Thank you, Council President. Today I introduced a resolution in honor of every Philadelphian who exists outside the strict binary of gender and sexuality that our society imposes, in honor of all of our friends and loved ones who have already come out as well as those who have not, in honor of the people who have risked violence and discrimination in order to come out, as well as those who have come out in the midst of joy and celebrating. National Coming Out Month is an opportunity for us all to strengthen our community and support each other in sharing the truth of our experiences and our identities. It is not a day to pressure anyone to come out or to shame those who have not yet come out. It's a day to celebrate the beauty of being true to yourself and having the courage to Stated Meeting 66 10/5/2023 10/5/23 - STATED - 2ND READING share your experience and supporting others who may choose to come out to you. It is also a day to acknowledge the difficulties many face in coming out and to recognize that many people are still not able to safely come out. And as of August, there are more than 580 anti-queer bills that have been introduced at state legislatures. Of these 580, over 80 have been signed into law in this year alone. This more than doubles last year's number, which is already the worst in years on record. By celebrating National Coming Out Day, the City of Philadelphia stands proudly with our queer community against legislative attacks, hate, and violence, and we commend the strength and courage and resilience of our queer community and affirm their right to justice and safety in our city and throughout our country. From October 6th through 8th, Philadelphia celebrates National Coming Out Day with our fest, the National Stated Meeting 67 10/5/2023 10/5/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Coming Out Parade and Festival Resource Fair and the first National Coming Out Parade in the United States. And I want to thank Philly Pride 365, Galaei, Tyrell Brown, all those that will make our fest a joyous, supportive, and powerful event that I know it will be. Thank you so much. (Applause.)
Thank you so much, Council President, and I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The Stated Meeting 68 10/5/2023 10/5/23 - STATED - 2ND READING ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you. Thank you, Council President. I must depart Council for important Council business, but prior to that departure, I wanted to recognize and welcome my sisters of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Incorporated to the City of Philadelphia for our biannual conference, which is being held at the Sheraton October 4th through October 8th. Councilmember Bass and I had the opportunity to represent the City at the opening ceremony last evening, and I wanted to give them a hearty welcome to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Effectiveness. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The record Stated Meeting 69 10/5/2023 10/5/23 - STATED - 2ND READING shall reflect your votes. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Before Kathy Gilmore Richardson leaves or Cindy Bass leaves, I want to echo their recognition of the coalition and encourage the brothers to keep up with them. If you've ever had the opportunity to attend their workshops, they are far in advance on sophisticated items that impact women of color, and I stand in awe of some of their organizational skills, some of their ability to enact policy in a positive way, and welcome them to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Effectiveness and welcome them for their national conference.
And a resolution proclaiming September 16, 2023 as Masha Amini Day in the City of Philadelphia to Stated Meeting 70 10/5/2023 10/5/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Commemorate and Recognize the one-year anniversary of her death in custody after being detained by Iranian Morality Police, introduced today by Councilman Harrity.
Council President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution designating the week of Sunday, October 8 Stated Meeting 71 10/5/2023 10/5/23 - STATED - 2ND READING through Saturday, October 14, 2023 as "Italian American Heritage Week" in the City of Philadelphia and honoring Gaetano (Guy) Pigliacelli and Gerald "Jerry" Blavat (posthumously) as the Grand Marshalls of the 2023 Philadelphia Italian American Parade, introduced today by Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to acknowledge the parade is Sunday starting off at Broad and Snyder at 12 o'clock. It will be on TV. Channel 6 will be covering it from 12:30 to 2:00, and then there will be an Italian festival right at Marconi Plaza where the parade ends up until 6:00 p.m. So we welcome everybody to come out, enjoy the festivities and celebration and have a great day. I move for the adoption of the resolution. Stated Meeting 72 10/5/2023 (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. That concludes our Calendar for today. At this point, are there any speeches on behalf of the minority? (No response.)
Speeches on behalf of the majority? Stated Meeting 73 10/5/2023 Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to take a brief moment to thank my colleagues, those who came out to the Crime Summit at St. Joe's University last Saturday. For those who did not come but yet their work spoke for them, thank you again. For those who submitted positive recommendations in the chat, thank you for those recommendations. But it is a work in progress. It is historic in nature. I've never seen over 150 advocates, from boots on the ground to members of the Chamber of Commerce, credible messengers, to people from behind the walls, juveniles from JJC, talking to each other in a proactive verb, meaning here's my suggestion, here's what we can do. You took us on a number of field trips to other municipalities, and the one thing that we drew from Chester Stated Meeting 74 10/5/2023 the individuals that are responsible, the stakeholders, could sit in a room, breathe the same air, point at a solution as opposed to pointing at each other, and that was the spirit of the conference. Next steps, St. Joe's University will be putting together what is called a white paper, and it will be formatted to identify the problem, the solution, and the next steps, whether it's budgetary, legislative, or policy. That will be presented to the 100th Mayor. It will be presented first to members of this body for your edit. So everything from the Kensington Marshall Plan to conflict resolution in schools, to Gun Violence Task Force that we've created, all will be fused into a document that will be presented to the Mayor. And thank you for that chief safety officer Charter change, because they will have this as a rule and guide to move this city forward. Stated Meeting 75 10/5/2023 weekend two weeks ago, what happened with a bike rider that I know -- I thought it was Squilla, I swear. I thought you were going to run him down yourself -- jumping on a car sends a -- it was on national news. And so when people start to view Philadelphia as a place they might want to visit, might want to work, might want to send their kid to go to school, there is a caution that is doing this city a disservice. Now, I'm of the opinion, like my colleagues, I want the right hand of fellowship and want to help young people that want to do right, but I got the left hand of punishment that if you act like you want to go to jail, we're going to help you along your merry way. So we have got to have difficult conversations, Quetcy, difficult conversations about things that might seem on the surface a bit insensitive, but if we don't look Stated Meeting 76 10/5/2023 City mirror, King of Prussia is going to eat our lunch. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. A very impressive event, great turnout. The Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. We heard a lot of things happening this week, but one of the other things that we didn't mention is through October 2nd through the 6th, we're proud to recognize the National Digital Inclusion Week. It's a great time to raise awareness of the solutions available to help bridge the digital divide and bring high speed internet to homes in Philadelphia. As COVID came through, it made it abundantly clear how these vital goals for our children's future are needed. Stated Meeting 77 10/5/2023 instrumental in keeping kids in school by providing access to classrooms when they suddenly went virtual. This program stood up quickly, thanks to our partners in the Office of Innovation and Technology and the Administration, the School District and our colleagues right here in City Council. The results were astounding. PHLConnectED enabled more than 23,000 free internet connections for families over three years. That's 23,000 free internet connections for people who didn't have it. But we know that's not enough. The worst of the pandemic is hopefully behind us, but PHLConnectED is now focusing on getting the word out about the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, a federal program. Through ACP, Philadelphians who are eligible can receive $30 monthly credits to pay for broadband internet. When combined with Stated Meeting 78 10/5/2023 options, monthly internet subscriptions may be almost at no cost to some families. OIT is supporting the ACP program by bringing general awareness to the benefits of every Philadelphia household, with or without school-age children. Philadelphia households can visit GEP -- GETACP. They can also dial 211 to schedule an ACP appointment with Digital Navigator or visit the Free Library location and ask for information about the Affordable Connectivity Program. We understand that even though there's a lot of challenges out there, we can work with our partners to make this a reality for everybody here in the City. Our internet service provider partners including Comcast, some of the partners we have in Philadelphia Digital Navigator include Beyond Literacy, Drexel, Excite Center, Esperanza, SEAMAAC and others. Stated Meeting 79 10/5/2023 working together with the children and families to adult education in the Free Library. Philadelphia provides digital skill classes around the City, the answer to the call to get Philadelphia connected. And while the work continues, I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for this incredible effort and thank you and looking forward to being able to provide internet access to all Philadelphians throughout the City of Philadelphia. And one last thing, PHL Council briefing for Philly Cam is right after Council. There will be lunch provided for staffers and colleagues who want to attend right in the Caucus Room following Council. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gauthier. Stated Meeting 80 10/5/2023
Thank you, Council President. I wanted to take a moment to commend Majority Leader Jones on his Crime Summit event this past weekend. It was a great turnout with all of the people in the room, from City leaders to community leaders to young people that we would need to make a dent on these issues. The conversations were meaningful and solution oriented, and I look forward to seeing the blueprint and I look forward to being a part of the implementation. And job well done, and thank you for your leadership. I also wanted to ask that we take a moment of silence for Josh Kruger, who was tragically and brutally murdered a few days ago. I didn't know Josh very well, but we were friendly. He was such a great person. He was someone who was supportive of me and my work in Council. He was someone who was a public servant here at the City of Philadelphia for many Stated Meeting 81 10/5/2023 and, as a journalist and a thought leader, was also a voice for some of the most vulnerable people in the City, including those experiencing homelessness, the LGBTQ community, and people dealing with substance use addiction. And it's just such a loss for our city and a loss for his family as well. He also lost a brother not too long ago. And so it's just a horrible thing to happen to his family, and I just wanted to know if we could take a moment of silence to recognize such a great person who was taken away from us.
Can we please have a moment of silence. (Moment of silence.)
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Harrity.
Thank you, Council President. Stated Meeting 82 10/5/2023 you, colleagues, for voting on my resolution to remember the murder of 22-year-old Masha Amini on September 16th, 2022. I originally wanted to do it on the anniversary a couple weeks ago, but we didn't have the text written up. Iran by the government officials sparked outrage around the world. Masha Amini was killed in violation of her human rights. Her death has triggered a new wave of demands for human rights and dignity for women around the world. People, and especially women, should not have to face death for mere violations of morality, and it is our hope that by remembering Masha that we do not let other people fall prey to government-sanctioned violence. Coming from the City of Philadelphia, the birthplace of democracy, the birthplace of freedom, I believe that we have to stand up for Stated Meeting 83 10/5/2023 -- for human rights violations, no matter where they occur. And I hope just by remembering this poor young lady, who we will never know the great things that she was bound to do because of something senseless, that we just keep her in our prayers and her family in our prayers and that we do not forget, because if you forget, it will happen again. So thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Phillips.
Thank you, Council President. I want to also echo thanks to Councilmember Curtis Jones for organizing the Crime Summit. Unfortunately I couldn't be there because I was hosting several events in our district, but I applaud the efforts, and we look forward to helping to create even more solutions Stated Meeting 84 10/5/2023 simply just wanted to note that John White, Jr., who is a, I want to say, a person who -- a benefactor of the Black political forum that was founded by his father, John White, Sr., and where men like him and David Richardson, the list goes on, really came into public office with the mindset of finding a way to get through bureaucracy and make changes in the City of Philadelphia. His street renaming is still happening this Saturday. We're going to do it rain or shine. If there is a change in location based off of heavy rain, we'll let you know. Follow me on social media @phillipsdist9, phillipsdist9, and you'll get an announcement or you can e-mail at Anthony.Phillips@phila.gov. I just want to let you know that we're having it at 11:30 in the morning, 1400 block of Vernon Road. All of Philadelphia is invited. It's going Stated Meeting 85 10/5/2023 event, and we want to make sure that John knows that he's loved and cared about and give him the flowers while he's here. So looking forward to seeing all the colleagues this Saturday, October 7th.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Lozada.
