And a privileged resolution recognizing and honoring the tremendous bravery, contributions, and sacrifices of The Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment and calling on the United States Congress to award the Regiment the Congressional Gold Medal, introduced by Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez. 9/19/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution authorizing the Council Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings regarding the "Healthy PA" plan to provide health insurance, introduced by Councilwoman Sanchez for Councilwoman Tasco.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez. 9/19/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. That resolution is also adopted.
And a resolution recognizing and congratulating Joan Myers Brown and Laurie Olin for being awarded the 2012 National Medal of Arts and Humanities by President Barack Obama, introduced by Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Thank you. I move for the adoption. 9/19/13 - STATED - 2ND READING (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution supporting the National Minority Business Development Agency and recognizing September 30th through October 4th, 2013 as Philadelphia Minority Enterprise Development Week which provides critical information to foster the growth and competitiveness of the minority business community, introduced by Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for its adoption. 9/19/13 - STATED - 2ND READING (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution designating the week of Monday, October 7 through Monday, October 14, 2013 as "Christopher Columbus/Italian American Heritage Week" in the City of Philadelphia. This is done in celebration of the festivities commemorating Columbus' historic voyage to the New World and honoring Bob Rydell as Grand Marshall of the 2013 Philadelphia Columbus Day Parade, introduced by Councilman Squilla.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla. 9/19/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Mr. President. I ask for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it and that resolution is adopted.
There are no other resolutions for consideration on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. There are no other bills or resolutions on the Calendar today. Are there any speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
There being none, are there any speeches on the part of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I have two pieces of work today. One -- both give me pause and make me sad a bit, but the first one, I have to congratulate Jan Ransom from the press corps for her leaving, I guess, to go to a smaller market, New York, in the Daily News there. Over the time she's been here, she's been a respected journalist and fair -- I'll say it again, fair -- to the issues. Not always agreeing with everything Council did, but always putting in the work to find out the truth of the matter. So she will be missed. I was unsuccessful, I must report, in converting her into an Eagle fan or a Sixers fan, so she has to go. And so we wish her well in her new
Second thing I want to announce, Mr. President, is that the war on poverty turned 50 years old, and I would argue whether or not we are winning that war. Like so many wars, it's hard to measure whether or not there are more casualties than victories. But earlier this week I participated in a discussion with the Mayor and State Representative David Reed, who is the Chairman of the Majority Policy Committee at Harrisburg. One of the things that you've been encouraging is better relationships with this body and bodies at the Harrisburg level, and I think it's paying off in many, many different ways with many different dividends. The subject was "shared prosperity" and dealing with anti-poverty that this body during the budget process asked and questioned what was the City's policy on anti-poverty. We can clearly articulate our greening policy. We can clearly articulate our anti-crime poverty, but we had some difficulty giving a vision for how we deal with the 28 percent of the folk in the City of Philadelphia that suffer from poverty. One of the things that came out of the discussion was the fact that one size does not fit all and that there are different shades of poverty and that you can be the poor person below the poverty line that was due to retirement and becoming on fixed income and not being able to manage to get above that poverty guideline. You could be third-generation, second-generation poor because of circumstances like poor education and lack of economic prospects. You can be new American immigrant poor because of language barriers and other your way and can't seem to get a hold of that American dream. Just like there are many shades of poverty, there will be many solutions to bring people out of that impoverished state. We need to make clear also that the House of Representatives at the federal level is now considering a $4 billion food stamp bill, cutting it back and taking food stamps away from poor people, which is an important safety net for those people who find themselves in that circumstance. Also, the Inquirer reported the fact that eight out of ten applications for public assistance are now being turned down by the state because of new regulations and proof that you are out there looking for work. And we all know that even with the recovery, it is a jobless recovery, that the last economic indicator to move the needle in the right direction is new job starts. So as we begin the conversation strategy, we thank the Administration. We thank Representative Reed for having the discussion, because we all know that even at the national level, during the Democratic National Convention, the word "poor" associated with people wasn't used. Saving the middle class was used, protecting the middle class, polite ways to talk about lifting all of our boats, but the words "poor people" were not used. So you can ignore the elephant in the room all you want, but it will raise its head in other rooms such as crime, such as homelessness, such as hunger. Until we open our eyes and open our mouths and begin the dialogue about how to alleviate poverty in the City of Philadelphia, it won't get done without us. So we applaud Chairman Reed for his efforts. And he's not from a big city. He's from a small county, but he street that is devastated by the economy and people who generally suffer in silence there. So we join him in trying to find strategies to alleviate poverty in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. As all of you know, we had two briefings this week. One is concerning Walk Safe Philadelphia, and we have a good structure in place. It doesn't mean that everything has worked out. As many of you know, we had problems at one of my schools, in fact where I used to teach, where I met Lucien through his children, at Lea School, because we still have problems with children trying to walk from Woodland Avenue at 46th to 47th and Locust across Chester, Woodland, Baltimore, Spruce, all of those streets. So even though we have a structure in place, we still have a lot of issues with that, as well as the Philadelphia School Partnership who is advocating universal enrollment. So we don't know whether we agree or disagree, but all that we hear on these subjects we will certainly bring to you so that we have at least the most available information. So I thank everyone for their support.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I do want to echo what Councilman Jones says. I think it's such an important topic, and remind my colleagues that even our municipal union, District Council 33, put out a report where many of their members have to receive some sort of benefit because of So this is a conversation that we should have, and we should work on potentially having some hearings to discuss what we're doing, what we could be doing and the facts. It's an issue that, President Clarke, you and I have districts with concentrated poverty and one that we recognize every single day, and that's why we're always a proponent of City services to help and provide that safety net. So I want to echo that and thank him for raising that issue. I want to remind folks it's Hispanic Month. Next week is the beginning of the Puerto Rican Week, and we kick off the week with a flag raising at 12:00 noon here on Dilworth Plaza. I invite all of my colleagues to join me in that celebration. Thank you. And we will have food, lunch afterwards. That's always important.
much. Before we go to our adjournment, I would just like to do a little different, to use councilmanic prerogative as opposed to traditional presentations in the beginning of the session. We would like to offer a presentation and just recognize one of our members, a colleague who has worked and actually as many years as I have and some of us in here, City Council. Denise Beckett is retiring after 31 years of service in City Council in the Chief Clerk's Office. (Applause.)
And it would be good if she came to the podium right now. (Applause.)
She's a little bit shy. Just come on over. We just want to thank you so much. (Applause.)
Real quick, can the members come up real quick to take a picture. I know I'm a little off track, but anybody who works in this place for 31 years, they deserve it. (Council at ease.)
Ms. Ransom, if you had stayed around a little longer, you may have gotten one of those. Thank you. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown for an adjournment.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that City Council stand adjourned until Thursday, September 26th, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
The ayes have it. m. Thank you all very much. ) 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.