The Chair thanks the gentleman. The clerk will please read the report.
To the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia: The Committee on Licenses and Inspections, to which was referred: Bill No. 020310, an ordinance amending Title 4 of the Philadelphia Code by adding provisions regulating the maintenance and inspection of piers and other waterfront structures; And Bill No. 020313, an ordinance amending Title 4 of the Philadelphia Code by requiring that special certificates of inspection must be issued in connection with structures and Use Group B, the educational use group, on an annual basis Respectfully reports it has considered the same and returns the attached bills to Council with a favorable recommendation. 6/6/02 STATED - COMMITTEE REPORTS
Thank you, Madam President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bills No. 020310 and Bill No. 020313. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No.'s 020310 and 020313. All in favor will say aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and the bills just read will be placed on today's first-reading calendar. That concludes the committee reports. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
Our next order of business is the consideration of the calendar, and the clerk please read bills on the first-reading calendar.
Bill No. 020253, an ordinance approving the redevelopment proposal of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment of the Ontario Urban Renewal Area.
And Bill No. 020274, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations on certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Morris Street and Vare Avenue.
And Bill No. 020279, an ordinance approving redevelopment proposal of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment of the American Street Industrial Corridor Urban Renewal Area.
The Chair 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR agrees.
And Bill No. 020282, an ordinance approving the redevelopment proposal of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment of a portion of the West Parkside Lancaster Redevelopment Area.
And Bill No. 020283, an ordinance amending Title 14 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by amending Chapter 14-200.
And Bill No. 020284, an ordinance approved December 24, 1959, as amended, which approved the redevelopment proposal for the redevelopment of the East Poplar Urban Renewal Area.
And Bill No. 020315, an ordinance amending an ordinance approved December 14, 1971, as amended, which approved the 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR redevelopment proposal for the redevelopment of the South Central Urban Renewal Area.
And Bill No. 020317, an ordinance amending an ordinance approved December 15, 1969, as amended, which approved the redevelopment proposal for the redevelopment of the Model Cities Urban Renewal area.
And Bill No. 020345, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within the area bounded by Frankford Avenue, Leon Street, and Grant Avenue.
And Bill No. 020346, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Linden Avenue and the Delaware River.
The Chair 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR agrees.
And Bill No. 020075, an ordinance approving the Fiscal Year 2002 Capital Budget, providing for the expenditures for the capital purposes of the Philadelphia Gas Works.
And Bill No. 020275, an ordinance authorizing the Mayor, on behalf of the City, to file an application with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for a Community Development Block Grant.
And Bill No. 020338, an ordinance authorizing the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development to file an application with the Office of the Budget in an aggregate amount not to exceed $40,500,000.
And Bill No. 020340, an ordinance declaring that it is desirable for the health, safety, and welfare of the people in the 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR area served by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to participate in projects located at 34th and Civic Center Boulevard.
And Bill No. 020348, an ordinance amending and restating the ordinance approved July 12, 1968, as amended, effective January 1, 1999, relating to the pension benefits for employees working on behalf of the Philadelphia Gas Works.
And Bill No. 020355, an ordinance dissolving the St. James Court Tax Increment Financing District.
And Bill No. 020361, an ordinance declaring that it is desirable for the health, safety, and welfare of the people in the area served by the Temple University Hospital in the vicinity of 3401 North Broad Street for the Hospitals Higher Education Facilities Authority. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
And Bill No. 020312, an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development a deed located in the vicinity of 19th and Allegheny Avenue.
And Bill No. 020316, an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property, on behalf of the City, to enter into a further amendment to a lease between the City and the Far Northeast Senior Citizens.
And Bill No. 020347, an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development deeds located in the vicinity of American Street and Montgomery Avenue.
I'm sorry. What was the bill number of that? 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
And Bill No. 020380, an ordinance authorizing the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development to convey fee simple title to a certain property located in the vicinity of 52nd and Jefferson Street.
And Bill No. 020381, an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to acquire by purchase, condemnation, or other means that certain parcel of land commonly known as 4815 Schmeck Street and 200 Fountain Street.
And Bill No. 020383, an ordinance authorizing PECO Energy to construct, own, and maintain seven concrete planters on the north footway of Market Street.
The Chair agrees. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
And Bill No. 020384, an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property and the Fairmount Park Commission, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development a deed located in the vicinity of 21st and 22nd and Hamilton Street.
And Bill No. 020049, an ordinance amending an ordinance approved January 3, 1992 by deleting all permitted vending locations on both sides of Eighth and Ninth Street between Arch and Market Streets.