Thank you, Council President. Every year there are men, women, and children who are trafficked. And so we are holding a committee hearing on Children and Youth October the 10th at Enon Baptist Tabernacle Church on 2800 West Cheltenham Avenue. I'd like to invite everyone to participate. Part of what we heard or part what I heard when I participated in Councilman Jones' Crime Safety Summit was that children oftentimes communicate with each other through social media and they Stated Meeting 86 10/5/2023 are really talking to. And that is who these traffickers often prey and how they prey on children in marginalized or vulnerable communities. So I ask you all to participate, be a part of the conversation and help us come to solutions around how we educate our kids about the dangers of human trafficking. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Driscoll.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to highlight that the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, October 11th at 1 o'clock in a remote manner using Microsoft Teams. The remote hearing is regarding examining the impacts of and Stated Meeting 87 10/5/2023 extension of the existing Broad Street Subway line into the underserved Northeast along the Roosevelt Boulevard. So that hearing will be Wednesday, October 11th at 1:00 p.m. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. It will be a very interesting discussion. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
Thank you, Council President. I want to also echo the sentiments of my colleague Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier acknowledging the life of Josh Kruger, who was an award-winning journalist, a strong advocate for those who are homeless, as well as a strong advocate in the LGBTQ community, but also a member of the Point Breeze community. And so we were out and about yesterday on his block talking to Stated Meeting 88 10/5/2023 of trauma, because anyone that live on the block, you wake up in the morning, find out somebody is murdered, there's levels of trauma that the neighbors are feeling in the neighborhood. So I wanted to take a moment to echo the sentiments regarding his life and legacy. And also throughout this weekend just doing my due diligence and doing work and talking to different business leaders around the state of our city and we talked about how in order for us to recruit businesses to come into our city to expand our tax base, we need a city that's cleaner, safer, and competent in terms of how government operates. And then the discussion talked about how nationally we are going viral for all the wrong reasons, right, getting phone calls from people from other parts of the country reaching out to us making sure we're safe when they see people looting Stated Meeting 89 10/5/2023 Center City, but also this recent incident that took place this weekend where a bunch of ATV riders surround a young lady. One young man jumps on back of her car, breaking her back window out. She got babies in the car. He drops a gun, then points the gun at her face, which is totally unacceptable. And so I thank my colleague Councilman Curtis Jones for hosting the Crime Summit to begin looking at that issue with comprehensive solutions as we go into a new administration addressing the issue. And on the issue of ATVs and illegal dirt bikes, I'm going to be organizing an intergovernmental task force to begin looking at are we looking at all the ways that we can address this issue. This isn't the first time we had to address illegal dirt bikes here in the City of Philadelphia. Councilman Curtis Jones actually took a bunch of young men Stated Meeting 90 10/5/2023 in Jersey on a four-wheeler ATV to try to show them alternatives to driving down the street, right? But there's legislation that has been introduced on the state level that we're entertaining, and I spoke to Commissioner John Stanford yesterday and tried to get more understanding of what are we doing, what aren't we doing, and how can we get a handle on this particular issue. Obviously it's illegal to ride dirt bikes in the City of Philadelphia, so that's a non-starter, right? And at the same time, I'm not a big fan of mass incarceration, but there has to be a level of accountability, right? So we need to make sure we're doing everything we can possible, rather that's supporting more police officers on the street, again exploring alternatives to young men who don't want to ride in the street, but at the end of the day, what took place -- see, the quality of Stated Meeting 91 10/5/2023 issue, I'm like, okay, a lot of noise, right? They wreaking havoc in terms of you driving down the street. And I was surrounded yesterday, so I kind of like perked up, because I'm like I don't want to bump nobody while I'm driving and then I got to go through -I'm serious. I'm like -- because these days you can't really argue with somebody when you get out the car like back in the day, right? So, you know, I know I had to slow down and let them go ahead of me, but when I watched that young lady, right, go back and forth with this young man, the coward I'm going to call it, right? See me if you want to see me, but coward, right, jump in her face, put a gun in her face, right? And she didn't back down, right?
She didn't back down, right, but I had no idea there was children inside the car, right? And to all the chumps that were sitting there watching it go down with another young lady arguing with a young man, right, was Stated Meeting 92 10/5/2023 So we're going to bring together some stakeholders, District Attorney, Police Commissioner, his team, right, some state legislators to begin looking at, again, are we doing everything possible. From my understanding, when they take some of the bikes, there's like some law where they have to figure out a way to give the bikes back to folks. Well, if that's the case, how do we close that loophole, right? Are we immediately destroying the bikes, right? And so at least we have a better understanding as we move forward how we're addressing that issue from a quality of life standpoint, because we're never going to build our city if folks don't want to come here. And the level of the reputation that we're having virally on a national level, well, if I was a Fortune 500 company, I might think twice about coming here, because you know Stated Meeting 93 10/5/2023 why? One, I got to make sure my employees are safe. Two, the families that will move here that actually work in our city, they want to make sure they're going to a neighborhood that's safe, got good schools, and that's clean. So thank you, Council President. And more information will be available as we move forward around illegal task force around ATVs, sir.
Councilman, thank you. Thank you for bringing that to the attention today. Last Friday, the Public Safety Committee had a hearing on drone usage, and you said two things in your speech. One was the national attention to what's been going on in the City of Philadelphia and, two, this whole issue around ATVs. And Stated Meeting 94 10/5/2023 was somewhat concerning. We actually had the City of Hartford was supposed to be scheduled to come to talk about their drone use programs as it relates to ATVs, which I'm told is one of the most successful in the City, and we literally got a call at the last minute saying there's some concern about coming to Philadelphia, because they saw the looting and all of the drama that was going on across this city, and unfortunately that's what people see on the national news, CNN, MSNBC, and they cancelled the trip. It was like -- I was like, wow, I cannot believe this. So I'm sure that we need to follow up, because what I'm told, they have a really, really good program. So thank you for bringing that to our attention. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Vaughn.
Thank you, Council President. Stated Meeting 95 10/5/2023 mention that just as we have bad children creating havoc in the City of Philadelphia, we also have some good. A City of Philadelphia staff member, Stephanie Graham, who works for the Register of Wills Office, her son owns the cafe called The Wiz at 3622 North 17th Street here in Philadelphia, and he reached out to the young lady whose car was damaged and paid to have the window replaced. (Applause.)
So, you know, we need to support people like him. You know, go get an egg sandwich from his restaurant or something like that just so that he can continue to do the positive work that he saw fit to do to help that family. Thank you.
What was the address again? Stated Meeting 96 10/5/2023
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. That concludes the speeches on behalf of the minority and the majority, and with that, the Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 12th, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 12, 2023. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) Stated Meeting 97 10/5/2023
Thank you. The motion carries. Thank you all very much. ) Stated Meeting 98 10/5/2023 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. org Yeah 36:2 Waverly 39:16 62:20 10:18 47:9 Wills 95:8 year 21:7 Way 17:25 Wilson 10:19 66:12 85:14 30:24 38:9 Wilsons 34:7 years 25:2 60:12 69:17 window 89:7 27:19 32:3 75:20 84:10 95:12 33:6, 7, 24 92:12 winning 10:13 34:4, 8 36:6 Wayne 17:24 46:12 37:21 42:17 ways 40:9 wisdom 3:17 66:14 77:14 63:24 89:21 withdraw 7:9 81:2 Wednesday Witness 24:17 year's 66:13 86:22 87:7 27:8 29:23 yellow 19:24 weed 40:7 35:17 39:12 yesterday Week 15:21 42:4 87:25 90:8 17:10, 12 43:5 Witnesses 91:5 59:22 70:25 20:21 31:14 York 44:13 71:3 76:14, 18 Wiz 95:9 young 15:25 weekend Women 68:13 41:4, 8 60:2, 21:17 75:2 69:13 82:14, 15 61:11, 19 80:6 88:12 16 85:15 62:22 63:15, 89:4 Women's 16, 22 75:16 80:9 83:5