Can any good come from the Dougherty/Henon trial?

October. 07, 2021

Well-nigh a year ago, I got a telephone call from a friend fifty take in common with indicted labor leader John Dougherty. "You should talk to John," he said. "He tin't sympathize why you lot're always beating up on Jimmy. He thinks you must be working for Josh."

Okay, and then let's translate. Jimmy, of course, is the mayor, Dougherty'due south shut political ally, with whom he grew upwardly. And Josh is Attorney General Josh Shapiro. I immediately had ii reactions. No, I didn't want to talk to John, I said. I've always thought of him as a fun guy to talk Phillies baseball game with, but whenever I've talked to him in the past nigh substantive matters—numerous times over the by 20 years—I've never been able to follow his railroad train of idea.

For John Dougherty in that location is no such affair every bit a principled position. Everything is almost pure power, its conquering and deployment. It'south a terribly cynical—and ultimately anti-autonomous—manner to govern, which is what makes this trial so different from all the other public corruption trials we've endured of late.

As he will no doubt demonstrate if he takes the stand up in the first of—count 'em—3 abuse trials now getting underway in federal court that finds him and Metropolis Councilmember Bobby Henon as defendants, Dougherty's idiosyncratic speech blueprint has long shed more than oestrus than light. Fifty-fifty in coincidental conversation, he assumes yous know context you lot'd have no way of knowing and the effect is a word salad that leaves you more than dislocated than before you engaged with him. I've never been able to discern if that'due south merely the way he talks—the synapses ever firing—or if he's a savant at obfuscation and misdirection. Either way, talking to him is an exercise in futility.

But the other part of the outreach—the preposterous notion that what I'd been writing was really me doing the bidding of the attorney general—has stuck with me to this mean solar day, and is illustrative of something we'll no doubt see demonstrated in his trial, time and again.

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For John Dougherty—and, past extension, many of his allies and acolytes—there is no such thing equally a principled position. Everything is about pure power, its acquisition and deployment. It's a terribly cynical—and ultimately anti-democratic—way to govern, which is what makes this trial so different from all the other public corruption trials we've endured of belatedly—Fumo, Fattah, Williams, Kane, Johnson-Harrell, et al. This one will lay blank the tactics of a way of politics that—nosotros'll encounter—may exist illegal, just is undoubtedly wholly undemocratic and counter to the public skilful.

"Johnny is the biggest conspiracy theorist I've known in politics," says longtime political consultant Ken Smukler, himself no stranger to federal prosecution. "He's a 1-man QAnon conspiracy. It's why then much of what will come up out in the trial will seem so petty and vindictive."

Before we become to examples of that curt-sightedness and vindictiveness, a note: yes, what follows will include some reforms that ought to come out of this Dougherty/Henon mess. Only, afterwards talking to Smukler and a handful of other insiders lately, allow me a critical caveat: It just may exist that nosotros can't improve Philadelphia'due south insidious, transactional political culture through regulatory reform. In the terminate, nosotros may but need people of more elevated character to play the game.

None of this, heed yous, is to pronounce on Dougherty's or Henon's guilt or innocence. That's for the jury to decide. But any fair-minded consideration of how Dougherty and Henon have conducted political business organization for years tin't aid but lead to the determination that—unlike other bad actors who have danced beyond our public stage—Dougherty truly has been expert at weaponizing the levers of government to meet his ain needs. Maybe that's not illegal—a recent Supreme Court ruling concerning the former governor of Virginia's actions renders blurry what is an "official act" on the office of an elected official—but it is…just kinda gross.

In the 160-page indictment of Dougherty and Henon, and already in the trial's testimony, we're hearing some depressing stuff. What's truly stunning, in addition to the Sopranos-like way these guys talk (Henon to Dougherty: "I don't give a fuck about anybody, all correct, but fucking you lot and us, and you know that."), is the caste to which Dougherty is alleged to have masterminded the subversion of our very commonwealth. Henon, Dougherty'due south former political director, gets paid $140,000 to be a Councilmember—to piece of work for the taxpayer, in other words—but he remained on Dougherty'due south payroll at a absurd $73,000 per year.

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Sadly, that's not illegal, but is it whatsoever wonder, then, that Henon is seen throughout the indictment allegedly using his Council power to manipulate the wheels of regime to serve Dougherty'south desires at our expense? At Dougherty's education, the complaint alleges, Henon pressured Comcast to steer close to $2 million in electrical piece of work to a Dougherty ally—work that was far pricier than other bidders—when Comcast was seeking Council approval of its 15-twelvemonth cablevision charter with the urban center.

Worse, when he learned that Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was having ii MRI machines installed by non-union labor, Dougherty called a hospital official who told him that the manufacturer had to install the machines in order for the warranty to be valid. The spousal relationship leader wasn't having it. "Information technology is also an 50&I violation," Dougherty said. "You don't want a metropolis matter shutting it downward."

