By STEVE SHERMAN, for The Philadelphia Tribune; Published Apr 15, 2023 https://tinyurl.com/je9m8ru9
PHILADELPHIA – Pennsylvania State Representative Amen Brown (D–10th) may not have the biggest financial backers funding his current run for Philadelphia mayor and he may not have the most significant endorsements, to date, but that doesn’t mean he lacks support.
“We have the biggest endorsement; we’re endorsed by the people,” said Brown in a recent interview exclusive to The Philadelphia Tribune. “There’s no bigger endorsement than that.”
A moderate, Brown is one of 11 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in a city that has remained true blue since 1952.
A member of the legislature since 2020, Brown is currently serving a sophomore term in the State House, representing West Philadelphia’s 10th District after running unopposed in the last statewide General Election and defeating Cassandra Green and Sajda Blackwell in the Primary.
Despite his youth – at 35, Brown is the youngest candidate in the race – and relative inexperience in the legislature, the state assemblyman says he has what it takes to run the city.
“My Harrisburg experience qualifies me to lead the city,” he said. “In Harrisburg, we debate, we negotiate. We educate each other about our different districts and communities that we represent.
“So debating is healthy.
“Currently in City Council, there’s not much of that going on. There are a lot of votes that are 17-0 or 16-1 so in no way, shape or form can that be healthy for our city.”
In the short time Brown has been in government, he’s ruffled more than a few feathers, supporting mandatory minimum sentencing, and calling for Mayor Jim Kenney to declare a State of Emergency last June after yet another weekend of gun violence ended in multiple fatalities.
He’s also called on Kenney to step down and while he didn’t cross party lines to support the State Assembly’s attempt to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasna, he has said publicly that both Kenney and Krasna need to go.
And he’s drawn some criticism for supporting a 2022 bill that prohibits the use of ATVs and dirt bikes in major municipalities like Philadelphia.
Brown says the guns, the ATVs, and Krasna, it’s all contributing to factors that make residents, visitors and those who come here to do business feel unsafe.
Recently, Brown sponsored a package of bills in the legislature that supports policing efforts in cities across the state in the wake of the killing of Temple University Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald.
And Brown supports the city’s Driving Equality Act that was signed into law last year but says the timing wasn’t right. The bill reclassified eight minor traffic violations – anything from a broken taillight to an expired inspection sticker – and redirects policing efforts toward reducing negative interactions with drivers, particularly minority ones.
“I fully understand where his thought process was coming from,” said Brown, referring to at-large City Councilman Isaiah Thomas, who sponsored the bill. “I’m a black man myself so I get it. But I don’t believe it was the right time to put that out there. Crime is at an all-time high. Car-jackings are at an all-time high.”
After announcing his mayoral candidacy late last year, Brown has come under fire on multiple fronts, overestimating the city’s annual budget – by $10 million – in an interview with Fox News’ Jeff Cole in December then having some financial misdeeds strewn out in a January profile by The Inquirer.
And a search of Philadelphia court records reveals a string of judgements – most of them in default – against Brown including a March 2021 sum awarded J. Lynn Enterprises in the amount of $64,453.
In May of that year, the Commonwealth, specifically the Department of Revenue, filed a lien in the amount of $10,743 for back taxes it says are owed by Brown.
And last March, Brown was listed as a co-defendant in a case (City of Philadelphia vs. A&A Enterprises LLC) where he and a former business partner were told by the courts they owed the city more than $31,000 in business taxes on a daycare they operated in Frankford.
Perhaps the biggest miscue Brown made was not listing these judgements on his 2021 Statement of Financial Interests (SOFI) all candidates are required to file with the State Ethics Commission. Candidates for state office must list any creditors owed more than $6,500.
According to court documents, Brown testified he didn’t understand the meaning of the word creditor, thinking it referred only to mortgages and credit cards, neither of which he says he has.
In the end, Commonwealth Court Judge Stacy Wallace dismissed the challenge to Brown’s candidacy and allowed his name to stay on the 2022 ballot. But she admonished the state representative saying “the candidate has displayed, by his own admission, an ignorance and shocking lack of care of the law for a sitting member of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly.”
Brown was allowed to amend his SOFI and stay on the ballot but only after admitting he had over $144,000 in judgements and liens levied against him.
A spokesperson for the state representative commented via email: “Over half of the debt mentioned in the (court) filings are connected to a dissolved business partnership. It has been proven in court that Rep. Brown was not responsible for that portion of the debt. Any additional debts were incurred as a young and upcoming entrepreneur.”
Brown says he is living proof that everyone deserves a second chance. He often speaks of growing up in Philadelphia, one of eight children, raised by a single mother and an incarcerated father.
Brown says as a middle schooler, he was a victim of gun violence, losing a close friend who was killed and even being shot himself.
The state representative says his arrival in the state assembly has changed West Philadelphia for the better. Since arriving in Harrisburg, he helped secure $2 million in state funding to help build the Ben Franklin Innovation and Community Impact Center at 3.0 University Place, a state-of-the-art life-sciences building located at 41st and Market.
Brown also reports that he helped Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) secure another $2 million to help renovate and upgrade PHMC’s Public Health Campus at 54th and Cedar Ave., adding that he’s secured millions in state funding to aid several other organizations.
“Me bringing my Harrisburg experience, working across the aisle with folks from all walks of life and delivering for West Philadelphia speaks volumes,” he said. “Before I got there, there were a lot of things that weren’t happening in West Philly, until now.”
And Brown is not afraid to stand up to the powerful gun lobby. In 2021, he negotiated a pact with Eagle Arms, the state’s largest gun show promotor to ban the sale of “ghost guns” at its shows. Ghost guns are kits that can be assembled easily, are sold without background checks and lack serial numbers so they cannot be traced.
He also voted against a bill that would have allowed anyone – as long as they were not prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law – to openly carry firearms.
In addition to supporting the police and development, Brown is a big proponent of charter schools.
“I support quality education,” said Brown. “I don’t think your zip code should determine whether you get an education or not. Parents should have the option where they want to send their child (to school).”
Brown drew the wrath of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) when he co-sponsored and voted for House Bill 2169, which would establish Lifeline Scholarships for students trapped in schools in the bottom 15 percent in terms of performance.
According to the latest population data, the city lost 25,000 residents in 2021. Brown thinks that’s directly related to gun violence and poorly performing schools. He says the schools need to be safe and parents need to know their kids are safe in the classroom.
When it comes to attracting big business to Philadelphia, Brown resorts to the safety of its citizenry.
“It’s simple,” he said. “You make the city safe, the businesses will come.”
But he also believes the city’s current business tax structure – which poses levies on both gross income and net profits – is prohibitive. Brown proposes a three-year tax abatement on new business ventures within the city.
With so many candidates in the Democratic Primary race, no one seems to have any type of lead, despite what supermarket operator Jeff Brown reports in a recent poll commissioned by his own campaign. According to a CBS News report, Jeff Brown’s poll has him leading with 22 percent of the vote, former Councilwoman Helen Gym with 16 percent and Center City real estate broker Allan Domb with nine percent.
Jeff Brown’s poll shows former Councilwoman Cherelle Parker trailing, though she recently received a big endorsement from the Philadelphia Building and Trades Council.
Amen Brown says he’s confident he’ll leap ahead of his opponents because he’s a man of the people who knows how to get things done.
“I see problems and I figure out solutions and amend people’s lives,” he said.
Amen Brown emerged from his 2022 state election campaign with less than $60,000 left over. Despite this, news reports say he has significant financial backing. TransparencyUSA.org says Amen raised more than $400,000 in his last run to the State Assembly. His biggest contributor was University City Housing Company, operated by one of West Philadelphia’s biggest landlords, Michael Karp.
He also obtained five-figure contributions from Students First PAC, Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund and Excellent Schools, PA, all three of which are charter school PACs.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party gave Amen more than $20,000 to run for state office last year.
And Marty Burger, the CEO of Silverstein Properties who introduced Amen Brown when he first hinted at his mayoral candidacy last December at a meeting of the Pennsylvania Society in Manhattan, chipped in $15,000 in individual contributions. Silverstein is the developer of 3.0 University Place.