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 on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much. That concludes our Calendar. Are there any speeches on the minority? The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Brien.
Thank you, Mr. President. It's with great sadness that I announce the passing of Trina Losinno. She and her husband, David, created Special People in the Northeast, SPIN, and she passed away unfortunately at 4:00 a.m. yesterday morning, and I would just like to read the posting from the website of Vision for Equality. Thank you for your patience. In loving memory of Trina Losinno, a message from SPIN Incorporated. It is with great sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Trina Losinno. Trina, courageously, fought a battle against cancer for the past eight months. During this time she lived each day with grace and dignity as she did each day and every day of her life. Trina, a special education teacher, met David at the Torresdale School in Philadelphia, and the rest became history. The history that we know -- I'm sorry. I'm having technical difficulties here. The history that we know and love at SPIN involved Trina's determination, hard work, creativity, and vision of hope and service to others. Trina was the heart and dynamic inspiration behind the development of SPIN programs, which received and continue to receive accolades, both locally and nationally. While Trina certainly devoted herself to her work at SPIN, her work at home embraced the lives of her five children, Christopher, Jennifer, Jonathan, Rebecca, and Ryan. It was with great joy that she spent her brief years in retirement with her grandchildren Ethan, Sophia, Aidan, and Kate. Trina was the quintessential grand-mom, quilting, baking, celebrating, and traditions which will live on in the hearts of family and friends. Trina was known for her philosophical sayings - "You bring the party!", "Put on your big girl pants," and "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." As we embrace these words of wisdom from a woman who left us all too soon, let us take a piece of her with us every day, in work and with our families. Mr. President, with your permission, I would ask that all members of City Council rise for a moment of silence in recognition of her tremendous and enormous contributions to the intellectual disability community across the City of Philadelphia and the great Commonwealth.
Thank you. Will you please rise. (Moment of silence.)
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise with a heavy heart bittersweet and sense of excitement. I'll share my remarks in the following way: Leadership is not limited to the chairman. Leaders exist at all levels in government. Not all managers are leaders. However, only the good ones are. And not all leaders are managers. I submit that leaders are made and not born. Leadership, in fact, is a mix of skills, attitude, will, and motivation. To become a leader, you must want it or work on it. It requires much effort to get there and to remain there. Thus has my Chief of Staff for 14 years and three months. Managing, on the other hand, is an assignment. A manager is not a leader -- a manager who is not a leader manages by title only. Not the case with my Chief of Staff. A leader manager inspires people, sets an example, and builds trust. That has been the case with my Chief of Staff. He has made things happen. He's been a mentor and a coach. He's respected and followed by his peers. He has embraced the clear purpose of our office, which is to serve others. He has been loyal in helping my team build common goals regardless of obstacles or temporary setbacks that we have endured. He has led my team to accomplish what they thought might be impossible, and he has done this through personality and not position. David is in every way what I call a possibility thinker. He has worked with my team and me and, when mountain, did not quit. He has learned with me over the past 14 years about how to turn crazy ideas about legislation into meaningful legislation that has become law. Small examples: the Children's Fund, the lead bill, and menu labeling. He has been a resourceful Chief of Staff, believing that where there is a will, there is a way, and has proceeded always in being judicious and evenhanded in his approach when managing the demanding task of our office. And so as we walk this plank, as we look, albeit for me reluctantly, towards this next exciting chapter of your career, David Forde, today you stand on a mountaintop. Behind you are all of those struggles and challenges you conquered over the last 14 years and three months. Behind you lie the meaningful opportunities you seized and executed always with a sense of excellence, including choosing to work lies a new horizon filled with exciting possibilities. Thank you for being what I demand, and, that is, a possibility thinker. Thank you for being a coach to our team. Thank you for turning every situation into a learning situation. Thank you for being an ally. Thank you for being generous with praise to staff, your peers, and me for a job well done. Today you choose the next chapter of your life. You're looking to a new direction in your career, and you need to know I join the many in this Chamber who appreciate you, David Forde. I would ask the members of this body, guests, friends, and those of us who like to play real hard after we work real hard to join us on April 3rd at Tango, 1021 Arch Street, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. as we congratulate David and say good-bye 14 years in the making. Let's salute my Chief of Staff, (Standing ovation.)
