’s antiestablishment message and use the campaign’s color, orange.

» READ MORE: Voters are still getting mailers from an outside group boosting Jeff Brown for mayor despite a judge’s order

Although the nonprofit has funneled nearly $3 million into boosting Brown’s candidacy, David Maser, the nonprofit’s chair, said in an affidavit filed last week that its primary purpose is to “encourage and empower historically disenfranchised Black and brown citizens to participate in Philadelphia’s elections.” (Maser is also the chair of For A Better Philadelphia’s political action committee.)

The affidavit included two examples of get-out-the-vote fliers the nonprofit has been sending, and the ethics board on Monday did not ask the judge to step in over the issue.

The sample fliers filed with the court, however, do not include one that has recently raised eyebrows for its similarity to Brown’s messaging on the campaign trail. The flier does not mention him by name but urges people not to vote for the “same elected officials who made our city dangerous and dirty.” Brown is the only candidate in the top tier of mayoral contenders who is not a former elected official.

The agreement includes a provision that will require the nonprofit to provide proof to the judge on a weekly basis that its voter outreach communications do not violate the prohibition on spending money to influence the outcome of the race.