And Bill No. 020167, an ordinance authorizing 801 Market Street Holdings, owners of the property 801 Market Street, to construct two private pedestrian light posts with underground appurtenances.
And Bill No. 020168, an 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR ordinance authorizing 801 Market Street Holdings, owner of the properties 801 Market Street, to construct four concrete planters, all under certain terms and conditions.
And Bill No. 020254, an ordinance revising the parking regulation on Norman Lane from Germantown Avenue to Crefield Street.
And Bill No. 020257, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 308 by relocating the northerly curbline of St. James Street.
And Bill No. 020259, an ordinance authorizing Liberty Property, a Philadelphia limited partnership, to construct two aluminum flag poles and four in-ground flood light fixtures.
Thank you. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR The Chair agrees.
And Bill No. 020277, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 290.
And Bill No. 020339, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of 24 and 25-S within an area bounded by New Hope Street, 29th Street, Tasker Street, and Vare Avenue.
And Bill No. 020341, an ordinance authorizing the paving of Douglas Street, Natrona Street, 32nd Street, and 31st Street.
And Bill No. 020342, an ordinance authorizing Drexel University to construct and maintain within an area bounded by 32nd Street as it extends north on Market Street to construct, use, and maintain a conduit trench for water service and electrical service. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
And Bill No. 020349, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 242.
And Bill No. 020350, an ordinance amending Section 2 of an ordinance approved August 31, 2001, an ordinance authorizing the vacating of River Road.
And Bill No. 020351, an ordinance authorizing Brinker International, doing business as Maggiano's, a tenant of the property 1201-1239 Filbert Street, to constructs and maintain various encroachments on Filbert Street.
And Bill No. 020352, an ordinance granting permission to Pigalle Restaurant, located at 702-704 North Second Street, to operate and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
And Bill No. 020353, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 328.
And Bill No. 020354, an ordinance authorizing Holy Name of Jesus Parish, owner of the property 700-712 East Gaul Street, to construct, own, and maintain a retaining wall over the south footway East Gaul Street.
And Bill No. 020356, an ordinance granting permission to Payal News, owner of the newsstand at the northwest corner of 11th and Market Street, to construct, use, and maintain an electrical conduit.
And Bill No. 020357, an ordinance authorizing the installation of stop signs on Krewstown Road. 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR
And Bill No. 020358, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 319.
And Bill No. 020359, an ordinance authorizing the Center City District to construct, own, and maintain 97 pedestrian streetlight poles and luminaries along Market Street, between 15th Street and the Schuylkill River.
And Bill No. 020360, an ordinance granting permission to Redhouse Bagels and Deli, owner of the property 2501 Olive Street, to operate and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe.
And Bill No. 020362, an ordinance granting permission to 18th & Walnut News, owner of the newsstand at the northeast 6/6/02 STATED - FIRST-READING CALENDAR corner of 18th Street and Walnut Street, to construct, use, and maintain an electrical conduit.
And Bill No. 020310, an ordinance amending Title 4 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Interior Structures," by adding provisions regulating the maintenance and inspection of piers and other waterfront structures, under certain terms and conditions.
And Bill No. 020313, an ordinance amending Title 4 of the Philadelphia Code by requiring that special certificates of inspection be issued in connection with Use Group B, under certain terms and conditions.
The Chair agrees. That concludes our calendar for today. 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES
Are there speeches on the part of my North? (No speeches on the part of the minority.)
Are there speeches on the part of the Majority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. I'd just like to thank you again and all of my colleagues for their support on the predatory-lending bill and to say that the award that we received from Good Housekeeping Magazine and the Center for Women in Politics in New Jersey I have to share with all of you, I have to share it with my friend Mary Mason, who was very vocal and very helpful with us, to let the public know what was going on, as well as Paul Davis from the Daily News for his housing debt series. So we did get a prize, and I donated the prize to Bennett College, as you know, my favorite institution.
Thank you 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES again. (Applause.)
