Councilwoman Tasco, how are you voting on this bill?
Aye. And I vote aye. The ayes are 14, the nays are 0. A majority of all members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 990112. SECOND READING BILLS - 990112
An ordinance amending an ordinance approved December 22, 1987 which approved the Redevelopment Proposal, the Urban Renewal Plan, and the Relocation Plan of the Redevelopment Authority City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment of the Cecil B. Moore Avenue Urban Renewal Area by approving the fifth amendment of the Redevelopment Proposal, the fifth amendment to the Urban Renewal Plan, and the fifth amendment to the Relocation Plan, which provides, inter alia, for the additional land acquisition of approximately 42 properties and provision of certain relocation services, as required by law, for the individuals, families and business concerns, which will be displaced.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is, shall the bill pass finally? The clerk will call the roll.
Aye. Aye ayes are 14, the nays are 0. A majority of all members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 990113.
An ordinance amending ordinance approved December 15, 1969, as amended, which approved the Redevelopment Proposal, the Urban Renewal Plan, and the Relocation Plan of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment of the Model Cities Urban Renewal Area by approved the 23rd amendment of the Redevelopment Proposal and the 15th amendment to the Urban Renewal Plan, SECOND READING BILLS - 990113 which provide inter alia, for additional land acquisition of approximately 218 properties.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is, shall the bill pass finally? The clerk will call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 14, the nays are 0. A majority of all members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. This concludes the consideration of the bills on the second-reading and final-passage calendar.
Are there any speeches on the part of minority? (No speeches on the part of Minority.)
Are there any speeches on the part of majority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark.
Madam President, today is not only income tax day, but today is your birthday, and we, the members of City Council, want the world to know that we revere and SPEECHES respect you and want to celebrate your birthday.
And at this point, there should be rolled into this room, while I'm using the last bit of my voice, a very large beautiful -
Can we hold on to that, please? Thank you. I think there are members that want to be recognized to say -- they apparently have something to say. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter regarding business, thank you.
Well, first, happy birthday, Madam President, and I don't want to cut across -
There are things we like to forget, but thank you anyway. (Laughter.)
I won't comment on that. Madam President, the City and quite possibly, much of the nation, witnessed something the other day in our Veterans Stadium. There is an ongoing investigation -- I certainly don't have SPEECHES all the details -- but it apparently involves students from various high schools in Philadelphia. The newspaper reports seem to indicate that they may be Bonner, O'Hara and St. Joseph's Preparatory School. As many members know, I'm a graduate of that particular high school, St. Joe's Prep. And while the investigation is ongoing, first, I would certainly condemn all of that behavior. It was inappropriate. It is embarrassing -- not only to those individual schools but to our City and certainly many of the graduates of those schools. And do I not condone in any way, shape, or form the behavior that was exhibited. And whether or not prep students were involved, and if many of them, as some have reported, may have been smart enough to either get out of the way or not get engaged in that activity, those who were not, on a personal basis, I am certainly very disappointed if it is found that any of those students, the prep students engaged in that kind of activity. It is inappropriate, they know that it is certainly not within their training. And the school, I'm sure, SPEECHES will take whatever action is appropriate, as well as their parents. It is a fine school, it is a great school, and I'm a very proud graduate. But if any of them did engage in that kind of activity, they have brought a certain amount of disdain and shame on a very fine institution. I will hold it up and I am very proud to have attended and graduated from St. Joe's Prep. But that kind of activities, whether by those students or any other students -- Catholic school, private school, public school, charter school, or any other school you want to go to, whether it's young people or the not-so-young, this activity at our various sports arenas must come to an end. I think Councilman Kenney has made some comments, and he can certainly speak for himself about our further responsibility with regard to the serving of alcohol and security procedures at our various sports facilities. But if it's early in the Phillies season, or as we go into the Eagles season or anybody else's season, we have to ensure that people who come to the games can have SPEECHES a good time, have a reasonable assurance that they will have a decent day, regardless of what the teams do on the field, and feel safe in that environment. And so we have a responsibility as a government; but ultimately, people have a responsibility for themselves. And whether they are high-school students, who certainly should not be drinking before or at the game, or adults who come to the games, everyone has a responsibility to act appropriately and know that whether it's on TV or not, we have a certain image that we are trying to uphold in our city, and all of that activity should be immediately condemned and should end. Thank you very much, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam President. I concur completely with the comments of my colleague and fellow alumnus Councilmember Nutter. I am disappointed and embarrassed for any action or involvement that students from that fine SPEECHES school may have had in this situation. But anyone who viewed this tape realistically could see and recognize the brutality and the viciousness of the actions of those fans in that stand to the point of pummeling and kicking people on the ground, kicking people in the head, and a riot, a semi-riot that ensued, involving a couple dozen people for a long period of time -- enough so that the game actually stopped and the players on the field turned to watch the activities in the stand. For too many years now, this city has allowed this situation to happen. It has allowed it because, in some ways, it's kind of a laugh up the cuff at what goes on. But somehow, we have a right as fans to go down to our municipal stadium, to imbibe as much alcohol as possible, to be intimidating and arrogant and a hooligan to the people around them. And for many, many years, including today, there has been no price to pay. The issue of alcohol, alcohol consumption, and the availability of alcohol for these young people is being investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police, and I am sure they will SPEECHES do a thorough job. And I agree with Councilman Nutter that the schools themselves and the parents will, hopefully, take appropriate action to discipline these young people. But the issue is one of what we permit to go on in that stadium -- whether it's the snowballs at the Dallas Cowboys game, whether it's the refrigerator magnet debacle of last year's opening game where great stars, future Hall of Famers like Gary Sheffield were ducking refrigerator magnets in the outfield. This stuff has to stop. And the thing, I guess, that bothers me the most, and this Council has made an effort over the years to address this problem. We have passed ordinances in this Council dealing with public drunkenness, disorderly conduct at the stadium, raising the fines to $300 -- as high as we're able by Charter to raise them. I wonder how many tickets, and I will ask how many tickets for this disorderly or drunken conduct have been issued since we passed these ordinances. When I first started going to the games after the passage of these ordinances, the SPEECHES Phillies and the Eagles both put on the Fanovision scoreboard the facts that you will be fined heavily, you will be prosecuted for any activity that goes on in the stadium related to public drunkenness or disorderly conduct, and I have not seen those admonishments on those scoreboards since. It happened for maybe three or four months and was dropped. People have a right to go to a stadium, to a baseball or football game, to take their children, to take their nieces or nephews, and to enjoy our national pastime and the tradition of Eagles football. In other venues, for example, the First Union Center and the Spectrum, which are private owned and private run, you do not do that kind of activity. The Flyers, it is my personal experience, 'cause I've seen it, as soon as trouble starts, you are extricated from that building and your season tickets are in jeopardy. Your tickets -- if you have given your to somebody else, they're in jeopardy. We need to take this serious. It is unfair for us to work in this Council, and as the Administration has worked very hard to change the SPEECHES image of this city, when on a Monday afternoon, coast to coast on ESPN, what amounted to a British soccer riot took place in the 700-level of Veterans Stadium. That destroys all of the work and a lot of work that's been done over the past seven or eight years in one fell scoop for a five-minute video on ESPN nationwide. It's got to stop, and the City needs to take responsibility for it because it's our stadium, it's our reputation, and it's the safety of our fans that's really is what matters.
And I think we need to re-address this situation again; and if necessary, vigorously prosecute those people that engage in this activity. I am saddened and very angry about what happened on Monday. And on behalf of, I guess, this Council, I would like to apologize to anybody who was in those stands that had to deal with the situation. And I thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Now for some good SPEECHES news. About ten days ago, a Commonwealth court hearing a zoning matter reaffirmed the Home Rule Charter of the City of Philadelphia, reaffirmed the right of City Council to pass zoning legislation, reaffirmed the right of taxpayers and residents of Philadelphia to have a voice before the Zoning Board and before the courts. Unbeknownst to most folks in Philadelphia, the courts have been whittling away at the rights of private citizens to participate in having their views plead before the courts and the Zoning Board, and this decision by a three-member panel of the Commonwealth Court is refreshing in that says that the City of Philadelphia has its own separate zoning code and is not bound by a Statewide municipalities code, that the problems in Philadelphia are different from problems anywhere else in the State; and, therefore, the City Council of Philadelphia has a right to make that legislation which it feels is appropriate in zoning matters, and that the taxpayers of Philadelphia have a right to be ADJOURNMENT heard. And so that's good news for us in the City of Philadelphia, because often, no attention is paid to Philadelphia and its special problems. With respect to the comments by Councilman Nutter and Councilman Kenney, I think everybody in this Council shares in those feelings, and we're very hopeful that we're never going to see those kinds of action in the City. And happy birthday, Madam President.
Thank you, thank you. Are there any other speeches? (No response.)
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark for a motion to adjourn, please.
Madam President, I move that this Council be adjourned until April the 22nd, 1999.
Do I hear a second? (Duly seconded.) ADJOURNMENT
It has been moved and properly seconded that the Council stand adjourned until Thursday, April 22, 1999. All in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it, Council stands adjourned until Thursday, April 22, 1999. (Adjourned at 11:23 a.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, April 15, 1999, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: STATED MEETING __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter