Just a few weeks ago, it was announced that there will be a new Chair for the Philadelphia City Commissioners, Commissioner Omar Sabir. Mind you, in Philadelphia, we have three elected individuals who oversee and plan out the election process for our city twice a year. Some things are very standard and in place, and people don’t have to guess as to what to do next. On the other hand, when you’re talking about getting people registered to vote and then getting them to actually cast their ballots on election day or before election day via mail, it’s more than a notion.
Our three Commissioners, who all ran unopposed in the November 2023 General Election, are Omar Sabir and Lisa Deeley, both Democrats, and Seth Bluestein, a Republican. Out of the three of them, one gets to be the Chairman–another gets to be the Vice Chairman, and the lone Republican, well, he gets to be a Commissioner. What an assignment, being tasked with overseeing the city’s elections and voter registration. I think Omar Sabir is up for the assignment. In fact, out of the three City Commissioners, Omar has been the most visible, the one who has most been seen out in the streets daily, promoting voter registration and voter education. Seems right that he’s the new Chair.
Some proposed new rules for the City Commissioners will be in place now through 2028. The rule changes opened the door for a change in leadership. On January 10, 2024, during a public meeting of the City Commissioners, Seth Bluestein voted for Omar Sabir to be the new Chairman. Deeley was nominated for another term as Chair by Omar Sabir, but neither she nor Bluestein seconded the motion. After Deeley proposed updated rules to create more centralized power for the board chair, Sabir and Bluestein seemed to have a change of mind, and that’s when Commissioner Bluestein nominated Omar Sabir as Chair. After seconding the motion, Omar Sabir was elected the new Chair.
Here’s what the new rules say:
The Commission shall elect a Chair by majority vote.
The term of the Chair shall serve for a term of four years from their election unless agreed otherwise by the unanimous vote of all duly elected Commissioners.
The Chair may appoint at their sole discretion a Chief Deputy Commissioner. The Commission shall only have one Chief Deputy Commissioner at a time.
In the event of a vacancy in the position of Chair, the Chief Deputy shall continue to manage the Commission’s day-to-day operations until a successor to the Chair has been duly elected by the majority vote of the Commissioners.
The Chair may delegate to the Chief Deputy Commissioner, the Executive Director of the Board of City Commissioners, or other staff any and all such duties and responsibilities as they deem necessary to affect the efficient operation of the Commissioner’s Office, including budget, management, labor relations, and supervision of the commission and its staff.
The Chair is exclusively responsible as the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer and shall exercise all necessary and proper powers to affect proper purposes of the Commission, including the execution of commission policy, budget, management, and labor relations, and shall manage all of the day-to-day operations of the Commission including the supervision and discipline of the Commission’s civil service and exempt employees.
Individual non-Chair Commissioners and their staff shall not interfere with the day-to-day operations of the Commission or the direction, supervision, discipline, or management of commission civil service or exempt staff–but shall refer any commission management questions, recommendations, or requests for the use of commission resources to the Chair.
The Chair shall be considered “Head” of the City Department of the City Commissioners, department number 73–and shall act as head of the department in all interactions with the Philadelphia City Government.
The Commission may elect a Vice Chair. The Vice-Chair is responsible for rendering advice to the Chair on ongoing policy and management issues regarding the Commission.
The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the records of materials presented to the board, maintaining a record of the meeting transcripts, distributing agendas to Commissioners prior to each meeting, and tracking all motions made at the meetings and their resulting outcomes.
The Commission’s meetings and other public functions shall be conducted by its Chair in conformity with Roberts’ Rules of Order and applicable law. It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to prepare and cause to be published, as may be required, agendas for all meetings of the Commissioners and to preserve order and decorum at all meetings.
ecorum at all meetings.
The Chair shall set and enforce the rules for public comment at the meetings.
The Chair shall schedule and conduct regular meetings for the Board of City Commissioners sitting as the Philadelphia County Board of Elections on Wednesdays.
The Chair may call special meetings at their discretion.
Omar Sabir, who was first elected to the board in 2019, served as vice-chair during this latest term. A Philadelphia native, Sabir previously served as a senior staffer for PA state Sen. Vincent Hughes and held other positions at the Nathaniel Sabir Memorial Scholarship Fund, Citizens for State Representative Louise Williams Bishop, and the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia City Commissioners are in office for four years.
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