Councilman Domb talks school reform, taxes at CH college

Posted 2/13/19

City Councilman Allan Domb spoke at Chestnut Hill College on Wednesday, Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill College) by Pete Mazzaccaro With rumors swirling that he may be getting ready for a …

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Councilman Domb talks school reform, taxes at CH college

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City Councilman Allan Domb spoke at Chestnut Hill College on Wednesday, Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill College)

by Pete Mazzaccaro

With rumors swirling that he may be getting ready for a mayoral run next year, Philadelphia City Councilman-at-Large Allan Domb visited Chestnut Hill College on Wednesday, Feb. 6. for an hour-long talk on his background as a self-made businessman and the city issues that matter to him most.

He was invited to speak by the college’s business department. The business students in the audience of the East Parlor in the college’s St. Joseph’s Hall were treated to a portrait of a man who went from growing up in an 800- square-foot house in Fort Lee, New Jersey to becoming the so-called “Condo King of Philadelphia.”

Domb, a Democrat elected to council in 2015, often sounded a lot like a traditional, fiscally conservative Republican. He emphasized a strong work ethic, highlighting his own rise from a modest family upbringing to a successful businessman. As a councilman and a real estate developer, Domb said he often works 100 hours a week, but he loves the work.

“I love doing both jobs,” he said. “I don’t look at it as work. You’ve got to find that one thing in your life that you love. If you find it, you’ll excel at it. I’ve been lucky to find two things: real estate and helping people in the city of Philadelphia.

Adding to his fiscally conservative bona fides, he urged efficiency in government and railed against taxes, which he said were the biggest reason people were leaving the city. Where he differs from a more standard Republican orthodoxy, however, is a political outlook that prioritizes pulling people out of poverty and advocating for investment in public schools. In fact, putting his money where his mouth is, Domb donates his entire city council salary to Philadelphia public schools.

After spending approximately 20 minutes on his biography, Domb put forth a political argument for himself, if not for mayor, then at least to solidify his position as one of five elected Democratic councilpersons at large. While there are seven at-large councilpeople, two seats must go to a minority party – in Philadelphia, Republicans.

“I have three objectives,” he said when talking about his political aspirations. “One: How do we lift people out of poverty? My goal would be 100,000 people over the next several years.

“Two: How do we bring 100,000 new residents to the city?

“Three: How do we create 100,000 new, well-paying jobs?”

Domb, who had statistics and figures for nearly every argument he made at his fingertips, citing Philadelphia’s nearly 26 percent poverty rate, the highest among the nation’s 10 largest cities, as a crucial problem to solve.

“Twenty-six percent. That’s 400,000 people,” he said. “One hundred and eighty-one thousand make less than $1,000 a month. That’s pretty sad.”

One key part to addressing that poverty rate, Domb said, was to invest in and reform public schools.

Domb generally praised the public schools in the city and said superintendent William Hite was doing a great job. Many of Philadelphia’s public schools have been successful, he said, but successful schools weren’t getting the same news coverage as school problems.

To further improve schools, Domb had four things he wanted to see done or expanded upon.

First, he said he thought all public schools should teach financial literacy from pre-K to 12th grade. He said 122 teachers had already been trained to teach financial literacy at a program run by the Federal Reserve.

“We’re currently reaching 3,500 kids, but we should be reaching every child,” he said.

Second, he thought technology and coding should be a core requirement for every child in Philadelphia schools.

Third, he said entrepreneurship should be taught at every high school.

“In stats from a recent Pew report, of all the businesses in the city, 78.6 percent are owned by white people,” Domb said. “Ten percent are owned by Asians and 2.4 percent by black people. Yet Philadelphia is 45 to 46 percent black. Look at that disparity.”

Finally, he cited Philadelphia’s Cristo Rey School, an independent, Catholic school in the city, which has a program to put high schoolers in work placements one day a week. They go to school four days a week and work with mentors on the other weekday.

“I see the impact of working for these kids,” Domb said. “The exposure is huge.”

After talking about schools and some of his legislative accomplishments, Domb took questions and spoke further about tax reforms he felt were necessary to implement in the city. In continuing his defense of the school district, he cited statistics that implicated taxes in flights from the city.

“In a recent study by Pew, 81 percent of people who left the city had no children. Nineteen percent had children,” he said. “You know why that 81 percent left? Taxes. And, two, job opportunities. It’s not the schools. It’s taxes and job opportunities.”

He further illustrated this point by making the case that – with 26 percent of the population in poverty and another 31 percent of properties owned by education and other nonprofit institutions – only 43 percent of Philadelphia property owners were paying taxes.

“One of my goals is to increase that base,” he said. “Those are the people who have the choice to leave the city.”

To that end, Domb said the city needed to be friendlier to small businesses, reform city land deals and make sure the city could grow. In answering a question on whether the city needed to find creative revenue models, Domb argued the city just needed to be smarter.

“I’m not sure we need more revenue,” he said. “We need more efficiency.”

Pete Mazzaccaro can be reached at 215-248-8803 or at pete@chestnuthilllocal.com

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