Philly’s Board of Ethics has fined Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson and mayoral candidate Allan Domb
In unrelated cases, Domb and Johnson agreed to pay fines after violating ethics rules while on Council.
City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson and former Councilmember Allan Domb have agreed to pay $2,000 in fines for violating city ethics rules in unrelated cases that involve mishandling required disclosures of real estate interests, the Philadelphia Board of Ethics announced Thursday.
Johnson was investigated by the ethics board for failing to list rental income from a South Philadelphia property on his public financial disclosure after The Inquirer reported the omission in June.
Shane Creamer, the board’s executive director, said the newspaper “revealed that [Johnson] had amended his disclosure form after being questioned about his rental property income.”
“It’s important that the board enforces these disclosure rules to make sure the public has all the information about the financial interests of city officials and that there’s full compliance with those disclosure requirements,” Creamer said.
Johnson said he has amended his 2020 and 2021 financial disclosures.
“When the issue was brought to my attention back in June, I quickly realized it was an unintentional oversight on my part and I started the process immediately to amend my financial disclosure forms,” Johnson said. “As stated in the agreement with the Ethics Board, there are no additional outstanding omissions on any of my City of Philadelphia Statements of Financial Interests.”
Johnson was acquitted earlier this year in a federal bribery case centered on money his wife made as a consultant.
» READ MORE: Philadelphia Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson failed to disclose income from a rental property
Domb, who resigned earlier this year and is running in next year’s mayoral election, failed to follow the city’s process for disclosing conflicts of interest when Council considered legislation in 2019 and 2021 that affected a property at 20th and Arch Streets in which he has an ownership stake. The insurance giant Chubb this month announced plans to make the building its largest office in North America.
Domb included his ownership of the limited liability corporation that owns property in his financial disclosure forms, and he abstained from two Council measures that were related to it, the ethics board found. But he failed to follow the city’s process for disclosing conflicts of interest by publicly stating his ownership stake in a hearing. Domb instead abstained during votes on those measures without explaining why.
“This week, I agreed to a settlement with the Philadelphia Board of Ethics regarding two votes I abstained from while a member of City Council on a property in which I held an ownership interest,” Domb said in a statement. “Although I had repeatedly disclosed my ownership interest in the property in my annual statements of financial interest and recused myself from each vote, I was not aware of a technical requirement that I publicly detail why I was abstaining. I accept full responsibility for this oversight, which is why I agreed to this settlement.”
» READ MORE: ‘Condo King’ Allan Domb owns more than 400 properties in Philly. What happens if he becomes mayor?
The ethics board notified Domb in July 2022 that it was investigating a confidential complaint about him, according to an email the board sent Domb that was obtained by The Inquirer. The email came about one month before Domb resigned from Council to consider running for mayor.
Domb, a highly successful real estate broker known as the “condo king,” has amassed a vast real estate empire based in Center City that includes more than 400 properties in Philadelphia and is worth well over $400 million, The Inquirer found in an October report on the myriad ways city government interacts with his properties.
He has promised to detail how he plans to avoid conflicts of interest if he becomes mayor, but he has not yet done so.
Staff writer Ryan W. Briggs and Jake Blumgart contributed reporting.