The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you, Council President. In the spirit of my mentor, Councilmember Blondell Reynolds Brown, I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
STATED MEETING 99 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Those opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution honoring and congratulating Champion of the Week, Gianna Masci, for her successes on and off the field as an athlete and student at Philadelphia Performing Arts: String Theory Charter School, introduced today by Councilman Thomas.
Thank you, Council President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
STATED MEETING 100 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Those opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution honoring and recognizing Joann Bell, who throughout her illustrious career, has marshaled the power of government for those who have long been excluded from political and economic power, helped to transform Philadelphia politics, and served as a skillful organizer and thought leader, introduced today by Councilwoman Brooks.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brooks.
Thank you, Council President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's STATED MEETING 101 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution declaring March 31, 2023 as International Transgender Day of Visibility in the City of Philadelphia, introduced today by Councilwoman Brooks.
The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Brooks.
Thank you, Council President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. STATED MEETING 102 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution proclaiming March 2023 as National Social Work Month and calling upon all citizens to join the National Association of Social Workers, the City of Philadelphia and the Office of Homeless Services to celebrate and support the Social Work Profession and its many contributions, introduced today by Councilwoman Gauthier.
Thank you, Council President, and good afternoon, everyone. Before I move for STATED MEETING 103 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING the adoption of the resolution, I'd like to take a brief moment to recognize our city's social workers and our Office of Homeless Services for all of the work that they do on behalf of our city each and every day. Can you all please stand and be recognized. (Applause.)
Each and every day OHS's social workers provide compassionate care for people experiencing homelessness in our city by coordinating meals, shelter, and healthcare services for our city's most vulnerable residents, and during one of the worst housing affordability crises we have ever seen, this work has never been more important. OHS is the last line of defense, and without them, I shudder to think where we would be. This year's STATED MEETING 104 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING National Social Workers Month's theme is Social Work Breaks Barriers. This is an especially meaningful theme since social workers here in Philadelphia empower residents experiencing homelessness to get back on their feet through partnerships with workforce development organizations and employers. Our social workers also engage housing providers to create stable living environments and work hand in hand with healthcare workers to ensure that the physical and emotional needs of the individuals and families engaging with OHS are met. The work being done at OHS speaks for itself. People exiting OHS's system on average have increased their income by 40 percent, and at least 1,500 families have been kept in stable living environments due to OHS's diversion assistance and homelessness prevention efforts. I am delighted to have the STATED MEETING 105 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Director of OHS, Liz Hersh, here today and would like to thank her for her years of hard work to uplift Philadelphians experiencing homelessness. And I extend my deepest thanks to our city's top-notch social workers. It is my honor to officially declare March 2023 as National Social Workers Month in Philadelphia. And with that, Council President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution STATED MEETING 106 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING recognizing April as Arab American Heritage Month and celebrating the heritage and culture of Arab Americans in Philadelphia, introduced today by Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution declaring May 2023 to be Hepatitis STATED MEETING 107 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Awareness Month in Philadelphia to recognize and support the joint efforts of "Hep B United Philadelphia" and "Hepatitis C Allies of Philadelphia" coalitions aimed at raising awareness of the link between viral hepatitis and liver cancer and the importance of elimination activities, introduced today by Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) STATED MEETING 108 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution honoring the American Planning Association on the occasion of their National Planning Conference, and declaring April 1, 2023 as "City Planning Day" in the City of Philadelphia, introduced today by Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. Before I move for the adoption of the resolution, I just want to thank -- we had some special guests here. Some of them had to leave today, but for the National Planning Conference declaring April 1st, 2023 City Planning Day how important is planning to our City of Philadelphia. We're welcoming over 3,500 city planners that are attending this conference from all over to come here to Philadelphia to showcase our STATED MEETING 109 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING city. But we have Angela Brooks here, Eva Wilsnick (ph), Eleanor Sharpe, Paula Brumbelow, and Anne Fadullon. I think Paula is the only one here today, so, Paula, stand up if you can so we can give you thanks. (Applause.)
