Are 154 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole there any other questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing none, I would ask all of you to wait until the hearings are over, please. I would ask Mr. McPherson to please call our first witness. MR. McPHERSON: Allen Merry.
Good afternoon. Thank you all so very much for coming in and we appreciate your patience. Kindly identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hi. My name is Allen Merry. I also submitted a written testimony from a librarian named Karen Schwartz, who works in the Art Department at the Central Library, and she has some very serious concerns about the weeding that's being done in the Art Department and it's going to have a negative effect on the valuable collection they have, so I wanted everyone in Council to see her testimony. 155 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole
And we will make that part of the record. We'll make sure that the stenographer receives a copy of it.
Okay. And before I begin my testimony, too, I want to address some of the questions that were being asked about is it an emergency situation at the Central Library right now. Just a few weeks ago, I came into work in the Business Science and Industry department a few Sundays ago. The security guard met me at the door and he said, you know, Please be careful if you're going into the Business Science and Industry department, we've had plaster falling after a heavy rain and it's dangerous. In previous times when I've been in my department, too, when they had heavy rains, I've seen pieces of plaster fall down, that if they had hit someone, it possibly could have caused an injury. So I think that should be on the record in City Council, too.
Thank 156 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole you.
My name is Allen Merry. I've been a librarian in the Free Library system for more than ten years and currently work in the Business Science and Industry department of the Central Library. I'm also a member of the Executive Board of Local 2187 AFSCME. As a union representative, I sometimes have an adversarial relationship with the library administration, but despite the disagreements we sometimes have, I am proud to work for such a prestigious institution and I support the library's mission. Because I feel this way, I made a point to be in the lobby of the Free Library in December when Mayor John Street signed the $30 million bond issue for the extension of the Central Library. " A few weeks after that happy day in December, though, the Free Library administration delivered layoff notices to 17 157 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole employees and also announced that they would be transforming neighborhood branches into 4 express branches with reduced hours and no 5 librarians. I and many of my colleagues felt 6 betrayed, misled and disrespected. Many of 7 you on City Council also felt this way, which 8 is why you are considering the bill proposed 9 by Councilman Frank DiCicco. 10 Now, your unhappiness with the Free 11 Library administration is a recent phenomenon. 12 Those of us who work at the library, however, 13 are all too familiar with their shortcomings. 14 In June of 2003, a 16-year-old 15 female employee observed a man named Brian 16 McCutchen exposing himself and masturbating in 17 front of a library computer. A few days later 18 when I asked a member of the Administration 19 about this incident, he told me that the 20 police had not been contacted, but he did say Mr. McCutchen had been banned from the Central Library and that ban would likely extend to the neighborhood branches. Well, we all know that that system-wide ban never happened. McCutchen 158 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole became a regular customer at the Independence branch and sexually assaulted and almost killed a young girl in February of 2004. We also know that Free Library Director Elliot Shelkrot tried to mislead the public by claiming that McCutchen had been banned from Central for simply viewing pornography rather than exposing himself and masturbating. Now, prior to and after the Independence branch incident, my union and many library employees had been clamoring for policies that would ban people like McCutchen from the system before they moved on to something more dangerous and violent. The Administration always said it could not be done. In the minutes of the March 2, 2004 meeting of the Security Task Force that was formed after the McCutchen attack, Associate Director Kevin Vaughan told task force members that the City Solicitor's office had told him the library had no authority as an institution to ban someone from all of its agencies. He said it would be a violation of their civil 159 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole rights. So this created an absurd situation where if you had an overdue book in one library, you weren't allowed to borrow another book from another library, but let's say you were kicked out of a library for public masturbation, you were free to walk a few blocks down the street and use another branch. Now, in January of 2005, however, almost a year after the tragedy at the Independence branch, the Free Library finally released an expulsion policy which did in fact allow system-wide bans in certain cases, something that the Administration had insisted for years it could not do. Even with the new expulsion policy, however, we are still getting excuses rather than action. Just this past Saturday, a homeless man was caught exposing himself and masturbating in the Fishtown branch, which is an express branch, by the way. The police were not contacted that day, and an administrator told me yesterday that she didn't think the library had the right to ban 160 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole this person system-wide.
