George H. Connell (November 2, 1871 – October 22, 1955,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

) was a US Republican politician. He was a member of the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

from 1913 to 1939 and was acting

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

in 1939.

Biography

Connell was born on November 2, 1939, in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia. His father was Horatio P. Connell, who had served as Sheriff of Philadelphia. His grandfather, George Connell was a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

whose accomplishments including pushing legislation for the creation of

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

and Mount Moriah Cemetery. A member of the Republican, he became active in Philadelphia politics and served as the Republican chair for the 40th ward in West Philadelphia. He became a member of the

in 1913, first as a member of the Common Council and then the Select Council after 1915. In January 1936, he became the city council president. On August 11, 1939, mayor

Samuel Davis Wilson Samuel Davis Wilson (August 31, 1881 – August 19, 1939) was an American politician; he served as the 86th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1936 until his death in 1939. Early life and career Wilson was born in Boston Boston (), officially t ...

, who had been seriously ill, retired as mayor in hopes that he would better recover without the stress of his position. As the city council president, Connell was sworn in as acting mayor that day. Having taken over, he immediately ordered 210 police officers from administrative work to patrol duties because of a shortage of patrol officers in the city. For much of his term, Connell grappled with the city's budget during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He addressed the council on the need to identify $9 million in revenue to avoid cutting city services. He obtained a $41 million loan from the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...

in September 1939 that would be backed by revenues of the city's natural gas plant as an initial step. He proposed the installation of up to 8,000 parking meters across the city in another bid to add revenue. In December 1939, shortly before his term expired, Connell and the city council, with a vote of 17 to 3 in favor, approved a wage tax of 1.5% on earned incomes from both city residents and commuters. A worker at the Philadelphia Navy Yard sued the city, alleging that the tax was unconstitutional. In 1943, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case of ''Kiker v. Philadelphia'' ruled that the wage tax was indeed constitutional and upheld it. The tax remains in place as of 2020 and is Philadelphia's largest source of tax revenue. Although recognized by the city as a Mayor of Philadelphia, Connell was often referred to as the acting mayor in media reports. The City Charter at the time called for the election of a replacement of the mayor by a vote of the council, with the council president holding office until that election. While the council intended to vote in Connell's favor, an obscure provision in the charter stated that a member of council would not be eligible to hold another office "during the term for which he shall have been elected as Councilman." Upon discovery, some members of the council interpreted this to mean that Connell could not formally be elected as Mayor. The council's options were to ignore the portion of the charter requiring the council to elect a mayor or to elect Connell and allow the issue to be resolved in the courts. Regardless of the decisions around seating Connell as mayor, he served out the remainder of Wilson's term until Robert Lamberton's inauguration on January 1, 1940. After Connell left office, Mayor Lamberton appointed him as Director of Public Welfare. Connell died on October 22, 1955, after a stroke and is interred at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia.Mount Moriah Cemetery clean up a moving experience
/ref> He was survived by his wife Carolina (Fairman) Connell, his son George Fairman Connell and a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, George 1871 births 1955 deaths Burials at Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia) Mayors of Philadelphia Philadelphia City Council members Pennsylvania Republicans Presidents of the Philadelphia City Council