Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes.
Are there any speeches on the part of the Minority? (No speeches on the part of my Minority.)
Are there any speeches on the part of the Majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Madam Chair, today, SECOND READING - BILL 000263 earlier this morning, Tito Puente, one of the icons of Latin music passed away. Just a few months ago at the University of Pennsylvania, he gave a concert, and the University of Pennsylvania honored him at that time. He is one of the geniuses of music, a person that created what today we see as this Latin mania that is going on all over the world in terms of music, and today we lost the father of that in Tito Puente. So I ask my colleagues if we could give him a moment of silence by standing up to give him honor.
Everyone will please stand for a moment of silence. (Councilmembers stand in honor of Tito Puente.)
Thank you, Councilman Ortiz. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Thank you, Madam President. I was very pleased to hear the rumors SPEECHES yesterday and the confirmation by this morning that we are not immediately confronting a school closing -- apparently not in the next year. But I did -- so I congratulate Mayor Street on that accomplishment. But I do admit to having some concerns about the cutback in adult education. I think it's extremely important that just the reverse happen, that the City and School District's efforts on behalf of adult education or increased, and certainly not decreased. I'm also concerned, but I must admit I don't know too much about the substance of professional development for educators. It sounds very good, and I hate to see something sounding so good and maybe important be cut from the budget of the School District. I'm also concerned about the reports of the fact that the Mayor has pledged $20 million to the School District -- not that I don't support additional funding; I support probably much more funding than either the Governor or maybe the Mayor or maybe most members of City Council would like. SPEECHES But I think we have a process, and I don't recollect any amendment to the Home Rule Charter that authorizes contributions from the City money without some process including the City Council, and the only action so far of City Council with respect to that $20 million pledge is been to raise questions. So I'm just hoping that we don't have amendments to the Home Rule Charter by default. I think we have a process. As far as I know, any such contribution of whatever amount would have to go through a procedure of some kind of a transfer ordinance. If it was sought for out of this year's budget, it would have to occur pretty soon, there would have to be a bill introduced so we can have public hearings and find out where the money's coming from, a question that's been raised before. So I'm just hoping that we have not adopted a new method of amendment to the Home Rule Charter by fiat. Just as the hearing's beginning today at 2 o'clock on the Home Rule Charter amendments proposed on campaign finance reform, I think we have to take very seriously budgetary matters. SPEECHES Perhaps at the State government, they have other techniques for achieving -- for solving financial matters, but all I know is that in the City, we go through an appropriate budgetary process, and I'm certainly hoping we're going to be doing the same thing. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Councilman. I think we all have the same concerns, and I just want to remind my colleagues that there will be a briefing at 12:30, and perhaps at that time, we can be given certainly much more information than what we have read in the papers. And I would also like to remind my colleagues that on Monday, there will be a public hearing on the Committee of Fiscal Stability, and of course, every Councilmember is welcome to be there, so that we could get some of the answers that we're all looking for as far as the school findings. Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam SPEECHES Chair. In line with the comments expressed by Councilman Cohen, I would certainly like to express my concern about some of the announced proposed or possible cuts with regard to the School District. I first recognize that given their financial situation, some cuts will be necessary. The question then becomes, what are those cuts and what are the impact of those particular cuts? The one area that the Councilman didn't mention was, I saw on television last night discussion that one of the proposed areas was comprehensive day care. I could -- of the many things that could possibly be cut at the School District, it would seem to me virtually unconscionable to have a discussion about cutting day care in our schools, given the need of those services, not only by the parents who have an opportunity to send their children to day care, but the recognized benefit that children get from participating in day care programs to prepare them to be good young people and grow up and be good citizens here in our city. SPEECHES Along with that, Councilwoman Blackwell informs me that during the course of our session, some young people are here in the chambers from the John Barry School, which is a school in my district, and I'd like to recognize those young people at this time.
Please do. Would you please stand. (Students stand.) (Applause.)
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Just very briefly, I concur with what Councilman Nutter added, and there may be other matters that we're concerned and once we find out what they are. But haven't we, Madam President, approved a school budget?
Well, doesn't the new budget have to come before us somehow? It's been changed, it's not the school budget that we approved. And I would urge that we look into that matter so that we can have hearings on the matter of the cuts as well as on the matter of any additional appropriations that may be requested from the City Council.
