This bill, having been read on two different days, the question now is, shall the bill pass finally? The Clerk will call a roll.
Councilman Cohen. STATED MEETING - 2ND READING - BILL NO. 970742,
Councilwoman Fernandez is voting aye. Councilman Kenney.
Councilman Mariano is voting aye. Councilwoman Miller is voting aye. Councilman Nutter.
Councilwoman STATED MEETING - 2ND READING - BILL NO. 980228 Tasco.
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. The majority of all Members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The next bill for consideration will be Bill No. 980228. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance authorizing the Mayor, on behalf of the City, to file am application with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for a community block grant as required by Section 104 of Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
This bill, having been read on two different days, the question now is, shall the bill pass finally? STATED MEETING - 2ND READING - BILL NO. 980228 The Clerk will call a roll.
Councilwoman Fernandez is voting aye. Councilman Kenney.
Councilman Mariano is voting aye. Councilwoman Miller is voting aye. Councilman Nutter.
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. The bill passes. The next bill for consideration is Bill No. 980193. The Clerk will please read the title of the Bill.
An ordinance authorizing transfers and appropriations for Fiscal Year 1998 within the HealthChoices STATED MEETING - 2ND READING - BILL NO. 98193 Behavioral Health Revenue Fund from the Department of Public Health to the Department of Human Services Office of Emergency Shelter and Services and the Director of Finance contributions to School District.
This bill, having been read on two different days, the question now is, shall the bill pass finally? The Clerk will call a roll.
Aye. Councilman Mariano is voting aye. Councilwoman Miller is voting aye. Councilman Nutter.
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. The STATED MEETING - SPEECHES majority of all Members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to be are recorded as voting aye on all previous bills I may have missed while off the floor.
Thank you very much. The record will so note. This completes our consideration of the second- and final-reading passage calendar.
Are there any speeches on the part of Members of the Minority? (No speeches on behalf of Members of the Minority.)
Are there any speeches on the part of Members of the Majority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. As the Council will note, we circulated copies of a resolution to be introduced today STATED MEETING - SPEECHES calling for private meetings on the part of the -certainly the President and Council with the Administration, the School Board, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and State government officials. Previously, we introduced a resolution calling for public hearings to deal with the issue of the proposed State takeover, but we did not. In the spirit of cooperation, we agreed to hold the resolution, not to introduce it. But we would like the Council to note that the Mayor has agreed, and the Council President will concur, that these private meetings will take place within the next two weeks, and we will certainly be in touch with all of you so that you can so set your calendar to make it a point to attend. We have been very, very concerned about our role as the Education Committee with all talks that are going on and the lack of communication that we've had with the members of committee and Council on this issue. Everyone is concerned. All of us feel we bear special responsibility. There's talk every day about the 217,000 students STATED MEETING - SPEECHES and what role -- and what role we have in all of this. So we felt it certainly is our duty and responsibility as Chair to try to make sure that we feel some level of inclusion, and at least we understand just what's going on. So I am happy to say again that the Mayor has agreed that those talks will take place with us within the next two weeks. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you very much. I appreciate Councilwoman Blackwell's concern about this and would like very much to support her. And as my schedule will allow, I will attend those meetings. This is a very serious matter, and I appreciate her concern for it. Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I have no speech, just an announcement. The Council Committee on Rules will be meeting at 1 o'clock. And in an effort to obtain STATED MEETING - SPEECHES a quorum as soon as possible, I'd ask that the members remain afterwards and establish that quorum so that we can have our hearing.
The Chair thanks the Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Mr. President, I would just like to disagree with my esteemed colleague Councilwoman Blackwell. I get very concerned when we talk about private meetings concerning public business. There are always occasions where there are private meetings in the course of discussion. People want to caucus together. If there are different parties from different vantage points, they want to get together, and they have a right to do that. But I think when the legislature passes an act in Harrisburg that takes away basic union rights from large groups of workers, that's a matter of public business. And, in my judgment, it's a very bad display of how public business should be enacted. The action in Harrisburg was a stealth attack on old labor everywhere. There was no STATED MEETING - SPEECHES public discussion whatever. And the attack on the union and that so-called takeover bill -- the attack was limited by naming the bill to the Federation of Teachers. But, you know, there are a number of other unions in the School District -the Oilers Union, which is a part of the Service Employees International Union, is also affected. And if they can take rights away from one union, they can certainly do with all unions. I believe they had no legal power to do it, and that it was a very bad exercise of power. And I don't understand why there hasn't already been a much more open attack on the action by the legislature. Also, I'm obviously very concerned about the fact that Philadelphia has been treated as if we don't exist. Does the State really believe it has the right to take over our school system? If that's the case, let's just abolish the whole City of Philadelphia and operate merely one government -- the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We have a Home Rule Charter that guarantees us certain rights. That's been STATED MEETING - SPEECHES violated, and I think we've got to respond. But in the interest of trying to find a way to get as broad an agreement as possible, to have everybody have a full opportunity to discuss every aspect of their particular concern, I agree to withhold -- as Councilwoman Blackwell did with her resolution, I agreed to withhold this resolution for two weeks. But, Mr. President, I have to emphasize that I believe that we are in an absolute emergency state. I think the situation has gone far beyond any effort by the Mayor and the City of Philadelphia working either alone or with the President of City Council to handle this matter. I think we're a legislative body, and we ought to act as such. And I think there ought to be a sharp response by this body to the effort by the State legislature. And if the Republicans are sensitive, I don't think it's a question of a couple of Democrats who may have voted for the bill. The fact is, it was an Administration bill, Governor Ridge's bill, that the legislature passed. And I think we're being told by one of STATED MEETING - SPEECHES the two major parties that cities don't have any rights. And that when Republicans are in control, they feel free to disrespect us at any time and to take over control. In any event, I believe that this is a matter that requires immediate attention. And I hope this two-week period between this meeting and the meeting two weeks from now will be constructively used. I will be available to discuss any aspect of the resolution I've introduced, and I would like to see the matter brought before this Council for the two weeks. And I hope that if the Mayor and the Council President get involved in the discussions, that they will discuss it fully and share what's going on with other Members of the Council. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Council Cohen. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to associate myself with STATED MEETING - SPEECHES the remarks Councilman Cohen and Councilwoman Blackwell. And today's editorial in The Philadelphia Inquirer offers a stark contrast as to how two state legislatures deal with the same problem. One decides to go ahead and try to take over and not meet its responsibility, and the editorial today talks about the legislature in Hartford, Connecticut. And I'd like to read the editorial into the record because it shows very, very -- in clear contrast what the problems are and why they are not being handled here in the state of Pennsylvania, and how the state Connecticut decided to confront it. ) Today's reading lesson begins in the town where Mark Twain invented Huck Finn. Up in Hartford, the Connecticut legislature has passed unanimously a sweeping measure aimed at improving the reading skills of young children stuck in the state's poorest school system. Contrast that to STATED MEETING - SPEECHES what our legislature in Pennsylvania has done. With less courtroom tussling than it is taking in Connecticut, this became another state to realize schools in poor areas really do need more resources to help their children master education's vital skills, something our legislature does not recognize that we need more resources. While Connecticut is smaller than Pennsylvania, its demographics are not unlike southeastern Pennsylvania's poverty-plagued central cities surrounded by mostly well-off suburbs. But up there, city and suburban Democrats and Republicans somehow got to say yes on this issue instead of settling for broad size and gimmicks -- very different, again, than what our state legislators have been doing. And look at what was done and why it might be instructive. The slogan of the 20 Million Early Reading Success Act passed last week as 4 by 4, meaning all students should be reading at grade level by the fourth grade. It aims aid at schools where at least 40 percent of students receive free or STATED MEETING - SPEECHES reduced-price lunches. The focus is on providing early help to struggling readers and ensuring that districts develop long-range improvement plans. The plans must address teacher training, methods of assessment students' progress, and ways to involve parents and libraries. We're closing libraries. I visited six schools during the last couple of weeks, and there's not a librarian in any of them. This law is a complement to an $80 million school initiative the state passed last year which aims to ensure quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds. Can you imagine that happening in Pennsylvania? Quality education for all preschool, all three- and four-year-olds. Together the laws hope to help about 250,000 children. The harmonic convergence of political and judicial ferment led to these initiatives -- not vindictiveness, as is being showed to us in Harrisburg. Legislative leaders were chagrined when an analysis of, Education and Health & Human Services spending found that only 8 percent of it STATED MEETING - SPEECHES was going to prevent the programs. Our state legislature passed a huge prison increase -- very much in contrast. Meanwhile, the State Supreme Court held that children in Hartford were not getting educational opportunities equal to those in other districts. Pennsylvania does not recognize that our students here in Philadelphia are not getting equal opportunities as those in other districts. And a study commission found that the state's poor children had little access to good preschool programs; or that kids who did, scored much higher in fourth grade mastery tests. Child advocates pointed out that with the state 21-month limit on welfare, 27,000 children would have to scramble for quality day care while their mothers went to work or job training. The facts in Connecticut don't differ much from those in Pennsylvania -- only the quality of political will does.
Today we have Russell Beyers talking about the Governor not blinking, as if that was a statement that could make public policy. The key situation is that our kids are STATED MEETING - ADJOURNMENT being denied resources, and the State, the only thing that they can do is pass takeover legislation. Shame on them.
Thank you very much. Are there any other speeches? (No further speeches.)
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May 28, 1998. (Duly seconded.)
All those in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Those opposed, say nay. The ayes have it. This Council session stands adjourned till Thursday, May 28, 1998, at 10 o'clock a.m. (Adjourned at 12:56 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, May 14, 1998, were reported and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: STATED COMMITTEE __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, RPR