In one of the first television advertisements of his campaign, Derek Green is shown shaving his son Julian’s face before he sets off from the family’s house to travel to a program for young adults on the autism spectrum.
Green, a former City Council member running as a Democrat for mayor, said he worries police officers could misunderstand his son if they encounter him. He often thinks of the fatal shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., who was experiencing a mental health crisis and wielding a knife when he was killed by authorities in 2020.
“We’ve got to hold people accountable that may try to victimize my 83-year-old mother, but we can’t over-criminalize young Black men like my 22-year-old son on the autism spectrum,” Green said during an hour-long interview at Metro’s office.
Like many mayoral candidates, Green is making public safety the foundation of his campaign. His plan calls for replacing Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and collaborating with federal prosecutors to bypass District Attorney Larry Krasner.
“When I think about the other people and the people I’ve worked with, none of them have experience in working in the criminal justice system as an assistant district attorney,” said Green, who worked in the DA’s Office before taking a job with the city and eventually running for office.
While most of his competitors have declined to discuss personnel matters, Green has said he would fire Outlaw and launch a national search for her replacement.
“That was not an easy decision,” he said. “I think she’s a nice person… But when we see the fact we’ve had 500 homicides back-to-back years, there is a true need for new leadership as it relates to public safety.”
Green’s platform also calls for bonuses and aggressive recruitment of police cadets, in an attempt to add 1,000 officers to the force.
He has proposed investing $50 million dollars to create a gun violence suppression division composed of hundreds of officers, detectives, federal agents and prosecutors. The city will sign a memorandum of understanding with federal prosecutors to allow the division to “circumvent” Krasner’s office and pursue gun cases in federal court, the plan states.
Krasner, a progressive district attorney, was impeached at the state level, with Republican leaders in Harrisburg blaming his policies for rising gun violence in Philadelphia.
“I will continue to work and engage with District Attorney Krasner to make sure that he is successful in doing what he’s doing,” Green said. “We have to change the narrative where we’ve had a very low clearance rate for issues, especially gun-related issues, in our city and a low conviction rate.”
‘Continuous learner’
Green was born in Philadelphia, and his family resettled in Bucks County. After graduating from Bensalem High School, where he was class treasurer, he went to the University of Virginia.
His interest in politics was reignited after college when he participated in a leadership program run by the Urban League of Philadelphia.
“That gave me an opportunity to meet and connect with a lot of different elected officials from around the city, a lot of different civic leaders,” Green said.
He initially worked as a small business lender at a North Philadelphia branch of Meridian Bank, where he had interned in college. Green became interested in banking law and entered Temple University’s law school.
Following two years in the securities division at the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, Green became an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, working criminal cases. He was then recruited to the City Solicitor’s Office before joining the staff of powerful City Councilmember Marian Tasco.
Green came up short in his first run for office – the 2007 Democratic race for council at-large. He went back to work for Tasco, and, after her retirement, he successfully ran for an at-large seat in 2015.
During his nearly two terms on Council, Green was appointed to the board of the Philadelphia Culture Fund, which provides municipal dollars to mostly small arts organizations through grants.
When Mayor Jim Kenney proposed eliminating the fund’s budget to cover coronavirus-related shortfalls, Green stepped up to rally other council members to reinstate funding, said Barbara Silzle, the nonprofit’s former executive director.
“He gets the social impact of the arts, and that’s invaluable,” Silzle said. “You don’t have to make the case to him that the arts are just this fluffy sector.”
More recently, during last year’s city budget negotiations, Kenney and lawmakers approved a deal boosting property tax breaks – following a reassessment – and cutting the resident wage tax and business levies.
Green has taken credit for the package, which he refers to as the “Green Plan.” Though other members, including Isaiah Thomas and Katherine Gilmore Richardson, were the public face of the compromise, Green has said he crafted the tax changes behind closed doors.
He explained that he did not want to lead the charge and be seen as building momentum for a mayoral campaign, which may have dissuaded his colleagues from supporting the plan. Six recently resigned council members, including Republican David Oh, are running for mayor.
“I really know how budgets work, so I’m able to put together this plan and push back against the historical rhetoric that says, ‘Well, if you reduce taxes, you’ve got to cut services,’” Green said. “And I said, ‘No, we don’t have to do that. It doesn’t have to be either/or.’”
As mayor, Green plans to continue reducing the wage and business income and receipts (BIRT) tax rates, which business groups believe hinder Philadelphia’s economic development.
“From my experience and talking with mayors in other parts of the country, and seeing how the different mayors have operated, the leading cities in the world realize that they are in the attraction and retention business,” he said.
“We have to attract constituents and attract companies and retain constituents and retain companies, and the cities that understand that are the ones that have been the leading cities in our nation,” Green added.
Tasco inspired him to become involved in regional and national networks for elected leaders, Green said. He has served on the boards of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, Democratic Municipal Officials and the Pennsylvania League of Cities.
Angela Rogensues, DMO president and a council member in Warren, Michigan, said Green has been “a phenomenal role model and mentor to me.”
His involvement in the national organizations “speaks to Derek’s desire and willingness and effort to look at what other cities are doing,” Rogensues told Metro. “He is an ongoing learner, a continuous learner.”
Ahead of Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Race, Metro will spotlight every candidate in the Democratic primary election, which will take place on Tuesday, May 16. Follow our Mayor’s Race Spotlight Series for an in-depth look at the candidates.