Hmmm, sounds a lot like, Nice petty business organization here, it would be a shame if something happened to it. Lo and behold, Henon non once but twice saw to information technology that L&I intervened in the case and issued end-work orders. Recollect about that for a moment. A City Councilmember using the power of his function to go a city bureau to put its thumb on the scale in a labor dispute.

Remember that controversial soda taxation? Turns out, Doc and Henon were for information technology, the indictment alleges, not because it would fund pre-K or repair parks and rec centers. They wanted it in guild to stick it to the Teamsters, which had run an advert in 2015 (!!) that hurt little Johnny's feelings. In the indictment, Dougherty tells a union official colleague, "Let me tell you what Bobby Henon's going to do, and he's already talked to [elected local public official]…They're going to start to put a taxation on soda once again, and that volition cost the Teamsters 100 jobs in Philly."

At a time when trust in our institutions might be at an all-fourth dimension low, our courts, similar our politics, ought to behave its business in the light of day earlier equally many citizens as humanly possible.

Hell, you lot can't make this stuff upward: Dougherty, enraged that a tow truck driver had been unable to give him $10 back in change, is alleged to have directed his lackey to agree a Council hearing to investigate the visitor. Listen you, not an investigation into the tow truck manufacture, which could be a legitimate act of Council every bit office of its oversight responsibilities, merely a hearing into a specific company—all considering some poor schmuck couldn't provide verbal change.

In opening statements, the defense has already previewed its statement in response: That the authorities has a vendetta against their customer and is criminalizing the do of politics. On the first point, there is at least some anecdotal support. The feds first raided Dougherty'southward house five years ago—and then much for speedy trials. And, seriously, iii trials? (The current bribery trial; plus i that alleges some $600,000 in embezzled wedlock funds, to be followed past facing charges for threatening a contractor who accused Dougherty's nephew of assail.) What are the chances the Feds go 0 for iii?

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Throughout our history, the defense force'south 2d argument goes, interested parties take contributed to political candidates in guild to substantially go something for themselves. What Dougherty has done with Henon, their lawyers say, is simply the "normal and lawful lobbying of a City Councilmember." This is where the power of specific anecdotes will bear the twenty-four hour period in courtroom. We're used to political donors leveraging influence to shape legislation or garner favorable tax rates—but is that a far weep from a power broker hijacking the operations of government in order to punish his enemies and advantage his friends?

If all the predicate facts in the indictment are true—and presumably the quotes in the indictment are direct from wiretaps that volition air in courtroom—it'southward pretty difficult to get around the agonizing inference that an unelected labor leader weaponized a Urban center Councilmember and commandeered the work of urban center government for his own ends.

If that's true, there should be total-throated condemnation from anyone and everyone in our public life. Just, outside of Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez and Land Representative Jared Solomon, have yous heard annihilation but crickets from our political class? Might that be considering the long arm of Johnny Doctor's checkbook reached into then many pockets? Progressives, where'due south your moral outrage now?

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These next iv-to-six weeks will exist replete with concrete examples, culled from testimony and wiretaps, of the Dougherty and Henon playbook. At that place will be chestnut after anecdote in our daily news stories; the sum total could either fuel apathy or spark outrage. Here's hoping for the latter, in a city well-schooled in the art of shrugging in response to governmental malfeasance. Either way, someone's got to start thinking about how we seize this moment to brand our politics meliorate. To wit, a few reforms worth considering:

End the Outside Income Perk.

In Los Angeles, Urban center Council members are paid more than than anywhere else: in excess of $180,000 per yr. But they at least take the good sense to likewise bar their council members from supplementing their income with exterior pay.

Here in Philly, we have one of the nation'south highest-paid councils—an boilerplate of roughly $134,000 per yr, plus perks like a city auto—and yet no restrictions on outside income. That's a pretty sweet deal for the council member, but not and then much for the citizen.

That's why Henon is able to legally pocket $73,000 a year from Dougherty. To be off-white, Henon is not the simply Councilmember who moonlights. In fact, many do. Councilmember Brian O'Neill is an attorney at a Center City constabulary firm. Allan Domb has a existent estate empire and owns numerous high-contour restaurants (though he donates his entire Council salary to the schoolhouse district).

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Years agone, I criticized then-Councilman Kenney for his six-figures in annual compensation from the Vitetta Corporation, an architectural firm that, at the time, did business concern with the City. He called me, irate; he recused himself from having anything to do with Vitetta's city projects, he said, and, too, he had bills to pay—I retrieve he cited the cost of college tuition. He warned me to exist careful about what I wished for: Practise you actually want a Council made up only of those who weren't employable? "Go yourself a chore in the private sector," I told him. "City government will survive without you."

Past permitting outside income, we've created a grade of local politicians with two masters—taxpayers and those who are putting them on the payroll. It'due south a system that is inherently hostile to democracy.

Defang Councilmanic Prerogative .

Yep, the main reason Henon could get an entire city bureau similar L & I to do his patron'southward bidding is that everyone knows that when Bobby talks, it's really Dougherty speaking. And just about anybody in and effectually metropolis government either fears incurring Dougherty'southward hair trigger wrath or is fond to pocketing his campaign contributions.

