COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA STATED MEETING Thursday, October 7, 1999 10:15 a.m. Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN AUGUSTA A. CLARK COUNCILMAN DARRYL CLARKE COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ COUNCILMAN FRANK DICICCO COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILMAN W. THACHER LONGSTRETH COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 OPENING/INVOCATION P R O C E E D I N G S
I note that the hour has come and that a quorum of this Council is present. The Council will come to order, Members will take their seats, visitors will retire to the seats outside the rails. To give our invocation this morning, the Chair welcomes Reverend Joseph Aikens, who is Pastor of the Upper Room Baptist Church. He is here today as the guest of Councilwoman Tasco. Members and guests will please rise.
Let us pray. Our Father and our God, the giver of all good and perfect gifts, we come at this hour to say thank-you for allowing us the privilege to be in these positions to help bring peace and understanding to our community. We thank You, O, God, for the wisdom of the minds of these persons who have been placed in these strategic positions to help make the decisions for our people. And in times like these, we need people with level heads and minds that will lift us to another level. We thank You for those that You have chosen. OPENING/INVOCATION And then, O, God, give us the power to understand that all of us cannot lead. If there is no followship, there can be no leadership. We pray that You strengthen and direct and give us understanding that we will be able to do the kinds of things that will be pleasing in Your sight. Remember these Council leaders, and as they make decisions for our people, let us understand, too, that You have placed them in position to share with us. And now unto Him, who was able to keep us from falling and present us to himself in all lives, God, be power and dominion over us all, now, hence, and forever more. Amen. ALL: Amen.
The Chair thanks Reverend Aikens for his inspiring invocation. Council will be at ease. (Council stands at ease.) (Proceedings resume.) JOURNAL APPROVAL/LEAVES OF ABS.
The next order of business is the approval of the Journal of the meeting of September 30, 1999. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Madam President, I move that the Journal of that date be approved. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, September 30th, stand approved. All in favor will vote aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it, and the Journal of Thursday, September 30, 1999, stands approved.
The next order of business is leaves of absence. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Madam President, there are no moves for leaves of absence on the part of the Majority.
The Chair VISITOR RECOGNITION/PRESENTATION thanks the Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
The Chair will dispense with the regular order of business to recognize the guests and visitors who are joining us in chambers this morning. On behalf of all Members of City Council, I welcome you to our City Council session this morning. We appreciate your taking the time to join us as we attend to the legislative affairs of our city. We invite you to come again.
This morning Council is recognizing the Police Athletic League Girls Basketball Team. I invite Councilwoman Tasco to come and make this presentation. Will Lieutenant Jacqueline Daley and those accompanying her please come forward. (Councilwoman Tasco and honorees come VISITOR RECOGNITION/PRESENTATION forward.)
Good morning. It gives me pleasure this morning to present this City Council resolution congratulating and commending the Philadelphia Police Athletic League's Girls Basketball Team gold medal victory. Whereas, an all-star team composed of the ten most outstanding girls basketball players from five Philadelphia Police Athletic League centers -- namely, Cozen, Logan, Paley, Rizzo, and West Oak Lane -- represented Philadelphia police athletic leagues at the National Basketball Tournament in Fort Meyers Florida in April; and Whereas, Kanoa Desus and Joely Edwards, Rose Elle, Tamika Felder, Antoinine Foulard, Brigitte McCulligan, Sasha Roberts, Shanelle Ross, Samara Speaks, and Ebony Twigs, under the stellar coaching and guidance of Officer Steve Brennan, Eric Aaron, and Sharon Wells, participated with over 1200 young people and 80 teams in a heated week of competition; and Whereas, the Philadelphia Police Athletic League Basketball Team won six consecutive games against PAL teams from New York, VISITOR RECOGNITION/PRESENTATION New Jersey, Florida, and the District of Columbia, leading up to the championship game; and Whereas, in a first-time win for the Philadelphia Police Athletic Team of girls, 16 years of age and under, the Philadelphia PAL All-Stars defeated the Jacksonville PAL team in a dazzling victory, with a score of 89 to 70; and Whereas, with 27 points and 10 assists, Shanelle Ross was named the most valuable player, Tamika Felder scored 20 points, and Rose Elle had 12 rebounds that guaranteed the Philadelphia PAL the gold medal; Now, therefore, resolved that the Council of the City of Philadelphia congratulate and commend the Philadelphia Police Athletic League Girls Basketball Team on winning the PAL gold medal at the national tournament; Further, that an engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Lieutenant Jacqueline Daley, commanding officer of the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia for the outstanding performance of the team and for the many volunteers who contribute to recreation programs and projects of the Philadelphia Athletic League VISITOR RECOGNITION/PRESENTATION for the City's youth as an expression of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body. This certification is a true and correct copy of the original privileged resolution adopted by the Council of the City of Philadelphia on the 3rd of June, 1999. It is signed by President Anna C. Verna and supported by all Members of City Council and introduced by Councilwoman Tasco. We really congratulate you and want to say thank you so much for your hard work. Congratulations. (Applause.)