Thank you, Madam President. With regard to Councilman Cohen's question, and I'm sure this issue will come up on Monday, but the fact of the matter is that there is a perception that City Council approves the budget of the School District, while we know in our direct capacities that City Council does not approve the budget of the School District; the Board of Education approves the budget of the School District. We reauthorize every year the SPEECHES taxes that the City puts forward in terms of revenues to the School District. We have not one ounce of legal authority to change a decimal point, a dollar, or a nickel of the School District budget, and the only power and authority we potentially have is to either push them, encourage them, suggest to them what should go on over at the School District. And that is the issue that would have to be addressed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the legislature to give City Council the authority over the School District's budget, similar to the authority and oversight that we have for the City's budget. And that perception has gone on for so long gone and has been carried on for so long that people actually think that we approve their budget. We actually have virtually no participation in their budget, although they come here to seek our approval for the tax revenues. And we have -- as the Councilman points out, we have reauthorized the taxes to support that budget, and this year, just for the record, we had no budget documents from the School SPEECHES District when they were here back in March. Their information technology system apparently did not allow them to have the usual big binders for us detailing what their proposed budget was going to be. They came subsequent to the hearings on the tax reauthorization, and now we are finding out what their proposals are for this school year going forward and now we hear about these additional cuts. So I think that Monday's hearing will be quite critical to getting information now that, in theory, we should have had access to back in March. Thank you, Madam President.
I totally concur with everything you've said, Councilman Nutter. Councilman Cohen?
I concur again with Councilman Nutter on that, but I think there's an obligation on the part of the School District to come to us with some documents to support the tax authorization we presented to them. And I should not have omitted SPEECHES congratulating Governor Ridge. He has furnished the City with -- the School District with $69 million without spending a penny of the huge State surplus. (Laughter.)
And that kind of fiscal legerdemain is great. I wish we could do that at the City level. The 59 million comes from money that none of us knew was apparently in the School District budget money that was going to be paid by the City to the State. We were fighting to get money from the State to the School District; instead, apparently, this budget that we never got to see, because it was never presented to us, carries $59 million going to the State from the School District. Had we seen that, we would have all had that simple answer: let's not pay the State 59 million. The 10 million is apparently taken away from the banks who otherwise would have gotten interest on loans to the School District, 'cause the State's going to furnish us the same money they're obligated to pay us already, but they're SPEECHES just going to send it to us in advance. So it's quite a trick they can do at the State level that's not open to us at the City level. But, again, congratulations to the governor. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Madam Chair, thank you. I concur with my colleagues. What we have to remember is what we have is a stopgap measure and not the solutions to the problem. And as my colleague Councilman Nutter stated, although we do not have a direct responsibility over the school budget, it seems that increasingly, the General Fund of this City that we approve and we have monitoring power over and appropriating over is being called to add monies to the school budget, but as outright grants. We already have a $15 million grant that has become institutionalized, that we put in every year. It's a grant that we don't know how it is spent, where it goes, what happens to it once it leaves the General Fund. And now we're being asked to approve a $20 million grant that will become SPEECHES institutionalized. So from the General Fund every year, this Council will be asked to approve $35 million and not be given any details as to how that money is going to be spent and where it's going to go. I wrote a letter to David Hornbeck this week in which I asked for answers to several questions. I would hope that before he comes before us, those answers are mailed to us so that we can have at least some sense of where it is that this budget is going and how they plan to not stopgap measures in terms of the budget, but what plans do they have to really resolve the issue of funding long-term for the children of the School District of Philadelphia.
Thank you, Councilman. Are there any other speeches? (No further speeches.)
Before we adjourn, I heard yesterday that one of our colleagues is celebrating a birthday, or celebrated a birthday yesterday, and I think remiss if did not all join in wishing her a very ADJOURNMENT happy, healthy birthday and much success, Joan. Would you all join me in wishing join Krajewski a very happy birthday. (Applause.) (Members and audience sing "Happy Birthday" to Councilwoman Krajewski.)
I want to thank all of you very much. I want you to know that I called up Stu Bykovsky and I want a retraction. It should have been 36.
He does that all the time, Joan, so don't hesitate to do that. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco for a motion to adjourn.
I move that the Council be adjourned until Thursday, June 8th, year 2000, at 10 a.m.
All in favor of the motion to adjourn until June 8, 2000 will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? ADJOURNMENT The ayes have it, and Council will stand in adjournment until Thursday, June 8, 2000, 10 o'clock. Thank you. (Adjourned at 11:40 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, June 1, 2000, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: STATED MEETING __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter