Thank you. Mr. Decker, please read that report.
The Committee on Licenses and Inspections, to which was Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 150472, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 9-1306 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Special Inspection Agencies and Special Inspectors,' and Subsection A-902, entitled 'Building, Fuel Gas and Mechanical Code Fees,' to further provide for the registration of special inspection agencies and special inspectors, qualifications for such registrations and duties of such agencies and inspectors; and to authorize the Department of Licenses and Inspections to establish fees for obtaining special inspection certifications," respectfully reports it has considered the same and returns the attached bill to Council with a favorable recommendation.
Thank you very much. The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 suspended as to permit first reading this day of Bill 150472. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No. 150472. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and this bill will be placed on our First Reading Calendar today. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Bass for a report from the Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.
Thank you, Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs reports two bills with a favorable recommendation.
The Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, to which was referred Bill No. 150052, entitled "An ordinance naming and designated the City of Philadelphia owned playground on the 200 block of East Indiana Avenue, located on the corner of 'A' Street and East Indiana Avenue, as 'Hope Park'"; and Bill No. 150465, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Parks and Recreation Commissioner to enter into a license agreement with the Zoological Society of Philadelphia to continue licensing to the Zoological Society certain land and improvements known as Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 38th Street Lot, Zoological Drive and the Sedgley Drive Parking Area, all under certain terms and conditions," respectfully reports it has considered the same and returns the attached bills to Council with a favorable recommendation.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bills No. 150052 and 150465. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No. 150052 and 150465. All those in favor say aye. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and these bills will be placed on our First Reading Calendar today. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Reynolds Brown for a report from the Committee on Environment.
Thank you, Mr. President. The Committee on the Environment reports one bill with a favorable recommendation.
The Committee on the Environment, to which was referred Bill No. 150500, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 3-207 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Sale of Fuel Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Oil,' by modifying certain requirements for commercial fuel oil content," respectfully reports it has considered the same and returns the attached bill to Council with a favorable recommendation.
Thank you. The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Mr. President, I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No. 150500. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No. 150500. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING Those opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it. That bill will be placed on our First Reading Calendar today. That concludes our reports from committee, and the next order of business is the consideration of the Calendar. I note that the bills just reported from committee with a suspension of the rules have been deemed to have had a first reading. These bills will be placed on our Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar at our next session. As there are no additional bills on the First Reading Calendar, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell at this time for a motion regarding Bill No. 150466.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit an amendment to be offered to Bill No. 150466 at this time. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. And, again, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to offer an amendment to Bill No. 150466. A copy of this amendment has been circulated to all members of Council. I'll also move for the adoption of the amendment. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All those in favor of the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Bill No. 150466 has been amended. Bill No. 150466 will be placed on our Final Passage Calendar at our next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Oh at this time for a motion regarding Bill No. 150164.
Thank you, Council President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit an amendment to be offered to Bill No. 150164 at this time. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye.
Aye. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING
I see what's going on. The ayes have it. And, again, the Chair recognizes Councilman Oh.
Thank you, Council President. I would like to offer an amendment to Bill No. 150164. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of Council. I'd like to be recognized to make some remarks before the vote is taken. (Duly seconded.)
All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Point of order. Councilman Goode. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING
Councilman Oh just moved on the amendment, so I don't think we want to take a vote before he spoke.
Councilman Oh just made a motion on the actual amendment. I think he was going to speak before we took a vote on the amendment.
My amendment is on the amended Operating Budget, and first I'd like to say that I know that this is a very difficult job that we have. It's a tough job. There are very Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING hard issues, and it's even harder for most people, even very well educated people, to understand the procedures, issues that come before this body, and each person here is elected and responsible and answers only to the voters that elected them. As a Councilman at-large, two things are apparent to me, and they seem very difficult. One is that the people of our City understand the difficulties and challenges and failures in many ways of the School District, but they want the City to step in once again and help this situation. The second thing that is at least clear to me is, they do not want that help to come in the form of a real estate tax increase or a business tax increase because it would be the fourth year in a row and it hurts a lot of people, but it's devastating to the middle class and to the poor. Our budget process allows for Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING flexibility in this budget, and what I mean is that the Mayor when he presents the budget does not have to do zero-based budgeting and he can put some flexibility in there in terms of over-allocations or, as the Administration says, what results in under-spending. Either way, it's extra money, or as I would say, it's an overtaxation of the people. And so this amendment that I'm offering takes the average of six years in departments and takes the average of the over-appropriation and comes up with $105 million for the schools, without raising taxes. For example, if there's a department that for the last six years had requested and received $100,000 and in the first year spends only 80,000, in the second year 70,000, so forth and so on, until the sixth year, the average of its spending is 75,000, and that means on average there's 25,000 of additional money or an overtax. That money does not return to the people. It's not put in Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING the General Fund for the most part. It is then used in a transferred ordinance for another purpose. What this bill does is take a look at our Operating Budget, which in fact is about $8 billion -- we're dealing with the General Fund -- but takes 1.31 percent of it, which is $105 million of what I call unidentified over-appropriations or overtaxes and gives them to the schools, provided that the schools will waive maintenance of effort, and when added to the $69 million that we're already giving the schools, we would be giving the schools $174 million this year in a one-time appropriation without raising a penny of real estate tax or use and occupancy tax. The surplus as of March that we have in this budget is $142.4 million, and it will grow by the end of this fiscal year, which is June 30th. I would like to offer an amendment to the Operating Budget so that we fund the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING schools without raising taxes. And with that, I would move for the adoption of the amendment and ask for a vote. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilman. I believe the motion was made and seconded. All in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Sounds like the no's have it. The amendment fails, Councilman. Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez at this time for a motion regarding Bill No. 140607.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING rules of Council be suspended as to permit an amendment to be offered to Bill No. 140607. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. I'm multi-tasking up here. Sorry. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. And, again, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez.
This is a technical amendment on the water bill that we passed in the Finance Committee just requested. It's actually a very important bill that we're passing. So thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to offer the amendment on Bill Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING No. 140607. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members, and I move for the adoption of the amendment. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Bill No. 140607 has been amended. Bill No. 140607 will be placed on our Final Passage Calendar at our next session of Council. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit an amendment to be offered to Bill No. 150495 at this time. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. And, again, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to offer an amendment to Bill No. 150495. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of Council. I move for the adoption of the amendment. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Bill No. 150495 has been amended. Bill No. 150495 will be placed on the Final Passage Calendar at our next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Henon at this time for a motion regarding Bill No. 150500.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit an amendment to be offered to Bill No. 150500 at this time. (Duly seconded.)
All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 1ST READING (No response.)
The ayes have it. And, again, the Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you again, Mr. President. I'd like to offer an amendment to Bill No. 150500. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of Council, and I move for the adoption of this amendment. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Bill No. 150500 has been amended. Bill No. 150500 will be placed on our Final Passage Calendar at Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Jones -- Councilman Henon, did you need to be recognized?
I'm sorry. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion concerning resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar today.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the following resolutions on Final Passage Calendar: Resolutions No. 150544, 150548, 150549, 150551, 150552, 150307, 150308, 150309, 150310, 150311, 150312, 150313, 150314, 150315, and 150316. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's moved and seconded that Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 2ND READING the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the resolutions just read by Councilman Jones. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries, and we will consider the Resolution Consent Agenda very shortly. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Jones for the purpose of calling up bills and resolutions on the Final Regular Passage Calendar today.
Thank you, Mr. President. In addition to the resolutions being considered on the Consent Agenda, the following resolutions and bills are being called up from Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 2ND READING today: Nos. 140732-A, 130656-A, 150239, 150264, 150355, 150441, 140721, and 150368. All other bills and resolutions are being held.
Thank you, Councilman. We're going to have our public comment shortly. I just want to get a little order with respect to the individuals that will be testifying today. (Pause.)
Folks, can I have your attention, please. Can I have your attention, please. Thank you. This is what we're going to do. We have an interesting day. As you know, we were supposed to have the Committee of the Whole at 9 o'clock this morning to discuss the Airport Use and Lease Agreement. As I said earlier, we were not ready. It appears now we are ready. So what we're going to do, we're going to recess the Council Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 WHOLE meeting, go into the Committee of the Whole to conclude our business on the Airport Use and Lease Agreement legislation, and then we will report that out of committee and then we will reconvene back in Council and we will continue the session and hopefully be out of here before 5 o'clock. I'm just kidding. We won't be here that long, but it might be. All right. So, folks, right now I'm going to give you a formal version. I need your attention, please. I have to formalize this. I just wanted to explain to you what we're doing. Can I have quiet, please. Thank you. So at this time, the Chair is recognizing Councilwoman Reynolds Brown for a motion to recess the Council meeting.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that City Council stand in recess until the completion of the public meeting of the Committee of Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 WHOLE the Whole, which was scheduled to convene at 9 o'clock a.m. today. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the Council stand in recess until the completion of the public meeting of the Committee of the Whole, which was scheduled to convene at 9 o'clock today. All those in favor will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The motion carries, and Council will stand in recess until the completion of the public meeting of the Committee of the Whole. Thank you. (Recess for Committee of the Whole hearing.) Stated Meeting June 11, 2015
We will now reconvene today's Stated Meeting, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the receipt of an additional committee report and first reading of the bills at this time.
It's been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit the receipt of an additional committee report and first reading of bills at this time. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) Stated Meeting June 11, 2015
The ayes have it. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones for a report from the Committee of the Whole.
Thank you, Mr. President. The Committee of the Whole reports one bill with a favorable recommendation.
To the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia, the Committee of the Whole, to which was referred Bill No. 150531, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Director of Commerce to enter into Use and Lease Agreements between the City and each of the airlines servicing Philadelphia International Airport," respectfully reports it has considered and amended the same and returns the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Council with a favorable recommendation.
Thank you. The Chair again recognizes Councilman Jones.
Mr. President, I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this Bill No. 150531. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No. 150531. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and this bill will be on Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 our First Reading Calendar today. Thank you very much. I now note that this bill which has just been reported from committee with a suspension of the rules has been deemed to have had a first reading. This bill will be placed on our Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar at our next session of Council. Before considering these bills and resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, we will now consider public comment. Public comment will go as follows: If you are here to testify on a bill or resolution that is on the Final Passage Calendar today, if you have not already done so, I'd ask that you sign up at the table to my left. Your name will be called. You will go to the podium in the middle of the Council Chambers. There's a device on that podium. When the light turns green, it is your time to speak. When Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 the light turns yellow, you will have 30 seconds to conclude your remarks. When the light turns red, we ask that you please adhere to the guidelines and conclude your remarks. You will be given three minutes to testify. I do want to say because we have a significant number of individuals to testify on bills, the rules call for us to limit same subject matter testimony on a particular bill. I'm going to call up the -- because there are two bills that have significant number of individuals testifying, we are going to on the Gallery bill, we have an understanding that Ms. Lopez will come up -- not yet. We got one before you -will come up with all of the members that are here to testify and they will state their names and she will testify on behalf of the group. We have that understanding, right? Ms. Lopez, I'm waiting for you to shake your head. All right. Never mind. Okay. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 And also on Bill 150406, which is the prison bill that is not being called up for a vote today, we have a significant number of individuals listed. We will limit the number of people. I'm just going to call the names that signed up early on in the process. So with that, I would ask, Mr. Decker, please call the name of the first witness.
Katherine DeAngelis, commenting on 150355. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. MS. DeANGELIS: Thank you. My name is Katherine DeAngelis, D-E-A-N-G-E-L-I-S. I live at 1427-29 South 4th Street. Good afternoon, Council President, Councilmembers. I'm here today as a local representative for 14 neighbors. I have previously sat on the Board of Pennsport Civic. I'm currently Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 on the Board of the Central Delaware Advocacy Group, CDAG. I'm here to give you a larger overview of the project of Mount Sinai Hospital and how it is in my community and show you how the zoning will affect our neighborhood. Concordia Group will be seeking multiple builds within two blocks of each other. I attended their presentation last night for the development of the Vare School, and I'll give you a quick snapshot - 45 apartments, which equals 72 bedrooms, 24 parking spots. Mount Sinai, two blocks away, 95 single-family homes, which equal 319 bedrooms, 129 parking. The total for these two builds equals 391 bedrooms, 153 parking spaces. Our neighborhood has changed and right now it's more rental than it is sales of homes, and what's happening is, we have a lot more people, younger people, living with their parents. So we have a lot more cars in the family than Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 