About

Faye Anderson, founding director of PHL Watchdog, is a longtime advocate for transparency in government. She attended the first transparency camp organized by the Sunlight Foundation in 2009. The unconference brought together journalists, policy wonks, government officials, technologists and activists.

Since 2009, Faye has attended several watchdog workshops and bootcamps, including Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Ethnic Media Watchdog Workshops hosted by the New York Times.

In anticipation of IRE’s 2015 conference, Faye launched PHL Watchdog on Twitter. Between conference sessions she walked over to City Hall where City Councilmember Bobby Henon fast-tracked a bill authorizing the City of Philadelphia to spend $7.26 million to purchase land on which to build a new jail. Faye gave public comment about the lack of transparency. The public did not know who owned the vacant lot (ownership was hidden behind an LLC).

The rules of Council were suspended. A vote on final passage was scheduled a mere two months after the bill was introduced. On the day of the final vote, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that the land is contaminated with nuclear waste. The bill was tabled.

Fast forward to today, there is no new jail. Henon was locked up in federal prison for three years for “selling the powers of his office to labor leader John J. Dougherty in exchange for a $70,000-a-year salary from his politically powerful union.” The twice-convicted Dougherty is now Federal Inmate No. 77031-066. He began his prison sentence in September 2024.

Faye used U.S. Department of the Interior records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act in her successful nomination of the John Coltrane House to 2020 Pennsylvania At Risk. (The National Park Service has limited jurisdiction over National Historic Landmarks.) The renewed attention to the Coltrane House triggered a lawsuit by John Coltrane’s sons to gain possession of the property.

Faye’s Right-To-Know Law requests have led to changes in government policy; most recently Philadelphia’s decision to issue an Open Call for Artists to compete for the Harriet Tubman statue. Then-Mayor James Kenney had planned to award a no-bid commission for a permanent statue.

PHL Watchdog is about transparency and accountability. More than 120 years ago, journalist Lincoln Steffens tagged Philadelphia as “corrupt and contented.” While Philadelphia may not be irredeemably corrupt, little has changed. So, the issue is not if you see something; it’s when you see something, say something.

PHL Watchdog is a Sunshine Week partner.