Thank you, Councilwoman. You may also mention that he's a proud resident of the 5th Council District. Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'm sorry to change gears a little bit after these last two emotional speeches, but we just voted today on Bill No. 140072, which I voted for, and we've had a lot of discussion, both in the Council hearing and in the Capital Budget relative to the $250 million expenditures for this very worthwhile project, and Councilwoman Blackwell has worked very hard to make sure that this happened out at 4601, and I think it's very important that we do this. We've had increasing discussions in Council about what I to set aside additional monies for improvements to police stations and firehouses. The $250 million going to pay for the 4601 renovation is for Police Headquarters, and it's going to do a lot of good things for the Police Department, getting our police commanders out of a very terrible situation at the Roundhouse, which is a mess, and providing some additional support for police investigation and other type of forensic work, which I think is very, very important. But $250 million for this project and the amount of money that's being recommended by the Administration for firehouses and police stations where the foot soldiers work I think is abominable. We have committed and I know with your help we will be able to get that number up to an appropriate number to make sure that the men and women in our Police and Fire Departments go to work every day without mold, without mice, without leaks, with cabinet doors on their kitchen cabinets, with furniture, and with windows that shut and open in the winter and the summer, appropriate air conditioning, clean bathrooms, not rusted-out fixtures. While I am happy the commanders will have the new place to work, our rank and file need new and improved places to work. We've had a lot of discussion and we've heard a lot in the media about Pope Francis lately, about some of the ways in which he's changing the Catholic church, and he recently chastised two Cardinals, one in Germany and one in the United States, for the construction of very large and opulent places for them to live while the parishioners were suffering in churches that are falling down and schools that are closing. It's not the exact corollary, but to me it rings somewhat true in comparing the two situations. We have let our police stations many, many years despite the complaints that this Council has brought forward in a number of Administrations, and I think that we need to commit ourselves publicly and on the record, as I am doing now, to make sure that we at least get the $40, $50, $60 million necessary to bring our rank and file places of work and places of rest at night at the firehouse up to speed comparable to $250 million we're investing in a new Police Headquarters. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. On Tuesday at 55th and Market Street, somewhere between the 3rd and the 4th Councilmanic District, an 80-year-old senior was abducted, transported to a bank, where she was forced to withdraw $8,000 of her lifetime the safety of seniors in this Chamber. We've done good things, like encourage utilities to create a Be Sure Before You Open the Door campaign to make sure home invasions, particularly aimed at our seniors, be curved. But according to the Corporation for the Aging, of the tens of thousands of seniors, only one in 44 actually reports the crimes when they're victimized. Many of those crimes, as Councilwoman Tasco has pointed out, are crimes of financial opportunity through predatory lending. But it has become apparent that more and more cowards are seeking the most vulnerable of the population, children and, in the other end of the spectrum, elderly to victimize. So I personally hope that the courts start paying a lot more attention to those individuals who take advantage of the most vulnerable population, the elderly, 80 years old, to start to do that. But there's two things that we all can do. One, we are urging more and more citizens of Philadelphia to come out and join Town Watch, to take a day out of the month to go out and do patrols. That doesn't mean jump on someone's back and stop them, but to be with cell phones, armed and ready to call and let people know what's going on or what is out of place in your neighborhood. The second thing, Mr. President, that we have to start doing is showing up in court when these individuals are apprehended. And I want to point out that the Police Department did their job. Within 24 hours they apprehended the man and the woman that did this, but too soon in the news cycle we forget what happened and we're on to the next thing. But what we have to do is send the signal that my mother, your mother, our aunts and uncles are precious when it comes time for the sentencing, we won't forget and we won't take it lightly and that we will seek a long, prosperous life inside somebody's institution when you victimize our seniors. And we have to start sending that signal now, because at the end of the day, as they are -- as we are, they once were, and as they are, if we're lucky, we shall be. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. Well spoken. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
Thank you, Mr. President. I want to also just add a small followup to Councilman Jones' comments regarding the scamming of the 80-year-old senior citizen. Hopefully our good District Attorney will do the due diligence and make sure that the individuals and the culprits who participated in the scam are put beneath and colleagues, today I am happy to have the opportunity to put forth another resolution that focuses on affordable housing in my district, specifically the Point Breeze area, approving a contract through the Redevelopment Authority, specifically with an organization which is dear to my heart, which is Habitat for Humanity. While I served in the City Year program under AmeriCorps fresh out of college, I had the opportunity to manage a City Year team that built the Habitat for Humanity house in your district, Council President, off of 18th and Diamond near the Church of the Advocate, and I've always been a strong supporter of this particular type of housing program because it allowed an individual an opportunity to be a first-time home buyer but, more importantly, to have an opportunity to build their home through sweat equity. focus on the issue of development here in the City of Philadelphia specific in the 2nd Councilmanic District, I want to make sure that every neighborhood in my district is a neighborhood of choice regardless of income and background. And so I want to make note of that, because it's a part of my overall housing development planning goals for my district. I also would like to invite my colleagues to an event this evening where I will be honored by the Sons of Italy Columbus Forum, Lodge 1492, at Galdo's located at 20th and Moyamensing at 5:30 this evening. I will be receiving the Andrew Farnese Humanitarian Award. Again, that's by the Sons of Italy. And so I'm quite sure we're going to have a good time this evening. I want to thank my colleague also from South Philadelphia, my good friend, Councilman Mark Squilla, for my behalf. I had no idea until my staff had brought that to my attention. So I really appreciate it. But I invite all of you, if you're not doing anything, to come out and have a good time in the South Philadelphia part of the 2nd Councilmanic District. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, sir. Congratulations. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell again.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'll only take a moment. Certainly congratulations to Councilman Johnson, and we are proud of the work that we've all been able to do with Habitat for Humanity over the years. Per Councilman Jones, we realize that a nation is judged by the way it treats its elderly, its young, and its homeless. And we had many calls about this issue that happened and this poor woman who was taken advantage of. with his solution for what we must do. The community is saying we have to be watchful, we need to make sure it's kept clean, and we have to make sure that when we deal with corridor work and expansion, that we include this area. Finally, I'd like to say that when Jim Kenney talked to me initially about police and firehouses and said, Why don't we take 50 million or should we take 50 million from the 250 million for the firehouse -- I mean, excuse me, for the 4601 and the police station relocation or should we talk about 50 million going forward. I said, Okay. Well, let's talk about 50 million going forward. And as those who are on the committee realized, that the Finance Committee opted to not move on this financing until we could check what was needed and what we should do in the budget process. But certainly I support that, and we need to do something to make sure that those who are ultimate sacrifice for us, to make sure that they work in decent conditions. So I am totally supportive of us taking whatever it takes, whether it be, as he just said, $40, $50 or $60 million, whatever the price tag is, to make sure that we move forward during this budget cycle with regard to police and fire stations. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Mr. President. I agree with Councilwoman Blackwell. I think we ought to find money during this budget process through the capital process to begin financing the upgrade of our fire stations and police stations. So we have the opportunity to do that now. I want to join Councilman issue of senior citizens being defrauded. I think what we might do, through his chairmanship as the Finance Committee, and as a member of the Finance Committee, I'd like for us to take an approach with the local banking institutions to see if we could get their cashiers, the employees to be vigilant when a senior citizen comes into a bank to ask for a large amount of cash and to find some way -- and I don't have that solution, but through a discussion, I think we ought to have with the local banking institutions see if we can kind of stop that when they come in to the bank and ask for the money. I know if I go to a store that I normally don't shop and I use my debit card, I get an alert from -- I get a call from my credit union saying did you make this purchase. So we've got to find ways to help seniors. Some of them are timid. Some of them will fight, but they're afraid, and they don't have weapons. So I suggest, Councilman Curtis, we move in that fashion. Also I'd like to report that on Saturday, April 5th, my State Representative, Cherelle Parker, and her staff will hold a workshop on Hold on to Your Money: Financial Check-up at the Finley Rec Center, which is at Hortter and Mansfield at 10:00 a.m., and those who are listening and anyone can come and join that discussion and learn about how to handle their money and protect themselves also. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilwoman. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Council President. And I too just want to echo the same sentiments and concerns that other Councilmembers had just mentioned about the conditions of our Now, I know it's repetitive in me speaking in addition to my colleagues, but it just -- you can't stress enough the importance of good working conditions for those who are on the front lines when it comes to public safety and protecting every citizen of our city. I'm going to speak for myself. In the 15th Police District, it is one of the largest police districts in the City of Philadelphia. It has the -- it is the most densely populated police district and the busiest police district in the City of Philadelphia, and the conditions are deplorable. We're talking about setting aside money or advocating for millions and millions of dollars not to even bring us into 2014. We're talking about trying to bring our first responders up to code, up to code. And there are reports after reports pointing out and just bringing to view the conditions that our police and our fire to, and we shouldn't stand for that. We are severely underfunded, for obvious reasons, we are government, and we have experienced budget cuts over many, many years and especially in most recent years but decades, and the buildings are old. I mean, these facilities date back to early 1900s or, as we had heard earlier, at least into the 1930s and '40s with Band-Aid fixes along the way, and I don't think that is responsible for us without trying to make them a first priority, as they are truly the first responders for our first protection. So I want to thank Councilwoman Blackwell for her years of dedication and commitment to making that possible. And Councilman Kenney with the police and fire, he has never blinked. So I think together we can hopefully get some movement here in this budget process. So thank you.
I hate to come back to the microphone just one more time, but discussions over the 80-year-old woman who was taken advantage of -- and Councilwoman Tasco hit the nail on the head -- how do you hand over $8,000 to an 80-year-old person and let them walk out the door and not be afraid or concerned that someone, even if it's not the two that's abducted her, but someone else that's watched her come in and go out and to put $8,000 in an envelope and let her go on her way? That's irresponsible. I mean, I understand it's the person's money, but there should be some protocol, some checkoff, some something, questions that are required to be asked by the teller, even if the old person says, Mind your own D business. But something -- because I got to believe that that woman had to paralyzed situation where she is afraid, she's been abducted. Here's 8,000, here's 10,000, here's whatever, and go on the street. There's got to be an overall discussion with our banking industry of what we can do internally across the counter from that person, because a lot of these folks, they go into banks where the people know them, and if you know them or if you know their circumstances, they don't usually leave the neighborhood. Downtown is a different situation, but in a neighborhood it's different. I got to believe there should be some protocols talked about that they should have to follow within the City limits of Philadelphia and maybe we keep that from happening. So thanks for the additional time.
This natural reaction from this body doesn't surprise me, because we've been doing this for a minute. The key statistic is only one in 44 actually report it because of fear and shame, and one of the things that I want to point out to you is -- one other thing, that some of these things are setups, that some caregiver, some person involved in that person's life saw a bank statement, got too much information, and then decided to turn that information into a target of opportunity, meaning them. So we have to do a wide range of things. I actually am meeting with PCA, Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging, right after this session to talk about that. And I just heard -- some of my colleagues may want to join with me to come up with some comprehensive legislation that safeguards our seniors. think that those are all of our mothers and aunts and fathers out there that are being targeted. So we're going to take a look at this holistically from the banking institutions and working with the District Attorney's Office, who has a prosecutor specifically assigned to crimes against seniors, and we're going to come up with something.
Thank you, Councilman. Count me in. With that, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown for a motion to adjourn.
Yes, yes, yes, Mr. President. There's an educational tenet that says repetition breeds learning. So to Councilman remarks, I am going to be repetitive and underscore the concerns raised by members, led by Councilman Jim Kenney, with regard to firefighters. Yes, we need to figure that out and we need to be strategic as we look at how we be of better service to those men and women who go on the front line. Secondly, I take care of an 86-year-old mom as her caregiver, and hearing the story really broke my heart, because there are too many like them who are in the twilight of their lives. So I believe too we really have a responsibility to sit down with the banking industry, Philadelphia Corporation of Aging and figure out the protocols that need to be instituted so that we don't have to hear another story, which really is only one of how many, one of 40 that go reported. So, yes, it's a signal for us that we as a Council need to act on those two important matters. With that, I move that Council Thursday, April 10th, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. Thank you. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, April 10th, 2014, 10:00 a.m. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 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. ) A act 99:18,20 adoption 89:3 agreed 24:9 18:14 AA 67:7,8 111:20 140:24 90:6 91:10 Agreement 96:19 Andrew 128:19 111:22 acting 72:5 92:15 105:9 ahead 18:16 Andrus 61:9 AARP 61:9 action 3:24 32:16 106:6 107:2 Aidan 114:23 106:20 106:20 32:19 39:19 108:2 109:6 aimed 124:8 and/or 142:22 abandoned 21:2 47:2 110:3 111:3 air 34:2 39:17 Angel 29:16 31:4 ABC 30:15 actions 4:11 112:7 66:21 122:6 31:9 34:18 abducted 123:23 activism 30:8,24 advantage 19:4 AL 45:18 37:12 136:14 137:3 activist 32:9 124:24 129:25 albeit 118:16 Angeles 17:23 ability 22:24 actuarial 72:2 136:8 albums 14:9 announce 113:7 able 26:23 73:16 ad 129:2 adventures 32:20 alert 132:20 annual 13:13,18 78:8 121:21 add 48:9,23 71:18 advertisements alike 15:3 43:2,23 46:22 129:18 126:18 12:16 Alliance 75:21 55:22 72:22 abominable added 71:24 advertising 12:14 108:17 73:3 121:19 adding 69:3,20 advise 51:16 allow 77:11,16 annualized 73:9 absence 8:11,16 addition 32:8 advocacy 32:15 allowed 127:21 answer 37:14 8:24 134:3 Advocate 127:18 ally 119:10 73:22 absolute 14:24 additional 54:16 advocating alumni 9:4 anybody 87:13 abuse 75:23,25 82:25 104:19 134:18 Alyn 62:10 apartheid 37:6 108:19,21 121:3,11 137:22 Affairs 32:12 107:17 apologies 30:17 Academy 13:11 additionally 13:9 39:25 amazing 46:18 apparent 124:17 13:16 address 52:4,20 affect 4:11,12,13 48:14,16 appear 3:23 accept 57:20 53:4,11 58:19 affirmative 96:14 amen 3:8 5:14,15 Applause 9:7,12 acceptance 54:10 59:6,18 63:12 99:12 102:2 5:16 7:2,3 25:8 16:14 17:18 access 57:20 73:17,22 75:12 104:16 25:10 18:23 19:15 74:22 addressed 85:4 afflict 27:16 amend 61:25 81:4 24:11 26:15 accessible 65:16 addresses 52:11 afflicted 27:6,7 amended 81:12 29:8 35:4 36:3 Accion 32:15 62:24 afford 78:11 99:18 42:16 47:13 accolades 114:14 adjourn 139:21 affordable 55:23 amending 53:13 50:4 accommodations adjourned 141:2 127:6 55:20 56:6 apple 6:23 97:9 141:8,18 afforded 22:23 68:21 69:14 apply 142:20 accompanying ADJOURNME... afraid 133:2 74:20 79:18 appointments 10:10 19:24 141:1 136:12 137:3 80:5 93:6 94:7 71:22 29:17 43:4 Administration Africa 22:12 amendment appreciate 9:23 accomplish 10:16 76:19 African 2:14 68:17 69:10 48:6 74:3 117:20 77:12 121:17 afternoon 87:3,5 71:17 119:17 129:4 accounting 71:25 Administrations Agape 2:14 America 17:14 appreciation 24:5 72:24 123:5 age 17:2,20 18:12 57:19 70:17 34:25 accuracy 36:8 ADMINISTRA...