you're normally having in a neighborhood. Last night I attended the Vare presentation, and a woman told me she's got three cars because her kids are living at home with her. We're trying to prevent excessive density in our neighborhood or overbuilding. The single-family homes for this project at Mount Sinai are more than double that the original houses that used to sit there within the hospital space. Right now if Concordia does not have to come here, they could build by-right single-family homes and they could restore the original streets, Wilder and Gerritt, which were struck and given to the hospital. Everyone says parking. It's not really what it is. It's quality of life. Last night three people gave an excellent example. A young woman working her second job coming home at 2:00 a.m., parking three blocks away and feeling unsafe. An older senior citizen having Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 to walk in the dark several blocks. And then a woman whose kids come home late at night after 2:00. So it's not parking. It's safety. It's your peace of mind. And what's happening, we have asked for several things from Concordia about a parking lot. I want to tell you that right now we are a little mistrusting. The previous developer who was trying to get this site had multiple liens and, more importantly, was trying to sell parcels to anyone who owned it before he owned it. He was showing -- but he was showing the community something different. So right now if you grant Concordia an RMX-2 zoning, that gives them the right to build commercial and multi-family. If they sell off this parcel, if they can't, then we would be stuck with things that they promised us, no commercial, no parking -- or no multi-family. So I ask -- Stated Meeting June 11, 2015
Ma'am. MS. DeANGELIS: -- that the proviso in this is that you --
Ma'am. MS. DeANGELIS: Thirty seconds. And perhaps a single-family only or 10 percent tax the land area that would remain forever. Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. MS. DeANGELIS: I appreciate your time.
Thank you for your testimony. MS. DeANGELIS: And last comment is, the community did not receive any notice of a recent change on their plans and a new street cut through, and that's why many more people are not here today. Thank you for your time and Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 your patience.
Irma Lopez Salter, commenting on 150377. (Witness approached podium.)
I'm talking about area where PREIT is giving us a right of first offer to relocate, but in that same paragraph, they're not talking about our displacement cost, the cost of re-incubating us upon relocating, level of government subsidies that PREIT got versus the need of even subsidies to ensure the success of the 2014 vendors/kiosks/merchants returning. I just wanted that to be in the record. I also wanted to talk about the Gallery Neighborhood Improvement District Corporation. I think that the bylaws Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 need to be amended to include a small business vendor/kiosk owner/merchants from the 2014 Gallery businesses to be a paid member of this corporation, and we will pay a dollar a year. Allow us to share each other's commitment to this district. So now what we're going to do is, I'm going to name all the vendors that are with me today. Not all 16 of us are here, but I'm going to name them so I could let you know these are the displaced vendors from the Gallery from -- I don't know how many years they all served, but to save time I'm going to start naming them. Besides myself, Irma Lopez Salter, Richard Salter, Nasima Ullah. Anyway, you have the sign-in sheet, so you're going to use this. Rodnay King, Mohammad Nasim, Tiyest Tessema, Gao -- G-A-O A-I R-O-N-G, Mohammed Chow Dhury, Haiying Li, James Wu, Veronica Litt, and Ed Boyle. And so these are the ones that are here today, Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 and so these are the displaced ones. Like I said, there's 16 of us. All of us couldn't make it today. And the last thing was that in Bill 150380, the section that it says that City Council district having -- that it's approved as long as -- and No. (f), it says as long as the project do not displace any businesses. It says, you know, other individuals, families, but businesses, for the record, and we was displaced. So I just wanted to put that in the record. And thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Mr. Decker, hold on a second. Let me tell you what we're going to do on this, because we have an extensive list. I don't know if people Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 have left. We're going to call up five people to testify on the prison bill if they're here. We're just going to call your names. We're only doing five. I don't know how many people are here to testify on that, so we're going to go down the list and the first five testify and then we will conclude that testimony. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. My name is Faye Anderson. I'm a public policy consultant and citizen watchdog. They say the third time is the charm, so perhaps we will finally get an answer to the simple question why would City Council authorize the Commissioner of Public Property to purchase land on which to build a prison that is opposed by your constituents, the likely next Mayor, Jim Kenney, and Governor Tom Wolf? The property at 7777 State Road has been vacant for two decades. Still Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Mayor Nutter's Capital Budget request went from $5 million to $7.2 million. As you may know, the Investigative Reporters and Editors held their annual conference in Philadelphia last week. One watchdog gave this tip: If you see government waste, someone is benefiting. Who will benefit from the purchase of land for which there's no foreseeable use? We still don't know who is behind 7777 Philadelphia PA Loan Associates, LLC, a Delaware corporation, which as of June 1st ceased to be in good standing. The shell company failed to pay its annual Delaware registration tax. Councilman Henon admitted yesterday the company is behind in paying its taxes. If Bill No. 150406 is passed, you would have the spectacle of transferring Philadelphia's taxpayers' dollars to a tax delinquent. Last week Councilman Henon asked how can we expect to truly Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 rehabilitate the incarcerated if they are condemned to deplorable conditions? Opponents of a new jail ask, how can we expect to truly educate children who are trapped in deplorable conditions in schools without librarians, guidance counselors, nurses or arts education? As Frederick Douglass admonished us, it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. I urge you to vote no on Bill No. 150406, a $7.2 million down payment on the school-to-prison pipeline. Thank you. (Applause.)
Liz Filios. (Witness approached podium.) Stated Meeting June 11, 2015
Good afternoon, Council President. Thank you for your time. My name is Liz Filios. I'm an actor, a musician, and a teaching artist. For those of you who don't know what a teaching artist is, it's a person who goes into public schools and teaches music, dance, drama, creative writing, primarily in schools where arts funding and programming has been cut. We're part of the glue that holds our system together, and we do it primarily on a volunteer basis, because we care about the future of our culture and our society. I'm here today to testify on Bill No. 150406 because I believe we should be funding our schools before we build additional prisons in our community. To drive this point home, I would like to read an excerpt from School Play, a theatre piece commissioned by the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Public Citizens for Children and Youth, created from real interviews with local public educators and students. These are their words, and I am honored to be their messenger. There's no paper. There's no money for paper. Three years ago when they cut the budget, they said there's no money for paper, so bring your own. You can use the machine, but there's no paper. Do I feel appreciated? By the kids, yes. By the larger district, not at all, no. I'm a cog in the machine. If I fell over, some other cog would replace me. Like I can't imagine that the Superintendent wakes up at night and worries that I have paper or I have to run off a test. I'm sure he doesn't. Like we in a costume room and what I've paid for, most of what is in this room, that's where it comes from. I have three jobs. My job -my other job is, I'm a waitress, a Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 bartender for a private-party service, and I'm embarrassed, and the other one is I do taxes in the off season. And, oh, and on my fourth job is like I guess in the summer, it depends. Some years I'm a delivery driver for Primo's Hoagies. Sometimes I'm a waitress. Depends. And I have a Doctorate in Education, education with a specialty in creativity and theatre, and I have four jobs to support my job. So I'm single. I spend $5,000, $6,000 a year, and that's like cash for supplies. Can you imagine telling a lawyer bring his own paper? Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. (Applause.)
My name is Megan Winch. I would also like to speak about Bill 150406 as it relates to the need to adequately fund our schools before we build any new prisons. I would also like to provide a reading from School Play. The project was commissioned by PCCY to put genuine human faces to the stories behind Pennsylvania's public school funding crisis. These monologues are all created from actual interviews with Pennsylvania citizens who have been affected by budget cuts and underfunding. I'm Kyanna Hatton. Being a senior, I have to print out a lot of college things. There's one computer in the library. The screen is cracked. The printer is broke every other day. Mind you, you have 167 seniors trying to print everything, and I'm just like, you know we need them, can we get it fixed. But we don't have money. Boom! The real world. You Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 have to figure out what job you're going to do and actually like be something in life. And like you see in movies like the kids go to the counselor and he's like, Yeah, I'll help you do this, that, and the third. My counselor, he's somewhat helpful, but there have been countless times when he's like, I have so much to do, figure it out on your own. I'm going to a household where -- like I live in a single parent home with two other siblings. So I go home and it's basically like you're on your own. I don't really get the help that I wish I could get. I feel like it's withholding me. But it's making me a better person because now I look at it -- I try to look at it like if you want something, you have to go out and get it. If you know you want to be at this university, this, that, and the third, do with all your power inside of you to like make it happen. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Thank you. (Applause.)
Good afternoon. Been a while. My name is Seth Thomas Schmitt-Hall. I'm a teacher, an artist, an actor, and a carpenter. I'd like to speak about Bill 150406 as it relates to the need to adequately fund schools before building prisons, and today I'll also be reading excerpts from School Play, a project commissioned by PCCY to put genuine human faces to the stories behind Pennsylvania's public schools' funding crisis. These monologues are all created from actual interviews with Pennsylvania citizens who have been affected by budget cuts and underfunding. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Gerry Zahorchak is a former PA Secretary of Education. When I was in Harrisburg in 2007, republicans and democrats in Pennsylvania looked at how much it would take every single school district so that all the students could meet Pennsylvania's standards. What does it take to get adequacy? How do we distribute the funds we have so all students can get their unique amount? Some schools, a few, were far beyond that amount. They did that through local property taxes. But many, many schools who could not afford it at a local level were depending on the state. And what we found was the state needed about $4 billion annually. Then there was a shift in the administration. The new Governor took office, and the announcement was made of the budget intentions, and huuuh, oh, my gosh, it was devastating. Sergeant Mark Spanko is a Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 retired Green Beret and active school volunteer. I was in Fallujah, I was in Iraq, and I was in Afghanistan. I says, One of the greatest things that those children wanted was an education. They wanted a book. They wanted to read. And they couldn't. They weren't allowed. And I says, You can't put a price on education. You can't put a price on a child's future. Now, I'm the past. You guys are the future. You're the leaders. You're going to be the politicians, the police officers, the paramedics. You're going to be everything this town needs. So take the education that these teachers are giving you and use it, because there's kids in the other worlds and countries that can't do that. They can't even wear what they want to wear. And I says, You're the future. Thank you. (Applause.) Stated Meeting June 11, 2015
-- and Council President. My name is Karen Lee and I'm a member of Decarcerate PA and the Human Rights Coalition. On behalf of Decarcerate PA as to why $7.2 million should not be allocated to acquire land to build a new prison, there is a remedy that can be utilized to reduce the number of people being incarcerated. How can we do this? One way is to challenge the draconian practice of overcharging routinely done by the DA's Office. What Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 is overcharging? The DA's Office historically stacks a number of unfounded charges against individuals who are arrested, on the tactic to bring guilty pleas out of people, who, on the other hand, may be innocent of the charges against them. When this happens, the emotional and financial burden is not only on the individual charged, but now on the family to fight these bogus and trumped-up charges. While this burden is felt deeply by the family, failure to acknowledge this abusive practice puts a strain and drain on the City's coffers as well. In essence, it taxes an already overburdened system, and the only ones laughing all the way to the bank are the judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and court-appointed counsel who are assured job security, private attorneys who are retained, and the police officers who are guaranteed overtime. Those suffering and crying all the way to the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 bank are families and individuals who are defenseless and made to answer false or unfounded charges brought on by people who have to answer to no one. What can City Council do? You don't need to bring the law in on a lie. You can say no to building yet another jail and instead take steps to eradicate this abusive and costly practice by creating some system of accountability and transparency so that police and prosecutors cannot continue to operate with complete impunity, where communities of color and the poor are funneling to an ever-growing penal system where privatizing and profiteering is the order of the day. Vote no to Bill 150406, and on behalf of Decarcerate, I thank you. (Applause.)
That was the fifth person. So I want to thank you all very much for coming down. I expect I'll see you again next week. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Thank you very much. Thank you. We will now consider today's Resolution Consent Agenda -(Audience members chanting "let her speak.")
Okay. So this is the way it works. You have had your say. You can have a couple of options. One, you can continue to sit and listen to the Council session or you're going to have to leave, because we're not going to allow you to disrupt the Council session. Your call. (Audience members talking without microphone.)
Well, you know, ma'am -(Audience members talking without microphone.)
I'll tell you what, if you want to talk about this after the Council session, we can go in the Caucus Room and we can have a -I'm just offering you the options, ma'am. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 You can't disrupt the Council session. I'm just saying. There are rules associated with the way we do things. I explained to you that we do not have -under our rules it allows us to stop same subject matter. I mean, I told you that. So we can talk after the Council session if you choose to do that, but I can't allow you to disrupt the Council session. (Audience member talking without microphone.)
I'm sorry? (Audience member yelling without microphone.)
Hold up, ma'am. Guys, look, I'm telling you, we're not going to do this. (Audience member yelling without microphone.)
I gave you the option. You chose to disrupt. Hold on. Hold up one second. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Hold on one second. One second. One second. Because you are right, we like the youth to speak. Do you have a spokesperson for the youth? Because I know that you guys in the front are relatively young. So is there a spokesperson? You can come speak on behalf -(Applause.)
Now, if I let you do it, everybody else is going to do it. Let this young lady speak on behalf of the youth. (Witness approached podium.)
Thank you for letting us speak. Hello. My name is Sharron Snyder and I'm a freshman at the Community College of Philadelphia and alumni of Philadelphia Student Union. I am here today because I don't believe we need another jail or prison. Philadelphia needs funding for our public schools. Instead of putting money in prisons and jails, how about you use the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 money for counselors, full-time nurses, sports and arts and music? It seems like the jails are more important than education, and that doesn't sound right to me. Our students deserve to go to schools where it isn't like prisons, when it's more like a school, where you want to go and learn. The former Governor Corbett just opened up two prisons in Pennsylvania. Now another one? This is crazy that more funding is going into building prisons and not education. That goes to show that our elected officials' priorities are all messed up. Please do not open another prison. Vote no on Bill 150406 and thus in children's futures. Thank you.
Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 back to the Consent Agenda. We will now consider today's Resolution Consent Agenda. I would ask -- I first recognize Councilman Neilson.
Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I make a motion that Resolution 150552 come off the Consent Agenda, please. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 150552 will be on the regular Calendar today.
Thank you. I would ask Mr. Decker to read Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 of all resolutions on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of the resolution on the Resolution Consent Agenda. Upon such an objection and without debate, the resolution will be immediately removed from the Resolution Consent Agenda and placed on today's regular Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, will you please now read the titles of the resolutions on the Consent Agenda.
Resolution 150544, entitled "A 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 Sixth and Sixtieth Wards of the City of Philadelphia"; and Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 150548, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Model Cities Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 471 through 73 North Opal Street"; and Resolution No. 150549, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Model Cities Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 2310 through 14 North Marshall Street"; and Resolution No. 150551, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Point Breeze Urban Renewal Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 Area, identified by house number and street address as 1932 Alter Street"; and Resolution No. 150307, entitled "A resolution reappointing Peter C. Rothberg, to the Board of Directors for the Old City Special Services District"; and Resolution No. 150308, entitled "A resolution reappointing Sheryl Bar, to the Board of Directors for the Old City Special Services District"; and Resolution No. 150309, entitled "A resolution reappointing Harvey Spear, to the Board of Directors for the Old City Special Services District"; and Resolution No. 150310, entitled "A resolution appointing Leo Addimando, to the Board of Directors for the Old City Special Services District"; and Resolution No. 150311, entitled "A resolution reappointing Chris Terlizzi, to the Board of Directors of the Center City District"; and Resolution No. 150312, entitled Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 "A resolution reappointing Ernest Jones, to the Board of Directors of the Center City District"; and Resolution No. 150313, entitled "A resolution reappointing Harold Epps, to the Board of Directors of the Center City District"; and Resolution No. 150314, entitled "A resolution reappointing Larry Howard, to the Board of Directors of the Center City District"; and Resolution No. 150315, entitled "A resolution appointing Peter Soens, to the Board of Directors of the Center City District"; and Resolution No. 150316, entitled "A resolution appointing Julie Coker, to the Board of Directors of the Center City District."
Thank you, Mr. Decker. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion to adopt each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 2ND READING Agenda.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that each of the resolutions on the Consent Agenda be adopted. All in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and each of the resolutions on the Consent Agenda has been adopted. We will now consider the bills and resolutions on the regular Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, would you please read the title of 150552. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 2ND READING
A resolution urging the General Assembly to modify the uniformity clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution to allow for a differential real estate tax rate between commercial and residential properties to fund the accelerated reduction of wage and business taxes to foster the growth of Philadelphia's job and tax base.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
Those opposed? No. Thank you. Mr. Decker, please read the Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 2ND READING title of 140732-A.
A resolution proposing an amendment to The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to the creation of a new Department of Planning and Development, headed by a Cabinet-level Director, to oversee the City's planning, zoning, licensing, inspection, enforcement, and housing functions.
So 140732-A is a Charter change resolution. It would require a two-thirds vote. So we will have to do a roll call vote. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. Stated Meeting June 11, 2015 6/11/15 - STATED - 2ND READING