The Chair recognizes Lieutenant Daley for remarks. LIEUTENANT DALEY: Thank you, Madam President. It is indeed a pleasure to stand before you as the commanding officer of the Police Athletic League and acknowledge the outstanding job done by these tremendous young women that you see lined up behind me -- not only the young woman, but they could not do it if I did not have the incredible dedication of the three officers, VISITOR RECOGNITION/PRESENTATION Eric Aaron and Steve Brennan and Sharon Wells, who exemplify the mission of PAL. PAL is cops helping kids and giving them positive alternatives. They all do it day in and day out, and it is my esteemed pleasure to have three fine officers and seven of the ten young women in such a positive way. With all the negative things, unfortunately, that we see, it works, we're working. And thank you for your continued support. (Applause.)
Council will be at ease. (Council stands at ease.)
The next order of business is communications. The Chair requests that the Sergeant-At-Arms deliver the messages from the Mayor to the Chief Clerk. The Chief Clerk will please read the messages from the Mayor.
To the President and Members of the City Council City of Philadelphia, I am pleased to advise you that I have today COMMUNICATIONS signed following the following bills which were passed by Council at its session of September 23, 1999: Bill 990453 and Bill No. 990454. And I am transmitting herewith for the consideration of your Honorable Body the following ordinance, authorizing transfers and appropriations for Fiscal Year 2000 within the Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance to the Department of Recreation, the Department of Human Services, the District Attorney, and the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. And an ordinance authorizing transfers and appropriations for Fiscal Year 2000 within the Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance to the Department of Records. And an ordinance authorizing transfers and appropriations for Fiscal Year 2000 within the Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance Provision for other Grants to the Department of Records. And an ordinance authorizing transfers and appropriations for Fiscal Year 2000 within the General Fund from certain or City offices, departments, boards, and commissions to certain or COMMUNICATIONS City offices, departments, boards, and Commissions. And an ordinance authorizing transfers and appropriations for Fiscal Year 200 within the Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance to the Police Department. And an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to deliver to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development ("PAID") a deed to a certain tract of City-owned land with the buildings and improvements therein situate at 436 to 50 and 452 Meyers Street.
These messages will be printed in the Journal. The Chief Clerk will read any other communications in her possession.
There being none, the next order of business is the introduction of bills and resolutions. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for the purpose of making a motion.
Madam President, I move that all bills and resolutions INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS be considered at the time of introduction. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit immediate consideration of resolutions at the time of their introduction. All in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and the motion is carried. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for the purpose of intro -
The Chair thanks the Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Madam INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS President, I have no bills or resolutions.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Mariano.
Thank you, Madam President. I have one resolution, which I'm going to ask to be referred to the appropriate committees on public safety and on education, but I would like on opportunity to speak on the resolution nonetheless.
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the resolution.
A resolution authorizing City Council's Education and Public Safety Committees to hold a joint emergency public hearing demanding that Philadelphia School District Superintendent David Hornbeck personally appear before this joint committee with a definitive plan guaranteeing the safety for all INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS 205,000 Philadelphia School District students, teachers, and employees.
Thank you, Madam President. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this resolution, even though it's being referred to the committee. During the course of my tenure here and during the course of Superintendent Hornbeck's tenure, we've had a long list of issues that we've discussed in Council at public hearings on the School District budget and have also had other opportunities to speak with the Superintendent or members of the School District staff. Those issues have included violence and guns, books and supplies, residency, teacher recruitment, and other issues. I think the thing that frustrates me the most about what happened the other day at Bartram High School -- and anyone can argue that hindsight is 20/20 -- is that back in September 26th of 1996, myself and five other members of Council introduced a resolution urging the School INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS District to immediately begin to install freestanding or door-mounted metal detectors at student entrances to all public high schools over the next two years. There was really no response to that in any credible way. On October 1, 1998, I sent to the Superintendent and also circulated a Safe Schools Plan, which included the installation of metal detectors and highlighting the fact that the state legislature had passed a bill which would allow for the funding and the payment of these standing -- freestanding metal detectors, so that it would be no cost to the School District to do that. Still no response from Superintendent Hornbeck or from anyone on his staff relative to the report. And now, the other day, with the almost tragic but certainly very troubling shooting at Bartram High, the Superintendent lists a number of excuses as to why a set of freestanding metal detectors stood in a closet at Bartram High School from the spring through the summer and still hadn't been installed the day after Vice Principal Burke had been shot. His excuses included the Littleton, INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS Colorado massacre, which he said slowed him up, which I would think, in most cases, would have sped somebody on to get those metal detectors installed. Hurricane Floyd was another excuse that was used as to why they were not installed over the course of the summer, although the hurricane, I think, happened in September. I was waiting at some point for him to tell me that his dog had ate the instructions to the metal detector box. The point of the matter is that we have, over the past number of years, expressed our serious concerns about lots of issues that relate to the School Board and the School District in its operation. And he comes in here with his voluminous staff, basically shakes his head, smiles at us, and tells us that he's going to get it done, and then goes about not doing it. I will remind the Superintendent that I don't know of anyone that's been shot at the Philadelphia International Airport ever, considering the fact that we've had metal detectors installed in that location. At the Justice Center, where thousands of people go in INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS and out everyday, I don't know of anyone who's been shot in there, either. The point of the matter is that I think that his number-one priority amongst anything else should be the safety and security of the staff and of the students. And if he can't accomplish that, then the rest of it is somewhat inadequate. What I would urge -- and I'm going to talk with Councilperson Ortiz, the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, and Councilmember Miller, the Chairperson of the Education Committee, to see if we can't get the Superintendent and his staff in here to explain what it is that they're doing, why they haven't done to date what they were supposed to have done that we urged them to do, and to see if we can't bring some sense of safety and security to the school grounds in our city.
It is one of the most serious issues that we're facing, and I don't think that this Administration and the School District are taking it seriously. And I thank you for your time, Madam President.
Thank you, Councilman. And I would agree with your comments. INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS And I would just like to say that probably ten or twelve years ago, I had made the suggestion that we install the meters in the schools, and I was told that we would be making a prison out of the schools. I think that's utterly ridiculous. I think this is too late in coming, and I think it's something that should be addressed immediately.
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to remind the committee that -- not this term but last term, I can't remember off the top of my head whether it was 1993 or 1995, but this Council held four hearings and adopted a report on school violence. I will make it available again for the committee -- for Council to review. And many of the suggestions, certainly, and ideas that we have now or that concern us were certainly dealt with in this report, but Council did do a full report, and I will make that report available. INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS And I further add that, obviously, this concerns me as well personally since I graduated from Bartram, I did my student-teaching experience there under the former Mr. DeAntonio, who was absolutely a great person, who turned the school around.
And, certainly, I have a sister who taught for a while there before she moved out of state. So certainly, we are committed to our students and to Bartram High School, which has been a really, really great place. We hate to hear something like this because it gives the impression that there are problems there that don't exist. But certainly, I agree with my colleague that if we have -- if we do have the equipment there that we can use, we should obviously do it. So thank you very much, Madam President. I certainly would like to participate in any way possible since we have so much information on this which, again, I will send to INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS all members of Council.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Madam President, I just wanted to note the heroism of the vice principal and the great work of the teachers and their very quick response to the situation. Teachers and administrators of the School Board are frequently criticized, and I think this is a case of outstanding, courageous heroism by these two individuals. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. This resolution will be referred to the appropriate committees. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam President. I have no bills or resolutions today.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Madam President, I offer two bills. INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS
The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the first bill.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code relating to zoning and planning by amending Chapter 14-1600 entitled "Miscellaneous" by adding a new 14-1616 entitled "East Falls Special Direct Controls," under certain terms and conditions.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Whiteman Street, Ridge Avenue, and which lie approximately 77 feet northwest of Calumet Street, Cresson Street, Indian Queen Lane, Krail Street, Roosevelt Boulevard, and Ridge Avenue, a certain railroad right-of-way, and the Schuykill River.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco. INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS
The clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code relating to zoning and planning by amending Chapter 14-1600 entitled "Miscellaneous" by adding a new 14-1617 entitled "Fifth Special District Controls," under certain terms and conditions.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the resolution.
A resolution declaring October 24th to the 30th, 1999 as "Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week."
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS adopted. All in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the resolution.
A resolution honoring Carmela G. Lacayo, Founder and President of the Asociacion Nacional Pro Personas Mayores (National Association for Hispanic Elderly) for her achievements in serving all segments of the older Hispanic population in the United States.
Madam Chair, I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and the motion is carried. The Chair recognizes Councilman DiCicco.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I offer four bills for consideration.
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the first bill.
An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development without consideration a deed to a certain tract of City-owned land, with the buildings and improvements thereon situate, 436 to 50 and 452 Moyer Street.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS establishing a parking regulation on Juniper Street, west side, Porter Street to Ritner Street.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance establishing a parking regulation on Passyunk Avenue, both sides, Christian Street to Carpenter Street.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance establishing a parking regulation on Snyder Avenue, north side, Watts Street to Broad Street.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
The Chair thanks the gentleman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS Chair. I have one bill and one resolution.
The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance amending the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 307 by striking from the City Plan and vacating Cherry Street from Broad Street to Carlyle Street, and preserving and placing on the City Plan a right-of-way for drainage purposes, water-main purposes, gas-main purposes, and utility purposes within the lines of Cherry Street being stricken from the City Plan and vacating under authority of this ordinance under certain terms and conditions.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee. The clerk will please read the title of the resolution.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Redevelopment Authority a deed in the 16th, 32nd, and 47th Wards of the City of Philadelphia.