Just y'all could flake away at other sources of Henon's power, similar the scourge of Councilmanic Prerogative, the admirer'southward agreement among council members that all will defer to each district colleague when information technology comes to land utilize and development. It's a system that creates little fiefdoms, and heightens the opportunity for graft and bribery. Moreover, given that district council members accept more than power than members who are elected by the whole city, information technology is anti-democratic and anti-communitarian. Information technology says: We're actually non all in this together.

But how do you opposite something that isn't even written downwards? You lot can't very well outlaw something that isn't even a law. Well, y'all could do as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot did on her first solar day, when she lessened the power of the Windy Urban center's "Aldermanic Prerogative" by signing an executive society that strengthened the metropolis's planning and zoning departments.

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Or yous could, as Philly iii.0's Jon Geeting has argued hither, remove from the Lease the prerequisite that a Quango ordinance precede the selling of public land, which would go a long way toward knee joint-capping Councilmanic Prerogative.

Prove The Trial!

Goose egg would, Oz-like, reveal Dougherty more allowing cameras into the court so citizens can see and hear the testimony that reveals the horrifyingly transactional nature of our politics. Yep, we accept an electorate that has long been numbed into apathy by a lengthy list of perp walks and a media narrative that fixates on what's broken. But I suspect that even the most jaded of Philadelphians would be outraged hearing virtually Dougherty'due south and Henon's petty and mean machinations.

"I just saw the Carpenters and Teamsters commercial with you in it," Henon texted Dougherty in 2015, we learned during Wednesday's testimony. "I'grand going to fuck them big time, just and so y'all know. … I will be smart about information technology, only there will be consequences."

Where practise these guys meet up, Satriales? It's like eavesdropping on Tony and Silvio. The more citizens who hear this, the more likely we are to motility on from such old country politicking.

On Midweek, I reached out to trial Judge Jeffrey Schmehl, an Obama appointee to the federal bench. Information technology is critical, I wrote, for the citizens of Philadelphia to be able to run into and hear firsthand the transactional nature of the politics we're de facto co-signers of—whether said transactions are legal or illegal.

The more you immerse yourself in how Dougherty, Henon and so many others accept done the public's business, the more y'all come away thinking that nosotros but need better people putting themselves before voters. And we need those who enable venality, pettiness, and a Trump-like, zero sum fixation on narrow self-interest to find their voice.

"Would you consider allowing live-streaming or some other form of broadcasting into your courtroom to deliver what transpires directly to citizens?" I asked. "The days of relying on newspaper accounts seem, sadly, no longer sufficient."

Alas, the judge says his hands are mostly tied. "Due to Federal Rule of Criminal Process 53 and Local EDPA Rules, which would have to be changed past a vote of the Board of Judges, video and other photographers are not permitted inside the courtrooms," Judge Schmehl responded. "So it appears that your request for live streaming is not permissible."

Despite the civic value of getting the Dougherty/Henon proceedings in front of as many citizens every bit possible, it appears we've sew together against some classically blowsy thinking. Rule 83.3 of the United States District Court for the Eastern Commune of Pennsylvania Local Rules of Civil Procedure holds that the prohibition on cameras in courtrooms is "calculated to insure that the solemnity of such proceedings is not jeopardized."

If we learned anything about the efficacy of cameras in the courtroom, it was during the Minnesota country trial of Derek Chauvin, the police force officer who murdered George Floyd. The public interest was surely served by millions of citizens seeing all those police officers (finally!) step up and testify against one of their ain. The aforementioned principle applies here: At a time when trust in our institutions might be at an all-time depression, our courts, similar our politics, ought to conduct its concern in the light of twenty-four hours before every bit many citizens as humanly possible.

All that said, again, I'thou not sure there is a policy fix hither, per se. The fact is, nosotros bear our off-white share of the blame for the sad country of our public discourse. We don't vote and we don't expect better of the representatives we cease up getting. We practise the soft bigotry of depression expectations and nosotros get just what we deserve. Hell, even after he was indicted, Henon ran unopposed for reelection. It makes y'all desire to quote ol' Casey Stengel: Can't anyone hither play this game?

For those of united states of america who exercise vote, who practise care, the more you immerse yourself in how Dougherty, Henon and and then many others have washed the public'south business, whether what they do is legal or not, the more you come up abroad thinking that we just need better people putting themselves before voters. And nosotros need those who enable venality, pettiness, and a Trump-similar, naught sum fixation on narrow self-involvement to find their voice, even if that ways non getting some big checks handed over to them.

It would be great if our labor and elected leaders were all directly outta The Due west Fly and exhibited gobs of wisdom and compassion. But, frankly, after hearing how Dougherty and Henon operate, I'd settle for leaders who, when it comes to their commitment to autonomous values, signed onto a political version of the Hippocratic Adjuration: First, exercise no impairment.

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Labor leader John Dougherty (50) and Councilmember Bobby Henon

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Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/dougherty-henon-trial/

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