Committee of the Whole, November 26, 2024

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning.

Good morning.

I have some questions about traffic management. I'm sorry if I missed some of this in your testimony. The Civic Design Review Committee asked 76 DevCo to submit an updated traffic plan. Does the Administration expect that the Traffic Oversight Committee will provide that plan or is the Traffic Oversight Committee providing revisions to the updated 76 DevCo plans? And also, what kind of power does the Authority have to enforce whatever traffic plan is proposed?

Okay. So I'll try and break that up. So the developers are responsible for obtaining the permits that they need by submitting a traffic impact study, and they're working through finalizing that based on comments from PennDOT, from the City and from SEPTA. So the public sector sides come together and we have compiled questions and comments from revisions that we want. That process is still under way. PennDOT basically manages that process and that will have to be complete before anything can proceed. Now, the legislation that we're looking at now contemplates what I'll call a traffic management plan. That traffic management plan can check the box in terms of adopting the Sixers traffic event management plan, which is going to be a requirement of the permits that they need from PennDOT. So they can become one in the same thing. The Sixers have to draft it up. It can be basically incorporated into the work of this Authority and then owned by this Authority from that point moving forward. So that event management plan is going to describe the things that need to take place when there's a game, when there's a concert, how staff are deployed, how we manage the situation, what's closed, what's open and basically provide the framework for the details that happen each night. The enforcement of that then falls on staff that are brought on board. So we've talked about that being something that the Sixers are going to play a role in but also the Philadelphia Police Department. And so, the Philadelphia Police Department will coordinate just as they do in the Stadium District that sort of day of, the preparations before then and then the shutdown after events. So they have complete authority to control the street, to manage traffic, to give tickets, to have people towed, to do what they need to, to make sure that things operate smoothly.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, colleague. Chair recognizes Councilmember Lozada followed by Councilmember Ahmad.

Thank you. Thank you for being here this morning. You and others in the Administration have consistently said that you hear the community's concerns. Today you said that the concerns were substantive and legitimate. If you had to choose the top two most serious concerns that you all have heard from the community, what would they be and how are they being prioritized and how are they being addressed, right, because I've talked to multiple groups. We've seen multiple groups come in here and consistently the message is different. They are saying they're not hearing from the Administration. They're not being heard. The information that we hear here is not actually getting on the ground and into the neighborhood. So what is the Administration doing to ensure that those concerns are really being addressed by the people that would be impacted the most?

Okay. So just to answer right away, I think the two things that come up the most that we really need to think about are what I'll call quality of life and then traffic. Okay. And I also want to say we hear the concerns. I think the thing we're really hopeful for is that we're talking in terms of the right perspective, the right magnitude and then have some respect for the ability to manage these situations and not just be overwhelmed by them and focused on just the negative outcomes that we're all trying to work to avoid. So if I wanted to talk about quality of life, I think the perception I think is that it's going to be kind of like a madhouse, there's going to be a lot of security issues, there's going to be litter all over the place and that it's going to really diminish the feel of the existing neighborhoods when this is up and running. And so, that's going to be an important focus of the Arena Services District to really channel those issues and make sure that, one, there's plans in place but also that there's infrastructure in place in terms of actual investments and things like lighting and cameras, but also to make sure that institutionally it's seamless, that when there's an issue that the community raises, there's people that are on the board, there's people that are on these committees that are hearing that directly. Council will be involved in hearing that directly, and there's a direct line between those concerns being raised and the people who are accountable to go manage and take care of those, and there's resources to take care of those. We've talked a lot about traffic. I want to be clear I think that the traffic situation requires focus. It requires work. But as I was saying last night, I think it's important that people not kind of get confused with the whole range of things that take place around the stadium complex with what's actually likely to happen here. So if you think about an Eagles game, it's about 70,000 people who are in the stadium. There's tailgating in basically every lot that's available adjacent to Lincoln Financial Field. That's like four or five times the magnitude of what we're talking about in this location around 76 Place. There's no parking lots here so there's not that sort of tailgating feel you're going to have. It's going to be contained in the building and the uniformed police, other staff are going to make sure that that's all within the building and then the flows out of the building and into the building are managed. The traffic situation does require some investment and attention. But in general, that perspective is important for people to understand. And that's what we're here to do is to make sure when we convene this Authority we have the board they can communicate both ways to make sure people have both a channel for their feedback, things we haven't heard even yet, but also that there's some body that's empowered to generate the ideas to make sure that the work has taken place to manage that.

But what are you all doing to specifically get the information to those that are on the -- what are you all doing to specifically get the information to those that are on the ground, right? And I say this because I've experienced, right, in the 7th when we have legislation or policy that some folks don't agree with, we get rooms full of folks that are making so much noise that those who are impacted the most don't have a voice. And so, what are you all doing to really get the information to those that are right there that are going to be impacted? When all of these people go away and this arena is there or the changes made to that specific neighborhood are made, those are the folks that are going to be impacted. They stay behind. What are we doing very specifically to knock on their doors and make sure that they are heard, that we're hearing them?

Okay. Well, I mean I look forward to the Mayor's town hall going to the 7th District hearing directly from people. Those lines of communication are not going to close when the arena is being demolished or constructed or when it's in operation. I think there's certainly an opportunity for us to keep working with Council. So as I mentioned, Council will be involved in this Traffic Oversight Committee and there's an opportunity for folks who have perspective outside of the district to be represented in the board as well. And so, I think the fact is that we do rely on the systems the City has in place to channel those complaints on an ongoing basis under routine circumstances still being in effect, and they're not being like a wall between resident/community feedback concerns and what this body is doing. Instead it should be fluid. That stuff should come into this body. It will be independent effectively from the Administration, although both the Mayor will have appointing authority and City Council will have approval authority in that process. But it's not going to close off that conversation as things move forward. But I really want to reiterate the fact that this has to be a living process. I don't think it's going to work for us to assume we know everything now and then walk away and just assume it's going to keep working. It has to keep going.

Thank you.

Thank you, colleague. Chair recognizes Councilmember Ahmad followed by Councilmember Young.

Thank you, Chair. Good morning. I think it's still morning. Thank you for your testimony. In your testimony you said the composition of the board for this new body will have no 8 more than four members who live or work within the district boundaries and have no other conflicting affiliations. Could you elaborate on what that means?

Yeah. So no fewer than four, just to be clear. And then what would be conflicting is, for example, somebody who lived in the district and worked for the Mayor's office or lived work for the --

Worked for, sorry, who?

Worked for the Mayor's office or lived in the district and worked for the Sixers or one of the concessionaires in 76 Place because we don't want people kind of advocating for other interests aside from those which are really the core interests of the existing communities today in the area.

And will it include people who have businesses there but don't actually live there?

Yeah, that's the objective. And then certainly when we're talking about the Traffic Oversight Committee their specifically focused on the businesses because that's where a lot of the existing traffic, parking issues are going to be focused.

And I noticed -- are parking lot owners going to be included in this body?

I can't answer that. I think that has to be deliberated. You could make the case that parking lot owners bring a certain amount of expertise to what the issues are today. They certainly are going to be invested in the outcomes of how this all works so there's certainly a case to include them, but I wouldn't preclude future conversation or deliberation about that.

And in terms of you will potentially even think of new parking lot, this will be from the Traffic Oversight Committee, right, in considering new additional parking. I just wanted to know how the current parking which is kind of inside in Chinatown, right, how is that going to accommodate game nights, the regular traffic who come to Chinatown and this additional, do we have capacity for that and are you thinking of new parking lots that could be specifically targeted for arena visitors that you thread them through Chinatown on like a flash or a something or they walk, that would not mess up the parking lots that are used to service the current visitors and people in Chinatown?

Yeah. So the existing capacity is sufficient, abundant for both the existing use and from our analysis the events from 76 Place. We still feel like we've heard from folks in Chinatown that there's need for more. And so, from the beginning there was a commitment made to do some analysis so we'll be working with the Philadelphia Parking Authority to evaluate what that demand is. And sometimes it's not so much an issue of creating completely new parking capacity, but it has to do with how you manage the parking capacity that you already have. So it's possible for within a lot or a garage there to be some parking that's set aside for specific users. And so, use of that might be through validation or they might have a daily or weekly or monthly pass. And so, you have to kind of get into the weeds a little bit to understand how, first, specific corridors or businesses or users that can be divided up. It does require, when we're not talking about the PPA, conversations with private stakeholders who own the garages similar to your previous question. So it's not a straightforward task without actually doing the work and finding out how those things match up. Your idea about having some sort of a service is certainly one that we're willing to explore. That's come up before and it's something that we would want to engage with the private sector to figure out how to run a service like that.

And this speaks to the improvement of pathways within Chinatown itself in order to facilitate people walking through and kind of enjoying Chinatown itself. One of the concerns that businesses have brought up to me have been the timing of the games are right when there's dinnertime in Chinatown itself, which they make their maximum dollars at that time, and these people not necessarily going to be eating there. They're just going to be clogging up the space so their normal customers will not be able to park or come or eat. So I just want to know how we are thinking of that to mitigate that.

So there's a couple things there. So when we're looking at the way that the pre-event period flows, you're not going to see a crush of people who are coming from all over to get there so they can be there right at 7:00 p.m. It tends to trickle in. And so, in my opinion you're not going to see a big distinction between normal PM rush hour traffic, which is sort of heading out, and then a few hundred an hour that come in. And then as it gets a little bit later, you'll find that there's more people who are kind of either here already because they work here and they're going to a game or they were doing something else and then they're going to walk --

Do we have any data around this reflection that we know the patterns and -

So when we look at both the current arena how people get there, you see between about 5:45 and 7:00 p.m. there's a curve that sort of goes up as people walk in the door. When you look at the other arena spaces and we looked at about roughly different, it's 9 a similar pattern. There's much 10 more compression in the exit. And 11 when you talk to folks who work in 12 the Stadium District for any event, 13 that's where the real management 14 needs to take place. That's when 15 everybody is kind of all moving at 16 the same time, not before the game. 17 It's not to say that 18 there won't be issues, but we think 19 the natural sort of dispersion of 20 parking around this area, the fact that we're bringing people in from the places they already live to go to Wells Fargo, you're going to find a lot of people that are coming from the west, from the western suburbs, there's going to be a lot of people coming across the bridge, so basically coming from the east and the west. And the parking that's available east of 76 Place where through apps, through variable message signs, we're going to try and direct the people from the east to go and the parking that's to the west is we're going to try and direct people from the west to go. And so, Chinatown being set to the north it's not as if nobody is going to park there, but it's more likely going to be people who want to go to Chinatown anyway and then kind of link that trip to Chinatown with their visit to the event that they're trying to go to.

And the reason I ask this because I think in Councilman Squilla's bill there's a limitation of thinking how to limit how long people are parking in the spot. Is that part of this --

6 Street parking? 7

8 Yeah. 9

10 Point of information. Yes, working 11 with the PPA during event days there 12 will be no allowance of renewing 13 street parking, meter parking. If 14 it's only two-hour parking, if it's 15 only one-hour parking, that's all 16 you could do. You can't go park on 17 the street, go into the event. You 18 would have to come out of the event, 19 put money in the meter if you want 20 it and then go back. You wouldn't 21 be able to renew that. So that 22 would be held for the businesses in 23 the community, not people going to 24 the event.

But it might also catch people who are there for a long dinner and then go to karaoke --

We mentioned that to some of the businesses there in the Chinatown community. And they said, well, if they're having dinner, we would let them know that if they do have it, they have to go out to their car and pay a meter or go to one of the local lots. And we're working on -- we don't have it worked out at this point, but we're working on a validation for parking for people visiting.

I mean, the devil is in the details.

Absolutely.

And parking is always the devil in the details.

Parking has been an issue since I've been born here.

I mean, if we can crack this nut, this can be useful everywhere.

Yeah. And again, I think it really is important for us to have a good plan, a well-researched plan and then be nimble to address the things that come up. In my opinion, a three-hour restriction is going to work pretty well, especially if you're parking in Chinatown. That walk to the arena and during -- and during, hopefully they start winning, right, sitting and enjoying an event and then walking back is going to be more than three hours. And so, we're not just going to leave it to chance though. We're going to step up the presence of parking enforcement officers during the events. And so, there's not going to be this slack that sometimes people think they can get away with or they can cheat for 30 minutes or something like that. We all understand that when there's events going on we all have to bring our A game in terms of enforcing what's going on the street.

Right. Well, thank you. I just wanted to make sure that the option for this new parking lot dedicated for arena people, however that can transpire. And the passage through Chinatown for those folks on foot or some other method would hopefully enhance more participation in the economy in Chinatown. So please keep that in mind. And I don't know how we codify this, but these are the concerns the local people brought to me, business owners brought to me around the parking issue.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jeffrey Jay Young.

Thank you, Mr. President. So in this amended agreement there's a provision that says that when regarding the folks who are going to be appointed to this board that they need to have their primary residence or principal place of business within the boundaries. And just to get some clarity to my colleagues, our Supreme Court has defined what principal place of business is. It's essentially where your books are kept, your nerve center where decisions are made. So I would hope that that clarity will provide some sense to say that there won't be any representation from the 76ers on this particular board because their nerve center is in New Jersey, right. So I just wanted to put that out there on the record. And regarding the implementation of the traffic management plan, if -- we're using the CBA to fund this Authority, correct? I just wanted to put that --

Yes.

So the implementation of the plan is left up to the staff and the police. So does that mean essentially the implementation -- so who pays for the police and the staffing regarding the implementation of the plan? Would that come out of the CBA money or is that additional money that the 76ers or the developer will have to pay to the City?

Based on the draft event management plan, which the Sixers and their consultant put together, my understanding is that they are paying for that outside of the CBA.

Outside of the CBA. Okay. Great for that clarity. Thank you for that. And if the goals of those approved plans are not met, what are the consequences? Essentially what is the recourse of the -- do we just have to come up with a new plan or how are we able to I guess kind of mitigate that effect?

According to the amendments, we have the review by the Controller's office who would be able then to review that plan and then do the actual data-crunching to make sure that the plan goals were being reached. And if not, our goal is to require -- it would be in the term sheets, but require the arena folks to be able to continue to provide transit resources for every ticketholder.

So thank you, Councilmember Squilla. I appreciate that. So would that include then I guess more money for traffic management to say we need additional police officers or we need additional staffing, additional public safety officers to actually manage that plan again outside of the CBA?

At this point, no. It would be that the plan would have to be adjusted to whatever we saw as the failures, and then we would have to adjust it. It could be as simple as there was a one roadway that was not being cleared and traffic was not being able to flow up that street. It could be maybe we didn't have enough trains at one location and we need to put more trains there. So I'm not sure how you put a cost associated with that. But right now our thinking was that we would continue to provide and incentivize public transit so that the goal -- I think the only measure that we have right now is 40 percent public transit, which the study showed that we would need to have in order for the arena to be successful and not negatively impact the surrounding communities.

So I would just comment if I may.

Yes.

Just two things I want to focus on. And one is these goals that are laid out now are important benchmarks for us. It's sort of the foundation for the work, but the proof is in the pudding when we see what's happening, when we see how well it's working, when we're getting complaints from people and managing those complaints. And so, with that in mind my experience is that, you know, better coordination, more careful deployment of resources, communication solves the overwhelming majority of the issues that we see. And so, from that respect the way this Arena Services District is organized so that, like I said there's a tight feedback loop, I'm feeling confident that many of the board members are going to be passing their cell phone numbers out to a lot of people who live and work in this area, we're going to react fairly quickly. And if we find for some reason from the Controller's report that that's not working, like I'm saying, I expect some improvements in the way that people are coordinating is going to address a lot of that right out of the bat before we're kind of adding more to it in terms of resources. Now, with respect to police that's a police deployment decision which the police department will control and they will make sure that they've got adequate resources so that this area functions the way that it should.

I have a point of information before calling the next speaker, next member. So in South Philadelphia, we talk about the Philadelphia Police Department. Does the sports stadium teams pay for the actual officers during game times? It's like a protected community. When you go to a game, certain blocks you can go down because there's police officers that are there managing traffic flowing in and out of the area during game time at Packer Park.

I can't speak to the specific mechanism myself. But, yes, my understanding is that those resources come from outside of the City.

So for the record, the police coverage in a certain area in Packer Park comes from outside funding, not the City budget. Would that be the same case with this particular project downtown?

That's my expectation.

Okay. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jim Harrity.

Thank you, Council President. I just have one quick question.

Mr. Harrity, could you speak into the microphone so the stenographer can hear you please.

Yes, Council President. I just have one quick question. The Traffic Committee, is PPA going to be serving on that committee or they're going to be involved, because for me I would think that they should have some kind of say in there since they'll be doing most of the enforcement?

I don't see that in the latest round of amendments, but I feel like the Administration would support adding PPA.

Yeah. I think that just for informational purposes they should have somebody in the room if we're talking traffic because again they're the ones that will most likely be enforcing it.

Well, they certainly will be enforcing.

Exactly. So just throwing it out there and maybe we can look at that when talking to Councilman Squilla. Thank you. Good enough.

Thank you. Councilmember Rue Landau and then Councilmember Brooks, and the next we're going to have the next panel.

Okay. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Carroll. Appreciate you being here. You were making a distinction between an Eagles game that has 70,000 attendees versus a Sixers arena that will have 18,000. Have we ever had a situation where 18,000 people are being released into a Center City area at the same time?

So I can't speak from data, but I would say that there's a lot of events that take place in the Convention Center that are that order of magnitude. Not that they all release at the same time, but similarly they are going to have people who are basically pedestrians at the Convention Center dispersed to public transit, dispersed to parking garages and then come and go. And just for more perspective on that, within Center City there's 200,000 people who live here, about 280,000 people who work here and every day there's a lot of travel that's going on which is really focused in these same set of blocks, so we're talking about maybe percent, percent of that which 5 is in the evening, later in the 6 evening around 9:30, 10:00 are going 7 to be out on the street. It needs 8 to be managed. It's not nothing, 9 but the network is abundantly large 10 enough in order to handle those types of flows if it's managed correctly.

Okay. I think it's an important distinction to make, including you said that most of the Sixers fans now are going between 5:45 to 7:00 down to the arena District -- I mean, down to the Stadium District. That place down there is like a food desert. So if you wanted to go and get something to eat before you're sitting down, I think there is a larger period of time then what will happen with the incoming and the outgoing, the dissension of folks who are going to the district, I think it's extremely important that we keep this in mind.

Yeah.

Second question: I know that -- I've got three, I'm going to rattle them off fast -- the staff and teams, they're going to be parking underneath the building; is that right?

Yeah.

On Arch Street near 8th, there is an entrance to the underground parking lot. Who is using that?

I've seen a proposal to that. I think the design is still being finalized. My understanding is like you say it is staff. There may be some VIP parking down there. The teams specifically will have access to that as I understand.

When visiting teams and concerts and their entourage come in those large buses, we call them tour buses, where will they park to let off all of their people in the bus and the equipment and then where will they park, where will they remain after that?

I expect all of that to be within the footprint of the building. And so, where that access point is I would suspect it's along the stricken right-of-way of Filbert Street, but we'll need to see more detail as the proposal develops.

Now, we get a lot of we got to see more details --

Well, I think the main thing is it's not on street -- they're not going to pull onto Market Street and let people out. That's not something that we would permit. So it's not going to be on 11th Street. It's not going to be on 10th Street. It's a process of elimination. It's probably going to be on Filbert Street, but that point of access needs to be designed. And so, where that point of access is I think we'll have to see what they come back with. But my understanding is that that underground portion would be from that right-of-way.

Okay. Third question, just to clarify, you believe in the arena District that the police overtime for traffic will not be paid for out of the City's General Fund; is that right?

I read what I thought was plain English in the draft of the traffic event management plan that the Sixers will be responsible for staffing police and other personnel both at the arena and at locations in the area that might be affected by traffic.

Even when it's not a Sixers game and when it's a concert or another event?

So I'm using the term Sixers broadly. The ArenaCo I think is the moniker they're using now. That would be their responsibility.

Okay. We'd love to get clarity on that. Thank you, Council President.

Yeah, we're going to get clarity on it. And I would think the same contribution that they would provide in South Philadelphia, in the event that this move forward if they're not there, that same percentage that they're paying I think would shift to a different area, but we have to get clarity for it. But I would think common sense would say I was paying it before I would still pay in the future but not just at the same location. The Chair recognizes the Minority Leader Brooks.

Thank you, Council President. And I'm guessing you're the right person for this question this time. So the last time members of the Administration and the Sixers have testified, they both said that they'll be open to further negotiations around the CBA? Has there been any proposed changes different from Councilmember Squilla's bill today to the CBA?

I can't speak to any changes. I'm not aware of changes.

So the vote today, does that eliminate conversations around any changes to the CBA?

I don't see why it would. It really is just Council assuming the authority to incorporate an Arena Services District.

So conversations around the CBA or improvements to that is still open?

I would say so, yes.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you very much. At this time I want to thank you, Michael Carroll, for your testimony.

Thank you.

Mr. Christmas, please call the next panel.

Bill 7 McKinney, Walette Carter, Michael Caine, Jeffrey Doshna, please come forward. Bill McKinney, Walette Carter, Michael Caine and Jeffrey Doshna. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)

Thank you very much. Please begin your testimony.

So I'm here in place of Walette Carter. My name is Kimberly Wilson. Good morning. I am a Girls' High graduate, 250. I'm also the President of the Hill Freeman World Academy Home and School Association and the Vice- president of Membership and Engagement for the School District of Philadelphia's Home and School Council. As a North Philly resident, I want to thank my Councilman Jay Young for not rushing to a decision on the proposed Sixers arena and for asking questions that all Philadelphians have right now. I come to you with a deep concern for the future of our students, our schools and our communities in Philadelphia. In my role I visit schools all across Philadelphia reminding families that they have a voice. PHSC reps have been in close to a dozen schools already this year helping parents organize and talk through solutions to problems no one should have to deal with. I've worked with HSA to address issues like broken boilers that leave kids in freezing classrooms without heat, cafeterias with paint chipping on walls, missing ceiling tiles in classrooms and common spaces, schools with broken accessibility ramps and bathrooms and playgrounds that have not been upgraded since I graduated from high school almost years 9 ago. 10 Every day teachers and 11 students in the city go to rundown 12 school buildings and ask why this 13 city isn't paying attention to how a 14 new generation is being educated. 15 Families talk to HSA leaders about 16 their fears of how this will impact 17 SEPTA and those who rely on public 18 transportation. SEPTA is struggling 19 to meet current demand and has 20 testified that it will not be able to accommodate the additional traffic generated by the arena without reducing services on other critical routes. The buses, trains and trolleys that many of our students rely on to get to school could be cut or rerouted to make space for arena-goers and this is simply unacceptable. Families are worried about school closings and shrinking budgets. There are questions about the tax breaks the Sixers arena will get while homeowners like me see property taxes rise. We cannot build schools -- we cannot build great schools solely off of the backs of residents while the biggest developers go tax-free. The Sixers and every developer in the city should be helping to build every school to ensure Philadelphia has healthy, safe, accessible and well- equipped spaces for our students where our students can learn and thrive. In closing, what we need is for you to slow down this process, think carefully about the long-term effects of this proposal because as a city, we should be prioritizing our children's future and not prioritizing a new entertainment venue. The promise of economic revitalization around the arena is far from guaranteed and this arena project is not for our children, our students or their families. They deserve equity and fairness, not empty promises from billionaire investors, and we as a city need to show that we are willing to make the right choice for them now and for generations to come. Thank you.

Thank you. Please state your name for the record. Please begin, sir.

My name is Michael Caine. I'm the Pastor at Old First Reformed United Church of Christ at 4th and Race in Old City and I also serve as the Board Co-chair with Imam Abdul Hassan of POWER Interfaith. It's good to be here today. POWER is Pennsylvania's largest faith-based organizing effort in Philly. We represent 55 Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim congregations in 9 out of 10 Councils. I'm testifying today to oppose Bill 240964 which creates the Arena Services District. POWER is 1 of 21 affiliates of Power Switch Action, a national network of local organizations, working to realize multi-racial democracy in our cities. Power Switch Action, formerly known as the Partnership for Working Families, is the nation's leading organization on community benefits agreements, CBAs. They've pioneered the concept of CBAs in the early 2000s. They've represented community-based coalitions for over two decades in negotiating CBAs and they've authorized seminal guidance and served as consulting experts for organizations and entities on government at every level. Power Switch Action has prepared for POWER Interfaith the following testimony on the proposed 76 CBA. There's three points only: First, the monetary value of the Community Benefits Agreement falls woefully short of that of other major sports venues CBAs. Just at the level of the total dollar value, the CBA provides an alleged 50 million in contributions, only half of which are directed to the project's impacts. In contrast, the community benefit plan for the LA Clippers new arena provided 100 million in community benefits and the CBA for the Nashville MLS Soccer Stadium was valued at over 75 million. In addition, compared to other CBAs the distributions are spread out over such a length of time and required to cover such a broad range of significant impacts that the actual effect of many of the expenditures will likely be negligible. For example, $3 million in total expenditures we've been -- sure. 3 million in total expenditures over 20-plus year term for traffic impacts. We've been talking about them. Similar, 3 million in total expenditures over 20-plus year term for housing. A second problem with the 76 Place proposal is it does nothing to ensure that all of the promised non-construction jobs will be good jobs. And finally, it's critical to point out that the Mayor's proposal has co-opted the CBA concept by leaving the community out of both negotiation and implementation. Other major CBAs, including for those basketball arenas in LA and Milwaukee, are either directly negotiated and enforced by community-based coalitions, are overseen by commissions or committees consisting entirely of community representatives or both. POWER Interfaith implores City Council to negotiate a real community benefits agreement before passing this legislation, a CBA that's reflective of other major CBAs nationwide and meets the needs of communities here in Philadelphia that'll be so negatively affected by this arena. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Please begin your testimony, ma'am.

Oh, no. You can go.

Sir, please begin your testimony. MR. McKINNEY: Thank you for having us. Thank you, President Johnson. My name is Bill McKinney. I'm a Kensington resident, an employee of New Kensington Community Development Corporation. I'm also a Black developer who hires union labor and recognize we can do better with this whole process that we've been engaged in here. I'm here because I have a number of concerns about process and outcomes of building an arena Chinatown adjacent. I have concerns with the community engagement process. I have concerns with the Community Benefits Agreement. I'm concerned about the precedence of continuing to make decisions for communities rather than with communities. I also selfishly have concerns that if we don't address these issues here, we will continue to allow them to happen throughout the city. I come here as someone who lives and works in Kensington, which is a community that has historic had things done to us rather than with us. I am incredibly familiar with poor benefit community benefit agreements. And these sort of moments have led to situations where we do not have positive outcomes and lead to us to continue to have to fight the negative outcomes that are the result. I'm here because I'm concerned that we have never truly had a strategy to support Black and Brown labor in the city and instead we are now operating from a downstream position of pitting one community against another in order to cover our historical failure to systemically support labor. I'm here because we as a city continue to operate from a scarcity mindset rather than an abundance mindset. I'm concerned that our scarcity mindset tells us that we have to support one group through suffering of another. It is a nasty circle. It doesn't have to be this way. Neither has to suffer. I'm here because I'm questioning the engagement process and reminded that if we accept a flawed process here, that process will continue to be applied in other communities throughout the city. I am concerned that this conversation will come to your districts and your constituents will be the new unheard and no one will stand in solidarity as their interest are trampled. I recognize that our scarcity mindset makes us fear rather than embrace truly participatory strategies. I speak from experience and from the very real bruises of decades of implementing truly participatory processes in communities and know that these processes are incredibly labor-intensive, emotionally taxing and lengthy in execution, but also recognize that when done properly these results are sustainable, community-based outcomes. I recognize the time. What I want us to recognize is that a truly participatory process acknowledges the strengths within our communities, invest powers in residents and co-creating solutions. Community-led solutions are more sustainable because they are owned by those most affected by the outcomes. We understand that when looking at a ladder of increased participation, the bottom is token participation which gives community a short-term sense of being heard, engaging in processes and being at the table while in reality these are often tactics utilized to quiet displeasure and disagreement and mask already existing plans while retraumatizing community. The result of that flawed process is a community benefits agreement negotiated without the community and lacking adequate value. When we don't implement participatory practices, the result is something being done to a community not with a community. That is the theme, and that causes trauma to a community. I'm concerned that we are dismissive of the trauma that we have inflicted whereas a top-down single strategy approach is retraumatizing. A comprehensive participatory approach is a healing for the community. And I want us to succeed as a city. I want us to prosper, but that will not happen through fear-based top-down strategies masquerading as progress.

It will also not happen when we put profits over people, and power is not shared but is held by political and economic forces. We don't want to continue to traumatize communities as we have in the past. Just as we have traumatized the Black and Brown worker through neglect, we don't want to feed the scarcity mindsets which says one or the other eats. Rather we all have better meals together. We have the opportunity to pause and reset. We have the opportunity to address the trauma we created by doing something to a community, be it Chinatown or Kensington, and addressing through creating, and addressing safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment with the opportunity to set a new precedent that we will not traumatize communities and then retraumatize them by essentially minimizing what they are experiencing. We have the opportunity to apologize for our historical lack of support of Black labor and to build strategy that isn't on the backs of our vulnerable communities and with the opportunity to co-create a community benefits agreement with those most impacted by an arena, wherever that may be. We have the opportunity to be known for committing to trauma-informed participatory processes that yield great success for all. Thank you for the time.

Thank you, Bill. State your name for the record. Please begin.

Good morning, Council President, members of Council. My name is Jeffrey Doshna. I'm an Associate Professor and head of the City Planning and Community Development programs at Temple University. I'm an AICP planner and have been a member of the Faculty at Temple for the past years. I'm also the proud 19 President of AFT Local 4531, the 20 Temple Association of University Professionals, representing over 2,000 union members. I'm standing here today providing testimony as someone who is pro-job, pro-union and against this project. I want to focus my short time this morning on the notion that this project can happen without public support. It's simply not true. This talking point from developers of the project needs to be addressed directly. The very fact that City Council is sitting here this morning hearing testimony for myself and others is because the project cannot happen without your support. When anyone wants to build anything that runs counter to our long-developed plans, whether it's the Philadelphia 2035 plan, the different District 18 plans, all the zoning ordinances, all of the overlays, all of the other districts that we've done that have been crafted over time with stakeholder input from hundreds and hundreds of people, any time anyone wants to do something that deviates from that, they've got to come and ask for permission. And sometimes it's a small deviation like my house is too close to a property line, and sometimes it's a mid-sized deviation like I want to add an extra story to this housing project and sometimes it's something like this, a massive redevelopment project in Center City. It's a cornerstone to how planning happens that any time anyone wants permission to violate the standing rules, they've got to come and ask for that permission from the governing body. They are asking to bend the rules for relief from some of these ordinances because they're essentially asking to break the law just a little bit. It's how we do planning work. And for minor things, we tend to grant permission because it advances the public goods without having too much negative impact. But that means that whenever anyone is asking for zoning relief, what they're asking for is public support of a project. The developers can respond by saying that they're not seeking any public financial support, but this is not true. There are several areas, and I know my time is short, but I want to highlight where the City is being asked to provide financial support: The first is the land itself, and the land lease reflects that the developers would be paying a fraction of what fair market rent would be if they had to purchase or lease it on their own without the City being involved. The second, already mentioned this morning, is the impact on Septa operations at Jefferson Station. Others can speak about that in more detail, but it will put a system that is already in serious financial bind under further stress. Third will be the real cost to the City just testified to a moment ago for increased police, fire, EMS that this project will bring. And if we are willing to believe the rosy projections about increased non-game events in the area of 30 or more nights a year, we're going to have to deploy resources to this site. The most important fact is that this project features a PILOT, payment in lieu in taxes. Now, yes, PILOTS are used regularly as a tool to help redevelopment projects happen. However they're structured, the fundamental premise behind a PILOT is that the developer is getting a break on the taxes that they would have otherwise paid. We can make it more complicated than that. And this one, certainly as being drafted, certainly is. But at the core, that's what a PILOT is. It's a subsidy by the municipality to a private entity so that a project gets built. And again, this project can only happen if there's public support. So I'm going to ask everyone to review the testimony that's been already given.

And just to wrap things up, there's one more point I want to make. In my class last week my graduate economic development seminar, we dove deep into all of the published reports. We went into all of the details and all the assumptions. And one of my students asked a really important question, what happens when the team is lousy. The part of the myth of stadium and arena construction is that there's a spillover effect in the local neighborhood, that local bars and restaurants and other nearby businesses will prosper with increased customers on game day. In almost all the cases we've got good data for, those pre-build estimates tend to be overstated as compared to what actually happens. In fact, even these studies here talk about half the businesses in Chinatown being negatively impacted. What my student wanted to know what happens to those local business that might be on the upside when the team is doing badly and no one wants to go to the game, right. The billionaire owners will have already gotten their money from season tickets, from luxury boxes, from advertising long-term licensing deals even if the team is lousy. But what about those local businesses. What happens to them when no one is actually going to the game when the team is say and 13. Thank you. )

Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.

Are we done with the testimony?

Yes, we're done. So we will be at recess -- the young lady let someone speak on her behalf. She's at the table for questioning. We will be at recess until 1:45. Thank you. (Lunch recess.)

Thank all of you for being here today. We will continue our public comment and we have two panels to come up and then we'll also continue open comment for the public. Thank all the members for being here. Mr. Christmas, can you please call the next panel please.

Would Mary Yee, Akanke Washington and Gail Loney, please come forward. You will each have two minutes to speak. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)

Again, that's Mary Yee, Akanke Washington and Gail Loney, please.

Please state your name for the record and please begin.

Good afternoon, Council President, Councilmembers, members of the public and John Christian -- John Christmas. My name is Mary Yee. I've been involved in urban planning and public education and immigrant issues for over 50 years in Philadelphia. I've been an advocate and organizer for the Chinatown community since the struggle over the Vine Street Expressway alignment. Since then the community has been continually threatened by projects, some of which we've been able to prevent from seriously jeopardizing our community and some we've had to tolerate. For instance, Independence Mall 4, the Community Rail Tunnel, Market Street East, the Phillies Baseball Stadium, the Convention Center, the Federal prison and before the arena, the (inaudible) casino. S. A walk through Chinatown north and south of Vine Street will attest to the social, economic and institutional activity of our neighborhood. So I want to say that the Chinatown community, over 93 percent of people who came to public meetings and answered a survey are against the arena and have committed not to sign a community benefits agreement. Why? Because we believe that the arena is an existential threat, that there's no mitigation that can really make us whole. So why is the arena a bad idea? First of all, the site is too small. Okay. That's one reason. Inga Saffron talked about this. And the second reason is that the volume of traffic and people that will come because of the games is voluminous and detrimental to economic activities, especially small retail, as well as the traffic and parking that's necessary for these businesses to survive during game and large event days. Now, the thing too is that the arena will only be occupied for 90 or optimistically 150 days with events. Other than that it is a vacant hulk, right. We talk about the failings of the Fashion District, but the Fashion District now even has a lot more foot traffic and retail activity than the arena would. Okay. Now the other thing is that there's been a lot of public comment and outcry about the arena, and I'm hoping that folks here have tuned into that. We had two marches that had 3,000 to 4,000 people marching from Chinatown to City Hall. We also have other people speaking out like Howard Eskin and WIP, who had done a poll that said 79 percent of their fans who answered that were not for the arena being placed in Center City. Our own Save China Coalition survey between Christmas and January 2024 had 2,000 respondents. This was an informal voluntary survey that asked people what they would like as an alternative to the arena. This data we can discuss in more detail with people if we have private meetings with you. I think one of the main things is that we have no vision as a city for Market Street East. Okay. Isn't this the job of City Planning officials in the Administration? Why was there not an investigation why Market Street East and the Fashion District failed? What land uses would work and really bring life to this part of the city? Is the arena project inspiring? Well, the Civic Design Review Committee didn't think so. They said it was essentially half- baked and pretty boring. Now, common sense will tell us since I mentioned how many days the arena would be occupied. And in terms of jobs, yes, there are construction jobs that will be full-time during demolition and construction and part-time jobs for the concessionaires in the arena. But other than that, we're not talking about a lot of full-time long-term jobs. Okay. There's more going on in the Fashion District right now than what the arena proposes in terms of foot traffic and economic activity. So why can't the City issue an RFP for a master plan? So the question is why should the City lock itself into a commitment for a predominantly singular land use that will take five to seven years to build and have a lifespan of to 30 years. I think the City risks a third debacle on Market Street East.

5 It seems clear that big money is 6 driving this train. Are we allowing 7 billionaires to make public policy 8 rather than looking at citizens, 9 people who are ordinary working 10 people and taxpayers and what 11 benefits them? 12 I wanted to say a couple 13 words about the Community Benefits 14 Agreement. At best, it's a 15 misnomer. At worst, it is a 16 fabrication or a lie. The community 17 was not part of this. Moreover, the 18 $50 million that the Sixers promised 19 is not even this year's salary for 20 Joel Embiid, which is 55, and he has 21 the contract for the next three 22 years for 65 a year. So this is an 23 insult really to us that there's a 24 $50 million proposal for a CBA. )

Ms. Yee.

So the only thing I want to say about that is that is chump change.

Thank you, Ms. Yee. But, Ms. Yee, you got to wrap it up.

So please do not contribute to the death spiral of SEPTA or the death knell of Chinatown.

Thank you, Ms. Yee. Thank you very much. Ms. Washington.

Good afternoon. My name is Akanke. I am a Social Study Specialist for the School District of Philadelphia. History, all right, history curriculum. So I want to ask us to think historically. I'll start. Malcolm X said, Of all our studies history is best qualified to reward our research. He said this because studying history is supposed to help us not repeat the mistakes of the past. Here in Philadelphia many of us know the history of Black communities in West Philadelphia being displaced by urban renewal policies. Those are policies that people voted on, they agreed on. These policies offered federal funding and tax abatements to developers who were supposed to develop affordable housing and bring jobs. They did not. Communities were destroyed. And we talk about the unintended consequences of these policies, but now we know. And if that example is too far removed or we can't relate to it because those developers were not arena developers, I'd like to offer you another example. The plan for the 76ers to build the arena on top of a vibrant community mirrors the construction of the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. The tale of the Barclay Center has been woven to describe this development as a response to a community's desire for a Brooklyn basketball team, the Nets. Nobody wanted the Nets. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When you drive to downtown Brooklyn now and gaze upon the monstrous building on top of the old Navy Yard, there's nothing there to remind you of the vision before the community lost its battle to the rich. Where the Barclay Center now sits was initially supposed to be an Atlantic Yard development, a 10-year project that would provide thousands of units of affordable housing. Bruce Ratner used the development company Forest City Ratner to purchase the area and as usual, he promised affordable housing, development and jobs. The original proposal was never realized. What was ushered in was the Barclay Center. The developers brought in Jay-Z, a rapper from Brooklyn who's also now promoting vouchers, as a progressive and he became part owner of Brooklyn Nets and the Barclay Center. The development was sold as revitalization of downtown Brooklyn. It is clear how the development was good for them, but the community knew that the development would increase traffic and cause rents to skyrocket, ushering in gentrification. The very polite word for ethnic cleansing and displacement. The community fought it. They protested. They filed lawsuits. The Barclay Center still went up. In June 2016 developers offered a lottery for affordable 5 apartments, only 10. The community 6 was given 10 apartments for $10 7 million in tax credits and 8 abatements. To date, the residents 9 in Brooklyn have an ongoing battle 10 with the arena over noise and traffic that they swore would not happen. Although the City issues fines, they're not enough to make the developers make substantial changes. As Brooklyn revitalization in 2023, the Barclay Center reported a loss of $76 million. So we have to remember the community didn't get their jobs, they didn't get their apartments and they're losing money. So the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. There is a pattern of this. And if we let it go on, we can't say unintended consequences anymore. (Applause.)

Thank you very much. State your name for the record and please begin.

Hello. My name is Gail Loney. I am a resident of the 5th Councilmanic District. I am very familiar with the fight around stadiums and community benefits agreements. I was a participant in the battle with Temple University and a 35,000 seat stadium in North Central Philadelphia which they have just conceded, okay. But in addition in 2008, there was an introduction of a CBA being amended and some of the Councilpeople are still here, some of them are not. And myself and a group from my RCO, which is the Uptown Entertainment Development Corporation, rewrote a CBA to say this is what communities need with regards to CBAs. I'm not going to sit here and retout because my colleagues did an amazing job letting you guys know that we did our homework as individuals and community members on what this is all about. We learned what we needed to learn and we researched what we needed to research so that we could come here and talk to you guys and let you know this is not our job. This is our passion. The problem here is there is no communication going back and forth. It's a one-sided communication. And the CBA is not a CBA if the community is not engaged or involved. You cannot keep ramming things and information in places in neighborhoods where people live whether their neighborhood is decimated or whether they have the most prestigious neighborhood. You don't want a stadium in your prestigious neighborhood. I don't want a stadium in my neighborhood either, especially when you have not come to me and said, let's sit down at the table together and talk and exchange ideas. This city has to become more creative and more inclusive of the constituencies that you are representing. It is very traumatizing and it's very disrespectful. When we come here we try to give Council respect. We voted for you guys to represent us and we feel disrespected when you don't represent us in the way that we deserve. We fight every day for what we have and we don't have a lot, but we are here. We are fighting for what we have and we deserve better from you as our Councilpeople. Thank you. (Applause.)

Clair Wan, Sonya Chen, Leana Cabral. Are you deferring your time? I'm calling the next panel.

Oh.

Oh.

The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.

My question is for Ms. Loney. Thank you so much for coming to speak with us today. I really respect and admire your work and your community's fight. I wanted to know if you can expound and talk more about the similarities and differences between this arena proposal and the proposed stadium in North Philadelphia? For example, in terms of the community engagement process, the community benefits agreement, job projections as well as the potential negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods what similarities and differences do you see?

The similarities are the same. We were told the same story. The stadium would provide jobs for the community. We're doing this -- and let me go here. Temple University owned the land that the stadium was to go on, but they are not a neighbor. They were not neighborly. They still are not neighborly. Okay. And let's be real, that that's a real thing. Okay. And that's very, very important. When you select and cherry-pick who you want to talk to, that's not cool either. That's disrespectful, because there is a community there that really exists. It might not be the community that you guys see or in your community, but it is a community there. Okay. So they told us that they will provide jobs for the neighborhood and it would bring in additional jobs for the community. They did not talk about the traffic. They didn't want to talk about the traffic. They wanted to close off the street, okay, which meant that the state had to approve a street being closed. And you're talking to people in the neighborhood who you disrespect and said, oh, don't go beyond 18th and Diamond Street because the neighborhood and the neighbors around there are just terrible people. They don't have jobs. They're a bunch of drug addicts, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. Okay. But that neighborhood produced police officers, firefighters, great teachers, teachers who are still there, you know, and I ain't no slouch either. Okay. I live there. I grew up there. Okay. So they told us all of this, but we pounded them. We pounded them. We asked for meetings. We asked to come to their meetings. They wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't let us know when they had meetings so we had to just, you know, kind of bum-rushed them. Yeah, we had people who were there. Their unions worked with us. Their students worked with us. They told us when they were having meetings so we could show up. We tried to get information. We even had a meeting with them where they were going to tell us -- you don't tell people in the neighborhood that you were supposed to be sharing space with. You don't tell people. You're supposed to talk to people. Okay. No, we're not the brightest light bulbs in the box, but neither were they, and this is the same situation.

Well, you seem pretty bright to me. Thank you so much for your work and for being here. Thank you, Council President. (Applause.)

Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. The sister said, I ain't no slouch. I know that's right.

Will Claire Wan, Sonya Chen and Leana Cabral, please come forward. Claire Wan, Sonya Chen and Leana Cabral, please come forward. You'll have two minutes to speak. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)

Just state your name for the record and please begin your testimony.

Thank you. Can everyone hear me? My name is Claire. Good morn -- good afternoon, Council and members of the public. I'm a teacher and I have taught K and 1 for years. D. candidate at Penn's Graduate School of Education. In Philadelphia I work at the Ginger Arts Center in Chinatown that serves high school and college youth from across the city. Between 2012 and 2013, the District closed 30 schools. 35 billion budget deficit. As a result, absences and suspensions increased significantly for displaced students. But this is not an issue of the past, as our school board is once again revisiting mass school closures as a solution to our lack of funding and school crisis. Our students often share their experiences, school closures, overcrowded classrooms, no books, no 12 air-conditioning or heating, asbestos in our walls and a host of other structural issues. Our school facilities and the deteriorating conditions remain to be one of our city's most urgent issues. Where are the plans to prioritize our students, the future of Philadelphia? Why do billionaire developers get more benefits than them in this deal? As a result of the proposed agreement, the billionaire developers are able to cut a deal under the guise of the PILOT as being a generous gesture to our schools, when in actuality our city would be granting them a massive tax break. They are robbing our city's children and families of a quality education. They negotiated a deal to pay our schools less than 3 million a year, again at the cost of our students. It is important to note, as some of our Councilmembers have astutely pointed out, there are clear discrepancies in these projections. 7 million. 8 per year with escalators with the School Board. But based on the 2023 and 2024 school budget, this promise and vague PILOT amount and plan is only enough to support about 125 students per year, 125. 06 percent of our public school's population. And based on the legislation, it is unclear when the PILOTs will begin and how long they will last. Why should our families, students and teachers trust these promises after what the Sixers did in Camden. Based on the new valuation of the arena if they pay traditional taxes, they would have to pay at least 871 million, assuming 0 percent inflation. 5 billion. 56 -- respectfully other panelists have had six minutes. I would like to claim my time -- 56 percent, as I was saying 56 percent of the City's property tax revenue would and should go to the School District. If they paid full property tax, the Philadelphia School District would get at least 400 million over the next few decades. Instead developers are only paying 50 million, possibly more, but that's unclear as we've heard. That's a minimum of 350 million that they're actively choosing not to put into our schools and you, if you allow this arena to be built. Given that it took $44 million to build Philly's last school, the Sixers $350 million tax break cheats Philly out of eight schools. That's almost 5,000 students without healthy, safe classrooms so billionaires can get richer. However, the arena's value, like most real estate, will likely go up over their lease. So the tax savings the billionaires will likely be even more. How is it fair that some of our most vulnerable populations, our young children and youth, have to sacrifice their futures for this project that will ultimately take funding they rightfully deserve and urgently need from them? Our students and future generations deserve better. 5 million last year, but also fund local transit 27 million upfront for the transit stop construction and about 10 million each year based on the Warriors revenue. 76 Place developers have a choice to do better for our schools and they are choosing not to. Instead they are holding the schools hostages forcing the City to accept whatever deal they put on the table. Instead of advocating for our schools are we supposed to just take whatever deal these developers stronghold us into accepting?

These billionaire developers won't pay their due taxes and our schools, families and students are those who ultimately suffer the consequences and foot the bill. Mayor Parker cited a return on investment for supporting the arena, but studies show that education significantly improves economic growth and when we invest in our people, skills, creativity and innovative capacities. Investing in quality education for all of our students only benefits our city's economic and health outcomes. So as our elected officials, you are meant to be the champions for our school kids and our students deserve you fighting for more. We all agree that our schools need more funding, we do, but this, this is a low-ball offer to one of our city's most pressing issues. People want long-term policy solutions, not a temporary corporate bailout. Thank you. )

Thank you. Ms. Chen, state your name for the record and please begin.

Good afternoon, Council President, Councilmembers and staff and members of the public. My name is Sonya Chen and I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania where I researched the politics of race and racial inequality. D. in politics and social policy and have lived in the Philadelphia area for almost seven years. 76 DevCo has repeatedly claimed that the proposed arena will create 9,000 jobs. It sounds like a pretty great promise, but that's all it is, a promise. Why are we taking this number at face value when the study that allegedly produced this number has not been released to the public? If 76 DevCo is so confident in all the jobs it will create, then it should have nothing to hide. Meanwhile the City's own economic study projects 710 jobs. But according to the study's sensitivity analysis, it could be as few as 490 jobs, over 32 years. That would be 15 new jobs a year, a far cry from the claims of 76 DevCo. When we only think in terms of the arena's impact on new jobs, we don't account for the numbers of jobs lost. What happens to the workers in the third of the Fashion District the arena will displace? What happens to the workers at the 50 percent of Chinatown businesses that the City's community impact study projected would be negatively affected? 76 DevCo has touted its economic opportunity plan for a divers workforce. But what about the already diverse workforce here in Center City that stands to lose their jobs. Without a proper economic impact study that assesses the net impact on jobs in Center City, it is simply irresponsible to move forward with the arena proposal. 76 DevCo has also touted its economic opportunity plan as a boon for communities of color. Every year the City assesses the success rates of active economic opportunity plans that are meant to promote the meaningful participation of minority-, women- and disabled- owned businesses. In 2023, according to the City's own number, only 39 percent of projects met their EOP goals. In 2022 the number was 36 percent. That means two out of three economic opportunity plans failed, and 76 DevCo will almost certainly fail as well given their history of failure to live up to their promises to Black and Brown businesses. In 2024 according to 76 DevCo's own reporting, just 3 percent of all its total vendors and suppliers were certified minority- owned. To understand what might very well happen here in Philadelphia when we hand developers hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for a hollow promise of jobs, we can look to Camden. What happened after the city gave multiple corporations hundreds of millions of dollars in these tax breaks including the 76ers practice facility? Camden's budget deficit ballooned draining money from public schools and infrastructure improvement, all for nine jobs they created for Camden residents. Let me repeat that again. The Sixers promised nearly 300 jobs to Camden residents and today there are nine. The argument for the -- respectfully the first panel today had one hour so I think we can take a few more minutes. The argument for the proposed arena relies on the creation of false choices that we don't have to accept. They say if you don't choose the arena Market East will continue to be dilapidated. They say if you don't choose the arena, there won't be jobs. But the truth is there are still so many unanswered questions about the true economic impact of 76 Place. What are the long-term effects of given a 600 million tax break to 76 DevCo for the City's budget deficit? Can 76 DevCo really live up to its lofty promises of meaningfully including minority- owned workers and businesses in this project when their track records says otherwise. And will there even be a net gain in jobs at all? Let us not forget the playbook of pitting Black and Asian workers against one another has long been used in American history. And it is your responsibility, Council, to refuse to be a part of that history. )

Because the only people who stand to gain from pitting workers against one another are the White billionaires whose net worth is almost certainly greater than every single person in this room right now combined. (Applause.)

We don't have to look far to see that American trust in government is at an all-time low. But what is the one part of government that the American people still have trust in. It is local government. The very office the people of Philadelphia voted you into to represent our interests, but this trust has to be earned and nurtured. What happens if the people of Philadelphia, 70 percent of whom who oppose the arena, watch you rush through a proposal with so many unanswered questions. If you move forward without the necessary due diligence, it would irrevocably destroy the very fabric of our local democracy for years to come. Thank you. (Applause.)

State your name for the record and please begin your testimony.

My name is Leana Cabral. Good afternoon. I am a Philly resident, education scholar and a senior research associate at Research for Action in Philadelphia. I'm also the mother of a Philly student. I'm here this afternoon to express my deep concern about the unwanted changes this arena would bring to our city and the moral compass of a City Council that would choose an arena over its citizens. The main selling points of an arena, construction jobs, economic revitalization of the area and increased tax revenue for the city are unlikely. The one certainty is that a new arena owned and operated by the ownership group of the 76ers would increase the wealth of that small group of individuals tenfold. That's the only guarantee. Meanwhile amid the wealth that numbers were talking about, an NBA franchise valued at 4 billion, an owner who brags about a six-figure wine collection as art, our city's school children are facing a new round of school closings. Research shows that individual children in Philadelphia schools struggle to access even the most basic needs, clean drinking water, air-conditioner, safe spaces to play, and here we are rushing a process for a state-of-the-art playground for billionaires rather than thinking through what priorities can actually be met by development. This city, our schools and our students cannot afford the potential billion in lost tax revenue a new arena could bring and the 50 million CBA deal that the Mayor negotiated would not begin to meet the needs of Philadelphia's public schools, a new arena in a school district that has a shortage of counselors, outdated facilities, asbestos and a lack of modern instructional materials, a new arena in a district that has only one full-time librarian, one full-time librarian. Consider this data point: In the last year in Philadelphia only percent of public school 15 students participated in school 16 athletics compared to 53 percent of 17 students in the rest of the state's 18 public schools. Philadelphia spent $94 per student on athletics compared to the rest of the state's average of 365 per student. We know that Philadelphia has always been one of the most inadequately-funded school districts in the Commonwealth. Put simply, Philadelphia cannot support a new arena. We cannot afford to bankroll millionaires. It's them or our students. Who are you going to choose? Despite continual claims from team owners that building new stadiums will result in economic boons and employment growth, research consistently shows that it is not a sound investment and does not result in the economic benefits initially promised. Those who stand a profit from a new arena in Chinatown are few in number. Please, please put people and our children over them. Thank you. (Applause.)

The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips.

Thank you, Council President. I just heard testimony about the School District of Philadelphia in connection to the arena. I was wondering if you could just elaborate a little bit more about how the arena is connected to the School District of Philadelphia's investment in terms of dollars and funds? I don't want to hear from your perspective. You just spoke on it.

Well, I'll start. But I wonder if you'd like to contribute. I mean, I would say that we're one city, right, with certain investments that we need to make and this would result in lost tax revenue that would impact the School District.

How would it result in lost tax revenue?

How would what?

What are your findings on the lost tax revenue for the School District?

I'm citing the study that was done that said the potential revenue and lost taxes could be around 1 billion. That's not my -- I did not do that data analysis myself but I'm pulling it from the study. Also, the CBA deal and PILOTs in general are terrible for our city and our schools as we've seen before. Did you have anything about --

Yeah. So that -- is my mic on? Thank you. I believe you're citing the study done by Arthur Acolin. Last name A-c-o-l-i-n. He actually was a panelist a couple of sessions ago. But to your question, I just wanted to reiterate to your point earlier 56 percent of our City's property tax revenue goes to our School District, right. We all should know that. And so, when we think about the arena and the tax revenue that it would make and also then therefore the tax break that we would be affording the billionaires, that's money that's directly taken from a school district. (Applause.)

Thank you very much for your testimony. Mr. Christmas, will you please call the next panel please.

Would Dawud Bey, Patrick Zhang and Jenna Osman please come forward. Again, Dawud Bey, Patrick Zhang, Jena Osman, please come forward. You will each have two minutes to speak. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)

Please state your name for the record and please begin your testimony.

Hi, Councilmembers. My name is Patrick Zhang. I've been a Philadelphia area resident for almost two decades. So you've heard that the arena will devastate the city, but what you should also know is that the arena will also -- the arena will also destroy the soul of minority communities not just within Philadelphia but miles outside the City limits. I grew up in the western Philadelphia suburb, so admittedly Chinatown is not my hometown but it was a life raft. As a young impressionable child of immigrants growing up in the more homogeneous suburbs, my environment taught me that my identity, my background were burdens to repress or insecurities to erase. So I struggled every day to accept who I am, which resulted in failing mental health, social isolation and poor academic performance. But it was not until I was a teenager independently venturing into Chinatown to work, hang out and eat when things began to change. Learning about the history of the neighborhood and witnessing the community fostered there, for the first time in my life I was authentically proud of my Asian American identity, my Chinese American identity to be specific. Through Chinatown I was exposed to the languages, the traditions, the art and cuisine of my heritage not found in such a concentration anywhere else regionally. Chinatown allowed me to feel better connected to my family, my ancestors and my community. But most importantly, Chinatown taught me empowerment and self-love. And I would not be who I am now without the Chinatown that exists today. However, it has been consistently predicted that the neighborhood's businesses and community institutions will be smothered by the arena if it is allowed to be built. The 76ers Place will consequently harm Asian immigrant communities, yes, within Philadelphia but also in the greater Philly region and beyond. It's not just Chinatown that needs Chinatown and it's not just Philly that needs Chinatown, but hundreds in the greater region who feel lost or ashamed of who they are, those of a diaspora who are uprooted and perhaps only know the value of their heritage through Chinatown. They all, we all need this neighborhood to not only exist but to thrive, because minorities and immigrants exist in American society which intends to beat us down. And as Councilmembers, I hope you may protect the people that you represent, especially vulnerable minority communities, by preserving the few spaces that they have left for their well-being. Everyone deserves the dignity to exist without shame, and Chinatown grants Asian immigrant communities within and outside of Philadelphia that dignity. And it's for this reason as well as everything else that you've heard today in the past few days that you must not allow the development of the 76ers Place. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you. Please state your name for the record and begin your testimony.

How are you doing. My name is Dawud Bey and I wanted to first thank you guys for allowing this type of platform to give multiple people opportunity to speak as it relates to how this is going to impact multiple communities --

Speak into the microphone.

Yep. Multiple communities within Philadelphia. I have a statement that I want to read, but I promise you it won't take as long as others. But at the end of the day I want to speak from my statement but I also want to add some context to behind what I'm saying. As President of Fine Print Construction, a certified minority business enterprise, I'm thrilled to hear of Mayor Cherelle Parker's approval of the Philadelphia 76ers state-of-the-art arena in Market East area. This $1.9 billion investment is just the beginning of a transformative economic opportunity that will benefit the entire city of Philadelphia. If we play our cards right, we can leverage this $1.9 billion project into over $20 billion in economic impact. Philadelphia has large commercial buildings that are underutilized. And truly to be a first class city, we need an area -- an arena downtown. The vibrancy and energy of downtown contribute to the nostalgia and charm of a great city like New York and Los Angeles. The new 76ers arena will not only bring excitement and economic growth to the Market East area but will also create lasting benefits throughout the entire Philadelphia. This project represents a historic opportunity for economic inclusion, particularly for Black and Brown communities. Through a comprehensive community impact agreement, we can ensure that the benefits of this development reach those in needed -- reach those who need it most. I look forward to the opportunity this arena will bring and the role Fine Print Construction will play in helping to shape the future of this great city. Thank you. (Applause.)

I've been listening online, I've been listening on the Internet and everything related to some of the opinions about this arena and a lot of things I've really never heard yet is how would this impact this city from a cultural perspective, like bottom line. You know, we talking about Philadelphia 76ers is becoming the Camden what, I don't know what we're going to name them. But at the end of the day, I know the benefits that arenas could bring to certain communities. I'm from South Philly. We got the Sixers still. We have the Philadelphia Flyers. We have the Eagles, and our communities is beautiful. It brings our communities together actually. Going down walking from Tasker Street, Broad and Tasker, just to walk down in South Philly down in the neighborhood of the arenas, it's one of the biggest thrills in Philadelphia. So at the end of the day I just wanted to just remind us of the importance of this type of arena to come to Philadelphia, to impact our communities. And everybody love to hate New York City, right, but we love it though. We love the traffic. We love the horns. We love all the cab drivers and everything riding past putting their fingers up at us and everything. But at the end of the day in order for this to be a true first class city, every place that I done visited, they an arena right downtown. So I just wanted to encourage this panel here to support the arena and let's build baby, you know. And like the great Leon Sullivan said, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. We need jobs here in Philadelphia. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you for your testimony. Can you say your first and your last name and please begin your testimony.

My name is Jena Osman. I was born and raised in Philadelphia and I've lived in Washington Square West since 1998. My home is exactly five blocks south of the proposed arena site on Spruce Street. Thank you to the Councilmembers for taking the time to listen to the people. You should know that we're listening closely to all of you too. The whole city is watching to see where you come down on this issue and your vote on the arena will be your legacy. When the 76ers reps were here and were challenged on why their project was worth the loss of property tax dollars that could be used for our City schools and other needs, they defended their PILOT deal as standard practice that they expected to be treated just like all other arena projects. The problem is this is not like any other arena project, not just in Philadelphia but in the nation. This is the only arena project that requires 40 percent of its patrons to take public transportation so that the City does not shut down around it. This is the only arena that offers zero public space for attendees to gather anywhere near it. This is the only project without a viable pedestrian plan. This is the only arena project two blocks from the City's only Level 1 trauma center. And before you bring up San Francisco's Chase Center, please note that the hospital next to their stadium is a research hospital and their trauma center is 2 miles away. Add to that, the fact that our public transit system relies on the whims of who controls the state legislature and you have a recipe for certain disaster, not just for Chinatown but for the entire center of our city, and you all know that. You all know that there's no way to make the logistics work. To quote Councilwoman Cindy Bass, And yet here we are. Last week David Adelman posted a video tour of the LA Clippers Intuit Dome, which he called an example of what the best arenas have to offer including, an 80,000 square foot public plaza which on its own is almost half of the entire lot size of 76 Place. If he knows that that is what's best, you know it too. In the first week of testimony, I heard an arena supporter ask you to vote yes so the magic could happen. I wish I believed in that magic that this arena project could resolve our city's inequities, that it could bring opportunities to some without destroying the livelihoods and neighborhoods of others. But it won't. I urge you to respect the facts of this proposal, not the fantasy and to vote no on this project. (Applause.)

