Aye. The ayes are 15; the nays are zero. A majority of -
Council STATED MEETING 59 5/5/2022 President, I would like to be recorded as aye. I had a little technical glitch just now.
Let the record reflect that the ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 220113.
An ordinance approving a new plan, estimated costs and proposed method of assessment of the Manayunk Special Services District for and concerning business improvements and administrative services to the Manayunk business district of the City of Philadelphia.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill STATED MEETING 60 5/5/2022 pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill STATED MEETING 62 5/5/2022 passes. Mr. Decker, 220224.
An ordinance to approve amendments to the Drexel University Master Plan in the area bounded by 34th Street, Cherry Street, 33rd Street, and Powelton Avenue, related to the Kelly Hall building at 203 North 34th Street.
Thank you. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 220298.
An ordinance to approve amendments to the Jefferson Torresdale Hospital Master Plan related to a new Proton Therapy Center building at 10800 Knights Road.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill STATED MEETING 65 5/5/2022 pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill STATED MEETING 67 5/5/2022 passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 220291.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022 from the General Fund, the Grants Revenue Fund, and the Aviation Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, to the General Fund and the Aviation Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. President. I just wanted to go on record prior to our vote for Bill No. 220291 to thank the Administration and specifically Mayor Kenney for the letter response that he sent back on Monday -- on April 25th STATED MEETING 68 5/5/2022 relative to the concerns that I raised in the Appropriations Committee hearing and also the responses that we received from the Budget Office. I had brought up a few concerns in the Appropriations Committee hearing that have since been addressed by the Administration. The process is starting this month. And so I wanted to go on the record prior to the vote to say that I will be voting in favor of 220291 provided the responses I received from Mayor Kenney and also from the Budget Office. Thank you, Council President, and thank you, colleagues.
Thank you, Councilwoman. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, do you have any additional resolutions?
A resolution STATED MEETING 71 5/5/2022 authorizing the Committees on Children and Youth and Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings concerning the imminent threat to the longstanding constitutional right to an abortion, to examine the profound and devastating local impact that the potential repeal of Roe v. Wade would have on individual lives and society as a whole, and to explore what Philadelphia can do to ensure and increase access to abortion in the face of this threat, introduced today by Councilwoman Gym.
Thank you very much, Council President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.) STATED MEETING 72 5/5/2022
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution authorizing Council's Special Committee on Child Separation in Philadelphia to hold public hearings regarding its final report of findings and recommendations, introduced today by Councilman Oh.
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 73 5/5/2022 Those opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. We appreciate that swift agenda. Our next order of business is speeches, and prior to recognizing members regarding speeches, I will note for the record at this time that we will use the Chat feature available in Microsoft Teams to allow members to signify that they wish to be recognized. In order to comply with the Sunshine Act, the Chat feature must only be used for this particular purpose. With that said, speeches on behalf of the minority? The Chair recognizes Councilman STATED MEETING 74 5/5/2022 Oh.
Thank you very much, Council President. I have two matters to comment on. First, I'd like to wish everyone a happy May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, and just clarify it's not Mexican Independence Day. It's actually the day that the Mexicans defeated the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla. And we happen to have a very large population of folks from Puebla living here in our city, and I always enjoy their festivities when you see them with the French costumes and the horses. That's all a reenactment of the Battle of Puebla. So I certainly want to join in celebrating victory over being conquered by the French Empire. On a more serious note, I want to just note that on Tuesday, Norman Mineta passed away. For those who don't know Norman Mineta, he was a cabinet member under two presidencies, republican STATED MEETING 75 5/5/2022 and democrat. He's a lifelong democrat, a proud democrat. He spent his early childhood in an incarceration camp, also called an internment camp, because he was a Japanese American child, and during World War II, many Japanese Americans were placed in incarceration camps. After graduating from college, he served in the U.S. Army. He served during the Korean War as an intelligence officer. He later was elected to City Council in San Jose, became Vice Mayor and then Mayor in San Jose, and in 1975, he ran for Congress, served 20 years, to 1995, where he retired as Chair of the very powerful Public Transportation -- or Transportation and Public Works Committee. And then in 2000, President Bill Clinton nominated him, and he passed the Senate confirmation process to become the first Asian American to serve at a secretary level. And following that, President George W. Bush appointed him as Secretary of Transportation. STATED MEETING 76 5/5/2022 In 1994, he founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and an institute, and it was that institute that I had the pleasure of working with its first Executive Director, Francey Lim Youngberg, and Congressman Norm Mineta. What a wonderful gentleman, just a wonderful person to work with, a proud democrat but always very broad-minded in his public service, putting the public interest first, a real great example for America but also specifically for Asian Americans, as he was someone who broke many barriers. He will be greatly missed. He died at 90. And I did introduce a resolution today, but I just wanted to note that we will miss him, and certainly he's impacted us here in Philadelphia. And condolences to his family and all loved ones. Thank you very much, Council President. STATED MEETING 77 5/5/2022
Thank you, Councilman. Speeches on behalf of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Council President. I wanted to thank Councilmember Oh for that history, both on Cinco de Mayo and regarding the late Senator -I'm sorry; late Secretary Norm Mineta and his leadership and legacy. This week, Council President, a number of members of Council had an opportunity to see a survey from the diverse chambers talking about the real issues that their members are having as small businesses in the City of Philadelphia. They talked about issues of crime and taxes, and we know we have a 25 percent poverty rate in our city, and this survey really kind of illustrated STATED MEETING 78 5/5/2022 what we all know, that we have a very challenging tax structure in the City of Philadelphia. We also know the pandemic has been really challenging for small businesses, especially Black and Brown businesses. Nearly twice as many Black and Brown businesses closed during the pandemic at a rate of about 41 percent. And so we know in this city we have a very difficult tax structure, and Council President, through your leadership, you put together a Tax Reform Working Group that myself and Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Councilmember Domb, yourself, the Administration, citizens from around the City were part of that Tax Reform Working Group. And so we started meeting in August of 2021 really looking at the challenges we have in tax policy in the City. And it was my understanding from the Administration that they will be STATED MEETING 79 5/5/2022 looking at the proposals coming out of the Tax Reform Working Group as proposals for the City of Philadelphia and that we continued to meet with the Administration not only throughout last year, early part of this year, and even in the Mayor's budget speech, I thought we were on the same page of trying to come up with a proposal. We knew that we couldn't really put together a proposal until we had the City's real estate assessments. So I was somewhat shocked this week and I think other members of Council as well as the Tax Reform Working Group and citizens around the City that when we received the assessment information, the Mayor also provided a proposal regarding taxes. This was something that was a different perspective. I thought we were all on the same team until that proposal came out. And in many ways, I can -- I feel like members of the Sixers when Ben Simmons just decided he was going to leave the team and do his own thing. STATED MEETING 80 5/5/2022 We as a body know that we don't have that option. We can't just walk off the court and leave the team. And so as we go through the budget process and deal with the hard issues of how we allocate all the resources that come into the City of Philadelphia, including the $1.4 billion from the American Rescue Plan, we're going to have to balance all of these issues, issues of how we deal with public safety, which is the number one concern in our city, how we provide the resources that we need for the quality of life services for the citizens in the City of Philadelphia, as well as tax policy. So I look forward to a robust debate in this body as we grapple with all these issues and try to balance between how we look at our tax policy in the City of Philadelphia and address the issues that so many of our constituents need for us to address as part of the budget process. STATED MEETING 81 5/5/2022 I hope that the Mayor will collaborate with us as we go through this process and rejoin the team. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Parker.
Mr. President, I wanted to just note for the record that on today, Councilmembers Johnson, Jamie Gauthier, Cindy Bass, Helen Gym, and I had the great honor and privilege to be joined by City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, Congressman Brendan Boyle, and our PA House Representative and Chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus Donna Bullock in attending a pre-Mother's Day breakfast that was held at the School District of Philadelphia by STATED MEETING 82 5/5/2022 the organization that we wish were not in existence, Mothers in Charge, led and founded by Dorothy Johnson-Speight. And this pre-Mother's Day breakfast, Mr. President, their theme is "A Mother's Plea for Peace, Sons Please Put Down Your Guns." After the breakfast, they are going to start a march, Mr. President, from the School District at 440 North Broad Street and it's going to proceed down Broad Street to City Hall and they're going to have a rally, being led by the mothers here at City Hall. So I know all of the women of Council, if schedules permit, were asked to come and all members of Council, if you can come, please be there at the rally. We're going to present our formal citation from the City Council of Philadelphia and to thank those mothers for channeling their pain and suffering and grief into action. Thank you so very much, STATED MEETING 83 5/5/2022 Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
Thank you, Council President. I just want to take a moment and ask if we could have a moment of silence for former State Representative Harold James. He represented the 186th Legislative District covering the areas of South Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia, and he passed this week.
Thank you, Councilman. Have a moment of silence.
Thank you, Council President. I had the great opportunity to work with former State Representative Harold James. He served as the President of the Guardian Civic League. He served as a Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black STATED MEETING 84 5/5/2022 Caucus. He was a former Philadelphia police officer. He was also on the forefront of criminal justice reform before it became a wave. He was always advocating to make sure that individuals who were defendants in cases receive their rights properly. He was on the forefront of making sure that interrogations by police were videotaped. On countless times I've watched him challenge our former District Attorney, Lynne Abraham, regarding the role that the District Attorney's Office played in partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department in addressing a variety of different issues that significantly have an impact on the African American community. So just want to take a moment just to acknowledge his leadership and the work that he has done here in the City of Philadelphia. For all those on the listening audience who are listening, his wake will STATED MEETING 85 5/5/2022 take place on Wednesday, May the 11th at Tasker Street Missionary Baptist Church in South Philadelphia, 2010 Tasker Street, from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m., and his funeral will take place on Thursday, May the 12th at Yesha Ministries beginning at 10:00 a.m. located at 23rd and Snyder Avenue. Thank you very much, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. Thank you. Let's do a moment of silence, have a moment of silence. (Moment of silence.)
Thank you so much. God bless. The Chair recognizes Councilman STATED MEETING 86 5/5/2022 Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the attendance of the Governor, the Mayor, the Managing Director, Member O'Neill, and Member Squilla at the Police and Fireman's Memorial yesterday. As we sat out there representing City Council and we looked out at the audience of families who had lost their loved ones in the service of the City of Philadelphia, it truly put in perspective what the definition of public service really truly means. In one case, one of the officers that passed away, Officer Tab Ali, was from the 5th District, which is in the Fourth Councilmanic District. I remember him as always being a guardian of people, a guardian of public safety. The last time we were together, it was with some of the members of City Council on a bike ride. He literally STATED MEETING 87 5/5/2022 rode the bike. He stopped in intersections. Katherine Gilmore was with us, Member Thomas was there, Member Squilla was there, and I just remember how humble a servant he was. He is truly missed, along with the other firemen and police that lost their lives, and many of them lost their lives due to COVID over the last two years, and we want to thank them for their service, thank their families for their sacrifice. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. True soldiers for the City of Philadelphia. The Chair recognizes Councilman Domb.
Thank you, Council President. I just want to echo Councilman Jones. I couldn't make that event, but that's the ultimate sacrifice, so thank you for bringing that up. And I also STATED MEETING 88 5/5/2022 want to be in support of Councilman Green on this Tax Reform Commission, and we should have another meeting on that, but also in that diversity chambers that we heard this week, I think it was Councilman Green, Councilmember Sanchez, Councilmember Thomas, myself, and other staffers of all of our offices heard from these chambers, the diverse chambers, about how tough it is for these businesses to survive in our city with what they have to deal with, especially the last three years. So we do have to try to help them. And I also want to mention to you, Councilman Jones, last night I was with a developer, Michael Davis, who is developing the Budd Company in your district, I guess, and he was mentioning to me that I think they have like three million square feet for life sciences, but how difficult it is to hire people from outside the City because of the wage taxes. They're having some trouble with STATED MEETING 89 5/5/2022 that. So I'm just sharing some of these issues, because in the long run, we are on the verge of an explosion in our city of life science, and it's cell and gene therapy, what we're known throughout the world as being at the very top, and many of our companies that have been started here through Penn and other places have stayed here, but many have also gone to Boston and other cities. And I say this because we have to make sure that we keep these companies here. We need to -- they are important jobs for the City but also important for us too in our schools, as we mentioned yesterday, to make sure that our schools are training our students for this future, because this is a game-changer for the City. It's not just about people from outside getting jobs here. It's about the students and the residents of our city getting these jobs. But I can tell you, we have STATED MEETING 90 5/5/2022 someone in our city who is like the Godfather of cell and gene therapy who's formed companies in excess of $15 billion of market capitalization right here in Philadelphia. Half of them have left. We have to figure out ways to keep them here. That's very important for this space. So I'm just -- I'll be back to all of you with some ideas, but I wanted to mention that this is something that I think is extremely important for the economy of our city and to grow our economy, and we need to support all those life science companies, as we do with other businesses. Thank you very much, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. Thank you very much. Must seize the opportunity when it's presented to us, because it may not be there for long. Mr. Decker, I believe that STATED MEETING 91 5/5/2022 concludes the speeches on behalf of the minority and the majority. So with that, the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May 12th, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May 12th, 2022, 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 92 5/5/2022 Again, be safe. I love you guys, and Happy Mother's Day. ) STATED MEETING 93 5/5/2022 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.