David Hyman, Practice Leader of Kleinbard’s Government Relations Group, is quoted in the Philadelphia Business Journal article – A Council Scorecard: The city’s business problem – gauging leaders’ progress in trying to change Philadelphia’s legislature.
Hyman was asked to comment on the business community’s relationship with the Philadelphia City Council in the context of the upcoming primary election. “The business community is doing better now but they really need to improve when it comes to recruiting candidates,” said David Hyman, leader of the government relations practice at the Kleinbard law firm. “When you are talking about council races, you need to be prepared two years out. If the business community was more pro-active, they could get more business friendly candidates on council. But look at what we have now.
“There are very few competitive district council races and at-large races are really hard unless you do what Allan Domb did four years ago and go on TV [with advertisements]. And if that’s the plan, they have to make those TV buys soon. Eryn Santamoor is the only candidate with a business background. Most of the rest are activists or people who have not worked in the private sector.”
Hyman has more than 30 years of experience representing clients in city hall and Harrisburg. He started his career in government relations serving as Chief of Staff to then citycouncilman, George Burrell. Since then David has actively served mayoral administrations. He was appointed Chairman of the Board overseeing the Philadelphia Gas Works by Mayor Nutter. He has also served as the Mayor’s representative to the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation Board and on the Mayor’s Commission on Gaming. David was also a founding Board Member and Mayoral appointee to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation Board. At the state level, he was appointed by Governor Wolf to serve as a member of his transition team. David is currently Vice-Chair of the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development Board of Directors and is on the board of the Building Industry Association.