Side hustles have landed Philly lawmakers in prison. The next City Council wants change.

Former City Councilmember Bobby Henon reported to federal prison last week to begin serving a 3½-year sentence for bribery. The bribe? A $70,000 side job at the politically powerful electricians’ union in exchange for doing his union boss’ bidding on Council.

Few mechanisms are in place to prevent another scandal — but that could change if the next City Council has its way.

Democratic candidates running in the May 16 primary election overwhelmingly support more restrictions on second jobs for lawmakers, with some calling for a full-fledged ban on outside employment in light of conflict-of-interest scandals in recent years.

City Council members enjoy $130,000 annual salaries, taxpayer-funded work cars, and other benefits. Yet for decades, lawmakers have also worked side gigs at law firms, unions, and consultancies; held paid board positions at large corporations; and maintained stakes in for-profit companies.

Henon’s conviction in 2021 sent a shockwave through City Hall, spurring two revision efforts from Council members, but the proposals have since fizzled out.

Now, all 20 Democrats running for five at-large seats said they’d support new restrictions on outside employment. Four candidates — Erika Almirón, Ogbonna Paul Hagins, Amanda McIllmurray, and Sherrie Cohen — said they’d vote to ban outside employment altogether.

“People make a lot of money on Council — more money than I ever thought I’d make in life,” said Almirón, an immigrant rights activist. “They should be focused on the job.”

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Most of the Democratic candidates said restrictions should be aimed at limiting certain jobs that overlap with official city business, while making exceptions for people with their own businesses or consultancies.

“We can do a job, and do it really well, and be able to continue as entrepreneurs,” said Donavan West, a Council candidate who owns a small-business consultancy.

Conflicts of interest are often in the eye of the beholder.

Activists hounded former Councilmember Allan Domb, now a mayoral candidate, for voting on hot-button real estate issues such as the 10-year tax abatement that could affect his vast real estate empire. (The city’s Board of Ethics found no conflict on paper, but later fined Domb for a separate real estate disclosure issue.)

Councilmember Brian O’Neill and former Councilmember Derek Green have held “of counsel” positions at powerhouse law firms. During his time on Council, Mayor Jim Kenney doubled as a consultant for architectural firm Vitetta and held a seat on the board of Independence Blue Cross. In all those cases, the elected officials countered they were above board with ethics rules.

Good-government group Committee of Seventy has for years lobbied to modernize the city’s outdated conflict-of-interest provisions. But lawmakers would have to introduce legislation to change the rules around their side hustles.

“Our primary concern are conflicts of interest — both real and perceived — and in the recent past, we’ve had both,” said Patrick Christmas, Committee of Seventy’s policy director. “I can’t see why an incoming Council member wouldn’t support [restrictions].”

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In the wake of Henon’s conviction, one proposed Council bill sought to cap the income a Council member could make on an outside job, while another would have clarified conflict-of-interest rules and disclosure guidelines for outside employment. But those efforts stalled after the two Council members who introduced them resigned to run for mayor.

Many candidates for Council at-large seats said moonlighting for an entity that works directly with a city — be it a business or a labor union — should not be permitted.

“If you’re running a business that sells ice cream every day, unless you’re trying to get an ice cream contract with the city, that wouldn’t be a conflict of interest,” said Christopher Gladstone Booth, a teacher who supports more restrictions.

McIllmurray, the former political director of progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, added that a ban should include certain property holdings, citing Domb as a prime example. Hagins, an activist and frequent public commenter in Council, emphasized that lawmakers should be focused on public service instead of juggling multiple jobs.

Other candidates were careful not to restrict lawmakers who might double as landlords or small-business owners.

Job Itzkowitz, the executive director of the Old City District who is running for an at-large seat, owns and rents a handful of investment properties in the city. He supports restrictions on certain outside jobs, but said Council members shouldn’t be forced to divest from private holdings to take a job that may only last the length of a four-year term. He would, however, support strengthening the city’s financial disclosure requirement to include spousal employment. (Spouses’ jobs have proved to be another thorny issue for councilmembers in recent years.)

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Nina Ahmad, a scientist and women’s rights advocate, holds a 49% stake in JNA Capital Inc., a real estate firm she co-founded with her husband that helps finance development projects across the city. Ahmad said she backs modernizing the conflict-of-interest rules and would recuse herself from any business related to the firm, if elected.

“At the end of the day, there is always some access,” she said. “You can only do so much, but what we can do, we should.”