The Philadelphia primary elections are Tuesday, May 20, and constituents will weigh in on three ballot questions in addition to voting on the district attorney and judicial races.
Here's a guide to the questions that voters will face:
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Ballot question No. 1
How the question appears on the ballot: Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create the Office of Homeless Services Ombudsperson to assist residents experiencing homelessness, help provide fair access to essential resources, improve quality of life in the shelter system, investigate client complaints, and provide oversight and recommendations to the City’s providers of homeless services?
Background: The potential amendment follows the Office of Homeless Service in former Mayor Jim Kenney's administration spending $15 million above its budget during a four-year stretch. Mayor Cherelle Parker ordered an independent investigation into the office in 2024, and City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson sponsored the measure.
“From overcoming hurdles to be placed in an emergency shelter to facing retaliation when speaking up for better conditions, the stories I have heard have been absolutely horrifying," Richardson said in a statement. "This is why I was inspired to create an Office of Homeless Services Ombudsperson. We need someone who will serve as a champion on behalf of unhoused residents and ensure that they are receiving timely and quality services."
U.S. cities that already have an Office of Homeless Ombudsperson include New York, Washington, D.C., and San Diego.
The 2025 budget for the office would be $500,000 according to the Committee of Seventy.
What a "yes" vote means: Approving the creation of this new city government position to assist those experiencing homeless and their work as an overall watchdog for the office that provides services.
Ballot question No. 2
How the question appears on the ballot: Should the Home Rule Charter be amended to increase the minimum amount that must be appropriated for spending on Housing Trust Fund purposes in the City’s operating budget each year?
Background: Councilmember Jamie Gauthier proposed this question, which brings the city's affordable housing funding under the microscope.
"Philadelphia’s Zoning Code allows developers to build denser buildings if they make a 'payment in lieu of providing affordable housing' to the City of Philadelphia," reads the City Council's website regarding the ballot measure. While a portion of this money is meant to go toward the city's Housing Trust Fund, Gauthier said there hasn't been an increase in affordable housing resources because this is not binding and the administration has been putting those payments in the general fund.
Parker's administration opposes this measure. Finance Director Rob Dubow told WHYY last year that passing this would tie the hands of the mayor. “We agree that housing funding is essential but so are other portions of the budget like education funding,” he said.
What a "yes" vote means: The Housing Trust Fund would receive the entirety of the "in lieu of" payments.
Ballot question No. 3
How the question appears on the ballot: Shall The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to provide for the creation of an independent Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and Office of Prison Oversight and to further authorize City Council to determine the composition, powers and duties of the Board and Office?
Background: This nine-member board would hold monthly public meetings and address issues like understaffing, cleanliness, deaths and escapes while being led by a mayor-appointed director.
"Society would have us to believe that persons that don't own a home or have some upwardly mobile job are not citizens, are not neighbors," said Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke, who proposed the bill with Councilmember Isaiah Thomas in the fall. "They are our neighbors, they are our incarcerated neighbors, and so it is important that their conditions are tended to with eyes and by persons that are caring for them and want to make sure they're doing well."
The board would look to increase transparency and accountability within the city's correctional facilities and overall prison system.
What a "yes" vote means: The newly formed board would access and monitor prisons, meet with staffers and incarcerated people, and develop community education programs.
Philadelphia residents can find their respective polling place here.
