Councilman Nutter? 10/25/01 STATED - SECOND READING - BILL 010569
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are 0. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, this bill passes The final bill to be called for consideration is Bill No. 010555.
An ordinance amending Title 9 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Businesses, Trades and Professions," by amending the provisions in Section 9-618 relating to the sale of spray paint containers and indelible markers to include the sale of etching acid to be made certain 10/25/01 STATED - SECOND READING - BILL 010555 technical changes.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is, shall the bill pass finally? The clerk will please call the roll.
Councilwoman Miller? 10/25/01 STATED - SECOND READING - BILL 010555
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, this bill passes. That concludes our calendar for today.
Are there speeches on the part of the Minority? (No speeches on the part of the Minority.) 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES
Are there speeches on the part of the Majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, last week, I spoke about 629 -- no. (Laughter.)
I spoke about done deals. And my speech was about everything that I was hearing out in the street in terms of the process that was going on behind closed doors about the public schools of Philadelphia. And that everywhere you turn, everyone said it was a done deal. I'm naive: I really refused to believe that it was a done deal. And, lo and behold, in the early part of this week, we read the stories -- not being consulted as a legislative body who appropriates money, but we read about it in the newspapers. That it was a done deal. That people met, the Governor came in, sat down with the Mayor and other folks, and said, This is it, we're taking over, we're going to name people until umpteen years into the next governor and the next governor's 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES election, and the people of Philadelphia will not be consulted about this drastic change. I mean, we're taking half, half of our charter, half of our Home Rule Charter, tearing it up, throwing it in the waste paper basket, and not consulting the parents or the people of Philadelphia about this change. Not consulting, not even asking. It's going to be done, whether you like it or not, because we deem it that you cannot govern yourself. And we take it. We take it. We're docile. Well, last night, I attended a rally, a meeting at Edison High School organized by students from Strawberry Mansion, Olney High School, Edison High, Kensington. They had parents. And they said they were not going to sit idly by and see their schools being taken over. In essence, they carried signs with them that said "We Are Not For Sale." The governor, or this new guy who is holding the chair for the next few months, said that he's got to put a little bit of money in there. Well, Blondell Reynolds just talked about -- in her resolution about, the issues that constitute reform in the public schools: Smaller classrooms, a curriculum that includes the arts, music, libraries 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES in the schools, books and technology, computers. New schools. Because we have schools that are over a hundred years old. They didn't talk about those things. They're not talking about those things. They're not talking about reforming and supplying their resources to educate our kids. They're talking about a grab for power and governance. Nothing else. And let us not fool ourselves that the system of Philadelphia is so bad off that we can make it better by Balkanizing it and dividing it into different fiefdoms. One public school system here governed by this corporate entity, another public school system over here governed by this public entity, one over here. Accountable to no one, only thing that body that the governor is going to name, but definitely accountable -- will not be accountable to the people of Philadelphia, to the citizens of Philadelphia whose taxes will go towards funding that system. It can't be a done deal. Yogi Barra said it's not a done deal until it's a done deal. That's right. 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES (Laughter.)
