David Oh

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This article is about the politician from Philadelphia. For other people with the same name, see David Oh (disambiguation).
David Oh
Councilman David Oh 2011.jpg
Member of the Philadelphia City Council
from the At-Large District
Assumed office
January 2, 2012
Preceded byJack Kelly
Personal details
Born
David Henry Oh

(1960-03-08) March 8, 1960 (age 61)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Heesun
Children4
ResidencePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Alma materDickinson College
Rutgers Law School
WebsiteCampaign website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1988–1992
RankSecond Lieutenant

David Henry Oh[1] (born March 8, 1960) is an American attorney and politician who has served as a Republican member of the Philadelphia City Council since 2012. He was the first Asian American elected to the city council.

Early life and education[]

Oh was born in Philadelphia on March 8, 1960.[2] He grew up in Cobbs Creek.[3] His father, Ki Hang Oh, was a pastor.[4]

Oh graduated from Dickinson College and Rutgers Law School.[4] He became a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1985.[1]

Career[]

After graduating from law school, Oh worked for three years as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia. He resigned to join the U.S. Army in 1988 and served until 1992 as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army National Guard. He returned to Philadelphia and opened a solo law firm.[4] In 2008, he merged his firm with Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy, P.C.[5]

Prior to running for office, Oh worked for Mayor Ed Rendell's transition team as well as on Governor Tom Ridge's trade mission to South Korea.[6]

Philadelphia City Council[]

In 2003 and 2007, Oh ran unsuccessful campaigns to win one of the two minority party at-large seats for the Philadelphia City Council. In both elections, he was defeated by Jack Kelly and Frank Rizzo Jr.[7]

In 2011, Kelly did not run for reelection and Rizzo was defeated in the Republican primary. In the general election, state representative Denny O'Brien received the most votes for Republican candidates to take one of the at-large seats, and Oh narrowly defeated former mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger for the final seat.[8][9] Oh was the first Asian American to be elected to the city council.[6] After his election, he was selected as minority whip.

Oh was reelected to the council in 2015.[10] During the primary campaign for his reelection, he took an illegal $20,000 campaign donation while advising the donor how to avoid campaign finance laws.[11] He returned the money and was fined $2,000 for the violation.[12] In addition, Oh had three of his city employees fined for working on his reelection campaign while on city time. After an investigation by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, the employees were fined a combined $3,300. Although council employees are prohibited from any political fundraising, many of the violations involved working on fundraising events for Oh.[13][14]

In 2015, Oh helped raise money for a statue to commemorate William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, who was a World War II veteran.[15]

In 2016, Oh organized the first annual First Responder Appreciation Day, which honors police, firefighters, and paramedic units.[16] He also traveled to South Korea to discuss investment opportunities in Philadelphia with representatives of the South Korean government and business sectors.[17] He had previously hosted South Korean officials in 2012 in an effort to "promote Philadelphia as a globally competitive city."[18]

In 2017, Oh introduced a resolution to honor Philadelphia native Kevin Hart by designating July 6, 2017, as "Kevin Hart Day" in Philadelphia.[19] Hundreds of people, including Hart, attended the celebration, which included a mural dedication at Max's Steaks in North Philadelphia.[20]

Military service controversy[]

During the 2011 campaign, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that Oh had falsely claimed to have served as a Green Beret in the U.S. Army Special Forces during his three campaigns for city council. Oh responded that he did wear a green beret in the Special Forces Group of the Maryland National Guard but did not complete full Special Forces training.[3] After facing criticism from veterans, he apologized for overstating his military credentials.[21][22]

Personal life[]

Oh lives in Southwest Philadelphia with his wife, Heesun, and their four children.[4]

In the 1990s, Oh was arrested on gun charges and was found not guilty in a non-jury trial in 1995.[23]

On May 31, 2017, Oh was stabbed in an attempted robbery outside his home while unloading groceries from his car. He underwent emergency surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.[24][25] A 24-year-old African American man was identified by Oh in a photo lineup and charged with attempted murder.[26] After 10 months in jail, the man was found not guilty due to a lack of evidence to corroborate Oh's testimony.[27]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/19143-pa-david-oh-626078.html
  2. ^ "David Oh, At-Large". Philadelphia Elections Information. Committee of Seventy. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Mayes, Eric (September 6, 2011). "Council Candidate Oh: Party Out To Get Him". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Councilman David Oh". Philadelphia City Council. City of Philadelphia. 15 December 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  5. ^ Needles, Zack (September 17, 2008). "Zarwin Baum Merges With Former City Council Candidate's Firm". The Legal Intelligencer.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Mayes, Eric (November 17, 2011). "Republican David Oh finally takes his seat". Philadelphia Tribune.
  7. ^ "Oh, David H." Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  8. ^ Dunn, Mike (November 8, 2011). "Some City Council Races Wrap Quickly; Not So, At-Large GOP Seat". CBS 3 Philly.
  9. ^ Madden, David (November 15, 2011). "Taubenberger Concedes to David Oh in GOP At-Large City Council Race". CBS 3 Philly.
  10. ^ McCrone, Brian X. (November 24, 2015). "Taubenberger, Oh officially win City Council seats". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  11. ^ Nadolny, Tricia L. (September 1, 2015). "Councilman David Oh's credibility and ethics again under fire". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  12. ^ Otterbein, Holly (August 26, 2015). "David Oh Fights for His Political Life". Philadelphia.
  13. ^ Davies, Dave (October 25, 2016). "Councilman Oh staff fined by Philly ethics board". WHYY.
  14. ^ Loeb, Pat (October 26, 2016). "Philadelphia Councilman's Staff Face Fines For Ethics Violations". CBS 3 Philly.
  15. ^ Smith, Sarah (February 6, 2015). "200 attend fund-raiser for 'Wild Bill' statue". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  16. ^ Gregg, Cherri (August 17, 2016). "First Responder Appreciation Day Celebrates Everyday Heroes". CBS Philly.
  17. ^ Lynn, Jennifer (September 22, 2016). "Philadelphia Councilman David Oh's pitches city's appeal during South Korea trip". WHYY.
  18. ^ Kostic, Vesko (June 12, 2012). "Mayor Young-gil Song, of the Global City of Incheon in South Korea, Visits Philadelphia and Councilman David Oh". Global Philadelphia Association.
  19. ^ Sasko, Claire (July 6, 2017). "Philly's Celebrating Kevin Hart Day Today". Philadelphia.
  20. ^ Gregg, Cherri (July 6, 2017). "Hundreds Turn Out For Kevin Hart Day In Philadelphia". CBS Philly.
  21. ^ Brennan, Chris (August 23, 2011). "Clout: Oh offers tepid apology for Green Beret claim". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  22. ^ Warner, Bob (August 25, 2011). "Green Beret claim threatens David Oh campaign". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  23. ^ Philly Clout Team (September 2, 2011). "Oh Shoot: Truth once again in question in Council candidate's gun charges". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  24. ^ Moran, Robert; Palmer, Chris; Terruso, Julia (June 1, 2017). "Councilman David Oh stabbed during street robbery near his Southwest Philly home". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  25. ^ "Philadelphia Councilman David Oh describes moment he was stabbed". 6ABC Action News (WPVI-TV). June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  26. ^ Hartman, Trish (June 4, 2017). "Suspect charged in stabbing of Philadelphia Councilman David Oh". 6ABC Action News (WPVI-TV). Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  27. ^ Dean, Mensah M. (March 29, 2018). "Jury says 'not guilty' in stabbing of Philly Councilman David Oh". The Philadelphia Inquirer.

External links[]

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