Allan Domb announced his resignation from Philadelphia City Council last August and announced his run for mayor three months later. During his two terms on City Council, Domb focused on cutting taxes for lower-income taxpayers, creating job-training and education opportunities for incarcerated people, and pushing for term limits and oversight on how City Council members spend taxpayer money. He is also known for donating his salary to community groups, education programs and public schools. According to his website, he plans to pursue similar causes as mayor. This includes fighting for community safety, transparency in the government and improving city services.
PGN has been interviewing the mayoral candidates leading up to the primary election on May 16. Some of Domb’s responses from his March 9 interview have been edited for length and clarity.
What are the challenges facing Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community, and how will you address them?
I think one of the biggest issues that probably affects the LGBTQ community is the constant assault on the trans community, especially Black trans women, who continue to be attacked and murdered [such as] Shahere “Diamond” Jackson-McDonald, a trans woman, on Thanksgiving [who was] found shot to death in her apartment in Germantown. So I plan on working with the LGBT community leaders, allies, advocates, public-safety officials and anyone else who can help us end these senseless and horrific, horrible crimes. Our role is to protect all citizens of Philadelphia, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And when I get into office as mayor, I’ll make this a priority for all of those in my administration from the top to the bottom.
I think the trans community also faces constant attack from some of these far-right politicians and extremist groups. And I’ve been proud to work with Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community and as a straight ally, I will be a very strong voice for the LGBTQ+ community as mayor. So it’s not your fight alone. I’m in it with you. We have — across Philadelphia — members of the LGBTQ community in every demographic of our city, every corner. And I’m a mayor for everybody. And for everyone here in Philadelphia, I’m their mayor. They need to be safe and feel safe here. And that would be my goal. And we have to make Philadelphia a city that’s welcoming and inclusive, and there’s still a lot more work to be done, especially [everything] from trans violence to tackling youth homelessness, to housing. And it needs strong leadership from the mayor’s office. Otherwise, this can’t be solved. So we’ll make it my top priority. I’ll work with the LGBTQ community to protect and strengthen every neighborhood in the city.
I’m proud to be the only candidate for mayor who will introduce a comprehensive community safety plan with 10 specific action steps — it’s on my website, votedomb.com — [on] what I will accomplish and what steps I will take in the first 100 days. And I believe the [public-safety] infrastructure of our city is broken. And as mayor, I’ll move quickly to rebuild it, hire the police that are needed, improve the training of the police force, and focus most of our public safety efforts on the most violent offenders in our streets, [along with] better coordination with the local, state and federal efforts. As part of the plan, we’re going to expand programs to protect against violence based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. And I’ll make sure we appoint a strong leader from the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs. And that leader is going to be a part of the community safety action plan. I’m going to form — on day one — a public-safety cabinet. And I will conduct the meetings weekly, whether it’s an hour, two, or three or longer. It will include the police commissioner, district attorney, US attorney, attorney general, FBI, ATF, courts, and SEPTA and PATCO security at the table. And we will do whatever is going to be required. And I’ll be the one leading the charge. I think the biggest issue for the city is strong leadership. And if we have strong leadership, a lot of the issues can get resolved.
What LGBTQ community leaders and organizations have you worked with in the past?
I’ve been proud to support the LGBTQ+ community and listen to better understand the needs of the community. In the past, I’ve supported causes, including many fundraisers held at U Bar and Tavern on Camac. I was honored to be asked to attend the fundraiser for suicide awareness back in — I think it was 2019. Jason Evans, a community activist, invited me. And he told me the story about Dante Austin, a prolific sheriff’s deputy losing his battle with mental wellness, and I just wanted to help. I still wear that T-shirt. I met with the Gay Officers [Action] League, as well as Dante’s family. And look, I know there’s no words to ease their pain. But I felt it was important for the family, as well as the community to know that they had my support and the support of the city. I think that’s important. But since that day, there have been many more opportunities for me to get involved with the LGBTQ+ community, including with the help of my staff in turning [Tavern] into a thriving outdoor experience that everyone in the city could enjoy safely during the pandemic.
In light of the numerous mass shootings, including at Club Q in Colorado and the many mass shootings in Philadelphia, what confluence, if at all, do you see between the issues of hate crimes and gun violence? And how does your approach to gun control address that?