The Chair INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS recognizes Councilman Clarke.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All those in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and the motion is carried. The Chair recognizes Councilman Longstreth.
Madam President, I have no bills or resolutions today.
The Chair thanks the gentleman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the first resolution. INTRO. OF BILLS, RESOLUTIONS
A resolution honoring and commending the heroic actions of the 14-year-old Vince Mariano that led to the capture of a potentially dangerous Internet criminal. And a resolution authorizing Philadelphia City Council to conduct public hearings -
Excuse me, excuse me. We're just considering the first resolution. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All those in favor will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the second resolution. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A resolution authorizing Philadelphia City Council to conduct public hearings to investigate the policies and practices of the Philadelphia Water Department and the Water Revenue Bureau in restoring water service to residents that have had their water service previously turned off.
This resolution will be referred to the appropriate committee.
The next order of business is reports from committees. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for a report from the Finance Committee.
Madam President, the Committee on Finance reports out and moves that Bill No. 990463 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation.
To the President and Members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia: the Committee on Finance, to which COMMITTEE REPORTS was referred Bill No. 990463, an ordinance amending section 19-203 of The Philadelphia Code entitled "Payroll Deductions" by permitting City employees to authorize payroll deductions for the German-American Police Association, respectfully reports THAT it has considered the same and returns the attached bill to Council with a favorable recommendation.
Bill No. 990463 will be placed on our first-reading calendar for our next session. Are there any other reports from committees? (No response.)
We do not have any bills on our first-reading calendar, and I believe, Councilwoman Clark, that there are no bills on the second-reading calendar.
Madam President, there are no bills on the second- and final-passage calendar.
There are no bills on the second- and final-passage calendar today. SPEECHES
Are there any speeches on the part of Majority? (No response.)
Are there any speeches on the part of the -- oh, I'm sorry, Councilman, I didn't see your light on. Councilman Cohen?
Madam President, I'd like to speak very briefly on two items. First, I just wanted to note that the second court decision stating that the concept of the Consent Agenda violates the Home Rule Charter. It was issued in Common Pleas Court last week. I think it's a very sound decision but it follows some five years of litigation. Secondly, I want to call public attention to the fact that when the election occurs in less than a month from now, in addition to the election, there's a very question important question that this Council put on the ballot in connection with the School Board. " That's the reason why currently, there is discussion about the School Board and who's going to be the director and other things about the School Board right in the mayoral election. This amendment will have the result of making the School Board the political subject in every mayoral election, if this is adopted. Whether or not it also a means for a mayor's office to have added patronage to use both pin-striped patronage, the kind that elicits campaign contributions and other kinds of patronage, many people suspect that it's so. I think it's important that the people of City of Philadelphia consider what this amendment would do, have discussions on it, and make their decisions when they vote. It's just essential that the people of Philadelphia know what they're voting on here. As I travel through the City, I find that almost nobody even knows that this question is coming up. And I'm just SPEECHES urging everybody to pay attention. Hopefully, the media will begin dealing with the issue and I will be doing everything I can, and I hope that other Councilmembers will also do what they can to bring the subject to the attention of the people. I think it's a very dangerous amendment. The intention of it may have been well-intentioned, but it destroys the whole concept of the original thought of keeping the School District out of politics. Currently, you know, we have staggered terms every two years, and three members of the School Board are appointed. But under this particular amendment, if adopted, the School Board gets cleaned out every mayoral election. And I think that -- and in addition to that, every School Board member who votes contrary to the way the Mayor wishes will get the same treatment that members of the Historical Commission got when somebody complained about having a garage door opening on 17th Street; or what happened to Judge Braxton when, as member of the Gas Commission, he voted against a certain preference of the Mayor. And that is immediate SPEECHES dismissal. Under this amendment, a School Board member can be dismissed by the Mayor, and the Mayor has the absolute right to do it if this amendment is adopted, just giving City Council ten days' notice. Apparently, the theory of that ten-day provision is that somehow, if City Council knows that the Mayor is going to fire somebody, if the Mayor announces, "I'm going to fire somebody," then City Council will try to persuade the Mayor to do something differently if they're of an opinion. But no matter what City Council does, the Mayor will have the absolute right to fire him. So that you're substituting for a six-year term of office, where the Mayor couldn't touch a board member, a ten-day term of office. I think these issues deserve a great deal of debate, consideration, and thought by all of the citizens of Philadelphia because it's going to change the whole operation of the School Board and the whole concept of the School Board so that it will just become another political body able to be manipulated by whoever is mayor for purposes of campaign contributions and the whole concept of SPEECHES "pay to play," as recently discussed in the media. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam President. First let me say that Councilman Cohen knows that I greatly respect his views and opinions, and I would not venture to even attempt to debate with him the finer points of his argument, but I would like to point out some of the issues that I think are important with regard to this upcoming ballot question. First and foremost, the Councilman knows that this action was taken by City Council subsequent to at least two public hearings and the normal advertising process that we are required to go through, that members of Council voted on this measure in a public session, and that there has been plenty of opportunity for people to give their views and to let their views be known. And I certainly respect the right of people to shape SPEECHES their own opinions about this. Secondly, there is no requirement that the new mayor sworn in in January of 2000 remove all of the board members presently serving. As a matter of fact, the only person who will not be able to be supported is anyone who has been on the board for more than ten years, and I believe that provision only affects one person. The