Thank you, Madam President. For those who were concerned about one item on the agenda that occurred, I've been told that the question of removing something from the table is a subject matter that can come up each week, so I just have to ask you on that issue for all of my colleagues and the public to just wait. I'm not sure what will happen next week; I was not sure last week what would happen today. And today I wasn't sure what was going to happen today. So it's an interesting story, but I think we're making progress. But I do want to point out one thing about the schools, where I'm also deeply concerned. It's very interesting that the main finance house for Edison Schools happens to be a Merrill Lynch stock brokerage firm, the oldest and most revered stock brokerage firm in the nation. When we expressed a lack of confidence 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES in Edison, it may have something to do with the fact that when we read the financial reports, it looked like Edison was a big company; they had revenues in excess of $400 million the last time I saw an annual report, and I had to say to myself, Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they are doing something right. And then suddenly, we learned about an SEC investigation of Edison because it turned out that this revenue was the kind of revenue that isn't money. For example, when Edison would go and manage a small school system in a state, they would list as their revenue all of the teachers' salaries, which never had even gone into the company's pocketbook in the first place; and if it had gone in, it would immediately go out as teachers' salary. They listed it as revenue of the company. So while they admitted they had never made any money and they were always losing money, they looked like a very successful company, with monies coming in of, say, a half a billion dollars a year, but it wasn't genuine money. That's what the SEC investigated and discovered and compelled 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES Edison to change its method of bookkeeping. They sort of said, Well, you're new and you don't know much. But the idea must have come to Edison from its financial advisor, Merrill Lynch, which also got investigated just about the same time by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The result of that investigation was that Merrill Lynch -- and that's the company, you know, you read about this morning that's making another $40 million available to Edison. It said that Merrill Lynch also used such tricky financing that they were fined -- hold your seat -$100 million. Imagine being fined $100 million for deceptive practices. And they were ordered to change those accounting practices. Now, one would think that when you get fined that heavily, no matter how big you are, it's got to hurt; and when it hurts, maybe it makes you think, and then you change your mind. Well, you know what happened? Edison then goes ahead -- not Edison, I'm sorry, not Edison. Merrill Lynch goes ahead with the changes they had to make as a result of being fined by the SEC to come up with a more honest financial 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES approach, and they put in a full-page advertisement -- you could have heard it in the Philadelphia Inquirer -- a long page in which they said they announced to the world that Merrill Lynch, in the interest of improving the accounting practices of the whole industry, was unveiling a whole new approach. Never once did they say, We're doing this because we were fined $100 million, we had to change as a result of that action against us, so these are the changes we're making. They said this was there idea. They never mentioned the fine, never mentioned the investigation or said, We'll decide on our own to come forth with this change. It's the same kind of deception and lying that they had been found guilty of before. Edison and Merrill Lynch seem to be made for one another, like the ad about New Jersey's good for lovers.
Well, Merrill Lynch was apparently good for Edison because they both were cheating and they both seem to be cheating today. That's the kind of reason that concerns parents of kids and kids in Philadelphia. How can we trust our kids' education to people who gamble 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES on the stock market. You know, it's true Edison never made a penny as a corporation, but when the owner of the Edison Company met with City Council in the caucus room and I questioned him about a report that he had made $100 million in stock sales, I asked him to confirm it or deny it or explain it, and he just said, Well, your figures may be a little off, but he never denied it. Well, you know what's interesting? In return for his $40 million of credit that Merrill Lynch is now making available to Edison on top of previous help they had given him, they have gotten the right to buy Edison stock at $1 a share. 50. A couple days ago, it was below $1. But if that stock goes up, who's going to reap the profits? If they make the profits, iff Edison makes profits out of Philadelphia's system, it's going to be the stock brokers, and I don't think it's right that our kids be used as an 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES instrument by which stock brokerage houses or companies like Edison can gamble for stock profits when they're dealing with the education of our children. That's why we're so concerned, and we're working so hard to win back the right of all Philadelphians to control the destiny of their kids' education. Thank you very much. )
I'm out of breath. I just want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, in particular Councilmen Cohen and Kenney, for working with me on Bill 659, the municipal trash collection bill, and I thank all of my colleagues for supporting the bill in the end. I want to thank the Condo Association representatives who worked with us, and in particular Streets Commissioner Johnson for the fine survey and report that he submitted to the Administration. I hope over the next few weeks, the Administration can come to terms with this bill 6/6/02 STATED - SPEECHES and provide the tax abatements or tax credits or rebates to those Condo Association. These are homeowners like the rest of us, and I believe they're entitled to the same level of service. I also would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our colleague Councilwoman Tasco on receiving the Good Housekeeping Award. The only thing disappointment I had is that you gave the money away; I thought you would be taking us all to dinner at the end of the session next week. (Laughter.)
Are there any other speeches on the part of the Majority? (No further speeches on the part of the Majority.)
Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco for a motion to adjourn.
Madam President, I 6/6/02 STATED - ADJOURNMENT move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, June 13, 2002. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that City Council stand adjourned until Thursday, June 13, 2002, at 10 a.m. All in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and Council is adjourned. Thank you all very much. (Council proceedings end at 12:59 p.m.) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, June 6 2002, are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. RE: STATED MEETING ______________________________, Josephine Cardillo Registered Professional Reporter and 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.)