Councilwoman Tasco voting aye. 04/22/04 - STATED - 2ND READING Council President Verna.
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The final bill to be called for consideration is Bill No. 040271 THE
An ordinance amending Sections 9-205 and 0-206 of the Philadelphia Code relating to sidewalk sales and sidewalk vendors in neighborhood business districts by adding a designated neighborhood business district on Germantown Avenue between York Street and Butler Street and making technical changes, all under certain terms and conditions.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. That concludes our Calendar for today. Are there speeches on the part of the Minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the Majority? The Chair recognized Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam President. I basically have two announcements. I wanted to remind our at-large that today at 1:00 the joint Committees on Legislative Oversight and Public Safety will be examining the issues surrounding student pedestrian safety in and around our schools. I think it's a very important issue that's been widely publicized in the Daily News. We had another child, a high school student freshman hurt again just yesterday. So I urge members of the Committee to be prompt if we can. We have some experts coming from Phoenix and Florida and some other parts of the country that have stellar pedestrian programs and we would like to get started on time, if possible. Also, before I came to Council this morning, I received a phone call from a Councilman Mark Grimes from the City of Toronto. The Councilman is interested in wagering a bet on the outcome of the Toronto Maple Leaf/Philadelphia Flyers series. He told me that they had a similar bet with the on the City of Ottawa which Toronto beat in the last round. And the bet was that whoever loses the bet, those Councilmembers the next to wear the jersey of the Toronto Maple Leaves. He suggested that he send the Toronto jerseys directly from Ottawa now directly to Philadelphia because there was no way we could win, which I thought was quite clever. So we will call around to each Councilmember's office today to get their formal approval, but I suggest that it would be a good natured arrangement with the City of Toronto during this very important series to the Flyers. So we'll be calling around just to get your okay.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, first, I want to say I'd like to make my comments this morning with dignity.
Madam President, I had the occasion to call in to our own good from above, the Mornings with Mary Show yesterday and I read in the Philadelphia Inquirer comments from Mayor Street regarding the current financial situation in the City, the budget hearing the process, and the proposals for a variety of closures and service cuts. And it seems that we're experiencing, to some extent, the latest round of the political blame game here in Philadelphia. And that's a game that some people play when they cannot explain or justify their own actions and they try to find another politician or group of people to blame for their own problems. Now, I don't necessarily have time and I know many of my colleagues don't have time for these kinds of games, but if you want to play, then you should go to one of our rec centers -- well, before many of them close. Mayor Street has gone to the airwaves and print media in an attempt to blame this City Council for his action and proposals to close recreation centers, close swimming pools, decrease fire services. And is over, we may even hear about some puppies who will go without food. The Mayor blames this City Council for his actions because he claims that by our passage of the wage tax reduction bill in 2002 he must now make these drastic proposals and threaten the services. The Mayor says that he told us back at the time that the passage of this tax reduction bill would result in a variety of horrendous situations. It is almost like the captain of the Titanic now trying to lay claim that he at least told people that there was an iceberg but then did nothing about it. What's really interesting, if not bizarre, about this latest round of blaming with regard to the tax bill is that the Bill 020092 which was approved unanimously by this City Council, the Mayor chose not to veto the bill. As a matter of fact, he chose with great fanfare and excitement to sign the bill publicly -- I think it may have been our first public bill signing in many years -- out on 17th and JFK which is now the subject of a whole host of other discussions with regard to potential KOIZ. I think what we need to do is take a look at some of the recent comments about taxes and tax reform and tax reduction that the Mayor has made in recent times. Members will recall back on November 21, 2002, the Mayor came to talk to us about the state of the City and a variety of other matters. This is what he said on that day: "For Philadelphia to become more competitive and to create greater opportunities for residents and taxpayers, the local tax burden must be reduced. We will implement our current tax reduction program and create a new culture in this government that would allow us to accelerate those tax cuts even further. But it must be noted that the current tax reduction plan will reduce revenue over the next five years by an estimated $290 million. " Chamber, January 28, 2003, this is what the Mayor said: "The balanced Budget and Five-Year Plan presented to you today retains the fiscal integrity that has been the hallmark of this Administration under the leadership of Janice Davis and Rob Dubow. They also incorporate the tax reduction program we agreed to last spring. Since 1989 when I led the fight to stop proposed devastating increases in the wage tax and throughout the 1990s when I provided leadership in City Council to pass annual budgets that included tax reductions, I have been regarded consistently as a fiscal conservative. Nothing about me has changed in this regard. By the end of the proposed Five-Year Plan, this Administration with Council support will have reduced the overall tax burden on citizens and businesses by approximately $470 million. The disincentives built into our tax structure are obvious.
