Alex Palmer: Policy Crafting

Alex Palmer is a South Philadelphia native who has had a rapid rise in local politics and currently works as At-Large Councilmember Jim Harrity’s legislative director. In a little over a year, the two have worked on all things from improving union representation to seeing if they can change the city flag.

Palmer was raised by family members who worked in the court system and this tangential relationship to the political scene made him invested in the field from a young age.

He went on to have an impressive academic and career journey. The 28-year-old went to the University of Pennsylvania, studying political science and history. During this time he diversified his resume through internships with the District Attorney's office, Council President Darrell Clarke, Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, and US Senator Bob Casey on Capitol Hill.

After his time in college, Palmer further prepared himself for his current role in public policy-making through obtaining a Juris Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration from Villanova University. He would go on to practice law and have clerkships at different law firms before becoming the Managing Attorney at the Philadelphia Register of Wills Office.

Photo of Alex Palmer courtesy his LinkedIn @alexander-palmer-85445851.

I met Alex in his current role in councilmember Harrity’s office when we were staffing a housing resources event that State Senator Street was hosting in the East Oak Lane neighborhood. I was interning with US Senator Casey at the time and I was impressed that he had an interest in talking to me and even gave me his card so that I could contact him in case I needed help as I neared the end of my time in college.

From that moment I knew that he was a master networker and someone who loves to help guide and bring in the next generation of political influencers. I wanted to know how his networking skills have helped rise the political ladder so quickly. In this conversation, I was curious to see how a city hall staffer uses their voice to frame legislation and better advocate for policy changes.

Before advising Councilmember Harrity, Alex was brought on by Register of Will Tracy Gordon to work in orphans court, where he dealt with trusts and will disputes. He was close to city council at a time when many members were resigning to run for mayor. His wealth of experience made Harrity ask him to join his office.

Palmer spoke on getting used to his workload as legislative director.

“There is no training to do legislation. Your only training comes from the people who have been there who gave me a crash course on the process,” he said. “As a legislative director, a lot of it is governed by your boss, by the office dynamics that you're surrounded by, and by the constituency that they represent.”

Harrity is seen as a mainstream or moderate Democrat given his closeness with State Senator Sharif Street, who chairs the PA Democratic Party. The councilman used to be the executive director of his office and the political director for the state party. This does not always allow for more progressive legislation to be pushed by his office and that is something any staffer needs to take into account. Harrity has made being pro-union one of his makers in local politics, given that he was a member of Laborers Local 157 when he worked in construction. Labor rights bills are prioritized as a result of this experience.

Even though both Alex and his boss were new to city council life, he made sure to use his legal knowledge to steer the councilmember away from unviable choices.

“Many bosses have great ideas or ones that only work on paper. Sometimes you have people telling your boss to do something, and your boss may or may not be good at telling you that person no. So that's where I try to step in and say, I understand what you want to do, but I don't think it's attainable and I outlined the reasons why. But at the end of the day, it's still his call.”

This does not mean that Alex cannot suggest legislation of his own. He did just that when writing a bill to do away with gendered language for life partnership agreements. He took some of his experience in the Register of Wills to help a friend receive protection. Being 28, Alex is of the age where many of his friends were getting married but this one friend wanted to wait to officially marry because they wanted a ceremony to pair with the occasion, yet she wanted her fiance to be on her benefits.

“They needed a stopgap measure. So I wrote a bill for Jim to take away the gender language portion of the life partnership requirements. This way they can be like partners, and they get on each other’s insurance.”

Palmer also told me that the original Life Partnership bill was passed in the 90s. It served as a compromise for LGBT couples since the city could not legalize marriage at that time legally, given that it was preempted by the state. What the municipality did instead was create another form for LGBT couples where they can go to each other's benefits and privileges as married couples. This made Philadelphia seem like a very LGBT-friendly city but it was never updated to allow for same-sex or non-binary couples to get benefit from this policy. This prompted the change and it became Councilmember Harrity’s first legislative victory and one that Alex is extremely proud of.

Part of his job involves meeting with interest groups and people representing different lobbying efforts who want his boss' support. He enjoys doing this but realizes that some groups, particularly activist organizations, get angered by the slow pace or roadblocks in the legislative process when in truth, they do not understand the political realities of city council. And what are those realities?

After the next council is sworn-in in January 2024, there will be 17 councilmembers and the party break up will be 14 Democrats, two Working Families Party members, and a solitary Republican. District councilmembers deal more with zoning and real estate matters in their jurisdictions.

The way things work in council, with minor exceptions, bills pass with everyone’s support or none at all. The exceptions could be when progressives differ from the rest of the council, like when they voted to preserve safe injection sites recently.

This public policy crafter described what he has noticed in these lobbying interactions.

“Activists mean well when they want to change the law. But I think sometimes they're ignorant of the political realities that they are trying to change and the political realities of what's going on around them because they're so hyper-focused on one issue. And in a way, that's a benefit, because it allows them to just focus on an issue and get it done no matter what. If you're working with activist groups that are on your side or one that helped you get elected, you certainly want to help them but they need to understand that they are not always going to get what they want.”

Despite the seriousness of his job, Alex can still work on fun and spirited legislation.

He worked with Jacob Golden, Legislative Director for Councilmember Michael Driscoll, to create a resolution to form a task force that would assess the City of Philadelphia’s flag. It is the first municipal flag in the US but many parts of the city’s culture do not incorporate the flag. An example of this can be seen in sports, of the major sports teams in Philadelphia, only the MLS’s Philadelphia Union tries to use the city flag colors of blue and yellow but ironically, they are also the newest sports franchise in this city. Alex explains why he stands behind this resolution.

“I just think Philadelphia is a world-class city, and there's certain branding that accompanies that. One of the branding elements is the flag, it is for our brand. Most people cannot draw it or recognize the flag of the city they live in. This is bad branding our city,” he said. “People will argue that by focusing on the flag, we’re not focusing on the other issues but we can focus on multiple issues. I want residents to have pride in the city they live in.”

The task force intends to set up the protocols for what the process of changing the flag will look like. This will primarily rely on community input and they hope to end the process by having a ballot question for residents to select the next flag.