Another potential Brian McCutchen is lurking in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia and the Free Library refuses to take it seriously. Now, the Free Library administration's handling of security issues has been deplorable and disingenuous, and that type of behavior has also been all too apparent during their attempts to reorganize the Free Library. At a January 18th Labor/Management meeting, the union asked the Administration if other world-class cities were running their libraries without librarians. Their response was that San Jose, California might be doing it. I contacted a member of the San Jose Public Library administration. He informed me that in fact they were not doing that. Later, in a letter sent to the union on February 10th, Kevin Vaughan cited a Library Journal article that described two branches in King County, Washington that operated without librarians. I read the article. These two libraries are located in 161 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole shopping malls, contain no reference material and very little non-fiction. According to a King County administrator in this article, the branches are not meant to take the place of traditional libraries. Under questioning by my union's attorney at the injunction hearing presided over by Judge Matthew Carrafiello, Mr. Vaughan stated that he wasn't aware that the two libraries were located in malls. So either Mr. Vaughan was lying in court or maybe he didn't actually write his own letter on February 10th. Just a little additional information about this matter, I talked to two union officials in King County and they were appalled that the Free Library administration was using these two branches as justification for turning 20 real libraries into express branches. The two mall libraries in King County are merely tools for outreach that try to give people a sample of what their full-service libraries have to offer. And now even though I believe the 162 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole extension of the Central Library is a worthwhile project, the Administration has not been completely honest with the people of Philadelphia about what the extension is going to mean for the City. Many people probably have the impression that the extension will provide more room for a growing book collection. This could not be further from the truth. Most Central subject departments have been instructed to withdraw percent of 12 their collection. 13 One of my colleagues will be 14 speaking a little bit later about this more, 15 but I also have submitted a written testimony, 16 which I told about, by Dr. Karen Schwartz in 17 the Art Department. 18 To be fair, some departments haven't 19 been conducting regular weeding of their 20 collections, and that is necessary. Also, 21 quite a few of the items that will be 22 discarded are bound in microfilmed journals 23 that are now available from the library on 24 on-line databases. Still, when you remove 25 25 percent of the library's collection, you 163 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole cannot help but avoid discarding material that still has value. When I talked to fellow librarians about the weeding of the Central collections, many of them are almost driven to tears. A few think it's necessary as we move into the future. But wherever you stand on this issue, there will be significantly fewer books at the Central Library once the extension is built. The Administration has not made any attempt to let City Council or the public know about this, and that makes me feel uncomfortable. The Free Library administration has made a concerted effort over the years to hide important information from the public, staff and members of City Council. Because of that, very important decisions are being made for the whole City by a handful of people at the top of the library in secret. I think that's undemocratic and also leads to bad policies, such as the ridiculous and destructive express branch idea that the Administration still insists on trying to implement.
I hope everyone in City Council will 164 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole think long and hard about the past and current behavior of the library administration as they consider the merits of Councilman DiCicco's bill. I know I speak for many librarians when I say I admire the stand he has taken. I also think Councilman Michael Nutter spoke for many of us when he told Elliot Shelkrot on April 6th that he owed the people of Philadelphia an apology. I would only add to that that Mr. Shelkrot owes his staff an apology. That's because of the dishonesty and disdain he has continually flung in our faces over the years. Thank you for allowing me to speak. )
Thank you very much. Mr. Shelkrot, can you come up to the witness table, please? You've been very good. Thank you.
I just find this testimony so appalling. Can 165 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole you tell me why if somebody is caught in the library doing a sex act that the police would not be called? Would you have your daughter go to that library after you heard something like that occurred? And why wouldn't the police be called?
The directive of the policies are clear. When an illegal act is committed, the police are to be called. The action described is illegal. The police should have been called. They have by now. They should have been called immediately.
But didn't you indicate in January there was an incident and the police were not called? Did I hear you that say?
Actually, that was in June of 2003, Brian McCutchen was caught masturbating and -- well, he was observed masturbating and exposing himself at a 166 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole computer by a 16-year-old library worker. That was in June of 2003.
I talked to a member of the Administration. Investigating the incident, I asked, Well, why weren't the police called? And he said that it was because the girl wasn't willing to talk to the police about it and file charges. But he did tell me that McCutchen was going to be banned from the Central Library and he also said that he believed that the ban would extend to the whole system, but then February of 2004, I'm watching my TV on a Sunday afternoon and I see the police have caught Brian McCutchen after he committed this crime at the Independence branch. So obviously the branches weren't notified to keep him out.
Thank 167 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole you. I just find this so appalling. I really do. And I can't imagine a parent wanting to send a child to the library after an incident like this and the police are not called. What safety do they have and then where are your security people? Was it reported to anybody?
Yes. The security person on Saturday was there. As I said, the rules say that the police should be called.
Were they called for McCutchen, or whatever his name is, the first time around? The answer is no. 18
That is correct, because the police have told us many times --
And if it happens once, it's once too many, and I think it's something that you have to look into immediately, whether we have expresses or whatever you want to call it.
Of course. That 168 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole has nothing to do with it.
You're right. What kind of branch it is has nothing to do with it.
Okay. Thank you. I believe we have someone else to testify.
Good afternoon, Councilwoman Verna. My name is Catherine Scott. I'm President of Local 2187 AFSCME. I don't have prepared testimony this afternoon, but I would like to respond to a couple of issues that have been raised by the Administration in their presentation. The union has been very concerned about the cutbacks, especially the state cutbacks, for the library over the past few years. We also lobbied at the state level. I notice that Mr. Shelkrot left that out when he talked about who was up there trying to get additional funding from the state. And we 169 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole continue to try to reach out to state legislators, especially Babbette Josephs, who has introduced legislation to try to amend the present budget by Governor Rendell to include additional funding for the state. We believe very strongly that the money that was used to renovate the neighborhood branches, the Pugh Foundation and William Penn Foundation that did most of that funding, if they had known that the plan was to take librarians out of libraries, we believe that there would not have been the funding to do exactly what the library is now doing. We also have serious concerns, and our members have raised the staffing at Central as you are raising now, because we believe that there is not in the plan for the expansion of Central to have adequate librarians and other staff, including security staff, to properly fund that expansion. So that we think that the questions that are being asked today, not just about the building and the funding in the building but also what 170 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole plan does the Administration have to properly staff, are important questions that need to be answered, especially in light of the bill that Councilman DiCicco has put forth here. We are very concerned that the plan is to take more librarians out of the neighborhood libraries to use them to staff Central if there is a need for additional staff there, and we think that it is important that the Administration be forced to give the plan for staffing for the branches, as well as Central before any expansion of Central can be considered. We think that what has happened, they have not been forthcoming. To sit here and listen to Mr. Shelkrot talk about being under direction by the Mayor's office of Labor Relations not to discuss the fact that we were going to lose librarians through layoff is appalling. I think that it speaks to the contempt that's being expressed by this Administration to people who are attempting to provide good service to the citizens of Philadelphia. 171 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is T. Kim Robinson.
Good afternoon. Thank you for your patience. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Yes. My name is T. Kim Robinson and I am a librarian at the Paschalville branch library, I believe in your district.
I want to thank Council for the opportunity to testify here today and I want to thank Council for weighing to me something that is very serious, and we need to have a public discussion about where our priorities are. As a librarian who has had the 172 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole privilege of serving the children of Southwest Philadelphia, I am here today to state that the children of Paschalville will receive little, if any, benefit from the expansion of the Central Library. The enlarged Children's Section, new computers and cafe at Central are not readily accessible to the children of Kingsessing, Kensington, Lawncrest or any of the other far-flung neighborhoods that are being settled with limited-service express branches. While it has been said that a great City needs a great library, I have to ask how can a library be great while offering lattes to the people of Center City and neglecting to offer basic services, like access to trained librarians, to the people in 40 percent of the neighborhoods? (Applause.)
Funding the expansion of the Central Library while our branch libraries are withering and gasping for breath gives a clear message to our neighborhood citizens that they don't count as 173 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole much as the people downtown. That's a message that I'm not willing to convey to the children that I serve. Recently our Director testified before Council that he would choose funding Central over the neighborhood libraries. Are his priorities so wrong that he would sacrifice basic services to poor and working-class neighborhoods while Center City gets a shiny new building? Has the Free Library's mission to provide informational services to all the people of this City been forgotten? Andrew Carnegie said that there is no such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration. Allocating millions of dollars to funding of the Central Library while offering less than basic services to our neighborhoods is an erosion of the democratic values that we hold so dear. I believe that public officials who are willing to accept less than full and 174 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole equal access to information to all Philadelphians do not deserve paychecks from the taxpayers. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next witness? MR. McPHERSON: Susan Rigsby.
Good afternoon. Welcome. Please identify yourself for the record.
My name is Susan Rigsby. I'm the Branch Manager at the Wyoming Avenue branch of the Free Library, and that's located in the Feltonville section. Thank you, once again, for this opportunity to come before you and speak about the funding for the Free Library of Philadelphia. Thanks to Judge Carrafiello, I am still the librarian at the Wyoming Avenue library. I would also like to thank each of you for your interest in the state of the Free Library and I especially appreciate Councilman 175 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole DiCicco's analogy when he compared the dilemma to fully fund the branch libraries or to fund the expansion of the Central Library to a family's dilemma to renovate their kitchen or spend money on their children. Both, fully staffing neighborhood libraries and expanding the Central Library, are good things, but in tight budget times, a responsible person must choose which good thing to fund today and what needs to wait for another time. On September 30, 2004, Elliot Shelkrot held a president's forum to present to the staff the plans for the renovation and expansion of the Central Library. I attended that forum with great enthusiasm. I have loved the Central Library since I started going there to work on research papers when I was in high school. My husband is a librarian in one of the departments there and he's told me on several occasions of the upheaval in his department caused by rain pouring in because of the building's leaky roof. This sort of 176 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole problem is devastating in a building that houses archival material. Being a great fan of historic architecture, I also appreciate the beauty of the Central Library and would like to see it preserved and restored. The Central Library is a great treasure trove filled with resources that are its gems and is itself an architectural treasure. But as I sat at the president's forum, my enthusiasm quickly became tempered by the reality that I heard coming through the questions raised by my colleagues who work at Central. I heard staff members say things like, The staff is spread so thin, it's hard to get a security guard up to a department to deal with a problem as it is. If the building is made larger, how much harder will it be for security to get on the scene of a problem in a hurry? And I also heard, There's hardly enough staff to cover some of the departments now. If the building enlarges and becomes more busy, how can the present staff handle 177 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole all the extra demand? And, unfortunately, the response given to those concerns was that the staff would have to make due at present levels. There were no plans to have an increase in staff. And those were September's staffing levels, before the January layoffs, before more retirements and before the Free Library announced a target staffing level of 630 full-time positions. Looking back over the conversations I've had with my husband after work, it has been only on several occasions where he's told me that his department was dealing with building problems, but he's told me many, many times about problems caused by staff shortage. So I came to the realization that on any given day, the staff shortage at Central is as bad, if not worse, than the staff shortage in the branches. But you don't see departments at Central having emergency closings and you don't hear talk of turning parts of Central into express departments. In fiscal year 2002 and 2003, the 178 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole Free Library set records for circulation of materials topping million items two years in 4 a row. In fiscal year 2004, there was record 5 participation in the summer reading game. 4 percent of library users are satisfied with the assistance they received during library visits. The positive statistics about the Free Library go on and on, clearly indicating that library staff have made every effort to accomplish more and more with less and less.
And credit must be given where it is due. It is the staff that has accomplished all of these laudable results. Over 3 million reference questions do not answer themselves. Picture books do not fly off the shelves and read themselves to children. Great books do not recommend themselves as the next thing that patrons should read. Persnickety computers do not reboot themselves. Complex databases do not search themselves, and great programs do not schedule themselves and then go out into the community to promote 179 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole themselves. Oh, and the building doesn't do it either. So, to me, the conclusion seems straightforward. Funding the expansion and renovation of the Central Library would be a good thing to do, but it would literally amount to an empty gesture without the staff to make the building a great place. Just as neighborhood branches without librarians are book warehouses, a Central Library without sufficient staff is an edifice to ego. Buildings are grand, lasting things, but they only become the stuff of memories when they are inhabited by people who make them living. Thank you. ) MR. McPHERSON: The next witness, please.
Yes. My name is Michael Walsh. I'm President of AFSCME Local 2186, District Council 47. I'd like to thank Council President Verna and City Council today for the opportunity to come here today and support the bill that Councilman DiCicco 180 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole introduced, which will help us preserve our neighborhood libraries. I'd like to thank Councilman DiCicco for standing up and introducing this bill and preserving a community institution, our neighborhood libraries. I don't have any prepared remarks today. I was just here as part of the 2186 team that's here to speak on this issue. We are in support for this bill. We believe that the Central Library should not be expanded and the project should stop until our neighborhood libraries are preserved. I find especially troubling Executive Director Shelkrot's attempt to confuse issues by pretending not to know the answer to questions, by throwing out different numbers and also saying that they couldn't speak to the union because of labor relations. He's ignoring the history that we've had with the library where we've had numerous Labor/Management meetings where we've held out our hands and tried to preserve the great institution of the library. But instead we 181 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole wind up with this surprise where this information goes, and it's been done to protect the interest of the Central Library over the community neighborhood libraries. Thank you.
Hello. My name is Rita Urwitz. I am Vice-President and Business Agent of 2186. Like Mike, I do not have any prepared testimony. I would just like to thank this body for considering the importance of services to the community. I also find it troubling that an Administration that brags of its neighborhood initiatives would consider developing something in downtown Philadelphia that would be available mainly to those of us who are privileged to work in downtown, be around downtown or live in downtown Philadelphia and would not be available to the community that so widely needs the services in order to grow and continue in school and gain employment and move on, progress in life. So thank you on behalf of all of my members. Thank you for considering this, and 182 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole we strongly support Councilman DiCicco's bill, and thank you all Council people for coming forward.
Thank you so much. We appreciate your coming in to testify and certainly your patience. (Applause.)
Our next witness? MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is Kate Pourshariati.
Same to you. I'm so honored to be able to be here and speak and be a part of this democratic process. It's nice to see it democratizes in a way. I don't know if I really have time to read from my testimony --
Just identify yourself for the record and perhaps you could spell your name for the 183 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole stenographer, please.
I'm sorry. It's Kate Pourshariati. It's P-O-U-R-S-H-A-R-I-A-T-I. Soft phonetic, but it's a long version.
Right now I'm an adult-teen adult reference librarian at the Independence branch, which is at 7th and Market. So I have a lot of personal familiarity with the issues we were talking about before. I think there's like only one or two things that I'm not sure were understood that Allen said earlier that I just wanted to focus on. The one thing is that my feeling about the expansion that's a problem is that it creates less space rather than more space for books. I don't think everyone understands that. The librarians in the subject areas at Central have been asked to weed between like 25 and up to 50 percent of the 184 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole collections, and those collections are all of the research collections for Philadelphia. So it's not as if we have a great art collection at some other branch somewhere. No. If they cut out up to half of the art books, they're gone. And there are millions and millions of dollars worth of books we're talking about. Secondly, some of the librarians have come up with an interesting idea, which I just thought I'd toss out, which is, do you know that the Family Court building next door to the main library is going empty? So the Family Courthouse building, which is the twin-sister building to the main library next door to it, also designed by Abele, I believe, the architect of the main library, is going empty, and so instead of taking a design which provides less space for books, it might be really interesting to try to renovate the Courthouse building and make more space for books and meeting rooms and auditoriums and things like that. And we are thinking it might be interesting to have a sky walkway in between the two so that you would have these 185 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole twin buildings. I don't know -- I understand that renovating buildings can be more expensive than building new ones, but it's something to consider, since this whole thing is a little bit still up in the air, before we commit ourselves, because this is a disaster for Philadelphia, to lose so many books that are of importance for people that love to read and need to research. It's the people's university, you know.
That's fine. We will have that made part of the record. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is Amy Dougherty.
My name is Sharon Brown. I am a school teacher at Russell Byers Charter School, which is within walking distance to the Central Library, and I was asked to come here today by the Children's Department staff at Central. And I honestly walked in here a little ignorant of what this was all about, but I have pieced it together as I've been sitting here. So I primarily came to just speak in support of the use of the library and the libraries around the City. I guess I view myself as a representative of public school teachers and all school teachers in the City who use the library, as well as myself personally as a citizen. Just to explain a little bit of how it's very useful to me as a teacher and to the other teachers in my school and those I know around the City, I've taught in the City now for three years. I would say I probably go to the library at least every other week, often 187 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole more frequently. I make frequent use of books and videos in my classroom and the CD collection especially. I find things there that are really unique and very special and really contribute to my curriculum that I don't have the money to pay for on my own or the school isn't able to provide for whatever reason. So it's a very useful place for that. And, of course, being so close to the library right now, I'm able to actually take my students there. My school currently has no library, so we go to do research and we also have the children get library cards. And right now we're going weekly, and the children check out two books a week and they're able to have something to read and they bring it to the school. We take care of the back and forth returns and renewals and all of that, because often parents aren't able to get to that on their own during the week. So it's very well used. There's a chance I might be in a different school in a different area of the City next year and just hearing the discussion 188 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole about the branch staffing, I would want, wherever I am, I'd want to be able to make use of whatever branch was close to me for these same purposes. So I guess I -- oh, the other thing is, I have students who also use the after-school LEAP program, the homework help. So on those levels, I just want to speak in support of keeping the libraries staffed across the City. Thank you.
We don't have any other witnesses on our list. Is there anyone else who would like to testify whose name is not on the list? (No response.)
Madam President, I apologize. I'm on a conference call. I'm giving my votes to the Convention Center. I do have another question for Mr. Shelkrot as soon as I'm done. 189 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole
Very well. (Public hearing adjourned at 1:55 p.m.) - - - 190 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole 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 on April 27, 2005, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-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.) 191 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC MEETING - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 27, 2005, 2:40 p.m. BILL 050235 - An Ordinance repealing an Ordinance, approved by the Mayor on January 25, 2005 (Bill No. 041041), entitled "An Ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property and the Director of Commerce, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia.... PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN FRANK DI CICCO COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 192 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole
This concludes the public hearing, since we have no 4 further witnesses, on Bill No. 050235. We will now go into our public meeting, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, prior to us taking a vote on this particular bill, I just wanted to make a couple of statements, if I can.
First, obviously as the sponsor of this bill, in my understanding in recent history, there has not been a repeal in the City Council of Philadelphia. So for that matter alone, I obviously will not be voting for this bill, but there are a number of other issues as it relates to this bill. I want to go back a little bit when we did the original three bills. There was some levels of concern and, to some degree, a high level of concern about this particular 193 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole proposal as it related to the financing mechanism, the parking issues, some of the other construction-related issues, and at that time, I myself raised some of the same issues. As a result of that discussion and a result of conversations with some members of City Council, I agreed to hold one of the bills and it was the bill that essentially would allow the construction of the facility, although, to some degree, it was somewhat minor as it related to what it would do, but the reality is, you couldn't construct the building without the change in lines and grades and the movement of streets and the striking of streets and some of the other technical aspects of construction. So as a result of that, I held that bill at that time to talk about the possibility of providing an appropriate parking plan for this particular development, assuming that the Barnes and the expansion of the library would already add to a somewhat difficult parking environment. Additionally, there was discussion about other parts, other opportunities for 194 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole financing this particular development, either as an alternative to a bond initiative or some combination of both, and I thought that was the appropriate discussion to have and the appropriate thing for me to do to hold that. Saying that, I agree with a substantial amount of what was said today, but I want to say that I will not be voting for this bill. Oh, and I want to add one more thing. We are in the middle of budget deliberations and I understand that the particular branch library issue is on the table, and I am as adamant as just about any other Council member in terms of ensuring that we have appropriate hours of operation at branch libraries, but I won't be voting for this because I don't think that this particular issue, as it stands today, should preclude us from getting an opportunity to get reasonable restorations to our branch library. So I just wanted to say for the record both the holding of the bill, that will prohibit construction and understanding that 195 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole there needs to be some further discussion as it related to alternative financing, and I'm on board with that.
Thank you. Councilman DiCicco, your light was on. Did you want to be recognized?
Okay. Are there any other statements by members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing none, I would recognize the sponsor of the bill for a motion.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I move that Bill No. 050235 be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation.
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 24 050235 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation. 196 4/27/05 - Bill No. 050235 - Whole All in favor will signify by saying aye. COUNCIL MEMBERS: Aye.
Councilman Clarke is voting no. And Councilman Ramos left his "no" vote. Therefore, the motion carries. I thank you all very much for your patience and time, and I thank people on the other side of the rail for coming in, testifying and being so patient. Thank you very much. (Public meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.) - - - 197 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 on April 27, 2005, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-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.)