COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA STATED MEETING Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday, September 18, 2014 10:45 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN WILLIAM K. GREENLEE COUNCILMAN BOBBY HENON COUNCILMAN KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN JAMES KENNEY COUNCILMAN ED NEILSON COUNCILMAN DENNIS O'BRIEN COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILWOMAN MARIA D. QUINONES-SANCHEZ COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO MICHAEL A. DECKER,
It is a beautiful day. We're going to start now. I ask that we keep our comments down. Thank you. I ask all guests and visitors to please retire behind the rail. We have established a quorum. Members are going to take their seats. Before we start, I would ask that anyone who has a cell phone or any device that makes noise, would you please turn it off or turn it on silent. Thank you very much. To give our invocation this morning, the Chair recognizes Father Robyn of the Trinity Church of Oxford. He is here today as the guest of Councilwoman Tasco. I would ask all guests and visitors to please rise. (Members and guests rise.)
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, in your word you have given us a vision of that holy city to which the nations of the world bring their glory. Behold and visit, we pray, the City of Philadelphia. Renew the ties of mutual regard which form our civic life. Send us honest and able leaders. Enable us to eliminate poverty, prejudice, and oppression; that peace may prevail with righteousness and justice with order; and that men and women from different cultures and with differing talents may find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity. In your name, we pray. Amen. (Amen.)
Thank you very much for those inspiring words, Father. Council will be at ease. (Council at ease.)
Thank you very much. The next order of business is the approval of the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, September 11th. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee for a motion.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, September 11th, 2014 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, September 11th, 2014 be approved. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Thank you very much. business is requests for leaves of absence, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Mr. President, on behalf of the majority, there are no requests for leaves of absence today.
The Chair thanks the gentleman. And the Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of the republicans, leave of absence is requested for Councilman David Oh.
Thank you very much. At this time, I would like to dispense with the regular order of business and I would like to welcome and thank everyone who has come down to witness your government in action today. We hope that today your experience here is a pleasurable one and an informative one, so much so that you come back again. So, again, thank you all very much for coming down. Today we don't have any presentations, so it will accelerate our Council session. I heard somebody clap. The next order of business is communications, and the Chair requests that the Sergeant-of-Arms delivers the messages from the Mayor to the Chief Clerk. Please read those messages, Mr. Decker.
To the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia, I am pleased to advise you that on September 11, 2014, I signed the following bill which was passed by Council at its session on September 11, 2014: Bill No. 140511. And I am submitting herewith for the consideration of your honorable body an ordinance amending Title 22 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Public Code," to expand the scope of "Plan '10" and "DC Plan" to cover additional employees, including elected officials, to change contribution rates, and to make technical amendments; and Also an ordinance amending Title 22 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Public Employees Retirement Code," to expand the scope of "Plan '10" and "DC Plan" to cover additional employees, including employees represented by District Council 33 and certain employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, to change contribution rates, and to make technical amendments; and An ordinance authorizing and approving the execution and delivery of a Service Agreement between the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development relating to the financing of additional operating funds for the School District of Philadelphia for Fiscal Year 2015 only and the refinancing of certain bonds; and An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to convey to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, all or part of a parcel of land and any improvements located at 3300 through 98 C Street, for further conveyance, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you, Mr. Decker. Those messages will be printed in today's Journal. Mr. Decker, do you have any additional communications?
Thank you very much. The next order of business is the introduction of bills and resolutions, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer two privileged resolutions.
A privileged resolution recognizing and commemorating the 225th Anniversary of the official organization of Delaware County, Pennsylvania to be celebrated on September 26, 2014.
That resolution will be heard on today's Final Passage Calendar.
And a privileged resolution recognizing and honoring the life and career of former professional golfer and Philadelphian, John J. McDermott, Jr., who will be memorialized with a historical marker in his childhood neighborhood of Kingsessing in Southwest Philadelphia on October 9, 2014.
And that resolution will also be on today's Final Passage Calendar. And the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I have one non-privileged resolution co-sponsored by Councilman Kenney.
A privileged resolution recognizing October as Philly Plays Scrabble Month.
That resolution will be on today's Final Passage Calendar. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Mr. President. On your behalf, I offer one resolution.
A non-privileged resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Fifteenth, Eighteenth and Thirty-Seventh Wards of the City of Philadelphia.
And that resolution will be on next week's Final Passage Calendar. The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer one privileged resolution.
That resolution will be on this week's Final Passage Calendar. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
An ordinance authorizing Paul Stolfo to construct, own and maintain an elevator encroachment to be located at 2536 through 38 Broad Street.
That bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2015 from the Grants Revenue Fund, the Director of Finance Provision for Other Grants to the General Fund, the Director of Finance Indemnities.
That bill will also be referred to committee. And the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I have two bills and two non-privileged resolutions.
An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to convey to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, all or part of a parcel of land and any improvements located at 3300 C Street, for further conveyance.
And an ordinance establishing a no truck parking regulation on the 4400 block of North 5th Street, between Cayuga Street and Blavis Street.
And a non-privileged resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to he Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Seventh and Thirty-Seventh Wards of the City of Philadelphia.
That resolution will be on next week's Final Passage Calendar.
And a non-privileged resolution also naming West Venango Street between 5th Street and 7th Street "Joaquin Rivera Way" to honor the memory of Joaquin Rivera and to recognize his life and memorialize his lasting legacy.
And that resolution will be on this week's Final Passage Calendar. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Neilson.
Thank you, Mr. President. I have no bills or resolutions today.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Brien.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer no bills or resolutions.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer one privileged resolution co-sponsored by members Quinones-Sanchez and Council Lady Blackwell.
A non-privileged resolution calling on the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education to thoroughly investigate any and all allegations of curriculum deficiencies reported within the School District of Philadelphia that had been properly filed and received by the Secretary.
That resolution will be on next week's Final Passage Calendar. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Mr. President, I offer one bill on your behalf and two non-privileged resolutions, one co-sponsored by Councilwoman Marian Tasco and yourself and one co-sponsored by Councilman Squilla but supported by all members of Council.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2015 within the General Fund, from the Department of Human Services - Prisons to the Office of Housing and Community Development, to support landscaping and lot-cleaning jobs in the Philadelphia Re-Entry Employment Program for Returning Citizens.
That bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And a privileged resolution honoring, recognizing and congratulating Philabundance, the Delaware Valley's largest hunger relief organization, on the occasion of its 30th Anniversary.
That will be on this week's Final Passage Calendar.
And a privileged resolution authorizing the committees on Public Safety and Public Health and Human Services to conduct joint hearings to evaluate DHS Family Service Plan policies and procedures, including the relevance of the FSP in reunification or alternative permanency planning goals for children and youth under DHS authority.
That resolution will also be on this week's Final Passage Calendar. And the Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
An ordinance repealing an ordinance (Bill No. 140490) entitled "An ordinance authorizing Cafe Italiano to construct, own and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe at 1871 Cottman Avenue."
That bill will be referred to the appropriate committee. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer one non-privileged resolution.
A non-privileged resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Twenty-Fifth, Thirty-First and Thirty-Ninth Wards of the City of Philadelphia.
That resolution will be on next week's Final Passage Calendar. And the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. I have two resolutions, one privileged co-sponsored by Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and one non-privileged, which I'd like to speak on after the Clerk reads the resolution.
A privileged resolution recognizing September as National Literacy Month and acknowledging the critical work of PHILADELPHIA READS in strengthening the literacy skills of Philadelphia's children.
That resolution will be on this week's Final Passage Calendar.
And a non-privileged resolution endorsing the People's Climate March in New York City scheduled to precede the United Nations Climate Summit that will take place on September 23rd, 2014, in New York City and supporting the thousands of Philadelphians traveling to New York to participate in the march. (Applause.)
Councilwoman, is that the resolution that you wanted to speak on?
Can I ask you to ask for a suspension of the rules to allow that? Traditionally those types of resolutions are -
In light of the fact that Climate Change March, the march is taking place this Sunday, I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit consideration of this non-privileged resolution today. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution will be on today's Final Passage Calendar.
You're welcome. And Councilman Oh is not in today. We have no reports from committee 2ND READING today, so the next order of business is the consideration of the Calendar. So I would ask -- there are no bills on the First Reading Calendar today, so I now ask Councilman Jones for the purpose of calling up resolutions and bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar today.
We are moving today. Thank you, Mr. President. The following resolutions and bills are being called up from Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars today: No. 140527, 140660, 140662, 130950-A, 140377-A, 130530, and 140514. All other resolutions and bills are being held.
Thank you, Councilman. Before considering these bills and resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, we will have our public comment session. The public comment session will go as follows: If you are interested in testifying on a bill or resolution that is on the Final Passage Calendar at today's session, we'd ask that you sign up to the table to my left. If you've already done so, your name will be called. When your name is called, we ask that you come up to the podium in the middle of the Council Chambers. There's a device and a microphone. When the light on that device turns green, it is your time to speak. When it turns yellow, you will have 30 seconds to conclude your remarks. When it turns red, we'd ask that you please conclude your remarks as per the guidelines. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Mr. Decker, would you please read the name of the first witness.
Good morning, Council. My name is Kia Philpot Hinton. I am an Action United member, a mother of three public school children, and a community member of Southwest Philadelphia. Back in May, me and other Action United members, PCAPS, Working Families party, and other coalition allies went door to door in our communities to get petitions signed for local control. Gary Nugent, Kia Williams, Ashley Harold, Jason Jones, these are just a few of the 40,000 who agree that Philadelphia schools should be locally controlled. These signatures resonate what the people want. Every tactic our collective groups have used in an effort to create schools that benefit all children has been knocked down and challenged in order to save an SRC that is, first, undemocratically assigned and, two, has done little to nothing to improve our schools since its inception. (Applause.)
We are in a time when the incarceration rate is growing exponentially, tearing apart our most vulnerable communities and helping perpetuate the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. The people's voice is being silenced. Our children's future is being dimmed. These are a threat to justice, equality, and democracy. These signatures not only resonate what the people want, it's also what democracy looks like. So I ask you this morning to please not only vote on putting local control on the ballot, but to also support that so that the people of the community, the parents and the students, we can create what our schools should look like. We should have a voice. We should be able to do that, and that's what we want to do. (Applause.)
Commenting on 140514 and 140527. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. I'm here today as a retired teacher and, more importantly, a resident of Philadelphia. I believe every single resident of Philadelphia should care deeply about the state of our public school system, because public education is the cornerstone of our democracy and a crucial factor in how our city will survive and thrive. Since the SRC was forced onto the citizens of this city over a decade ago, we have fallen only deeper into fiscal mismanagement with less accountability, more chaos due to school closings, and rampant charter school growth. (Applause.)
Which continues to suck the blood further from our struggling system. I know I am tired of a lack of democratic process. I am tired of politicians who set policy, make decisions, arrange deals without regard to public voice. I am tired of being treated like a second-class citizen. (Applause.)
Forty thousand people signed petitions to take one small step in righting this wrong. I firmly believe it is the duty of this assembly to honor the voices of the citizens of this city and vote today to place the local control issue on the November ballot. Thank you. (Applause.)
Commenting on 140514 and 140527. (Witness approached podium.)
-- Councilmen and Council Ladies. I'm a little nervous here because it's not something I do on a daily basis, but my name is Theodore Daniels. I'm a School District employee for 18 years. I'm here today, respectfully, because nearly 40,000 people in Philadelphia who signed a petition asking for a vote, a symbolic one, because that is the only kind we can cast on abolishing the School Reform Commission and restoring local control of the schools. We were very disappointed last week when Council tabled our vote on the Charter amendment we've been working on for nearly six months, especially since we turned in nearly twice the amount of signatures that were required. We're here today to tell you that we still want to vote on this issue of restoring local control of the schools. If that can no longer happen in November of this year, then Council should amend the ordinance and vote to put this Charter amendment on the ballot in May 2015. (Applause.)
We're tired of having schools that are dirty and crowded and inadequate to the needs of our kids. We'll keep flooding your offices with phone calls from Philadelphians and coming to your meetings and telling your constituents to e-mail you and remind that it is not just the small group of people that you see here that wants autonomy over our schools. It is a vast, vast group of voters in our cities that are demanding a vote on local control. And I have two kids in the Philadelphia school system, and I see what goes on every day. I've been here all my life. I am Philadelphia as far as I'm concerned. And -(Applause.)
It's a shame, it's a real shame. When I went to school in the seventh grade, I had trades. When I went to high school, I had trades again. You know what that taught me? That taught me good work ethics. That taught me how to feed my family once I left the School District, and I have friends today I've been knowing for 30 to 40 years who still feed their family from the trades they learned in the Philadelphia school system. And that was in just about every school. So I ask and I plead with y'all to change this up and give our kids a fighting chance. Thank you. Have a blessed day. (Standing ovation.)
Carol Green, commenting on 120232. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. Thank you. I'm sorry. I apologize to everyone for not coming up here right away.
I need help or someone to pray for me, because I can't do this by myself. I'm just going to say a little prayer also. God, help me, in the name of Jesus. God loves everyone here. He cares about us. He's concerned about you, and he doesn't want people to be called names. And I would like it if when people move into homes, that they don't have to listen to the loud music, that they use profanity when they play their music, and the people can hear that in their homes. And sometimes they say really bad things over the air and they call people names, and this is upsetting, because God cares about everyone. And also I would just like to say, if it's all right, talk to God every day. Talk when darkness blinds your way. Talk to God when things are bright. Talk to him each day and night. When talking, you will find relief from all your fears and cares. And God will guide you safely through the devil's hitting snares. It doesn't matter where you are, on land, on sea, in air. Just keep on talking to your God. He'll shoulder all your cares. So just keep talking to your God and don't forget to see the face of him who bought our sins and died to make us free. And when the troubles of this life return to make you frown, just keep on looking to your king and at your future crown. If we don't forsake God, he won't forsake us. And I just wanted to also say, if it's all right, can I say happy birthday to my -- I want to say happy birthday to my sister. God cares about her. And he wanted all of us to be born. So just don't give up. And thank you for letting me say this. I thank God for his mercy. God bless you.
Thank you very much for your testimony and those inspiring words.
Good morning. I'm Jerry Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. (Applause.)
When the PFT joined Pennsylvania's Working Families and other community and labor organizations in January to collect petition signatures to put local control on November's ballot, we were amazed and thrilled with the responses we got from residents. The PFT alone collected 17,000 of the 20,000 signatures required to place a referendum before City Council. In all, over 40,000 signatures were collected, far more than what was required. City Council has been a champion for full funding for our schools and a consistent voice for more transparency and oversight of the School District's finances. Given your past advocacy for our children, last week's failure to vote to put local control on the November ballot was a shocking disappointment. (Applause.)
The issue of local control of our public schools is clearly something Philadelphians care about. The people in this city want the power to determine what happens in their children's schools. That power was taken away in 2001 when the state foisted the School Reform Commission onto Philadelphia. Since then, our School District has experienced triple-digit budget deficits, the closures of neighborhood schools, and an unthinkable loss of programs and services for our children. This year schools opened with conditions that can, at best, be called deplorable. With a loss of staff in so many schools, schools district-wide have had cutbacks in the area of maintenance and security. Most of our schools still do not have certified school librarians and many are without full-time counselors or full-time nurses. Because of extreme overcrowding of classes, this afternoon the entire staff of Central High School will be protesting before the parents come to back-to-school night because -(Applause.)
Since the very first day of school, many of their classes, Spanish 1, Algebra 1, for example, have 50 children in them, not enough seats, and those are the children that we are expected to teach and we want them to succeed. Those are not conditions that are good for learning. I want to share with you also things are so bad in one elementary school, there are split classes. Well, there are split classes in several, but in this one at Overbrook Elementary, they have a split first, second, and third, one teacher teaching a class of first, second, and third graders. All of this is taking place under the watchful eye of the SRC. I urge every member of Council to vote on this referendum to put it on the ballot, and because of the timeline, I urge the Mayor to sign the bill today, because it has to be signed -(Applause.)
It needs to be signed today so it can be placed on the ballot. Thank you.
Catherine Blunt, commenting on 140527. (Applause.) (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning and good morning, fellow citizens and voters. I have returned. I was here last Thursday. I didn't have this reception, so I'm glad that I am here with you, because I did sign that petition. I was one of the 40,000. (Applause.)
So when I was here last week, I spoke about 20,000. Let me say this: I am a retired teacher, retired principal. I was a union rep for 27 years. I was with the School District for 43 years. So I know what I'm talking about when I say it is time for the SRC to go. (Applause.)
Our children are our most precious assets. We have to protect them and we have to educate them. So that it is important, City Council members, for each of you to understand the unique role that you play here today and the expectation as voters we have of you. We need you to support Resolution 140527 and 140514. We need to have the opportunity to voice our opinion about the SRC. That's not your job; it's our job. We need the opportunity to take over our schools to determine what the curriculum should be, because they don't have a curriculum now. They don't have enough textbooks now. We need the right to be able to say these are the people who will represent us and our interests for our children. So I encourage you, each and every one of you today, to please vote in the affirmative for the two bills to put this resolution on the ballot. We didn't get it for November unfortunately, but we need it for May. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you for your testimony. (Audience members chanting.)
All right. We got your message. We got your message. We have one more person to testify and then we will conclude with our business. Thank you.
Ernie Bristow, commenting on 140527. (Applause.) (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. I'm here representing as a parent who has four children -- who had four children in the public school system. Two have graduated and moved on and now I have my twin boys, who are very active in the community as well as myself. And as I speak, I would like for a lot of you guys to look at me, because it's about me. I know the cell phone is popular, but right now I got the floor because I want -(Applause.)
Because a lot of you guys I know, and when y'all come to our community meetings, y'all have my full attention, so I would like that respect back. I would like that respect back. Okay? Now, I went to my twins' back-to-school night on my night that I had to go to school. I'm in school. And when I had to hear the principal speak on at Samuel Fels that there's a possibility that they are targeting my boys' school to turn over to charter, I know I was signing up for home and school. I just didn't start today visiting my children's school. I have a 30-year-old, a 24-year-old, and my twins are 16. I didn't start two weeks ago. I started when my 30-year-old was in school, and two of the schools that my children went to are closed, Germantown and William Penn. I'm not going to stand here and allow another one of my children's schools -- I could have had my twins in a charter school. They qualify, but I still have them in a public school where we're told that public school education is the best education. (Applause.)
So I want full control. I want full control. I'm on a lot of committees in the community. I just don't stay in my local community. And I am wearing the hat of a parent who cares, and when we go to the schools and the kids can't wash their hands because there's no hand sanitizer in the bathroom and then when they are called out and the parent have to call out sick, then here comes the truancy officers, because the little babies didn't have hand sanitizer in the bathroom to wash their hand with some soap. Now, come on. Who wants to go to the bathroom and can't wash their hands with soap? Come on. We need full control. I'm a parent. If you put me in control, things will happen. (Applause.)
You just don't see me standing here. You just don't see me standing here. You will see me in South Philly, West Philly, Northwest. You will see me everywhere. So I'm standing here with this petition in my hand to say we need to get that on the ballot for now, this year. No more will we stand for the foolishness, the SRC, what's going on. Full control back to the parents, the community, strong community, built on community. A lot of you guys, a lot of times we don't see you until it's time to vote, but that's another story. (Applause.)
But full control, full control from the parents and the community, ones that build and know what to do concerning our children. Back in control; that's it. Peace out. (Applause.)
There are no other speakers on the public comment list, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. We will now move forward with the consideration of the Calendar. Folks, can I ask you to have a little quiet, please. Thank you. 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING We will move forward with the consideration of the Calendar at this time. Mr. Decker, would you please read the title of 140527.
A resolution submitting to the electors of the City an amendment to Article VIII, Chapter 5 of The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, entitled "Referenda Approved by the Voters," by adding a new section providing that the citizens of Philadelphia call upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Governor to abolish the School Reform Commission and return local control of Philadelphia's schools, as proposed by a petition filed with the Council.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you. Certainly we call for the adoption 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING of this resolution, but we would like to make remarks. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you, and thank you, Councilman Kenney. We want to speak on this resolution due to concern -- I'm very sorry that we disappointed people last week, but we were asked to hold up the resolution so that we wouldn't send any mixed messages to the Governor from Council about the $2 cigarette tax that certainly has now been passed by the House. Since that has been moving ahead and newspaper reports that we heard say that the Governor will sign it once the Senate votes, then we feel that there can be no mixed message about Council's concern and their request for that $2 tax or our concern about this resolution. Let me assure Councilmembers -one asked me about funding. We have not 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING talked about it in this resolution, nor are we talking about changing Council's role in funding. So none of us need to be concerned about that. We are, however, should you support this resolution, we do, however, request that the Mayor sign it, because we are up against a time deadline, so that it may go on the November election. I thank all of you, the majority of whom have agreed to support this. We thank you all, and certainly know all of us realize schools are in big trouble. We've got to do something different. If we want different results, then we can't do the same things we've done. So we're trying to do our part to have different outcomes so that our schools may be in order and that our youngsters may receive a good education. Thank you all. (Applause.)
Thank you, Councilwoman. 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to take an unpopular position here. I will not be supporting this resolution and the subsequent bill. (Audience members booing.)
Folks, folks, hold up. Hold up. Folks, I ask that you please show some respect for the members as they take their position in a very public way. We've given -- hold it. We've given everybody an opportunity to speak for what your position was. We sat and listened to your position. Councilmembers deserve the respect to give their position, and then we'll have a vote and then we'll move on from there. Thank you. Councilman.
Thank you, Mr. President. My vote is not about the 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING subject itself. I certainly understand the desire for a change in how public schools are governed. I understand why a petition was circulated. I understand why Councilwoman Blackwell has submitted this resolution and bill. However, I believe we made a mistake years ago -and I have stated this position before this particular matter arose -- when we started placing non-binding referenda on the City Charter, sometimes on issues that did not even pertain directly to City matters. While school governance is certainly a City-related issue, the fact is nothing changes if this question is supported by the voters. The SRC remains in place. Nothing changes. In short, I don't believe the City Charter should be an opinion poll. I believe it should be about the rules and regulations of the City. I think there's things that we can do, we have done in the past. Many of us have stood 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING up many times and supported funding for the public schools, oftentimes being criticized by other constituents, but we did what we had to do. But I think this is a position that I want to be consistent on. I've taken it on other things in that ballot questions have come up and, again, I'm going to try to be consistent here. So I'll be voting no on this resolution and bill. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Mr. President. The question that's going to go on the ballot when I believe this will be affirmed to be approved is shall the School Reform Commission be abolished and local control returned to the City. The answer is yes. (Applause.) 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING
I know very few people who are against this and say no. In fact, we do know that about 40,000 people signed a petition to say yes. I was one of them. One evening -(Applause.)
One evening I was home and my doorbell rang, and I answered the door, and someone told me about a petition of the ballot question. I was fully aware of the ballot question, but I let the person talk, because they took the time to go door to door. They took the time to come to my door. They took the time, not knowing who I was, to explain to me that ballot question. Why? Because they care about the education of our children and they realized we're on the wrong track. The truth of the matter is, we often complain about parents and communities not being involved in the education of our children. To do that and then not allow people and respect 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING their opinion, it's hypocritical. (Applause.)
At the end of the day, this is not any old ballot question or opinion poll regarding the Charter. At the end of the day, local control is already in the Charter. We're simply asking to revert back to the Charter. So once you abolish the SRC, we will automatically return to local control, which is in the Charter. So this is a question about the Charter and so it is actually in proper order. So I'll be voting yes today and I'll be voting yes in November. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you. Councilwoman, you made your motion. We will now, because it is a Charter amendment, as tradition, do a roll call. Mr. Decker, please call the 9/18/14 - STATED - 2ND READING roll.