Would Cheemeng Low, Cindy Miller, Katherine Garth and Sydney Rae Chin, please come forward again. Cheemeng Low, Cindy Miller, Katherine Garth, Sydney Rae Chin, please come forward. You will each have two minutes to speak. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)

Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, and we are going to ask that you adhere to the buzzer as close as possible please. Thank you.

Hi. My name is Cheemeng Low. I'm an EMT for the last years, paramedic trainee as 5 well for the record. South of 6 Market Street there's a stroke 7 center, a burn center, Will's Eye 8 emergency room, Rothman Hospital of 9 Pennsylvania and Jefferson, keep 10 that in mind. All of those 11 wonderful facilities and the 12 providers who work there are 13 useless. We are nothing if the 14 dying patient can't come to us in 15 time. 16 I wanted to speak today 17 because the developer and the Mayor 18 of this proposed arena seem to have 19 convinced some of you that a little 20 traffic, 18,000 arena, just about 21 two blocks away from one of the 22 first trauma Level center, that 23 extra time of the ambulance is okay. 24 That's what they make you believe. But being late to the ER is the problem. Just as you know according to the City traffic study, not our study, there's multiple intersections receive a PennDOT rating less than a D and there was one getting an F in every scenario, which is at 7th and Race. The developer had changed their tune on how they deal with the pedestrian overflow about after and before the event. First, they said they're going to close 10th and 11th between Market and Arch and then we're going to keep only one lane open. And this in this hearing they say, oh, for the sake of emergency care, all lanes should maintain open. But where will the people go, the 18,000 people coming in and leaving the stadium. In our scenario if someone needs emergency care in the wrong place at the wrong time, the trip to the ER will be long and delayed. This extra minute will be difference between staying alive or death. Heart attack, stroke, gunshot, those are the ones that are dire and time-sensitive for us to tr to treat. It takes as little as five minutes for one person to bleed out. Just keep that in mind or any other trauma injuries. For stroke patients we say times equal brain. Every minute stroke happens untreated diminishes the chance of the recovery and increases chances of permanent brain damage. Everyone should be asking if this is fair for the patient to have the worst outcome because of the bad idea. Is it right for the developer to potentially cause chaos so close to the city's only Level trauma center? And one more question: Which genius thought they putting a ride share drop off-off right next to the hospital is a good idea? Whoever put this plan together, who vote through this chose to ignore the obvious. The arena is bad for the health of the Philadelphia city. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name and proceed with your testimony. And I do want to just point out that we want to stick to the two-minute bell because we don't want to lose people who have signed up to testify. If it goes on longer, then we begin to lose people who have to leave, so we just want to be respectful of everybody's time. Thank you so much.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers and President Johnson who is not here right now. My name is Cindy Miller and I'm a 40-year resident of West Philly and District 3, and my illustrious Councilmember sits here, Jamie Gauthier. And I vote and I pay taxes. The testimonies listing the hundreds of reasons as to how this arena would be a major failure and racist stain on our city have all been true. An injury to one is an injury to all, but the root of this issue is that this is a class struggle. Three billionaires who don't even live in the city represent the ruling classes versus the people, the working-class residents who have given testimony here and are not members of the money-powered ruling class. Reverend Carl Day highlighted how Black males are being left out of City project planning for the future and usually not even considered. Residents and business owners in Chinatown are routinely disregarded and disrespected. Gayborhood residents feel erased in this process while Washington West folks feel passed over, but all these groups are not members of the money-powered ruling class so they can be ignored. Why over and over again are we putting our faith in the ruling class to solve our problems? We are being hoodwinked by having money waved under our noses. It seems that supporters of this arena and City Council want to just accept these promises and believe these unreal promises and sign off. These billionaires are not even Philadelphians. Why do we allow them to barge in and build in our city. Look at Washington's D.C.'s Chinatown. Read the latest SEPTA reports. Listen to doctors and ambulance drivers at Jefferson. Look at David Adelman's track record as a developer and landlord in West Philly. There's a City school crisis. There's a mental health response crisis, houselessness and addiction problems are everywhere. Trump just got re-elected and we're spending 40 hours of debate and testimony on this foolishness.

Ms. Miller --

One last bit. You believe that these developers are coming from a place of concern, but they're just throwing money around. It's the classic carrot and the stick. Pay attention. And in the words of a great man, you are being bamboozled. Solidarity to the working class. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony and if you can stay within the two-minute buzzer, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. Hello. My name is Taniri Chen and I'm a resident of Brewerytown. Thank you, Councilmember Jeffrey Young, Jr. for voting no on the arena legislation. I'm a restaurant worker and recently joined the Rice Coalition after giving a testimonial. I got into the industry after being inspired by my grandparents cooking. Both sets of my grandparents owned restaurants in Chinatown, including Harmony on 9th Street and Happy Garden on 10th Street where (inaudible) now is. When I was a kid, I would spend a lot of time in the restaurants after going to preschool in Chinatown. This helped shape my culinary viewpoint and has become the reason why I cook professionally. As I learned from my last restaurant job, so many industry folks spend time post-shift or on their few days off in Chinatown. One of the favorites that was brought up during morning prep conversations was Tai Lake as a beloved hangout spot. Chinatown is one of the few places open almost every day of the year as well as late nights so it makes it perfect for industry people to hang out at. Chinatown has also shifted the restaurant scene culturally. As a city staple, Vietnam Restaurant recently won a coveted James Beard Award. The 76ers arena would impact these small businesses that keep the restaurant industry fueled and refreshed. Our city's culture thrives off of our vibrant small businesses, especially Philadelphia's restaurants. Chinatown is a destination for so many in the region and beyond. Instead we should be invested into infrastructure that supports our community, especially our youth. Let's reimagine how we can revitalize our city without harming the communities that make our city so unique. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you.

Would Alexandra Greco, Lynn Denton, Barb Hadley and Letty Thall, please come forward. Again, would Alexandra Greco, Lynn Denton, Barb Hadley and Letty Thall, please come forward. You will each have two minutes to speak. Thank you. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)

Thank you. And Ms. Greco, if you could start. Please state your name for the record and proceed.

Hi. My name is Lynn Denton. I'm a visual artist and a filmmaker and I've lived in Center City in District 1 for over 30 years. I have worked with children in the public schools for much of that time. I've conducted projects for Mural Arts. I've shown at the ACA and at the Pennsylvania Academy. I am appalled that we would even consider giving these people, these developers, these billionaires the right to endanger Chinatown which is a cultural treasure. It's a cultural treasure that we will never be able to replace. Now, New York has made some mistakes with Grand Central Station, with Madison Square Garden and their mistakes in tearing down Madison Square Garden because they will never get a monument like that again. And I am also appalled that we are taking our cultural heritage and throwing it away for a few billionaires' pocketbooks. I'd like to say that the Arts in Philadelphia bring in 429 million in tax revenue. And I looked on the GBCA website and found exact figures for what generates this income. And the truth is that it's arts and culture, and that encompasses a lot of things. It encompasses Chinatown and the fact that if we let this go through, we will lose a cultural treasure. I've known how precious this historic treasure is -- okay. I'll wind it up. But I want to tell you as an artist who's lived in Philadelphia and seen the changes in my neighborhood over a period of 40 years, we will never get the opportunity again to have a cultural treasure like Chinatown if we let this go through and we won't have the tax revenue for our children and the schools, what they deserve in the public schools. I've done a lot of projects in the public schools and I know what I'm talking about. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. And please state your name for the record and proceed.

Good afternoon. My name is Alex Greco. I'm a constituent of District represented by Mark Squilla. I am a writer, artist and educator who was born and raised in South Philadelphia right by the stadiums. In the 36 years I have lived in South Philadelphia, I have witnessed firsthand the changes in the Stadium District and the chaos and frustration such arenas can cause when not forcibly built directly on top of highly congested historic neighborhoods and pre-existing local businesses. While I am sadly not surprised that self-serving billionaires are lying, manipulating and misrepresenting their plans to carve up the heart of our city for profit, an area mind you that has already seen failed corporate revitalization efforts in recent years, I am appalled that Council is seriously considering accepting this demeaning treatment and abandoning the very people and communities that they have vowed to serve. Selling out and gutting our thriving Chinatown and all the citizens that rely on it all to appease the whims of landlords who have a proven track record of not caring about the communities and lives they have to bulldoze to turn some more profit, anyone who has tried to drive through Chinatown currently at rush hour, indeed anyone who is even paying marginal attention can see that this is not only a bad deal in the short term but a costly mistake in the long term in terms of public money and lives. As this is yet another complicating factor that would prevent Philadelphians from accessing reliable public transportation and critical emergency health services into the future and strike a blow on a historic, cherished and vulnerable neighborhood and the people who rely on it. Perhaps the most urgent imperative is this: The next four years promise to be extremely challenging for big and little Democratic cities like Philadelphia. Philadelphians need to know through demonstrable, tangible leadership by our City Council that we will be protected, listened to, respected and fought for by our elected representatives and Council and in the Mayor's Office. If Council shows it is willing to bend to the selfish whims of billionaires and serve up the people of Philadelphia and our treasured institutions to weak disingenuous promises of short-term financial gain, that will not save us. What faith can we have that we will weather what comes next? The people are united for the common good. Are you with us? (Applause.)

Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Can we have you please state your name for the record and proceed.

Yeah. Good afternoon. My name is Barb Hadley. I live at 4th and Locust in District 1. I moved first to Philadelphia in 1987. I have two reasons for you to vote no on the arena. First, you can't miss poverty in Philadelphia. We are one of the -- we are the poorest of the largest 10 cities in the country. Until 2022 I worked as Vice-president for Education and Employment at Project HOME in North Philadelphia, and I saw up close how the schools are in dire need of resources to provide an adequate education. 11th and 12th graders came to our afterschool programs Monday through Friday hopeful to go to college, but too many couldn't read at the 5th, 6th grade, sometimes even 2nd grade level, 11th and 12th graders. I told myself like poverty is a reason for the low-quality education. That's what we tell ourselves. That's what we say. I paid wage and property taxes believing in City leaders, in you included, that we will prevail to fund a good quality education as much as possible, and this will obviously not be true if you give a wealthy sports team tax breaks of more than $400 million. Secondly, what makes Philadelphia powerful and beloved are its neighborhoods. And Chinatown, yes, it's vulnerable, but at the same time a powerful example of enduring intergenerational community. I recently met a union man from South Philadelphia like just two weeks ago who said it better than I can. He said, I'm in the union, we have enough work, we don't need the arena. I live in a great Philadelphia neighborhood. I live in a great Philadelphia neighborhood on the same street as grandchildren of people I went to high school with. If we destroy Chinatown, which took generations to build, we will never get it back. Be the leaders that we need. Vote no on the arena. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed.

I'm Letty Thall and I've been a Spring Garden neighborhood resident for over 45 years so I know what it means to have access to your home, limited by throngs of people, police vehicles and sometimes Secret Service who blockade blocks. We know Fourth of July, Thanksgiving. I won't go through all the celebrations on the Parkway. But if you are there at the parade, look around and you'll be able to see streets are closed so people can mingle, can go into the street. Can you imagine the demolition construction and use of the arena at around 11th and Market? Where are all these people going to go? The limited sidewalks for the arena and six years' worth of demolition and construction will impact the ability of residents and visitors who come up from Independence Hall to go to Reading Terminal and walk around our city. Look at the current construction at 8th and Market. That's disruptive to SEPTA, to people, to traffic and it's only those four corners. The arena is proposed for 18,000 people. Recently I was at the 10,000 seat Liacouras Center for a concert. We all had to exit going north on Broad Street or north on the sidewalks. The Broad Street was still open to buses, traffic and we were all like a sausage-making machine trying to squeeze, go north on the sidewalk so we could cross Broad to go south. It made me think what's going to happen around game time here. So rather than these resolutions that amend the benefits that everybody have described, that we as residents will lose, I question and ask you all as elected officials why is the deadline for making a decision this year, why is a private company whose lease is running out can't renegotiate? What's the rush? What are the up-to-date traffic studies, the impact on all of us the residents and businesses and neighborhoods east of Broad, not just Chinatown but all of the residents. Jobs are certainly important and we need them, but we need to make sure they're long-term jobs created with guarantee of living wages and benefits, not just full-time equivalent. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Thank you very much.

Will Stephen Sablosky, Linnea Bond, Sonya Chen and Daria Petragoia, pardon the pronunciation, /Petragoia/, I guess please come forward. Again, that is -- okay. So Stephen Sablosky, Linnea Bond, Daria Petragoa --

Petragioa.

Petragoia.

Yes, there we go. Thank you.

Sorry. Pardon me. And, Blanche Brown, please. Okay. I guess they're not here. You will each have two minutes to speak. Please state your name and begin with your testimony.

Thank you. My name is Linnea Bond. I rent a rowhome with four roommates in the Spring Garden neighborhood. With a proposed arena between my home and Jefferson Hospital, I asked the Council not to bet my life and my neighbors' lives on the Sixers more than having their current number of driving attendees. That would be an insane bet even if the Sixers were funding SEPTA, but they have told you that they won't be spending any more money on our already in-crisis public transit system, even as they would receive a massive tax cut. No wonder so many people and neighborhoods and schools and essential services in this city are struggling when billionaires get the green light to avoid paying their fair share. As a neighbor of Chinatown, I also stand beside my Asian neighbors and pointing to a long history of similar building projects across the country that have gentrified and destroyed vulnerable but culturally invaluable communities like Chinatown. I want to thank the Council for standing up for our communities and moments I've seen you hold Sixers' leadership responsible for these questions. But ultimately we rely on your votes to prove the communities matter to you. I especially want to thank my own Councilmember Young who has vocally opposed this arena proposal on behalf of constituents like me. (Applause.)

Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers and general public. Thank you for allowing me the chance to testify. My name is Daria Petragoia and I have lived at 11th and Clinton Streets for years, so this really 15 impacts me and I want an opportunity 16 to speak. I've never done this 17 before so I think it's very 18 important. 19 I believe the 76ers arena 20 will definitely be a bad thing for Philadelphia and all of us here. City Hall is prioritizing a priority and desire of billionaires instead of focusing on what Philadelphia really needs, affordable housing, safe schools and funding of all of our public services. The arena plan has no 5 projections for working Philadelphians but plenty of projections for billionaires. The process has been rushed and the so-called CBA was negotiated in secret between the Mayor and the billionaires, sidelining our community voices so I'm glad we have an opportunity to speak right now. The traffic will definitely be horrible. You know that the neighborhood is already bad and with the arena, it's just going to be even worse. The arena will put more stress on the already struggling transit system. We already don't have reliable public access to schools and work. The Sixers want to build on top of Jefferson Station but building on top of a transit hub will require upgrades and additional costs. There will be added costs for an increased service of Regional Rail, Broad Street Line and also the Market-Frankford Line. Who's paying for the upgrades to Jefferson Station and the other transit costs that the construction will require? Currently there is no 11 deal in place between the Sixers and SEPTA and no estimated cost to their system. Neighboring Chinatown, which we've heard already, and the local businesses will surely suffer. How can small businesses continue when their neighborhood is going to be dismantled? It's a treasure just like it's been stated before. Also, how will this project access Jefferson Hospital, which already is a busy neighborhood getting people that are having trauma, emergencies. It's a Level trauma center and it's right in the middle of the proposed arena. It's already a very busy area without the arena, and those are my feelings. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thank you for your testimony.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Good afternoon. Please state your name for the record and proceed.

My name is Stephen Sablosky. A little while ago we heard someone mention where's the creativity and I offer some creativity with the proposed site other than Market Street. Just like Madison Square Garden and Penn Station and New York City built a stadium in the lot at 30th Street for a mega seating 60 percent larger than 18,500 seats, approximately 30,000 seats. Why not make something very huge. We only have one chance to make it correct. So therefore we should build something much larger. The area at 30th Street I've had several different estimates as far as what is the size of the lot there. I've had acres to 40 10 acres. Several levels -- excuse me. 11 Potentially creating a thousand or 12 more high-paying jobs. I call this 13 project the Martin Luther King 14 Center Stadium, tubular cylindrical 15 hotel complex with parking, 16 revolving top of the hotel King Fu 17 Chinese restaurant with 18 international flavors and favorites. 19 Indian, South of the Border, Classic 20 European and surprises. The hotel itself is adjacent to the stadium and the hotel has different amenities to it as well as far as offering a revolving restaurant at the top. The hotel itself is about 750 rooms and it offers a Chinese food restaurant at the top. That's all I really have to say.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed.

My name is Blanche Brown. I live in District 3 and work in District 1, and I know that Council is voting today after public testimony to move two bills out of Committee and there are just way too many unanswered questions to move this legislation forward today, so I want to say that first. There are many reasons why I personally oppose the arena. I think it is a bad deal for Philadelphians. I think it is poor urban planning, but I'm here today to speak on behalf of a large community of artists who create and exhibit work in Chinatown. I'm the Executive Director of Vox Populi, a nonprofit gallery and performance venue that has been in operation for 40 years, of which we have had 9 the pleasure of calling North 10 Chinatown home. We work with 11 hundreds of local artists a year and 12 there are many other nonprofit 13 galleries, collectives and 14 individual artist studios who rent 15 spaces in Chinatown like we do. 16 Rent has already 17 skyrocketed in the area. Property 18 taxes have increased by up to 70 19 percent in Chinatown since 2013. 20 And according to the 2024 impact study conducted by the City, 76 Place will only exacerbate the Philadelphia's Arts and Culture sector has an economic impact of 3.3 billion. And I'm very concerned that the backbone of that economy, the artists and cultural workers who call Philadelphia home, are not protected by this CBA. This CBA falls far short for what is needed to protect not only Chinatown but also the broader community of working-class Philadelphians affected by this deal. What is Council going to do to protect the artists that I represent, to protect my organization's programming that serves thousands of visitors every year. 76 Place will not only quite literally destroy the cultural fabric of Chinatown, it will also displace and disrupt the Arts economy that thrives there. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Also, if you have any questions that are unanswered, you can feel free to read them into the record now if you'd like. I think there are a lot of questions that are -- I didn't know if from your statement in the beginning I didn't know if there was something specific you wanted to ask.

I think overall like everything that people are saying here today are questions that are certainly to be considered and I don't think by the end of today's testimony that we're going to be in a place that's solid enough to move forward.

Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. MS. DiSANTO: My name is Katie DiSanto. I go by Katie. I already read these proposals the last time I was here so I'll try to keep it a little bit shorter today. I work at 9th and Arch and we are an independently-owned and operated small business that's been in Chinatown for 72 years. I walk by the proposed arena site every day. And like over 73 percent of my fellow citizens, I want you to reject Bill 240966 and its related bills. The City's own studies which actually have a copy of here predict that my business is one of the businesses that will not survive the half baked plan for arena construction, traffic and operation. I've been eligible to vote in Philadelphia for 14 years and I am a pro-union voter, but I'm appalled that any of my fellow working-class Philadelphians would be willing to throw our careers, homes, health and families in the trash in order to replace us with a few temporary jobs and increased profits for a private club for a few wealthy outsiders. Thank you. I wanted to address something that was brought up by a panel earlier today. How is limited parking for arena attendees going to be enforced on 40 to 70 random days of the year? Who is paying for the messaging and enforcement of these proposed limits? There have been many nights where I've needed to use a car to take equipment to or from our small business where I've had to sit in traffic and circle the blocks for up to 30 minutes looking for a parking spot in Chinatown as it is, so it's logical to assume that thousands of people will be trying to do the same thing on game nights, and there's no reasonable way to slice this. That would eliminate the issue. That would choke out local businesses and stunt any future growth. Furthermore, I really am confused why Council is allowing this proposal to be so rushed in light of the upcoming Administration's plans for sweeping tariffs. We can expect cost of construction materials to increase by percent or more if Council 12 approves this plan before the 13 inauguration demolition happens and 14 then what, six to nine months from 15 now, the price of the project 16 skyrockets and 76 DevCo is no longer 17 willing or able to spend the amount 18 on the project that's necessary. 19 We'll be left with a huge 20 hole in the ground and no plan if Council wants to make this gamble with our future and lives, there's no good reason to do it. Now, we ask that you instead invest in real neighbors who already live and work here and revisit this conversation next year or preferably never. But if you won't do that, respectfully next election we will find new Councilmembers who will listen and work for the people and not for profiteering parasites. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.

Will Sarah Gersch -- MS. DiSANTO: Oh, sorry. I couldn't quite hear what you were saying.