Philadelphians vote to create chief public safety director position, reject change to police oversight hiring

Voters rejected a ballot question which sought to change the city’s charter by loosening hiring requirements for the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.

Rodney Ross arrives at the polling place at the Greater Mount Sinai Baptist Church on Election Day in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia on Tuesday.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

by Oona Goodin-Smith

Published May 17, 2023, 4:47 p.m. ET

Philadelphians voted Tuesday to create a new cabinet-level position overseeing public safety, while rejecting a proposed change to broaden hiring for the city’s police oversight commission.

With a $265,000 annual salary, Philadelphia’s chief public safety director will report to the mayor and will oversee the police, fire, prisons, recreation, and emergency management departments.

The appointee must be confirmed by City Council, which proposed the high-level role earlier this year to improve coordination between departments as Philadelphia faces a persistent spike in homicides, largely driven by a rise in gun violence.

Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration voiced concern that the new position would limit the next mayor’s ability to create a leadership structure, but Council unanimously approved legislation authorizing the ballot question despite those objections.

Philadelphia voters Tuesday also rejected a ballot question that sought to change the city’s charter by loosening hiring requirements for the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, exempting members from the city’s merit-based civil service requirements for municipal employees.

Proponents of the change said the exemption would expedite staffing the agency, which was proposed in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in 2020 and took years to come to fruition. The commission is tasked with investigations into officer misconduct, audits and policy recommendations, and reviewing citizen complaints against police.

And voters approved two other questions on the Tuesday ballot. One will create a division of workforce solutions within the city’s Commerce Department. The other expands requirements for annual appropriations to Philadelphia’s budget stabilization reserve, more commonly known as the “rainy day fund.”

The ballot amendments to the Home Rule Charter came amid a high-stakes mayoral primary election that saw a tepid turnout. Former Councilmember Cherelle Parker won the Democratic nomination for mayor, making her the likely choice to become Philadelphia’s 100th mayor and the first woman to helm the city. David Oh, who also served on City Council, won the Republican mayoral nomination uncontested.