new mayor is able to appoint one member if that mayor chooses to do so. But I think the larger issue here is one of accountability, and I don't think that even Councilman Cohen would dispute that some of us feel that there has been a lack of general accountability for what goes on at the School District and School Board. And not that City Council should inject itself into that process. The fact of the matter is that the Mayor presently appoints board members. Currently, the Mayor would appoint them after January of 2000. What this action does is, it creates a clearer line of responsibility. And that's the important issue, because no one, I think, agrees with that the level of education and the amount of SPEECHES students' learning ability to operate in a global environment is appropriate. There has been some improvement; no one should deny that. But I don't think we can be satisfied. And this is not a referendum on Superintendent Hornbeck or the current board members or anyone else. We just want a greater accountability, and that accountability should start at the top and start with the person that appoints the board members. Councilman Cohen is aware that Council is not involved in that particular process at all. So that's what this is about. There's been a lot of information on it, and the fact that it's being discussed in the mayoral race, I believe, is more than appropriate because it is the time that something like that should be discussed. And there should be other discussions about other changes that need to be made around government. That's all this is about -- the government structure of the School District. So I welcome people to look at it, to examine it, to have discussions about it, to have debates about it. And what people need to do is SPEECHES to make sure that they express themselves about the policies because it's the one opportunity where Philadelphians get the chance to say something about what's going on in public education in an important fashion. I appreciate Councilmen Councilman's comments, I know what his views and opinions are, and we have a slight difference of opinion about it, but that won't affect our friendship or our relationship. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark.
I wish to associate myself with Councilman Cohen's comments. I do not think that we should open the flood gates to further politicizing public education. I believe that the educational supplement clearly is intended to avoid City Council micro-managing the School District. And if we do not like the way it is presently governed, I think that the Charter changes the way to do it. I have not seen in this SPEECHES resolution that it does anything more than tamper with or tinker around the edges. It does not go to the heart of what its sponsors, I believe, are after. I am one who has been a longtime supporter of public education, but I do not apologize for it. Where it is wrong, I think it needs to be fixed, but tampering and tinkering is not the same as fixing, and so I would hope that the voters of Philadelphia don't get panicked into doing something and thinking that they're doing something good. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. I, too, support Councilman Cohen's position, as one of the persons who voted against this proposed amendment. He gave a very fine presentation to my ward last night and made very clear the provisions of the bill. The one portion which I had problems SPEECHES with in the bill was the ability of the Mayor to just haphazardly and at will fire or remove a board member. And having gone through that on the Gas Commission, which is -- which was sort of traumatizing and not in the best interests of what we're trying to do, I find that it's something that I don't believe we should support. So I will urge all of my people in the 5th ward to vote no on this position.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Madam Chair, for just a moment, I want to note that when a similar effort was made to take a lot of power away from the people of Philadelphia and put it in the Mayor's office with respect to the City government itself back in 1994, the voters of Philadelphia, by a vote of 7 to 1 against Mayor Rendell and then-Council President Street, who were urging the amendment of the Home Rule Charter, by a vote of 7 SPEECHES to 1, the citizens of Philadelphia, when they learned what was involved, said no. And this is the same kind of amendment in a single form. Actually, the title of the amendment doesn't even say anything about the change in the power of the Mayor to fire members of the School Board at will. There's nothing about that in the title so that when the voter goes into the voting machine and he reads the question, he won't even -- the voter, he or she, won't even know that this is an effort to give the Mayor the power to absolutely fire the School Board members at the will of the Mayor. And it's just a very bad amendment. Maybe it had a good purpose in mind, the responsibility purpose that Councilman Nutter had in mind. But I urge upon you that that purpose is not served at all, and it's a very dangerous transfer of power from the people of Philadelphia, and it throws the School Board directly into the political structure. And, Councilman Nutter, nobody has ever -- no mayor is ever forced to fire all members of the board. But for the first time, for the first SPEECHES time, the Mayor will have the absolute power to fire every board member by merely telling Council ten days before he does it. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Madam Chair, the school system has its problems. And obviously, this is not -- this is not the solution, and the answer is not the panacea. But the aim and the thrust of the amendment, I believe, is just one: accountability. Right now, it is very hard to hold anyone accountable for the failure of the school system. When they say City Council, we say we have nothing to do with managing the school system. When they say the Mayor, the Mayor says, It's not my problem because I don't really have control over the board and I have no say in what they do or how they shape the budget or the public policies that they implement, and I don't get to appoint them in time for me to hold those appointees accountable. So we have nine individuals that we SPEECHES select that, generally, very few people in this city even know who they are and how they function. So we have nine individuals who make public policy, educational policy, and no one knows who they are, and they are answerable really to no one. They're not answerable to an electorate, they're really not answerable to the Mayor, and the Mayor is not answerable to the electorate for the failure of the school system. So what it comes down to is, who do we hold accountable? The schools are failing, we have a problem. Some schools are doing very well, some schools are doing very badly. We have the Olneys and we have the Greenfields and the Mastermans. We have kids who are beginning to achieve. But this is not about making smaller classrooms and teacher training and this is not about really changing the public policy; it is about holding someone accountable -- and that should be the Mayor -- to fix the school system. The Mayor should be responsible. After eight years, the accountability should fall on that office. If the schools are not functioning, he SPEECHES should be the one that the voters look to and say, You are at fault, you did not do your job. And that's the most important thing that I believe we have as elected officials to do: fix the school system. Thank you.
Thank you. Councilwoman Tasco, do you want to be recognized?
Yeah. Madam President, unless there are other comments on this subject, I'd like to make a statement relative to another issue.
Well, I believe there are still other Councilmembers that would like to be recognized on this issue.
Very briefly, Madam President. The concern has been raised on a couple of occasions about the actions of a mayor. It SPEECHES seems to me that if people have concerns about the actions of a mayor, what better year to have the discussion about these kinds of actions than during an election for mayor. And so maybe it's an additional thing that people want to think about as it relates to not only public education, but to the power and authority that you wish to rest in the hands of a particular mayor, and what that person will do with this. We cannot just legislate in order to protect ourselves from each other in good or bad decisions. The Mayor has a very powerful position here in Philadelphia, notwithstanding this particular proposal: the power to hire and fire in the municipal government, the power to appoint or terminate anyone from any board or commission, and there are a lot of them that have a lot of importance in this government. So if people are concerned about what the Mayor may do, then they need to think about what they want to do in the mayor's race. And it all comes together at the same time. Secondly, people have a right to their views, but I think, as Councilman Ortiz said, we SPEECHES wish to make things better. We have a public school system and I think that public education is the number-one issue in this city, beyond taxes and beyond crime. If people think that things are all right the way they are, then fine, be for the status quo. I think that we should make some changes around governments. I have never said -and as I said in a public hearing, this will not necessarily result in Jane or Johnny knowing how to read better the day after, hopefully, this measure passes. But sometime after that, you'll at least know whom to hold responsible for it. Again, as the Councilman said, presently there are a lot of people with responsibility, but there's no one with the final authority to run this system. Everyone has a role, but someone has to be held accountable for how things function and how things operate. We have our role, but the notion of inserting politics in public education is -- the funding of public education is political, the support for public education is political, how you get on the School Board is political, and who gets the jobs SPEECHES and the contracts is all political. There's nothing new here, there's nothing different here. It's the same process that's been going on for years and year and years. All I'm saying is that one person should have some ultimate level of authority for what goes on. And if things go well, they'll get the benefits of it; and if things go bad, then the voters will know what to do about it. But today and over the past many, many years -- not just in this particular administration -- it has been relatively easy to say, Well, I did my part, I did what the Charter said, I'm going on to do something else. And I think that that should come to an end because the voters can see through all of that. And that's what this particular provision is all about. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark.
Madam President, I could not agree with my colleague Michael Nutter more when he says that an election is the time to SPEECHES discuss this issue. This clearly is the time to discuss it, but we ought to have the two sides clearly before us. Remind me, because I can't remember, whether this issue goes to the ballot question -whether the ballot question goes to the Charter. Because unless the Charter is changed, we are spitting in the wind and complaining about wet faces. The Charter governs whether the School Board and its administrations can be -- how it is governed, and it specifically holds out that City Council should not, and must not, interfere in the day-to-day operations. Now, whether that's good or bad, it's not for any of us to question because that's the way it is. If you don't like it, we change it Charter-wise. I don't know whether your ballot question goes to the Charter issue. If it does, then I think that's the place to discuss it. As to -- and I remind you again that tinkering with the edges is not the same as fixing the schools. Yes, funding is political, but who get the jobs in the schools shouldn't be political. What is taught at school shouldn't be SPEECHES political, and who can make one telephone call and put a whole school into panic because the politician called up, we don't want to go back to those days. I do not wish to see schools politicized to the point where City Councilmembers or other politicians can put the whole system into panic.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Well, I really am surprised by Councilman Nutter's statement. It's the first time I think I've heard stated very clearly that the intent of this amendment, even though not a word appears in it, is to put the School District into the political orbit. It has never been the intent. The whole purpose of the educational supplement to the Home Rule Charter is to keep it, as much as it is humanly possible, to keep it out of politics.
