Cindy Bass helps open up the program, giving remarks, alongside C70 staff. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)

“Our government works from the bottom up, starting with our block captains and committee people — that’s where our power is,” said 38th Ward resident Tina Collins, speaking on the importance of understanding the city’s ward system and the local electoral process.

Collins was one of many attendees who shared their thoughts at the launch event for the Committee of Seventy’s (C70) ‘How the Philadelphia Ward System Works’ initiative. This resource guide and training program is designed to educate residents across the city about how the ward and division system operates, and the influence that neighbors can have when becoming committee people.

“I pretty much had prior knowledge of some of this, but this workshop made it more clear on some of things I wasn’t clear about, and they broke it down in a [simple] way where people can understand it,” Collins added.

The launch event was held on Tuesday evening, Feb. 3, with a sold-out crowd at the Black Leadership Political Action Committee office at 400 W. Chelten Ave. It kicked off the first of many trainings that will take place around the city this month.

The evening’s presentation covered the subject in four parts to help community members understand the system: Political Orgs in PA and Philly, Ward Operations, Being a Committee Person, and Useful Tools. All of these are featured in C70’s new resource guide, which all attendees received at the training.

C70’s Vice President of External Affairs, Andrew McGinley, spoke about the divide between citizens and ward information and how it fuels their mission. He said, “So many people in Philadelphia know of the ward system, but they don’t know how to get involved, and that’s what we’re here to do. We want to bring people closer to their government.”

“It’s a new bipartisan city education resource,” McGinley added. “We’re really excited to bring this across the city to all different neighborhoods, to make sure everyone has the information to make sure they’re informed when they vote, and they’re confident when they vote.”

The majority of the presentation focused on how community members can become committee members in their wards.

What are committee people and ward leaders?

A committee person is a boots-on-the-ground representative for a local party, tasked with registering voters, vetting candidates through research and endorsement meetings, turning out the vote, and persuading residents to vote on Election Day. Generally speaking, they serve as a conduit between residents and candidates, informing and guiding people through the voting process.

Multiple committee people can be active within a ward, with the number varying depending on the size of the ward and the number of divisions. Germantown is made up of the 12th and 59th Wards, each with around 25 divisions.

To be eligible to run as a committee person, one must be a registered voter in the division they wish to represent and must be registered as a member of the political party they are seeking to represent. In Philly, that’s usually the Democratic or Republican Party.

There are two ways one can be elected: 1) run as an official candidate in the primary election, when candidates for governor are on their respective parties’ ballots; or 2) run as a write-in candidate, where a person would need to receive at least 10 write-in votes from the community to be considered. 

Committee people serve four-year terms and can run for the position as many times as they choose.

Ward leaders, also discussed in the presentation, work with committee people and neighbors by recruiting committee people, managing “get-out-the-vote” (GOTV) efforts on Election Day, raising campaign and operational funds, and staffing polling places. 

Each ward has two leaders who represent their respective political parties (Democratic and Republican), selected by the ward’s committee people every four years. A key source of their power is that ward leaders decide on the official party endorsements for the ward’s sample ballot.

Why is it important?

Councilmember Cindy Bass also spoke at the event to emphasize the importance of trainings like this. She said that committee people are a foundational source of information that many residents rely on.

“A lot of folks are just busy with life — with their kids, with home, with work — so they’re not paying enough attention to what’s happening electorally as much as we would like,” she said. 

“When we give them correct information about who candidates are, what they stand for, what they’ve done, and what they haven’t done — all of that matters. So it’s important that we have that information to be able to give to them, so they can process it and make their own decisions.”

Germantown neighbor Jasmine Brown, who is running for the 201st State Rep seat, said she “knew a brush over” of the information going in, but truly learned about all of the responsibilities of ward leaders and committee people at the training.

“This information was very helpful because a lot of people don’t know what they do completely and how to become one,” she said. “Now, knowing more, I would definitely encourage other people who are involved in the community on what they can do and how to be more impactful in the community.”

Brown put it plainly when describing why there shouldn’t be a disconnect between these resources and the public: “If there’s more information presented to the people, they’ll be able to vote because they have more information on the subject.”

City Commissioner Seth Bluestein also weighed in on the importance of bridging this gap and understanding these hyperlocal political roles before the primary election on May 19.

 He said, “The way endorsements work in the primary really has a huge impact on who ultimately gets elected in November.”

He added, “In the ward structure, [where people can] elect committee people who then elect the ward leaders, the ward leaders make the endorsements… And that ultimately has a huge role in the winner of the elections. I don’t think voters understand that.”

Looking at C70’s newest tool, Commissioner Bluestein said he was “very impressed” by how clearly it communicates so much information.

“[C70] is here to hold us accountable,” Bluestein said. “Their job is to make sure that Philadelphia’s elected officials and government are held accountable to the public.”