It is my hope and expectation that the recently constituted tax commission will seriously pursue its mandate to make responsible could lead to further tax reduction. Also, any significant rebound by the economy shall allow us to pass accelerating tax reduction efforts as the storm clouds of this recession pass. " March 18, 2004: "We will secure our future by turning our attention to job creation, waterfront development, and tax reform. As we work to perfect our vision of a world class 21st Century Philadelphia, we must diminish the negative influences our overall tax burden has on families and businesses. We must become more economically competitive. " I point out to my colleagues that given the bill that we passed in 2002, from my least, that will result technically in a tax increase. "These initiatives will make our tax structure fairer and friendlier to residents taxpayers, employers and employees alike. " Let's take a quick look at the numbers and talk about fiscal facts. The FY 2000 fund balance, which was June 30, 2000 was $295 million surplus that was left at the end of the last budget that Ed Rendell introduced, first six months of this current Administration. Today, the Administration tells us that we have $227 million deficit. A $295 million surplus to a $227 million deficit in five years. Yesterday, at the end of the budget hearings, I asked the Budget Director a few questions. I asked him would the Administration propose to stop the wage tax cuts that we approved because of the deficit or the proposals to close rec centers and proposals. " When I asked the Budget Director if the Administration had sent this Council a budget bill that stop the wage tax cuts because of the deficit or the proposed closures to rec centers and pools. " The Budget Director went on to explain that the reason he said no is because the Administration believes that the tax reductions are good for the City, good for our economy, and make the City more competitive. The Recreation Commissioner came over and said that the proposals he put forward to us, they refer to as right-sizing. I would suggest that they are right-stupid. But lastly, if any Member of the Council feels that we did something wrong in passing Bill 020092 back in 2002 which set up the first time a five-year guaranteed reduction in our wage tax and business taxes, then I would certainly expect that, as is their right, any member can introduce a bill wage tax cuts that are supposed to start or continue on July 1, 2004. The Mayor cannot have it both ways. You cannot tell the public that you are a tax cutter, that you believe in tax reform, and at the same time in a different forum under different circumstances then complain about the result of that program. We did it together. We should defend it together. It is good for the City, it is good for our economy. It will help this City grow. And we have tough times ahead. I recognize that. We have a tough job to do. But I think we need to get out of the blame game strategy and talk about what's really going on in this City and in this City Council. Lastly, the comments with regard to that the Administration personnel should be able to come to this City Council with dignity and leave with dignity, I could not agree more. But I would also suggest that while they are bringing their dignity with them, it would be helpful if they would bring a few plans, if they would bring some information, if they would bring some answers to the questions that Councilmembers are asking. And I am not the only Member asking questions and I am not the only Member frustrated with the answers. So I believe in as much dignity as possible.
We can have an engaging and spirited public policy debate, but I think it's really helpful that if you have an idea that it be well thought out, that you be able to answer the questions, and then all of us will be able to conduct ourselves with the dignity that this Chamber deserves. Lastly, Madam President, with regard to information, we were told back on April 13, 2004, in the course of our budget hearing process that the much-talked-about and long-awaited business utilization study often referred to as the disparity study was delivered to the building back on April 13th. We were then told on April 14, the next day, by Michael Williams, the new head of the MBEC that the disparity study was, in fact, in the building and in the process of being I'm sure many of us were somewhat surprised that two of our local newspapers seem to have better access to the information than the Members of City Council who have asked for this material for some time as we read newspaper stories just this past Sunday. To the best of my knowledge, the report has still at least not been released to City Council, but I guess the best thing for us to do is to continue to read the newspapers. These are very serious issues and these are very serious matters, and I believe that the Members of the City Council take their responsibilities very seriously. If we're going to be serious, then let's just do our jobs and cut off the back and forth. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ramos.
Thank you, Madam President. I was going to give a speech but another day. It was about taxes as well. I respect the opinion of Councilman and colleague Michael Nutter. I just want you to remember that there's a reception in the Caucus Room in honor of Cesar Chavez and you are all invited.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I'm somewhat reluctant to make a couple of statements. I anticipated doing it at a later date. One, because I don't want it to be construed as me inserting myself into a process -- and I don't know the term that I should use -- potential discord between Councilman Nutter and the Mayor. I just want to say for the record, with respect to what we did during our revenue reduction programs, two of the bills that we did last year, there was substantial discussion internally and I believe from the Administration as to potential impact on the City's budget and services, not to the level that we've seen during the budget proposals. But for the record, I personally had a number of briefings that talked about the potential cuts that would happen if we continued our tax reduction programs. And I, frankly speaking, voiced concern at just about all of the public hearings, sometimes being the only one and some of the questioning of the tax cut proponents. So I want for the record again to indicate that there was substantial discussion about this issue. I was then and remain extremely concerned about the impact. I agree with Councilman Nutter in that we're all in this together because the bill did pass unanimously and the Mayor did sign this and we need to get out of this together. But there is, in my estimation, going to have to be some tough decisions. And I'm a little concerned about the tone of the budget process, given the tough decisions that we have to make. And I think that we need to set a tone that, frankly speaking, there are going to have be some cuts in a number of different areas. be some reallocation of resources. I know some Members think that some priorities are not necessarily their priorities, and I understand and respect that. But the reality is that it is going to be -there are some cuts. There are going to have to be some tough decisions. The reality is, this budget deficit is quickly approaching $300 million based on some of the things that we're talking about during the course of this budget process. So for the record, we have had a substantial amount of discussions. Not to speak on behalf of the Mayor, although I know a lot of people think I do that from time to time, but I am an independently elected official by the citizens of the 5th Councilmanic District. The Mayor did, in fact, come before this body prior to the passage of one of the tax reduction bills and did ask us to reconsider that vote. We did move ahead and vote it, and we have to deal with our decisions that we make. So I hope that we can all sit down and reasonably and conclusions that will hopefully move this City forward. But we have to put the information where it is. I mean, we knew this was coming and we're going to have to deal with it. We've been elected by the people of Philadelphia to come up with some solution, and I hope we work together and get that. Thank you, Madam President
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. I want to thank Councilman Nutter for clarifying the record in terms of where the Mayor was in terms of support for the tax reduction. And I want to further clarify the record by saying that when we were given a budget briefing and told about what was then a $225 million deficit for next year, the reasons stated were because of flat revenue growth and because of how the pension system had to be retooled because of losses in the stock market. both of those issues, essentially, flat revenue growth, in my estimation, is not just a result of national economic recession or national economic times. Flat revenue growth is also a result of the fact that this Administration is just turning its attention to economic development. This Administration has not had a comprehensive economic development strategy and essentially has no plan for business and job growth. And so that's the reason for flat revenue growth. Secondly, in terms of the pension system, the money that was lost in the stock market, I asked questions within consideration of this Five-Year Plan of how we were comparing to other cities in terms of our pension system investments. Everyone is losing money or has lost money the stock market. In response to those questions, I have received information regarding our pension system investments, and most of those funds and most of our investments are performing below average. So the Administration has to take flat revenue growth. It has to take its own responsibility for what it has or has not done in terms of pension system investment. And those were the two reasons given for this $225 million deficit. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. Are there any other speeches? (No response.)
Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, April 29, 2004. (Duly seconded.)
The ayes stand adjourned until Thursday, April 29th. Thank you very much. (Council adjourned at 11:50 a.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, April 22, 2004, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: STATED MEETING _________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR