So DEI really focuses on policy, ensuring that in every department we have a racial equity framework that's baked into the DNA of how they do their work. OEO is very different in that it's in the Commerce Department, and I'll kick that answer over to my colleague Aren to talk about OEO. DEPUTY
That's all I needed to hear. So the enforcement versus policy. Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Quetcy Lozada.
Thank 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. you, Council President. I just want to follow up on a question that I was going to ask in the first round, and it's around Land Bank. I was under the impression that Land Bank when it was first formed, it was supposed to provide easier access for residents who had historically been taking care of land to be able to gain acquisition because of all of the work that they did in making sure that their communities weren't blighted. As you work towards restructuring how Land Bank will operate, are we taking that into consideration, and if so, how? DEPUTY
I'm sorry, Councilmember. Would you mind repeating? It was a little hard to hear.
As you work towards revamping Land Bank, what are you doing to ensure that residents who have historically taken care of land have access to be able to acquire it? 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Because we have seen that although that was the purpose originally, they are not getting that. I have people in my district who have applied for land since 2008 and are still waiting for parcels to be acquired, and we see that there is easier access for private developers to gain access more quickly for that land. So what are you doing to ensure as you restructure that community residents have more access? DEPUTY
Yeah. So, Councilmember, we are considering that as we do Land Bank restructuring. We're also making sure that we are in close communication with the District Councilmember, who will really know, I mean, is this a -- from a map you can't tell. Is it a blighted piece of land or is it truly a side yard that's been cared for for years or decades. And that's where we need that type of observational input from the ground, and that's one of the things where District Councilmembers 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. will be so, so helpful as we do that Land Bank, as we take a look at the Land Bank.
And then as you develop some of this land, private developers have had the option to be able to pay into the Housing Trust Fund in order to prevent them from having to meet their affordability requirements, but although they do that, we never see the Housing Trust Fund, that percent, come 12 back into districts. What are you all 13 doing to ensure that that actually starts 14 to happen? 15 DEPUTY
So I know 16 she's not there now, but Councilmember 17 Gauthier has a series of bills 18 specifically around that that we're 19 keeping an eye on and watching as it goes 20 through the process.
So Councilmember Gauthier has some bills on the Housing Trust Fund to ensure that it 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. can only be spent in a certain radius.
We don't have thoughts on it yet that we're going to put out there, but it's something that we're certainly keeping an eye on.
Okay. I'd be interested to hear what you think about that. So if we need to meet as a sidebar, let's do that, because in the Seventh Council District, most private developers pay into that fund, and then that money goes into a general fund and I never see it, which is part of why I'm experiencing the housing crisis that I'm experiencing in the Seventh. So I'm interested to hear your thoughts and how we can work together to fix that. DEPUTY
3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Absolutely, Councilmember. And you know that I know your district, and making sure that whatever we can do to ensure affordable housing in your district is being taken care of is absolutely a priority of this Administration. So I will get back to you on that.
Thank you. And then my last question is, I read in the Five Year Plan that we are replacing 600 new LEDs or that we replaced 600 new LEDs as of February of 2024. Another 120,000 are expected to be changed over the next three years. Can someone tell me how those are being prioritized, what neighborhoods are being prioritized, what is it going to cost us, and how long is that going to take?
So I'd like to call up Mike Carroll, our -- so we can get back to you on that. We will provide a response in writing. We're happy to do that. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC.
Thank you, Council President. I was remiss in answering your question earlier when you asked about what other municipal unions we have. I was remiss in not including the Steelworkers, who are also a part of our union workforce in addition to DC33, 47, and 159B and A.
Thank you. But while we're at it, just in terms of Department of Labor, the gentleman who was here from the Labor Department, just a quick question for him. DEPUTY
It will be real quick and give it back to my members. I just want to get an idea of last year we passed a significant bill 7 to -- over the past two years we passed two significant bills, one for healthcare for workers at the Philadelphia International Airport and also $15 an hour, right? So what is our Labor Department doing in making sure that businesses are in compliance, and when they're not in compliance, what is the recourse to make sure that they are following the law in terms of healthcare that they're required to provide as well as the wage of $15 an hour? Just a question I wanted to ask that was asked of my office as recently as yesterday. MR. DiVIRGILIO: Sure, Council President.
Talk in the mic, please. MR. DiVIRGILIO: Sure, Council 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. President. First of all, you know, that ordinance was tied into the Service Contract Act. So that wage is now 17.20, because the Department of Labor updated those wages. And the health and welfare component is 4.57. There was an Executive Order that was passed in regards to sick leave that made that health and welfare component $4.57. The Office of Labor is in the process of hiring a wage compliance officer that's going to be full time at the airport, so we'll be able to oversee -- you know, interview the employees to make sure what they're making. And I actually have a complaint right now, so we'll be going out to the airport to do an audit to make sure that -- find out if that subcontractor is in compliance. If not, then we'll take the means necessary to make sure they get in compliance.
And then as a city also, how are we 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. addressing the issue of wage theft, right? Because obviously you have businesses that operate under the radar, and that revenue could be used, right, to obviously help fuel and support the other services that we offer here in the City of Philadelphia. So do we have any strategy to work around this particular issue of wage theft? MR. DiVIRGILIO: Yes. I'd like to call up Candace Chewning, who runs the Office of Wage Theft, Worker Projection, to answer that question. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good. So the Office of Worker Protections within the Philadelphia Department of Labor processes wage theft complaints. We also run an outreach 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. program across the City. We work with several community groups across the City to ensure that not just workers but employers are aware of not just wage theft but all of the labor laws within the City that our office enforces, which is about eight labor laws.
Would diversity and inclusion and minority participation fall within that line? Because a lot of times as District Councilmembers we pass legislation for development which triggers an EOP, and those EOPs mean nothing if we aren't actually monitoring and enforcing the law so we can reach those goals.
So the diversity, equity, and inclusion piece is the Labor Standards Office, which is not my unit, but we do have a diversity, equity, and inclusive approach to our outreach program and engagement, not just that outreach program but also our Community Outreach and Education Fund 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. where we work with a group of stakeholders, front-line City employees, workers, business owners, and community members.
All right. Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Nicholas "Nick" O'Rourke.
Thank you, Council President. I have more questions than I got time. So this one has somewhat already been asked, but I kind of wanted to ask it a different way. Given the reminder about the City's limited or scarce resources, I'm compelled to ask. The Mayor's proposed budget, as has already been stated, nearly doubles the Mayor's Office budget, adding about $7 million. I understand the Mayor's Office is adding new positions in the Mayor's purview, as has already been articulated. It was also notable to me, though, that the average 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. salary for the Mayor's Office employees increased from 99K to 134K under the current Administration, 35 percent bump in average salary. Fabulous, wonderful. Can we expect that to happen across other front-line worker offices as well, to see that sort of significant salary increase?
So I'd like to call up our Chief Administrative Office, Camille Duchaussee. As she's coming up, I can tell you that we worked very closely with our CAO and OHR to ensure that salary bands -- that we adhered to salary bands. I'm sorry. You can go ahead. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon, Council President, Councilmembers. My name is Camille Duchaussee. I am the City's Chief Administrative Officer. Councilmember O'Rourke, in response to your question, we're 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. absolutely committed to making sure that there is continuous assessment of our salaries, that we are paying a wage that is livable, that contributes to our ability to recruit and retain talent. We have contracted with a firm to complete a somewhat limited assessment across several offices, several departments, several agencies to ensure that we have a better understanding of what the industry standard is for our compensation decisions.
I don't know if this is -- are there any concerns that the return to office policy will have a countereffect on recruitment? My wife works in corporate America and immediately jumped at that news, considering what they're doing within their own. Any thoughts on that?
Yes. You know, it is a difficult subject to navigate. There is no question that being able to work from home is an 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. opportunity and a benefit that a lot of our employees and in general the workforce appreciates, improves work-life balance. It is -- there's data to suggest that it absolutely helps with recruitment, right? And certain industries absolutely do lend themselves to it. The Mayor has created a bold strategy here, and in that strategy, it transforms -- it's asking us to transform the way we provide service to our citizenry. That includes returning to office. It includes creating spaces where we are more visible, where we are engaging in more collaboration and collaborative conversations, and where we are using those collaborative conversations to improve efficiencies where we can. So we absolutely appreciate the concerns and the position that, hey, this is something that may have a negative impact on our ability to recruit. And I 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. think the information is a little early in terms of retention. We don't have data on whether it impacts retention or not, but at the end of the day, we're going to take a very measured, a very thoughtful approach to how we implement our return to office and take large and long -- have large and long conversations around our employees' concerns from both represented employee perspective and our non-represented employee perspective.
I appreciate the sobriety in that response, just because I've heard so much about folks and I also have felt pretty strongly that we learned quite a bit through the pandemic about how to operate and to do the work and to be effective at it in light of all these things, and I feel like -- perhaps we'll see with time, but that could be an issue on terms of retention. Were you going to say something? 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC.
Just to clarify, 80 percent of our workforce are already in person. We've also -- you see around this room, this is our leadership. Our leadership is working in person. We're able to focus on workplace culture, collaboration, synergy, and we find that we cannot do that behind a computer. And so, yes, there's an equity -- a framework and position that we absolutely -- we're driving with, but we're also -- what's really important is that we take a human-centric approach. And so I think that's what our CAO just outlined, and appreciate the question, but what we're really talking about is bringing back about 4,700 people of our very vast growing workforce.
And not to belabor the point, but I also think it's important to point out that the super majority of the vacancies and the areas where we are experiencing considerable vacancy and retention concerns are in 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. spaces where they cannot work from home, right? So it is a balancing act, and we are very mindful of the impact that this might have on our culture, but there are other pieces that we are considering to ensure that we are creating a culture that will help us retain employees and make the work experience exactly what the Administration intends it to be.
Thank you very much. I do want to build off of Leader Brooks' line of questioning around the Department to Labor earlier. The Office of Worker Protections' budget saw a nearly 45 percent increase in complaints year over year. Does it make sense to hold homeless this department's budget given that significant need?
So the Labor's budget was basically -- there were two big things that made it look like a decrease. One was people leaving who had 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. big payouts when they left because they had been in -- worked for us for a while. So that was a one-time thing, not recurred. And then there were some one-time costs related to arbitrations. So it kind of skews the way the budget looks.
Okay. I heard the buzzer go off. Like I said, I have more questions than time. Can I circle back around in the second round?
Thank you, Mr. President. I do not want an answer to this question. I just want to alert you that I will want an answer in the near future. I want to talk about force 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. integration for public safety and technology integration for public safety. What do I mean by that? I saw the other day that SEPTA gave up on identification of using technology to determine if someone that got on our system had a weapon because the analog cameras weren't compatible with the use of that type of technology. On a positive note, the City's police force apprehended the murderer of the security guard at Macy's, but they did it in an integrated way where the person committed a crime, they got on the subway, they got off at Kensington, they caught him. That's force integration. In a bad scene from Grand Theft Auto, it's not inconceivable for someone to be doing doughnuts in Squilla's district, get chased by the police, they jump off the car -- off the bike, hijack a car, crash, get on the subway, come up in -- I won't say the Fifth District, but somewhere near Temple, run across 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Temple's campus, knock a kid off his bike, and then ride into public housing. That literally is a bad scene from Grand Theft Auto, but could very well happen on our streets. What I want to hear coming up is a plan on how SEPTA, PHA, University Police, and our Philadelphia Police integrate a process to safeguard the public. And what my concern is, I've heard in different rooms where they say, well, you know, only one percent of the crime happens on our property of SEPTA. It happens a block away from the station. Well, that's no consolation to the person getting mugged. So what I want to see, and it's in our recommendations on a Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia, is how thought can be given to integrate the workforce that keeps us safe but the technology. We should have license plate readers that work. It was recently brought to our attention -- and, again, 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. you're sitting here, but you're a continuation of a prior Administration, for the record. During that time, there were only four license plate readers citywide that worked. If we start talking about equitable driving laws, that can solve a lot of that to lessen the number of stops, unnecessary stops. So what I'm looking for is an integrated plan that takes into PHA, SEPTA, City of Philadelphia, and campus police working together to keep us all safe. Thank you, Mr. President.
You're welcome. This is our last round. The Chair recognizes Jeffery J. Young.
Thank you, Mr. President. I don't want to beat up on the Administration too bad. I do want to commend you on the idea of having the One Front Door program. I think that's going 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. to do tremendous work for my constituents in the Fifth District to allow them to streamline and have one application for housing repair programs. So thank you for that, because that is very needed in the district. But along those housing lines, I know the Mayor's goal is to create 30,000 new units of housing. Looking into your strategic initiatives for the Department of Housing and Community Development, it just says the DHCD will support 300 new and preserve 100 existing houses. So for me that seems to be a lot lower than the goal that the Mayor has for 30,000 within the next four years, particularly when it comes to this affordable luxury. So how much subsidy will this Administration be providing to developers, the end users in order to achieve that goal of having these affordable luxury units? And I say that to say yesterday I went to a project in 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. the Blumberg area where developers were developing these affordable luxury houses, right, three stories, bells and whistles. They are nice, but they're selling for $300,000. And so for most folks in the community, that's still out of reach unless they are able to get that $75,000 Turn the Key subsidy, that $10,000 first-time homebuyer subsidy, things like that. So that only becomes affordable when we are providing those types of subsidies. So can you tell us how much, if there is a dollar amount, that will be allocated to providing these types of subsidies to develop this affordable luxury? DEPUTY
Councilmember, thank you for that question. This is a project that we're still working on. Hard numbers I don't have for you today. But I would say that subsidy takes a lot of different paths to getting to affordable housing, if we're 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. talking about Turn the Key for subsidy or Philly First Home for subsidy. If we're talking about the value of land that goes into developing a parcel that's in the Land Bank, that's subsidy. If you're talking about direct City programs, right, if we're talking about Repair Restore Renew or Basic System Home Repair, that's subsidy. So there's an awful lot of subsidy here, and what you've heard the Mayor talk about is, whether we're talking about new or rental or repair, it's all going to go to some degree of affordability, and then the rest of that project is very much currently a work in progress. I don't know if I answered all of your questions.
No, but it's okay. Given the numbers, if it's going to cost the developer $300,000 to build this property even when they're given the land, right, so it's going to 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. cost -- they have to sell it at 300 to make some type of profit and they have to do, I don't know, scores of these at one time, I'm just trying to figure out how much money it would take from us to invest in that type of affordable luxury if that's the goal of our city, is to provide those opportunities for people that can actually afford to live in that. Because, again, in certain parts of my community where I live in North Philadelphia, $300,000 is still unaffordable, right, but in other parts, right, it's dirt cheap. So we have to really just looking at the numbers and see how much it really takes for us to invest. If the goal is to provide that number of housing units, and I'm just going to say, hey, maybe let's say half of those housing units are going to be affordable, affordable housing, then how much more do we need as a body to invest to make sure that the people who are going to benefit 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. from those programs actually have access to those programs? DEPUTY
I understand that question, and it's hard for me to talk about that specific instance without knowing a lot more. But that's a question that we're asking internally as well, is what is the right number of subsidy so that we can help ensure that we are building affordable, that we are making housing a place that stabilizes a community, whether we're talking about homeownership or rental. Again, I don't know enough about that specific housing that you're talking about. I've seen other housing that's Turn the Key --
The Mayor had the first buyer of that program at the budget address. So she mentioned her at the budget address. DEPUTY
She was Water Department, if I remember right. Yeah. So if it was $300,000, I 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. have to think about this probably not right here, but there was probably some degree of subsidy on that to get the mortgage rate down.
Additional subsidy. So I'm just trying to figure out how much more do we need in order to get the number that the Mayor is looking for to provide that type of housing. DEPUTY
And that's something that we're working on now, and as we continue to develop it, Councilmember, I'll be sure to keep you in the loop. And I think we're working toward the same goal, but just trying to figure out the ways to get all the numbers to pencil.
Thank you. One more question along the housing lines. I have a niche group in our district, a lot of retirees who don't qualify for the senior tax freeze because 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. they make too much because they're retired teachers, they're retired City workers, so their pensions are more than what the City senior tax freeze program allows them to qualify for. So they're coming to me asking for specific retired teacher housing, retired something housing that is -- where they can remain in their communities but also not -- but it's not something that's like a low income, right, low-income senior. So is there any, I guess, investments being made towards seniors who are not necessarily low income but still would like to downsize and remain in certain communities that they have been the backbone for for a long time? And I'm particularly speaking about areas of Northern Liberties where we have a lot of retired teachers live in Northern Liberties in certain parts, and they are really being priced out, because they've been retired for 20 years. Their pensions haven't gone up at all. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. So how can we keep those people in that community and let them live out their best days? DEPUTY
Yeah. I can't speak specifically about that, but certainly if there's legislation, it's something the Administration would absolutely consider.
Thank you. And two questions for Mr. DiVirgilio regarding the Department of Labor. MR. DiVIRGILIO: Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. So first question I have is regarding -- could you tell us the number of full-time positions in your department that are civil service versus exempt? And if you have the numbers, what's the difference in pay between the exempt employees and those that are civil service? 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. MR. DiVIRGILIO: I'm going to let Manny Citron, Chief of Staff, answer that question. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon, Councilman. Manny Citron, Chief of Staff in the Philadelphia Department of Labor. So we have 57 positions budgeted for the current fiscal year. Fourteen of those at the moment are listed as exempt.
Thank you. And can you provide us with the difference in, I guess, the median salaries between exempt employees versus those that are civil service?
So I don't have it broken down to that level in front of me. I do know that the -- I can share that 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. the average full-time salary for all of our positions is 79,552 and the median is 63,328. That's for the department as a whole. DEPUTY
Thank you. One more question for the Department of Labor, Office of Labor. So your Office of Worker Protections investigate claims that are presented by the most marginalized in our city. Given the current staffing levels, I think our staffing levels for that particular office is among the lowest in the country. And so how do you intend to essentially cut down on the complaint time, which I believe is currently 120 days essentially?
So about 46 percent of the complaints that come in 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. are resolved within 90 days. Ninety-three percent last year were resolved within the course of the year. So of course we would like to see that number trend downward. We think that given the staffing level we're at right now, that is a decent place that needs more attention and more work. I will say right -- I know part of the conversation is on additional staff. We do have vacancies in that unit, and we have been working diligently to fill those vacancies. I know the Director just yesterday signed off on offer letters for four additional staff specific to the Office of Worker Protections. So we think that will alleviate -- once those people say yes to their offer letter and start with us, we think that will also drive down wait times for the service.
I couldn't hear the percentage you say. It's 46 percent within 90 days? 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC.
Longer than 90 days. Ninety-three percent are completed within the calendar year.
Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. Thank you all again. I just wanted to go back to some of the information I heard really quickly before I move to PhillyStat 360. The CAO talked about the limited assessment across some departments regarding compensation 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. decisions. I'm asking because I know that when the Home Rule Charter was first instituted in the City, the City kind of undertook an overarching process to have a compensation analysis relative to making public sector pay more on par with private sector pay, to make public sector positions more attractive to individuals. And so I ask -- I think I heard you say that limited assessment happened across some departments. Could you detail which departments? And then also from a numbers perspective, if you could talk about, or maybe OHR has this, the total amount of City employees whether the position is vacant and currently not filled and/or filled. So the total number of City employees, the total number of vacancies across government as a whole.
Again, good afternoon. Camille Duchaussee. The total number of vacancies across the City as a whole is 5,900 and I 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. believe 63. So I probably shouldn't guess on that, but we're in the 5,900 range, right? And I would have to get back to you on the complete complement of filled positions. I can get that number to you very quickly.
In terms of the original question, I do not know every department that was part of the compensation assessment. We'd be happy to have a conversation with you and share the findings of that to include what departments were included in that assessment.
Okay. That would be great. I would definitely be interested in having that information. You said also you were talking about bringing back 4,700 people, right? Is that correct?
And those positions are the type of positions that you cannot work from home; is that correct?
No. I'm sorry. I may have confused the number. There are 76 percent of the vacancies that we have. So of the 5,900 vacancies, 76 percent of them are in positions that cannot work from home.
Okay. Thank you. And I'll wait the additional information.
Excellent. Also, I wanted to ask a quick question about PhillyStat 360, and excited to see Kristin Bray, because we worked together really closely on the Nuisance Business Task Force, and I'm thankful for the work that she undertook in the Law Department. It was really, really helpful to us, and we added a 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. million dollars in Class 100 last budget cycle for additional attorneys strictly around this Nuisance Business Task Force. So I do want to talk about that, but I also want to talk about this new PhillyStat 360. I guess it's helping us better understand the quality-of-life issues that individuals are encountering across the City of Philadelphia. And so if you could just provide us with additional information about the plans for PhillyStat, what is the timeline, how will the data be shared, how can members of Council engage in the development and the deployment of PhillyStat 360 and just the employee complement there. And I ask because of course now I've been here long enough to have been a part of the team of constituent service representatives who worked with the then-Managing Director on trying to assist them with understanding how they can set up 311. That's a conversation for another day, but I just 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. want to understand how we could interface with that system so that we understand the type of data that's coming across and particularly for the District Councilmembers, because that information is helpful to them. (Witness approached witness table.)
Thank you, Councilmember. Kristin Bray, Chief Counsel to the Mayor and Director of PhillyStat 360. So PhillyStat 360 is a new initiative of the Parker Administration and we are building out, and we have a bold agenda that we are going to be looking at how we problem-solve for our communities at a very high level. And as we're building out our problem-solving model, we are going to be looking at how different departments are delivering services to community, are they delivering them timely, are they delivering them successfully, what are 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. the barriers to delivering those services, are they delivering the services appropriately within the communities and with equity, and are we distributing resources appropriately. We will be using data and we will be using evidence-based practices to make sure that we are delivering those services appropriately, and we are eventually hoping to create a computer dashboard where the community can see how their services are being delivered. I think to the extent that the Councilmembers are getting information from the community as to the problems that they are facing, and we know that every district has its own challenges to its own community, that information can inform the work of how the Parker Administration is going to deliver services to the community.
Right. I appreciate that, and I just add there, how will PhillyStat 360 work with 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Philly 311? Because I will tell you that -- and we've talked about this over the previous Administration as well, so this is not like a new issue. But the concern around Philly 311 is that you get a message back saying that the issue has been received. It does not mean that the issue has been resolved. It's just been received by that particular department that's tasked with handling said issue and/or concern. So how will PhillyStat 360 work with and talk to Philly 311? Because we also find -- and you know my office, we do a ton of constituent service cases. I have one of just the best just constituent services directors in Beth Strain Berry, but we find it's very difficult for 311 to go through multiple departments for a case. As an example, if a case touches -- I'm just using this as an example -- Streets, L&I, and Water, it's very difficult for 311 to traverse 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. through all three of the departments. So how will PhillyStat 360 work with 311? Because it's all constituent service quality-of-life issue related. And I heard the bell. I'll come back.
I hear you, Councilmember, and 311 is one part of the data that we would be bringing into PhillyStat. The other departments also have their data. So we would be building upon a model and grabbing the data from the different departments to see if the issue is actually resolved. 311 is a separate department than PhillyStat, but we would be looking at as part of our model of giving feedback to 311 or giving feedback to the other operational departments about how they're reporting into these systems and making sure that they actually are delivering services, because I hear the frustration as someone who lives in the City that you call 311 and something is 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. marked closed and in fact the issue has not been redressed.
And that's very important that we are showing the people who reside in this city that they have a government that is responsive to them and responsive to their concerns. And if we cannot be responsive to their concerns, we need to figure out why and problem-solve for that and come up with a solution.
No. 16 I appreciate that. I heard the bell and I'm going to respect the clock, and I'll ask Council President that I'm able to come back on the next round, if we have one, but I just so appreciate the work that you have done with us on Nuisance Business Task Force and I'm excited that you will lead this effort, because I have faith in the work that you do. I know of 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. the good work that you do, and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with you in particular.
Just a quick one regarding PhillyStat 360. It's about positions budgeted 10 for this particular initiative. So are 11 all of the staff dedicated to PhillyStat 12 360? And then there's also, in terms of 13 the expense, transportation. So explain 14 to me the transportation component as 15 well as are the 15 staff positions dedicated to like just computer software?
So with regard to the positions, the 14 positions, with the exception of myself, are dedicated to PhillyStat 360. I wear a dual hat within the Mayor's Office. With regard to transportation expenses, they would be related to ensuring that -- as part of our model is ensuring that we are following up with 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. the departments and going out to sites. So, for example, if a department says it has resolved an issue, there has to be some accountability that somebody within the PhillyStat office has eyes on it and they will be going to sites to follow up to see those complaints have been redressed on it. And we'll be doing that on a statistical basis and trying to pull out different sites to make sure that things are followed up.
So is the transportation, what, vehicles, TransPasses?
Vehicles, okay. So we already have a Fleet Department. So this is -- explain that part to me, because we already have Fleet Services cars on loan. So this is on top of that. Just want to get an idea.
Council President, we'll look into that request 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. and get back to you in writing ASAP.
Okay. And specifically if it's transportation on top of us already having a Fleet Department that already provide cars for staff in various departments, how did this one particular department get a whole set of transportation vehicles dedicated just to them? That's all.
Absolutely, and we will definitely get back to you on that. Thank you.
All right. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jim Harrity.
Thank you, Council President. This is just more for my clarification, because I've been meeting with some people and there's like kind of different things out there and I think kind of misperceptions. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. The Turn the Key program for the City employees, I love that, but I was with District Council 47 talking to them and just was curious and I asked them how their members felt about it, and their response to me was, well, it doesn't really help us because our employees make more money than, I guess, the qualifications for the program, which they told me was $45,000 a year salary. That was the minimum, which I then found out was not the case. It's actually more like 80,000 is the income level. What are we doing to kind of get the information right out there for our employees? Because I believe this is a great program that could help a lot of people that work for the City be able to afford the City. Because we all know that there's been a study that says that if you're a single parent with one child, in order to be able to afford to live in the City of Philadelphia, you have to make $37 an hour. A lot of times our 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. City jobs do not pay $37 an hour. So the Turn the Key program is something that I believe can help us get more of our employees into neighborhoods, which will then also help the neighborhoods. Because, you know, somebody from the City moves in on a block, things start to get done. So I'm excited about getting more employees of the City into some of these housing, but we need to do a better job of explaining the actual criteria to do it, because there's a lot of misconceptions. If you ask a couple different people, they're going to tell you different numbers. And I think that the program is a great program and I'd like to see more of our City employees get in there. So in a general sense, how are we going to advertise these programs and stuff like that? Because we don't really do a good job with that. It's the same thing with the programs we have. I was 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. complaining about us not having a lot of programs in my neighborhood and then actually did the research and found out we have a lot of programs in the neighborhood. The fact is, nobody knows about them. So my question is, how is the City going to go to try to explain some of these good programs that we have and how can we get more of this information out there? DEPUTY
Councilman, thank you for flagging that. That is something that the Mayor has talked about and is something that we're going to be working on. Right now there is a marketing campaign around Repair Restore Renew, billboards, other ways of getting to people. Turn the Key absolutely needs to have some more research. The Mayor was talking about ways to get that out to the municipal unions. Councilmember 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Young when I sat with him also said, you know, 1199C should be knowing about this, PFT should be knowing about this. So absolutely we need to be doing a better job, especially through the unions when there is a preference for City employees. And, yeah, it is up to 100 percent AMI. So there's an awful lot of City employees who are covered by that, and we need to be doing better.
Yeah. Oh, no. But it fluctuates and it only goes up. So that's one of the things that's important, but this is one of the things that we're talking about as we talk about getting these programs into more hands as it's going to be unveiled at the hundred day on April 11th. So these are things that we're talking about. These are things that are in the works, and we absolutely, absolutely need to be doing a better job at it. So thank you for 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. flagging that, Councilman.
And then the only other question I would have is for Perry, if he's still here, DiVirgilio. It's not very -- the Department of Labor, not many people understand what they do, and what I would like to know is what Perry thinks the department's accomplishments have been in the last few years, and after that, what he thinks should be a goal for that department going forward. MR. DiVIRGILIO: Good afternoon, Council President, members of the Council. Councilman Harrity, first of all, thank you for the question. I've been blessed to inherit this amazing Department of Labor. For those that don't know, there's actually two programs. The first one is Labor and Employee Relations and the second one is Labor Policy and Compliance. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Some of the accomplishments that were accomplished for Labor and Relations, the Office of Employee and Labor Relations conducted 146 standard and customized training sessions and trained 8,758 City employees. Additionally, training was also provided to 100 Philadelphia Parking Authority employees. As the City well knows, employees are the foundation and the strength of any organization. Training employees properly is a primary responsibility for the ERU. If managers, supervisors, and front-line employees are not well trained or work unproductively, the City is in a deficit. It's essential to train employees regularly with relevant and accurate information to ensure they are performing their best work. In assessing and addressing operational needs, the ERU implemented three new citywide training programs 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. civility for all employees, FMLA, and ADA training for managers and supervisors. The response has been robust, resulting in an increase in interest, registrations, and attendance. Thus far in FY24, 421 employees have been trained compared to 382 trained in FY23. The LRU already has successfully negotiated the following contract extensions: The Fraternal Order of Police, Sheriff's Office, and Register of Wills and International Association of Firefighters Local 22. On the program too side, Labor Policy and Compliance. Program description is, this program contains two units, Labor Standards and Worker Protections. The Office of Labor Standards enforces standards of compliance on City contracts consistent with the federal Davis-Bacon Act and Chapter 17-107 of The Philadelphia Code, as well as monitoring workforce diversity on all City projects. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. OLS enforces labor laws, including Chapter 17-107, Contracts: Labor-Management Relationships, and 17-1600, Economic Opportunity Plans. The Office of Worker Protection enforces and advances certain labor laws, including Chapter 9-4100, Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces, and all pandemic amendments; Chapter 9-4300, Wage Theft Complaints; Chapter 9-4500, Protections for Domestic Workers; Chapter 13 9-4600; Fair Workweek Employment Standards; Chapter 9-4700, Wrongful Discharge from Parking Employment; Chapter 9-5000, Employee Protections in Connection with COVID-19 Emergency Health Order; Chapter 9-5600, Workforce and Career Pathways Information Sheet; and Chapter 9-3303, Use of Tower Cranes. That's it for our accomplishments for the year, but as stated earlier, first of all, Councilwoman Brooks, thank you for that additional funding that allowed us to be 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. able to fill a lot of the vacancies that we had, and additionally it's going to allow us to be able to fill the last six vacancies that we have left. In filling those vacancies, I look forward to continuing the progress that was made in the previous year, expanding our workforce internally and being able to even more make sure we enforce these laws the right way.
If you had -- I'm sorry. If you had one wish, let's say, what would it be for to help your department in order to become maybe more efficient or something along those lines? Is there anything that you think the department is in need of? MR. DiVIRGILIO: Yes. Once we fill those six vacancies, additional funding to be able to expand.
Of course, additional funding, right. All right. Thank you. Appreciate that. MR. DiVIRGILIO: Thank you. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC.
Thank you. Councilmember Brooks, good job. Young man giving you your props. Give him some more money, you know. That's why it's called Working Families Party. Thank you. Taking care of business, championing an issue. We're about to wrap this thing up. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Nina Ahmad.
Thank you, President. I just came back from a flag-raising ceremony for the Independence Day of Bangladesh. I'm a Bangladeshi-American. The place was full of South Asian faces, and when I looked at the staffing levels here, I see in the addition of new hires zero Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. So I wanted to know first what is the current percentage of AAPI in the Mayor's Office and is there a reason why 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. there were zero people added who come from the AAPI background. And just as a point of reflection, when I was the Deputy Mayor, I was the first person in Jim Kenney's Administration to be a part of the cabinet ever, ever, an Asian American, when we are eight percent of the population in this city and percent 11 represented in the small business arena. So we bring a lot of value. So I want to know, since I left I don't believe there were any other cabinet-level appointees either by Jim or in this current Administration. I don't know for this current. I could be wrong, but I would love to see what your plans are, what is your current representation level now, and what will you be doing going forward?
Thank you, Councilmember. So we can and we will do better, and you can hold us accountable to that, as we are working with our 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as well as our CAO and OHR, looking at our hiring practices, our recruiting efforts. We'll be the first to tell you that we saw the numbers as well. It stood out to us as well. It stings. We can and we will do better.
And what is the path forward to better? What are you doing? Do you have pipelines into communities? I haven't -- nobody has come to me to ask are there people you could recommend, nothing. In fact, you know when this transition team was being put together, I had to ask why there was no AAPI representation. I had to personally ask and put the word in. So I'm just saying, this is -- constantly overlooking this community is not good thing if we are going to be an inclusive city, where we bring value to the economic arena here, and for us to have to do this every time, it is -- you 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. know, all people of color know how it is to be overlooked and made invisible. So I'm watching, and I need a plan from you to tell me what it is you're doing, which the AAPI community is very diverse. Do you know what the breakdown is, what connections do you have, what CDCs have you worked with? There's lots of them, and yet I see no 11 reflection of that. Thank you.
You're welcome. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Nicholas O'Rourke.
Thank you, Council President. I'm happy and share Mayor Parker's commitment to a clean and green city. It was probably one of the things I clapped the hardest and loudest for during the budget address. I hear and resonate with the focus on clean Philly, as we all should, 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. but I don't hear as much or not as much as I'd like around the green piece. I think someone else said that a little bit earlier as well. Can you speak to some of the key capital investments that help Philadelphia be prepared for climate disasters in the world? It's just something I was thinking about throughout the course of my own campaign and even in our own office, is the ways that we're developing and building out the City to be able to mitigate the mounting effects of the climate crisis on our infrastructure. Can you speak to some of that? DEPUTY
Thank you for that question, Councilman O'Rourke. I'm going to invite Liz Lankenau from the Office of Sustainability to come join us, but I appreciate you talking about environmental issues. You know, we know that Philly faces continued weather instability. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Every year it gets hotter, wetter, severe -- the storms get more severe and intense. The floodplains continue to erode. So, you know, the Office of Sustainability is doing the hard, tough work, not so sexy, every day, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help mitigate flooding.
Yes. Long term and short term, actually immediate term when it comes to Eastwick. Addressing urban heat islands with their tree canopy plan and making sure that we stay on track for the City to reach its carbon neutrality goals. I'll stop talking and hand it over to Liz, but this is an important effort that we need to keep our eye on. (Witness approached witness table.)
Hello. Thank 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. you for the question. Yeah. So first I just want to touch on the challenges of climate change. It really touches people, planet, and prosperity for all. We are in a situation now, we already see it, a hotter and wetter future. We are on target to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, which in Fahrenheit is about 35 degrees, by the end of the century. So that creates a whole host of issues related to health and safety, environmental degradation, poor air quality. Biodiversity is at risk. In terms of prosperity, there is workforce issues. People who work outside can't work as frequently outside. And then the repetitive losses to residents. So there's a whole host of issues. In terms of key capital investments that would help Philadelphia be prepared, we do have an efficiency fund that really focuses on our municipal efforts to make improvements to buildings, energy efficiency 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. improvements, resilience improvements, looking at building automation systems so that buildings run more efficiently. And then we have EV charger and solar upgrades that are part of that fund as well, LED lighting in City facilities. So a lot of our work is leading by example in terms of both our efficiency fund and our climate resilience fund. Members of our resilience team do sit in on the capital budget process to listen to what is planned by other departments so that we can advise. We do have an Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience Working Group that is new, and that is a cross-departmental effort to really listen to what departments are worried about in terms of climate change. As Ms. Harris mentioned, with Eastwick we are seeking to install an interim flood barrier to sort of do a proof of concept to understand how a temporary levee-like structure would 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. alleviate flooding. It's a little different than a permanent --
It's called a HESCO barrier. That's the proprietary name, but basically these are soil-filled components that would form a lower wall than a typical levee, but, yeah. So we are looking to get funding for that through grant funding as well as capital ask. And then through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Fund, with that we look to our partners in OEM who are leading the hazard mitigation plan. There's an update that's on the horizon. OEM convenes City departments to really look at various measures that are needed to plan for a hotter and wetter future. And so with that, they are focusing on resilient infrastructure, resilient households, mitigation planning, and match funding 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. for hazard mitigation grants with the CDBG funds. PWD is making a whole series of improvements with their infrastructure to help urban flooding. In terms of working with L&I and Planning, we're all making sure that we are complying with local and federal flood elevation standards so that you're building above base flood elevation.
I have still two more questions. I'm going to keep it tight.
We're in the third round. It's a lightning round. That's your best question, and we can call her back, because she got to come back anyway in front of us. That's where we're at right now, Mr. Member. So I'm going to move on to the next person, sir. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Isaiah Thomas. Lightning round, because we're getting ready to 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. wrap up for the day.
I'll lead by example, Council President. While I'm waiting for Rob to come back up so we can do our dance again, let me get a couple things on the record real quick of things that I'll be looking for throughout the course of our budget conversation, all rhetorical questions, things that we can discuss in the future. I'm curious to know why was Mural Arts' budget cut by a million dollars in your proposal, especially considering the focus on cleaner and greener Philadelphia and the great work that they do to beautify our City. Looking at the 10 million that we promised AAMP last year, the African American Museum, wondering if that capital dollars are going to get disbursed. Huge fan of the sports fund. I sent a memo over to the Mayor. The 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. sports fund is a phenomenal idea. We started something like that last year in last year's budget. Hoping to continue that work. I wanted to ask you a little bit about preparation for 2026 and revenue that we plan on spending and plans that we have for that, especially considering the lack of information around arts and culture. So we would love to see the marriage between arts and culture community and the plans for 2026. Vanessa, I'm a little concerned about the youth stipend situation. I'm thinking about the fact that some kids we know quit after some time. So what does that look like. So I look forward to that conversation, and of course information around what myself and Councilmember Landau discussed with carbon neutrality by 2050. My question to be answered, so the Five Year Plan, your Five Year Plan looks at an eight percent increase in 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. revenue from property tax reassessment, right? Two concerns there. Number one, I don't necessarily know if that's accurate because of the information that we know about our Center City buildings. So when we look at our reassessment process, the first thing is, will the numbers be accurate considering that all of these Center City buildings are going to lose their value because we're not doing anything to attract new businesses? And, again, please don't mention cleaner and greener and anything around crime. So that's the first thing. The other part of that question is, as we look at this reassessment process -- and I actually commend former -- well, current Council President Johnson and other District Councilmembers. One of the things that we seen was Black and brown neighborhoods suffered more than anybody, number one, looking at how their properties reassessed and how much they jumped in 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. value, but also -- and I was a part of the effort to do the best that we possibly could around public service announcements to inform people about LOOP and Homestead, but again for some reason, Black and brown communities did not take advantage of LOOP and Homestead like other communities did. So I'm wondering, right, how can you assure that there's going to be an eight percent increase in revenue from property when we know we're going to lose a bunch of money based on the value of Center City buildings? And I'm also wondering what equitable lens will you use and what marketing strategies will you use this time around as it relates to the reassessment of homes and the negative impact that that has had on Black and brown communities? Council President, if I can get a credible answer, this is my only question for this round that I want an answer to. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC.
Going to be your only one. I got to keep it fair, like I got the brother over there.
So on the first part of the question on property tax, so our property tax projection, that eight percent is just on the residential side. On the commercial side, we assume zero percent increase and we also assume a billion dollar loss in value from appeals. So we build in what you're talking about, which is that decline in building that on the non-residential side.
So your assessment, you've planned on the fact that most of our commercial buildings in Center City are going to lose their value, and in your Five Year Budget, you anticipated that and you reduced your real estate tax numbers based on the fact that we're going to lose revenue?
That we're going to 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. lose, yes, from appeals. That's right.
But at the same time, you anticipate business growth. Okay. I'm sorry, Council President. Go ahead.
So we also have extensive relief programs, and it may be in -- to preserve time, Revenue is going to be here tomorrow. They can talk through all those --
This is more of an assessment question. You're talking about the assessment of properties and making sure that they don't negatively impact Black and brown communities.
No. I'm 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. a big fan of LOOP and Homestead. We have better protections than any other major city in the entire country. What we don't do a good job of is making sure Black and brown communities who need them the most are able to opt in. What's the plan there?
So that's outreach -- on the relief side, that's outreach, which we'll talk about tomorrow. On the property assessment side, we will get you much more on that during the course of this process and before OPA comes to testify on the 16th.
Thank you. Thank you, Council President. We'll make sure we communicate our continued concern around revenue, because we definitely do not disagree. We think that there's some contradicting information as it relates to the conservative projections compared to the lack of action. So thank you. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Jeffery J. Young.
Thank you, Council President. Just one question. Can you tell us what's the difference between the Chief Legal Counsel and the City Solicitor and what the difference in their roles are?
Yes. So our Chief Legal Counsel differs from our City Solicitor and Law. So the Law Department provides advice to all City agencies. Our Chief Legal Counsel is dedicated exclusively to the Mayor's Office to coordinate with the efforts of Law as the Mayor implements her new policies.
You're welcome. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
Thank you. I have a few questions about capital projects. First, four years ago when I discovered that the affordable housing development that stood at the intersection of 40th and Market for over 40 years was going to be razed and sold to the highest bidder, my office and I took action. We instituted a zoning overlay to protect this site as well as other low-income housing developments in University City. The property owner then sued me and the City, and after thousands of hours and months of hard work under the leadership of now Solicitor Garcia, we won a historic settlement securing a $3.35 million tenant fund and a promise from the City to build 70-plus units of low-income housing at the site. The existing buildings were 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. demolished last week, and so now we must look to the future and make sure that the City's promise to the courts and to the community to build these 70 new units of housing in this area of opportunity is fulfilled. So the question is, is the funding needed to build permanently affordable housing on the University City Townhomes site included in this budget, and if so, how much? DEPUTY
Thank you for the question, Councilmember. It is not included in this budget, but I think we look forward to, as part of the budget process, taking a hard look at that.
Can you talk about whether this is a priority for the Administration, and if so, how are you approaching this conversation? DEPUTY
At this point, I'm not really prepared to talk about what type of priority it is for this Administration, but building housing 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. is certainly a priority of this Administration.
Okay. Moving on to the Zoo, our favorite topic. As America's first zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo has over 160 years of experience in conserving wildlife, caring for animals, and educating our communities. Recently appointing its first ever Black woman President and CEO, one of two in the nation, and sustaining a packed plate of year-round attractions, the Zoo is now gearing up for its accreditation evaluation in the coming year. The Zoo needs additional funding to update its exhibits and infrastructure to pass inspection, retain its accreditation and be ready to entertain what could be more guests than ever in 2026. In light of the immense value this institution holds for our city, will the Administration commit to giving the Zoo the full funding that it needs to 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. maintain its ability to serve as a key tourist attraction in Philadelphia?
So the Capital Program includes, I think, depending on the year, it's two or two and a half million dollars a year to help the Zoo reach those goals.
Okay. Are you aware of how the proposed allocation relates to what the Zoo needs to retain its accreditation?
I understand that they have requested more than that. I also understand that they also have other sources of funding, and I understand this will probably be a discussion that we have throughout this process.
Thank you very much. I look forward to continuing the conversation.
So I'm going to go back to a real quick one. I would defer to Councilmember O'Rourke real quick, a quick one. 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. It should be noted that members want like five rounds. So we're here to do our business before we wrap up.
Thank you for your graciousness, Council President. In brief, why are we cutting the Office of Sustainability budget by 28 percent? That's really kind of the crux of the question.
I'm sorry. Why are we cutting the Office of Sustainability budget by 28?
I thought that would be Clean and Green. It's the same, right?
I think that's another case where there were one-time funds put in in '24 that went away. I can get you more details on that.
Are 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. you good?
Well, I can ask one more. Does the admin intend to make free transit pilot programs permanent for City employees and low-income residents?
I think we're still evaluating that. It's a two-year pilot. '25 is the second year. So we will evaluate that during the course of the year.
Okay. With that being said, listen, because I know all of you in the capacity of just separate from our professional lives, but we've all known one another in some capacity, rather it's working, rather it's just in the capacity of us just moving the City of Philadelphia forward, and I just want to thank you and your team, the Administration, for coming obviously to Council and being on the hot 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. seat all throughout the day talking about how we can make this a safer, cleaner, greener city, with economic opportunity for everyone, right? And we share that sentiment. We share the spirit of that sentiment, and this process is about us just doing our due diligence and making sure we're fiscally responsible as the independent body when we come together and work towards approving a budget that's equitable for all the stakeholders here in the City of Philadelphia. But we do want to thank you. We want to thank the whole entire Administration team who has come out here today. We look forward to continuing robust conversation and dialogue as we work with other departments from this day forward. And so with that being said, the Chair recognizes Councilmember Isaiah Thomas for a motion that the public hearing and meeting on the bills and resolutions before the Committee today 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC. stand in recess until Wednesday -- oh, you're here? I was looking. I was looking.
Before we do the motion, I'm going to back up, because you were our last individual to say a few words. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Gilmore Richardson.
Yes. Thank you, Council President. In the interest of time and out of respect for all of our colleagues, I will submit the balance of my questions for written response. With that, I move that the Committee of the Whole stand adjourned -- or stand in recess until our hearings tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.) 3/26/24 - WHOLE - BILL 240179, ETC.
All those in favor will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the motion carries. - - - (Committee of the Whole adjourned at 5:05 p.m.) - - 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. 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.)