So I say, it ain't a done deal. This body has not spoken, the citizens of Philadelphia have not spoken, the parents of Philadelphia have not spoken, and definitely the students of Philadelphia have not spoken. So whoever thinks that this change is going to occur without us rising up -- I mean rising up, organizing, because this is the one issue, this is the one issue that is most primordial and important if we're going to make this city and turn this city around. The governor wants and he's putting a line of demarkation in the sand -- well, let's walk it and cross it. They have to reform the system and fund the system. Not divide it, Balkanize it, and destroy it. And definitely not giving it up to those individuals who put forward the lowest bid. We are not up for sale to the lowest bidder. If the governor wants to reform the public schools -- Jim Kenny put forward a resolution of about $75 million, they were willing to put some money up, let him put some really money up and reform the public schools, but the public schools of 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES Philadelphia, not the public school system in the corporate entity of North Philadelphia or West Philadelphia or South Philly -- of Philadelphia, with one city. Madam Chair, it ain't a done deal because we haven't spoken. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. After the invocation this morning, I spoke to the good father for a moment and said, "I don't feel too much like being a peaceful person today. " But during the session of the Council, I think I've changed a little bit in my perspective, for today at least. You know, Governor Ridge, I thought, tried to be a kindly man. I felt sorry for him, for his clear limitations, but I was sympathetic to him. He came from a part of Pennsylvania so far away from 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES Philadelphia that I could understand that he knew nothing about Philadelphia. And so for many of his comments and observations, I forgave him on the ground of ignorance. Then like me, and my esteemed colleague Councilman Longstreth, he wore hearing aids openly, did not try to hide it, and I thought that was great. And so I felt very kindly toward him. And so when he left, I wished him well. And I thought Well, now we're having a new governor, somebody who comes from one of the adjoining counties of Philadelphia, a Bucks County commissioner, a rich county compared to Philadelphia, a county whose people enjoy the fruits of Philadelphia. They come to visits us constantly for our great treasures, for our museums, for our theaters, for our art, for our zoo, for all of the historical richness that exists in Philadelphia. And I said, Here is a person who surely would understand Philadelphia and would know that there are no real mysteries about education and how young people good educated. It takes two things: It takes a good home life generally and it takes a good school system, and the two are intertwined. 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES And he comes from a county that spends the proper amount of money for education and they get good results, and he must wonder at how Philadelphia, despite so many of its people living in poverty, he must wonder about how we produce the wonderful schools that we do that win national acclaim and win national awards year after years. And he must say to himself, By God, I've got to help the other schools in Philadelphia because they deal with poverty, with kids that have broken homes, with kids whose parents are so busy at work -- if they have two parents, generally there's one parent and that parent is so busy trying to earn a living that that parent, usually a poor woman, doesn't have time to give the proper support. And so I'm sure this man from Bucks County, who bears an honorable name, because once there was a Senator Schweiker -- unfortunately, only a fifth cousin of the Governor; were he a first cousin, maybe this governor would be more sensitive. But I thought that the Schweiker name indicated some knowledge, some sensitivity, some understanding of urban issues, but apparently, none of that was present. Maybe this governor was picked for 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES Lieutenant Governor through the same political basis that many other lieutenant governors are picked, because they're nice people don't know enough or are not interested enough to care too much. But it turns out that even though he came from Bucks County, he seems to be very ignorant about Philadelphia. I thought this governor was going to not take advantage of the naivety of our mayor in making the suggestion that if an agreement is not reached, the State should take over the schools. I think Mayor Street made a severe error. He judged the Commonwealth to be interested really in the school system in Philadelphia, and I think he was dead-wrong, as Governor Schweiker's actions showed yesterday. But our mayor has shown he can recover from mistakes. ) COUNCILMAN COHEN -- which shows the Mayor can learn from his mistakes and correct them. And I hope this mayor again learns and again corrects a mistake and decides this time that 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES there will be no willingness to turn over the school system to Harrisburg, that it's got to remain part and parcel of Philadelphia.
It's outrageous to think that the Board of Education, which has been the bedrock of Philadelphia educational history for so many years, is suddenly going to disappear, that people are not going to have anybody from Philadelphia to talk to when they have problems about schools. Even though the Board of Education sometimes did not listen to the people, at least we could keep banging them, they were our people. But instead, the Governor apparently plans to appoint State people having no contact with Philadelphia to run the school system. I'm hoping the Mayor, as I said before, changes his view, but if not, heed the words that Councilman Ortiz said: Philadelphians will not lightly surrender their right to control their schools. And I can tell you, when Councilman Ortiz goes out on the streets of Philadelphia, if such an effort is made by the Governor to take the school system away from Philadelphia, Councilman Ortiz will not be alone. My steps maybe a little rickety from 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES time to time, but I'm going to tell you, Philadelphia is not going to permit anybody to take away the right of Philadelphia to make its determinations about the school system. And, yes, in addition, it's time we understand that the school system does not stand apart from every other aspect. We've got to understand that poverty, low wages, bad housing discrimination, all of that is part and parcel of the educational problem that we have in Philadelphia. And if necessary, Madam President, it may be that some of us are going to be thinking of not merely as a city, as part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. But like our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico, we may be fighting for Philadelphia separately for statehood. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. )
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, what I find very sad is 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES the way government is operating in Harrisburg. In the past, when legislation was offered, there was an opportunity for the public to have input, have its say. And what is very painful for us is that legislation is passed, passed in the dead of night, passed in one day, and the public doesn't have an opportunity to comment. It seems to me that our elected officials are elected by the people to represent the people and their views. Certainly, we understand that the public is not in favor of the notion of the State takeover or privatization, but no one is paying attention to what the public is saying. They're just, you know, taking action on their own, without input from the parents. Our effort here to engage the public in the debate was (indiscernible), which I think was a serious mistake. So therefore, Angel, I do believe it's a done deal. And the uprising is probably going to be too late. But it is a sad day when the elected officials, particularly those from Philadelphia who failed to listen to their constituents on an issue that is so important, and they hear no, a loud no, 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES but they're voting something different, yes, to legislation that's not supported by the public. Thank you.
Thank you The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll be very brief. I just want to point out to my colleagues that we have witnessed today, and you should mark this day as a day in which we have all had the opportunity to see oratorical Houdiniism at its finest. And I want to commend Councilman Cohen. I continue to learn from him as the days and weeks go by the ability to interweave two totally and distinctly different topics into the same speech. (Laughter.)
My hat is off to you Councilman. I have deep appreciation for your oratorical skills. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam President. I also will be brief. 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES But I know for the past couple of days, I've been home with my daughter, dealing with some illness and whatnot and reading the paper and just talking to people on the phone about the actions of the Pennsylvania House of Reps and the Pennsylvania Senate as it relates to the amendments to Act 46 and the potential, the strong potential, for implementation of those amendments and a total takeover of the Philadelphia school system. As the parent of a public school child and as an aunt and friend and a family member of a lot of public school children, I certainly am somewhat very appalled that there was no opportunity for public input. And I don't even know whether they really cared whether we had input or not or what our opinion was. But I'm sure this morning, when we were presenting the citation resolution to the William Penn group, to the Friends of William Penn, when he would wrote that charter 300 years ago and put together the educational plan for Pennsylvania, I'm sure that that plan did not say that public opinion, public -- the lack of public opinion or public comments, as it relates to a public institution such 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES as the school system, was something that any of our legislators would not desire. So I, too, will figure out as a parent first and as an elected official second what type of action I personally want to take and help to organize and make sure that the people do have a voice and that the issue of accountability is one that will absolutely be considered if there is a takeover of the Philadelphia public school system. Thank you.
Thank you At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I left out one thing. It is incredible that through this process, the members of the School Board, the people most intimately related to the public school system, were kept in the dark about what was going on. And from what I read in the newspapers, they were not even consulted, they were not even interviewed. And I think Christine James-brown said that the time for being polite is over. I think it might be a done deal, it could 10/25/01 STATED - SPEECHES be a done deal but, goodness gracious, I don't want to use one of the words some of my other individuals used, we can't go down without a struggle. This cannot end without a fight. We cannot just turn over the system of education. We might as well turn over the government of Philadelphia, we might as well turn over this City Council, this mayor because they will be running and controlling all of the different institutions that we have. And if it's a done deal, when does it end and when do we say "enough." And when do we stand up to Harrisburg and say, "You are responsible for the public schools of this Commonwealth, public schools of this Commonwealth." The time for politeness, as Christine James-Brown said, is over. So it may be a done deal, but it's only a done deal if we accept it without a struggle. I think if the people of Philadelphia come up, and we with them, we with them, I don't think it's a done deal. Thank you, Madam.
Thank you. Are there any other speeches on the part 10/25/01 STATED - ADJOURNMENT of the majority? (No further speeches.)
Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, November the 1st, 2001, 10 a.m.
It has been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, November 1, 2001 at 10 a.m. All those in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? the ayes have it and the motion carries Thank you. (Proceedings end at 11:20 a.m..) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, October 25, 2001, are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. RE: STATED MEETING _______________________________, Josephine Cardillo Registered Professional Reporter and Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)