Bobby Henon resigns as chair of 4 city council committees following conviction

Johnny Doc resigns from Philadelphia Building and Trades

Days after being found guilty of several charges in a federal corruption trial and resigning as leader of IBEW Local 98, John Dougherty left his position with Philadelphia Building and Trades.

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia city councilman Bobby Henon has resigned as chair of four committees after he was convicted Monday in a federal corruption trial.

Henon and co-defendant John Dougherty, longtime business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, were convicted of conspiracy and honest services wire fraud. Henon was also convicted of bribery. Both were acquitted of some charges.

He submitted a letter Wednesday to Council President Darrell Clarke relinquishing his role as Chair of the Committee on Public Property and Public Works, Chair of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections, Vice Chair of the Committee on Finance, and Vice Chair of the Committee on Public Health and Human Services.

Henon says he plans to wait until his scheduled sentencing in February before resigning from his office.

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Dougherty resigned from his position Tuesday, ending his nearly three-decade tenure at the union’s helm, and he also resigned as business manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization of the city’s trade unions that he has led since 2015.

Prosecutors said Dougherty gave Henon, a union electrician-turned-Philadelphia City Council member, a union-paid no-show job to ensure Henon did the union’s bidding. Dougherty’s lawyers contended that he exerted no undue influence and that the city allows council members to hold outside jobs.

Henon’s defense said the case amounted to criminalizing the legislative process and treating the union differently than other groups that lobby lawmakers. Henon was elected in 2011 and has represented his district covering parts of northeast Philadelphia for three terms.

Dougherty — known widely by his nickname "Johnny Doc" — has been a major force in Pennsylvania politics, steering millions in union campaign contributions to candidates for political office, including his brother, who was elected as a state Supreme Court justice in 2015.

Dougherty still faces at least one more federal trial based on charges in the sweeping 2019 indictment.