I think the LGBTQ+ community faces a disproportionate risk of violent crime. I was horrified by those mass shootings that occurred across our country. And they occur almost on a daily basis. So I don’t accept that this is a way of life for us. It’s unacceptable. And there are also communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, who have seen these hate crimes increase in recent years. And it’s terrible to know that people are still being treated less than they shouldn’t be because of who they are.
Trans people, especially trans people of color, are often targeted way more than any other group of people. That’s unfair. And within the limits of the Gayborhood, for example, there are increased charges that can be added to hate crimes. I would like to see those limits expanded to better protect our LGBTQ+ Philadelphia citizens no matter where they are in the city. And the bottom line is the crime must stop. We got to get the crime under control. We have to hold people accountable.
I mentioned earlier that I will introduce a comprehensive public safety plan with 10 action steps. And I mentioned expanding programs to protect against violence based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. So I will increase funding for education [and] prevention and to identify, capture and prosecute anyone who commits a crime. I think that’s a real issue: gun control. And we need to prosecute illegal gun violations. People have guns illegally. I mean, look at that 14-year-old young man playing football up in the Roxborough High School football field. He was killed by a group of people who had numerous gun violations — I want to say close to 18 of them — and had murdered someone the day before. You have 18 gun violations. Why are we allowing that to occur?
You’ve addressed this in the answers to previous questions but now is your opportunity to expand on it. How will you address the issue of violence against trans women, specifically trans women of color?
[We’ve had several] trans homicides in Philadelphia in the last few years. But most recently, we talked about the murder of Shahere “Diamond” Jackson-McDonald, the trans woman who was found shot to death and lived in Germantown. It was on Thanksgiving morning in her apartment — horrible. As mayor, I’ll work with the Office of LGBT Affairs, our public safety leaders, human-service leaders, and the LGBTQ outreach organizations to provide increased protection and community resources to help protect members of the trans community. We need to do that.
Why should the LGBTQ community give you their vote?
I will be an advocate for everyone who’s a Philadelphian, and everyone who’s visiting Philadelphia. I’m an advocate for every person and I’ll be an advocate for a welcoming city, with an opportunity for everyone in every neighborhood. We have a community-safety crisis. We have a jobs-and-poverty crisis, and an education crisis. We have an affordable-housing crisis. But most importantly, we have a crisis of leadership in the mayor’s office. And these crises affect all communities in Philadelphia, including the LGBTQ community. So why should they give me their vote? I’m running for mayor because I built a career doing the hard work. I have a really strong work ethic. I will not ever stop working to help Philadelphians, including every resident of our city. I don’t make promises. I try to solve problems and get to the results. I’ve spent 45 years in the private sector and almost two terms on Council. And I think I bring a unique skillset to the table.
As Gov. [Ed] Rendell taught me in 2015, he said, “If you want to be successful in government, do all the work and give out the credit.” And I would take this step further. My goal is for the outcomes, not necessarily the ego. It’s all about the outcome. If I can make our city safer across the board, including for the LGBTQ+ community, that’s the outcome I’m looking for. And on City Council, I focused on lowering taxes for low-income workers, protecting homeowners with the wholesaler bill, [and] supporting small businesses during the pandemic. It was my office that led the outdoor dining legislation by bringing all restaurants, hotels and gyms together and asking them, on Zoom, what they needed and then we passed that legislation.
On the education front, we didn’t talk about it, but I stand for teaching mandatory K-12 financial literacy, technology and entrepreneurship. I think we should allow kids the option to go to school four days a week. And on the fifth day, [they can] work a job, get credit, and get paid. And I also would like to set up 25 locations at either churches, schools, rec centers or libraries, [to provide] teaching to adults from seven to nine o’clock at night, [about] financial literacy and homeownership, how to buy a home and why it’s important, and technology and entrepreneurship.
So I think across the board, I have four major goals. When people say to me, why should we vote for you? Number one — my goal is to make the city much safer than it is today. And I’ll work until that occurs. Two — bring 100,000 new people into the city in the next 10 years. Three — bring 100,000 new good-paying jobs to the city in the next 10 years. And number four — take 100,000 people out of poverty in the next 10 years. So those are pretty ambitious goals. My whole life has been about trying to achieve far greater than what people expected and I believe I can achieve it. And I’d be happy to be held accountable to it.
For more information on Allan Domb, visit votedomb.com.
