Jamie R. Gauthier represents West and Southwest Philadelphia as the City Councilmember for the Third District. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier fights for her constituents’ right to live with dignity and remain in the neighborhoods they’ve called home for decades. She is the only elected official in the City of Philadelphia with a planning degree, offering her a unique perspective on social and economic issues.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s agenda prioritizes creating and preserving affordable housing, combating gun violence, empowering young people, connecting residents to family-sustaining jobs, protecting our environment, advancing small businesses, and investing in public spaces.
In her role as the Chair of City Council’s Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier champions policies that encourage the construction of new affordable housing, and the preservation of the city’s existing stock. She enacted the City’s first mandatory inclusionary zoning policy, helped create the nationally acclaimed Eviction Diversion Program, made it easier for Community Land Trusts to acquire public land, secured millions of dollars to preserve and create affordable homes, and equipped the City and its partners with additional tools to keep expiring government-subsidized affordable housing online.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier became the Chair of City Council’s Committee on the Environment in 2024. A champion of sustainability long before joining City Council, Councilmember Gauthier recognizes that high-quality public spaces like parks and recreation centers, as well as urban farms and community gardens, nurture our environment and give young people an opportunity to connect with nature and each other. During her first term, she helped secure historic investments in long-neglected community resources, and successfully secured $14 million reopen our beloved Sayre Pool.
In 2022, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier created her #JustServicesPHL campaign, which called for major investments to improve quality-of-life services through interventions like cleaning and greening. Since its inception, #JustServicesPHL has won tens of millions of dollars, and counting, to improve basic municipal services.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier leads the charge to enact a stronger local response to the gun violence epidemic. In 2020, she became the first local elected official to call for a gun violence emergency declaration, which Mayor Parker signed on her first day in office. Councilmember Gauthier’s leadership also helped secure record investments in multiple City budgets for grassroots anti-violence programs. She continues to champion a comprehensive, targeted, and public health-centered anti-violence strategy.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier established the Philadelphia Reparations Task Force in June 2023. The Philadelphia Reparations Task Force studies and develops reparations proposals and programs for Black Philadelphians whose ancestors endured chattel slavery and Jim Crow in the United States. The Task Force will advise the government at every level on how to best atone for its role in chattel slavery, Jim Crow, and institutional racism.
Before joining City Council, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier served as Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, where she carried out vital improvements in West Fairmount Park and organized stewardship and care for parks across the city. Councilmember Gauthier is also the former Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia.
After graduating from Central High School, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier received an accounting degree from Temple University and her Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.