Yet Johnson’s time as a councilman has been plagued by periodic scandal, and his opponents have accused him of abusing his political clout in a way that conflicts with his promises to keep his district affordable. In 2016, a jury awarded Feibush, the Point Breeze developer, $34,000 in a civil case that accused Johnson of blocking Feibush’s attempts to buy two city-owned lots after he announced plans to run against Johnson in 2015. And multiple Inquirer investigations have found that Johnson steered the sales of city-owned lots to a friend, who, despite promising to build affordable housing on some of the lots, ended up pricing the houses at $400,000 and more.