Jim Harrity

Jim Harrity (born 1972) is a Democratic politician and at-large member of Philadelphia City Council since 2022.

Early life and education Harrity was born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia to a working-class Irish Catholic family. He dropped out of high school when he was 17, later obtaining his GED at the Community College of Philadelphia.

Career Harrity worked in the restaurant industry before buying a stall in the food court of The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel where those involved in Philadelphia politics often hung out.

Harrity developed an addiction to alcohol following the loss of his son in childbirth during his first marriage. During this period he left government and politics and worked in construction, finding employment with Laborers Local 57. Harrity moved to Kensington in 2007 to be with his partner Marnie Aument Loughrey, whom he credits with saving his life. Harrity ran for reelection in the 2023 Philadelphia City Council election receiving 6% of the vote in the primary placing 5th out of 27 candidates, enough to get a spot on the general election ballot. All Democratic city council members who won their primaries also won in the general election in November 2023, including Harrity.

City Council service Harrity's priorities include crime reduction, specifically gun violence, renovation of aging schools and the construction of new ones, increased access for city youth to public parks, libraries, and recreation centers, employment issues, and addiction and homelessness. Harrity reintroduced it in 2024 with technical adjustments, but there was strong opposition from the real estate industry and the Chamber of Commerce which criticized the bill as government overreach, arguing it interferes with hiring practices and could hinder efforts to repurpose downtown office buildings. Harrity said the bill simply asks employers to consider long-term employees who are already familiar with the building and the job.

He is one of four council members who formed the Kensington Caucus to help address issues like homelessness and drug abuse in the Kensington and Harrowgate areas of Philadelphia. The caucus focuses on helping people with long-term recovery, bundling all services together including drug rehabilitation, halfway houses and behavioral health services. Harrity said it can take up to three months to get drugs out of a person's system before mental health treatment can be effective and wants to extend the typical 30-day treatment programs.

He was one of the first council members to support building a new 76ers arena to be located one block from Chinatown in Center City. However the owners of the Philadelphia 76ers and Wells Fargo Center, where the 76ers have been playing since 1996, worked out a deal to build a New South Philadelphia Arena. Harrity said he felt like a pawn as he and other city council members had put in extensive time to give permission for 76 Place at Market East to be built.

Other roles Harrity sits on the board of addiction nonprofit organization One Day at a Time, and is a member of Laborers’ International Union of North America.