Michael Allan Domb (born 1955) is an American real estate developer and Democratic politician,who served as an at-large member of the Philadelphia City Council from 2016 to 2022. Born and raised in northern New Jersey,he moved to Philadelphia after graduating from college. After a successful career in Philadelphia real estate,he entered politics for the first time in 2015,being elected to the Philadelphia City Council. He stood unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2023 Philadelphia Mayoral Election.
Domb was born in 1955 in Jersey City,New Jersey,the second son of Edward Domb and Betty Schlesinger Domb.[1] Domb's father and grandfather worked in the embroidery business.[1] The family relocated to nearby Fort Lee,New Jersey,soon after Domb's birth. Domb and his older brother,Peter,had a series of odd jobs from a young age,shining shoes,shoveling snow,and mowing lawns.[2] He graduated from Fort Lee High School in 1973 and started college at American University in Washington,D.C. Domb took evening classes there and worked full-time selling security systems for Phelps Time Lock Service in Hyattsville,Maryland.[2] He graduated in 1977 with a marketing degree and continued to work for Phelps,being transferred to Philadelphia to manage the company's office in that city.[2]
Business career
To earn extra money while managing the Phelps office,Domb earned a real estate license at Temple University.[2] As the real estate business became more profitable,he quit the security business job and sold real estate full time,opening his own office in 1983.[2] Domb specialized in real estate near Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square and soon became well known among property buyers and sellers in that neighborhood.[1] He was elected president of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors (GPAR) in 1990,the youngest president that organization had ever elected.[3] After success in real estate sales,Domb expanded into real estate development in 1999,and worked with restaurateur Stephen Starr to develop restaurants in Philadelphia.[4]
Domb in 2016
Domb was again elected president of the GPAR in 2013,by which time he had acquired the nickname "Philly Condo King."[2] In his second term as GPAR president,he worked with Mayor Michael Nutter and the city government on ideas to collect delinquent property taxes and attract new residents to the city.[3] He also worked with City Council President Darrell L. Clarke to determine the market value and ultimate disposition of some of the city's inactive school buildings.[5] Even after entering politics,Domb remained active in the real estate business,purchasing a 19-story office building in April 2016.[6]
Political career
Nutter was term-limited,so the office of mayor would be open in the 2015 election. Domb,a registered independent,was said to be "testing the waters" as a possibly independent or Republican candidate for mayor.[7] Instead,in May of that year,Domb announced he would run as a Democrat for one of the city's seven at-large council seats.[8] Pledging some of his vast personal wealth to the cause,Domb described his goals in office:"We will talk about collecting taxes from out-of-state landlords and using that money to fund our schools. New job training programs. And partnering with our universities to mentor our children."[8][9]
In the primary election that month,Domb placed third,winning one of the five Democratic nominations.[10] In the general election in the majority-Democratic city,Domb again placed third,earning a seat on the council.[10] In office,Domb continued to search for solution to the city's large number of tax-delinquent properties.[5]
Domb resigned from the City Council on August 15,2022,as prelude to an expected run for mayor in 2023.[11] On November 15,2022,he declared his candidacy for the Mayoral race.[12] He was eliminated in the primary.
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