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The Chair recognizes STATED MEETING 110 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING Councilwoman Gauthier.
Thank you, Council President. I wanted to speak on this resolution as well. First, I want to thank Councilmember Squilla for the resolution and for the recognition of the critical role that city planners play in making our city a better place. As the only city planner on Council, I feel incredibly proud that the American Planning Association is having their conference in Philadelphia this weekend, and I'm also so proud that as a Black woman city planner, that I am very well represented by trailblazing Black women in this profession, including Eleanor Sharpe, the Director of the City Planning Commission, and Angela Brooks, who was here today, who is the head of the entire American Planning Association. For me, planning is a very natural progression of the role that Black women play in our communities every STATED MEETING 111 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING single day. We tend to be the stewards and the keepers of neighborhoods. We are the voices of people in our communities. And so for me, planning has always been a very natural progression of the roles that our mothers and our grandmothers and that our aunties and neighbors have traditionally played in our communities. But for too long, there have been -- we have been left out of the more formal roles of doing that work. And so it brings me great pride that these women and others like them are breaking barriers and taking on powerful roles in shaping the cities and the communities of the future, and they're doing so while representing the perspective of people who look like us and all the people who depend on us in our communities. And so thank you, Councilmember Squilla, for the recognition, and thanks to the APA for being here in Philly this weekend. I look forward to hanging out with you in West Philly on Sunday. STATED MEETING 112 3/30/2023 3/30/23 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
Yeah. I just want to echo the sentiments of my colleague and thank Councilman Mark Squilla for introducing this resolution. Give a special shout-out to Paula Burns, who I think we all know particularly who we work with day to day when we're passing bills out of Rules Committee. So just thank you and your team for your hard work and your dedication as we shape a more equitable City of Philadelphia through development. Thank you very much.
There are no other resolutions for consideration on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President. STATED MEETING 113 3/30/2023
Thank you very much. Speeches on behalf of the minority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brooks.
Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to say that the flag raising, the trans flag raising tomorrow is still happening tomorrow at noon on the north apron. Some folks in the community, because all the hate and discrimination around this topic, are feeling uncomfortable about coming out, but I just want folks that are supporters and allies to still show up in support of the flag raising tomorrow. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Speeches on behalf of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman STATED MEETING 114 3/30/2023
Thank you, Council President. I just simply wanted to thank Mr. Mack Duncan, who is from the Mount Airy section of the Ninth District, who is here with us today, who gave a wonderful public comment about the legislation that just passed today focused on no truck parking in the Ninth District, which also encompasses RV's and boats and also some other vehicles that are causing a lot of havoc among our neighbors in that district. And he also was -- I also want to thank Mr. Mack Duncan for all the work he's put in to protect our children on a weekly basis when it comes to ensuring that there are safety measures in place for them as they literally cross the street. And because of his advocacy and his work, I was inspired to put together legislation that will help the Streets Department by putting together STATED MEETING 115 3/30/2023 of our schools in the City of Philadelphia. I also want to thank Ms. Joanne Esquilin, who also wasn't able to be here today, but she also inspired me because over at ASPIRA Charter School, public safety is a huge issue for them, and one of the things she just wanted to let people know is that her school has an enrollment of 1,500 children and many of these children cross the street on a daily basis. It has become dangerous for them. So I am very proud of this Council for working together to make it easier to protect our children safely when it comes to crossing streets, and also I'm also proud of this Council for being very supportive of a quality of life issue when it comes to nuisance truck parking in the City of Philadelphia, and I look forward to the enforcement and continue to collaborate with people to ensure that we have the STATED MEETING 116 3/30/2023 And I have to also say that as much as we are tackling the issue around truck parking in residential areas, which a lot of our neighbors have vehemently -vigorously said that they want out of the Ninth District and also the City of Philadelphia in general, we are also working closely with our Parking Authority and other people to make sure those truck drivers know where places they can park, and we're also supporting options for them to -- other places they can park as well, but there are places where they can park, and they can reach out and we will get them those answers. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Harrity.
Hello, Council President, colleagues. I just wanted to commend my STATED MEETING 117 3/30/2023 Brooks, and I would also like to apologize to the two ladies in the back. I will be at the flag raising tomorrow. It is appalling to me that for a flag raising, you would feel unsafe to go and be a part of. That's a lack on our part. I apologize. Hate has no place here. Trans rights are civil rights. And I would just like to personally, you know, thank you for your courage to be here, and I will be standing with you tomorrow. So thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to say just a couple things really quickly. I wanted STATED MEETING 118 3/30/2023 of my colleague Councilman Harrity and just, you know, thank you, ladies, for coming down and for speaking out on trans rights. It's really hard to get up and speak with such passion in a microphone in front of everybody about an issue that's as important as this. It still is very hard to be able to do that. So I thank you for bringing awareness and for coming down and telling your story. So, number one, thank you for that. I also wanted to make note of, you know, the recent tragedy that we had in the Eighth Council District with the young man on his way to school that we lost. And so one of the key takeaways that we all have to think about is that as he was approached and robbed and then shot, that gun that was used was in -likely was in somebody's house the night before. It was in somebody's house, the mama house, the grandparents' house, the caregiver's house. It was in someone's STATED MEETING 119 3/30/2023 a campaign that we discussed before, what do you do when the shooter lives with you, because we know that these guns are in people's homes. And we started taking it a little bit further just to really get parents to get engaged in this. We need all hands on deck. And so we started a little campaign called Flip a Mattress Friday. So tomorrow is Friday. We're asking for parents, caregivers, foster parents, whoever, if you think, know, suspect that there's even a probability that the young person in your household could be involved in gun violence, then we ask you to flip that mattress over, run through that room, you know, look anywhere and everywhere throughout your house to make sure that that firearm is removed to keep them out of danger, to keep them out of harm's way, and to keep someone else out of harm's way. So we just wanted to put that STATED MEETING 120 3/30/2023 atmosphere, offer condolences once again to this family and all of the other families who have been affected by senseless gun violence this week and just remind us that as parents, our job is not only to protect the young people under our care but to protect our community as well, and that protection goes a long way towards making our streets safer. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Good point. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
Thank you, Council President. I just want to echo the sentiments of my colleague, and I think this is a tough week amongst the various tough weeks that we've been having around this senseless issue of gun violence. We have about 18 young people who were murdered so far this year, with 100 STATED MEETING 121 3/30/2023 And, you know, in thinking about my colleague Councilwoman Bass' initiative, I think about how I grew up as a young man in the streets of South Philadelphia, but my mom said, you're not closing no doors in this house, you can't shut any doors. And she had no problem looking under my mattress, going inside my dresser drawers. She wanted to know who I was hanging out with. I couldn't bring something in the house that she didn't buy, right? And it's that type of due diligence in terms of parenting, right, that goes a long way in addressing this issue. But at the end of the day, every shooter has a door key. Every shooter has a door key. And so although we always are called on the carpet in terms of what we are doing, right, and we are doing our best to address this issue as well, it would have to be a collaborative effort in addressing this issue, and it also -- it starts in the home, to be STATED MEETING 122 3/30/2023 That's a part of who we have to address as a community, right? We address the issues of systematic racism. We address the issues of poverty, but also in terms of how we raise our young people as a village, right, we have to do a better job in stepping up. And even when parents do fall short, right, I grew up in an area where my neighbor would step up to the plate and say, hey, Kenyatta, you better get your act together before I straighten you out, and my mom would have no problem about it. My nana had no problem about it. And so I think we have to take a holistic approach in addressing it. And I'm an advocate for a three-pronged approach. For me it's always been prevention, and we showed time and time after each budget cycle started with a historical investment of 100-plus million. I think the Mayor now is doing STATED MEETING 123 3/30/2023 283 million, right? Intervention, supporting those groups that are actually stepping in and addressing this issue of gun violence, but also on the law enforcement side. We also have to recognize and be clear that those who shoot, those who wreak havoc on our community, they have to also be held accountable. As a young man, I got my first gun charge at the age of 16, and I was held accountable. And that's coming from a household where my parents and my nana was making sure I was okay, right? But when I did do wrong, they wasn't giving me a hug. It was like, you're going to stand up for what you did, because we didn't raise you to be out here on the corner getting involved in things that are negative. So from a law enforcement standpoint, I'm also going to be advocating for the expansion of the Gun Violence Task Force. That's a STATED MEETING 124 3/30/2023 General's Office, our District Attorney's Office, and the Philadelphia Police Department, with the sole purpose of doing one thing, and Councilwoman Bass touched on this, where are the guns coming from? There are so many guns flooding the streets of Philadelphia, right, but their guns are coming from -- Council President and Councilman Jones, Chairman Jones, we went to Oaks to the Gun Show, right, and we did a deeper dive to look at where the guns are coming from. There are so many guns flooding the streets of Philadelphia, which plays a major role into the accessibility of our young people getting illegal guns to resolve conflict.
So we have to take a comprehensive approach, but that's one key aspect, that I want to make sure we do a deeper dive and making sure we expand that particular unit, because STATED MEETING 125 3/30/2023 very, very helpful to find out where the ghost guns are coming from but, most importantly, not just going after the guys who are on the corner with the guns, but let's go after the people who are selling the guns to the young people in the first place. So thank you, Council President, for allowing me to say a few remarks.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gauthier.
Thank you, Council President. I also wanted to comment on this. I want to commend Councilmember Bass for her initiative pushing parents to be more involved. I definitely support that as an initiative and agree with Councilmember Johnson as well, that, you know, we have to be tough with people who are committing violent crimes and STATED MEETING 126 3/30/2023 find a way to stem the flow of guns. I guess I just wanted to also add to the conversation that it is my sense that coming out of the pandemic, we do not have a full sense of what's going on with our kids, and I think we have to spend some concerted time in identifying young people that are involved or on the cusp of being involved in some really bad things. And, you know, this was -- this stood out for me when Tiffany Fletcher was murdered -- or one of the times it stood out for me was when Tiffany Fletcher was murdered in West Philadelphia at the Mill Creek Rec Center and the shooter that they picked up was 14. So a kid who, you know, committed that shooting at 14 last year would have been 11 at the start of the pandemic. And it is my sense that we lost track of kids in terms of schools being closed and we lost track of kids in terms STATED MEETING 127 3/30/2023 connected to social services or adults who might have been looking out for them, and we lost track of being able to really reach young people and put them on a different path than some of them seem to be on right now. And so while I agree with the sentiments, I guess I just also want to push us as a city to dig more deeply into this, because some of these kids may have a stable home and it's about having mom do a search, but some of these kids may not even have homes. Some of these kids may not have people who they can look up to, who are going to steer them in the right way, and I just feel like after three years of hell in this city, we have to do a look back and we have to look at what happened to these young people during that time. And so I just wanted to add that to the conversation. You know, certainly what happened the other day was STATED MEETING 128 3/30/2023 -- it was just terrible. My son is 15. My son has to take multiple forms of public transit to get to school in North Philly from West Philly, and so a lot of that hit home for me. But I just wanted to, you know, add those comments and say that I want to be part of any effort that will help to really identify the kids who need our help and support in this moment.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
If you're just listening to what was discussed on this floor, you realize that there's a deep sense of commitment to dealing with this issue. What I want us to kind of solidify is that one is not at the opposition of the other, that you can be for public safety and you can be for social justice and you can be for STATED MEETING 129 3/30/2023 "and," not "or." And in this budget process, we're going to make sure that we put our money where our mouth is, put our emphasis where our hearts are. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. That concludes our speeches on behalf of the majority and the minority. I hate to end on a very, very down note, but that's the times that we live in, and we look forward to coming up with some solutions with some of the tragic events that continue to happen. So with that, the Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, April 13th, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
STATED MEETING 130 3/30/2023 been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, April 13, 2023, 10:00 a.m. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. Thank you all very much. ) STATED MEETING 131 3/30/2023 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L.