After a close but unsuccessful campaign in 2011, a Philadelphia native with family ties to City Council and the state legislature will make another run in the Council-at-Large race.
Sherrie Cohen, 59, who identifies as a lesbian, would be the city’s first openly LGBT councilmember if elected. She narrowly missed winning a seat in the last Council election by only 1,600 votes, capturing more than 45,000.
The self-described activist for social, economic, racial, educational and LGBT rights, and lifelong feminist, said she’s “very excited for the wonderful opportunity the community has to elect an openly LGBT person.”
Last Saturday at the John C. Anderson Apartments, more than 150 people packed a room to witness Cohen officially launch her campaign.
“This campaign is about fighting for progressive causes throughout the city and being a champion for progressive issues in City Hall,” she said. “Philadelphians need a strong voice for fully funded schools, neighborhood development without displacement and workers’ rights.”
Cohen said she is an advocate for the community-schools model, in which schools become the hub of a community as opposed to being shuttered.
“I will continue to be against school closures. I will fight for more funding, and a fair, full-funding formula from the state.”
“I hear the cries of people who say $7.25, the city’s minimum wage, isn’t enough to survive on,” Cohen added. “I will fight to increase that. Forty percent of Philadelphians work at jobs where they have poverty-level wages. They deserve more. That is not the Philly we want to live in. I want to provide people with livable wages and the dignity that comes with that.”
Also on her list of priorities is managing the needs of long-term residents as the city undergoes redevelopment.
“I’m concerned about the development happening around the city, which often does not take into account the needs of long-term residents,” she said. “I support policies where we are not driving out long-term residents in neighborhoods that are developing.”
She also expressed concern about the number of LGBT homeless youth.
“Approximately 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBT,” she said. “We need more housing and support for them.”
Cohen’s support of LGBT issues extends beyond youth.
“I will strive to uplift the lives of all LGBT people in our city. I would be a direct link to our city government for all members of our community.”
She also noted that the homicide epidemic, especially among trans women of color, deserves discussion and action.
“The amount of unsolved trans women of color homicides is a problem that needs citywide attention and focused efforts,” Cohen said.
The candidate has a strong history of activism and standing up for the less fortunate.
In the 1970s, Cohen recounted, she and a dozen other women were dragged out of City Council and thrown down four flights of stairs by police officers while protesting Council’s refusal to hear about LGBT civil-rights legislation.
More recently, Cohen and others successfully sued Mayor Michael Nutter for his plan to close 11 public libraries — an effort she considers one of her proudest achievements to date.
Her father, the late David Cohen, was a longtime City Councilman.
“My father was responsive to the needs of all people in Philly. He was known as the conscience of Philadelphia,” Cohen said. “I will strive to walk in his legacy.”
Her brother is state Rep. Mark Cohen.
She said one of her greatest strengths has been and will continue to be her ability to build coalitions.
“I am a coalition-builder by temperament and work,” Cohen said. “I have a lifetime of experience bringing people together, and that’s what’s needed as a Councilperson.”
Cohen is currently endorsed by Action United PAC, Victory Fund and the Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia.
The primary election will take place May 19.