Excuse me, Councilman, there's a point of order. SPEECHES Councilman Nutter?
Madam President, Councilman Cohen knows I never said anything about making the school system or the district, or by this amendment, putting anything into any political orbit. My response was to the concerns raised that somehow this amendment would make schools political. And my response was that there is already politics in the school system, and everyone sitting in this room knows that. There is no intention -- and, again, with all due respect to my colleague Councilwoman Clark, there is nothing in this provision that has anything to do with what Councilmembers may or may not do today, tomorrow, or sometime after January, to make phone calls or put a system in crisis or anything like that. This has nothing to do with City Council and doesn't expand the powers, responsibilities, or authority of City Council in any regard to the school system whatsoever. This has nothing to do with City Council. And the particular provision, actually, that Councilman Cohen has referred to, I believe my recollection is, is that the Mayor's SPEECHES responsibility is to provide ten days' notice to the board member specifically about any possible removal, but, you know, that remains to be seen. Thank you for the point of order, Madam President, I appreciate it.
I repeat the statement that I believe Councilman Nutter made very clear: that he believes the educational system has been mired in politics and he believes it ought to be -- he believes that's the appropriate way. And I believe that this amendment, though it doesn't say a word about it, does exactly -- if it's adopted, will do exactly that. I don't know of teachers being hired as a form of political patronage, I've never heard of it in the 20 years since I came back to City Council in 1980, and when I was back there in the '60s, I had not heard -
It has nothing to do with patronage; it has to do with -
I apologize, Councilman. I should have asked for a point of order.
All right. Well, that's my view as to what you said; I heard it clearly. I even have my hearing aids on today, even though I can hear without them, to be sure that I heard exactly.
Well, then maybe we should have it read back to us through the stenographer.
But I -- in all of the years when we read stories about pay-as-you-go, about campaign contributions, in every contract I've heard about related to City activity, I have never seen any relating to School Board contracts. And there are hundreds -- maybe there is, but I haven't seen any of the stories, I've seen nothing complaining about politics in SPEECHES the awarding of those contracts. But you will open the door wide to add the hundreds of millions of dollars of School Board contracts to the political pool. In addition, you will read -- you will really enter politics. What happens now, when the students and the parents of students of Northeast High School were unhappy about what the School Board was doing on the magnet schools, what did they do? They were able to go down to a School Board meeting, raise all kinds of questions, and demand that the School Board members come out and deal with the issue, and the policy was changed. If you're going to have puppets as members of the School Board, people in the community will not have anybody real to talk to; they'll only have political appointees of the Mayor, who will not be able to exercise their own judgment. And it's a total change as to what currently exists. And in my judgment, this is a very dangerous amendment. And I find that when you go out and people understand what the amendment is all about, they'll have the same SPEECHES response today that they had back in 1994. But nothing has been heard in our public hearings, Councilman Nutter, that you refer to. I can remember only three witnesses: a person from the Northeast, a community activist; Reverend Shine of the Black Clergy; and a representative of the League of Women Voters. Nobody knew about it, and the chambers were practically empty. There were never any large number or any significant number of people present at the hearing. This issue is being presented to the voters in the middle of a very difficult mayoral campaign, without the voters having any attention placed on this issue. And I think that's a very dangerous circumstance. It's under those circumstances that things get enacted that ought not to be. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. Councilwoman Tasco, do you want to be recognized on this matter?
Thank you, Madam President. I will have a few remarks on this matter. I guess the question is whether or not we want the board to be populated by people who are appointed politically by a current mayor or who are appointed politically by the last mayor or the ex-mayor. Part of the problem has always been that people in the community come to us, as they had with the magnet schools, and I would take one issue with Councilman Cohen about what happened relative to the magnet schools, 'cause I attended many meetings of Councilman Nutter, State Representative Mandarino, I think Councilman O'Neill was involved, Councilman Mariano was involved, and others were involved in this issue because their constituents, our constituents, came to us demanding some action be taken as a result of what the School District, the Superintendent, and the board had decided to do. It's not just the board that they went to; they went to their SPEECHES elected officials who were involved in politics. I think that's one of the reasons why the issue got addressed in, hopefully, a productive way. The issue for me is, we continue to lose family after family after family in the city. They're of all colors, of all ethnic backgrounds, they're middle-class and upper middle-class people who find that they do not have a place in this school system for their kid, and that they're unwilling to sacrifice their child's future and send their kid to a public school. And when they finally realize that it's better for them to move out of the city to take advantage of a public system they are comfortable with, as opposed to paying private or parochial school tuition, then they figure that out and they split. They go to suburbs or they go to New Jersey. I think we have to do something different than what we've been doing. We've been dealing with this system in its current form for 30 or 40 years or more. And in my opinion, and in my opinion as a parent of two school-aged children, that system, by and large, is not SPEECHES working. People come to us who pay taxes, and say, We don't like the way the system's working. You, Council, you visible elected officials do something about it. And we say, Sorry, we can't do anything about it because the School Board's appointed by some other mayor, the Superintendent won't listen to what we have to say on issues. We can bring 'em to his attention, but he don't have to listen to us in anything -- as far as issues going from the seriousness of school safety to the issue of the curriculum, books, and other things. So I think at some point in time, as a middle-aged or a 40-year-old parent in the City, we need to do something different than the way we've been doing it because the system, as Councilman Cohen has described, over the past three decades, in my opinion -- and it's humbly my opinion -- simply has not worked, and it has put people in a position to make a decision not to live in this city anymore. And unless we stem that tide and turn around the 150,000 people that left the City over the last seven years, there won't be much of a school board or a city left to worry about. SPEECHES Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam President. Again, just for the record, it's my recollection that there were -- I think I said earlier that there were at least two hearings. There were actually four public hearings, all of which were advertised. I didn't do the advertising; they were done through the normal process. People in the public seem to have a way of figuring out what's going on in City Council on important issues or other issues. My colleague made reference to hardly anyone being here. As Chair of the committee -and I'm sure it's just the passage of time, he must have forgotten that Mayor Rendell testified; State Representative Perzel, House Majority Leader, testified; State Senator Allison Schwartz testified; the Honorable State Representative Dwight Evans, who is the Pennsylvania Democratic Appropriations Chair, and at the time, was a Democratic for mayor, testified; John White, Jr. SPEECHES testified; Fred Voigt testified; John Street testified; I believe at the time candidate Happy Fernandez sent a letter; and I believe candidate Sam Katz sent a letter as well. There were also some representatives from various business organizations who testified. And whether -- and communities organizations testified as well. And whether people agreed or disagreed, they did have the opportunity to testify. Now, would I have liked to have had an overflowing, hanging-from-the-balcony attendance at that hearing? Sure. But we went through the normal process that we go through to pass bills and resolutions. The bill, I believe, was introduced fairly early in the year at a public hearing a couple months later. Again, I would say for the record, and if the Councilman misunderstood me, I apologize. But I believe my comments were -- and I'd be glad to be subject to their being read back by the stenographer. I believe my comments earlier were that board appointments, jobs and contracts, and a whole list of other things that go on over at the School District do have some element of politics. SPEECHES But let me state very clearly and very directly, that has nothing to do with teachers, teachers' contracts, or any other employees. They are high-level appointments that are made by the Superintendent, made by the board or approved by the board -- not teachers, not people who go through a binding contract or arbitration or negotiation process. I am not talking about those individuals, and I think Councilman Cohen knows me well enough to know that I was not talking about those persons. But certainly high-level deputies and other administrators who get appointed outside of the contract process are the kind of people that we're talking about. I also seem to recall that there was a big blowup in this chamber one day when we had a presentation from the board at a public hearing when the issue of contracts came up. And I believe that we were given boxes of detailed information by school year on who had received which contracts because there was an issue about who was receiving the contracts and who was not receiving the contracts. This may be back to the '94 or '95 time frame. I think Mr. ) SPEECHES was President of the board at that time. So anything that's been said today, I just wanted to make the record as crystal-clear as possible, and we should not act all of a sudden naive, that any of us involved in the political process don't think that there is some element of politics in the School District. And that was merely what I was trying to clarify in my remarks. You know, this is for the voters at this point in time to decide. Council has taken its action, the Members are free to do whatever it is they want to do in the course of this election to support or to try to defeat. But I think ultimately, the general public at least needed to have the right and the opportunity to speak very clearly on this one particular issue. This is not a ballot question with 64 different components; it is one.
It will be advertised, there will be a plain-English version advertised in the newspaper to make it clear to the voting public what this is all about. And then the voters should have their opportunity to decide, and then we will go on back to our regular lives and do what we do to try to represent their interests. SPEECHES But I think there should be some public discussion and some public debate about the most important issue in this city, which is public education. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. I'd just like to remind my colleagues that on Saturday, October the 9th -- we have sent each member an invitation -- we will sponsor our Sixth Annual Philadelphia Youth Summit in connection with the Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, at 6401 Ogontz Avenue. We have over 600 young people coming from throughout the City to the summit, and we invite our colleagues to come. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. And we know they all have busy schedules, so the program will be at 9:00 a.m., so if they'd like to -- at 9:30 a.m. So if they'd like to come through and greet the young people, and we invite the ADJOURNMENT listening audience and Members of City Council's staff and other interested parties to please feel free to come and see a wonderful program of outstanding young people from our community. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Are there any speeches on the part of the Minority? (No speeches on the part of the Minority.)
There being none, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark for a motion to adjourn.
Madam President, I move that Council be adjourned until Thursday, October 14, 1999.
It's been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 14, 1999. All those in favor will signify by ADJOURNMENT saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it, and Council stands adjourned until October the 14th, 1999. (Adjourned at 11:15 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, October 7, 1999, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: STATED MEETING __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter