Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, would you please read the title of 130908.
An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Spruce Street, Juniper Street, Cypress Street, Watts Street, Pine Street and Broad Street, by amending Chapter 14-500 of the Zoning Code entitled "Overlay Zoning", by amending Chapter 14-700 of the Zoning Code entitled "Development Standards", and by amending Chapter 14-800 of the Zoning Code entitled "Parking and Loading."
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question 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, 130946.
An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to purchase from the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development a certain tract of land together with the improvements thereon situate in the area bounded by 46th Street, Market Street, Haverford Avenue, 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING and 48th Street, known as 4601 Market Street.
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question 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, 140057.
An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to enter into a lease agreement with the Philadelphia Municipal Authority to lease from the City of Philadelphia the premises commonly known as the Chalfont Recreation Center.
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question 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, 140058.
An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to enter into a lease agreement 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING with the Philadelphia Municipal Authority to lease from the City of Philadelphia the premises commonly known as the Junod Recreation Center.
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question 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 recognizing and congratulating ASTECH Development Services (Overbrook Environmental Education Center), the Clean Air Council and the Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations for their dedication to environmentalism, introduced by Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Thank you, 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution proclaiming March 2014 as "Social Work Month" in the City of Philadelphia and further embracing the 2014 National Association of Social Worker theme that "All People Matter," introduced by Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for its adoption. (Duly seconded.) 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution recognizing, honoring and celebrating Allen Ezail Iverson on the occasion of his retirement from professional basketball and the permanent retirement of his number "3" jersey by the Philadelphia 76ers, introduced by Councilman Jones on behalf of Council President Clarke.
All those in favor say aye -- I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.) 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted. And I'm understanding that Mr. Iverson will be at an event on Friday to receive his resolution at Mitchell Ness, I believe it is.
So if anyone is interested to see him get his resolution and participate, please feel free. Thank you very much.
And a resolution honoring and recognizing the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Pennsylvania Chapter, on the occasion of its 28th Annual Madam CJ Walker Luncheon 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING and Economic Development Seminar, introduced by Councilwoman Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is also adopted.
And a resolution authorizing City Council to hold public hearings regarding Philadelphia Housing Authority practices in domestic violence cases, introduced by Councilwoman Bass.
The 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution officially responding on behalf of the City of Philadelphia to a letter dated February 7th, 2014 from Democratic National Committee Chair, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Mayor Michael A. Nutter asking for confirmation of interest in hosting the 2016 Democratic National Convention prior to a March 1st 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING deadline. Since the Administration does not plan to convey interest in recruiting this massive economic boost to Philadelphia, City Council is forced to do it for them, introduced by Councilman Kenney.
Thank you. Before I call on Councilman Kenney, I'd like to recognize Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Mr. President. And appropriately announced here at this time, I just received some good news. Because of the sponsor of this resolution and the insistence and persistence of prominent democratic leaders in the City of Philadelphia such as Congressman Brady and John J. Dougherty, the ongoing negotiations with this city and yourself, Council President, the Mayor and the Administration is proud to -- and I'm not speaking on their behalf, but Councilwoman Tasco, you will have a 2/27/14 - STATED - 2ND READING letter in support of the National Democratic Convention for the City of Philadelphia to take down to DC today. So thank you all. (Applause.)
Thank you, Councilman. And the Chair now recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Before I move the adoption of the resolution, I have a copy of the letter in my hand and it's still warm. It's great. I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The it, and the resolution and the letter will be delivered by Councilwoman Tasco. It is now adopted. Thank you very much.
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you, Mr. Decker. At this time, are there any speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
Are there any speeches on the part of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I want to remind us in this Chamber that 87,000 Pennsylvanians lost their unemployment benefits the turn of the year and that 11,910 of them are Philadelphians. And the point of this is the Pew Charitable Trusts released their the shrinking middle class. Some interesting statistics as we enter our budget negotiations is that the middle class has declined from 59 percent of our population in 1970 to 42 percent in 2010 and that the, quote, "lower class" Philadelphians spiked, went up, from 30 percent of the population to 47 percent of the population. We're not talking about the poor or, as they call it, super poor. We're talking about lower-middle class, middle class shrinkage. Pew defines the middle class in their audit of households as $41,258 annually to 123,000. Now, in my neighborhood that's a little large, but we'll take them at their statistical word. But it has become apparent also that the cost of living in that shrinking has not gone down. Everything from utilities, food, housing, shelter, all of those things have gone up. a couple of people in this Chamber. First of all, you, Mr. President, for your work in preserving that middle class, in making sure that municipal workers received consideration for a fair contract as it relates to District Council 47, and I pray that we are successful in moving that also into 33. I want to recognize Councilman Henon for his work in trying to preserve the middle class manufacturing jobs that are here in the City of Philadelphia and recognize him for trying to preserve that middle class. I want to recognize Councilman Oh for his work in recognizing Philadelphia as an international economic opportunity to the rest of the world, attracting businesses, reinforcing that middle class. I want to make sure that that is known, that we are fighting every day in our different areas of expertise to and that we encourage and continue to encourage our Philadelphia delegation both in Harrisburg and in DC, Congressman Brady, Congressman Fattah, for their work in moving the reinstating of that unemployment compensation, because I don't know if after 11 weeks what any of us would do without a means of income in the City of Philadelphia. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck, and as Councilwoman Tasco points out, some of them rely on even payday loans, and we want to stop that. We have to preserve this middle class. We have to fight for it in everything we do in the upcoming months in this budget process. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I echo the words of Councilman Jones. The data speaks for itself, and I know that all of us are extremely concerned about what that means overall to our tax base. Today I introduced a bill to add to the conversation as we move forward in this budget cycle to talk about education. There is not a conversation that I share with one of my co-sponsors, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, where we don't express our concern for what we are going to do about the School District and funding, not only this year but as we move forward. We have that conversation not just as Councilpeople but as mothers concerned about the future of our children and our grandchildren and the children of our constituents. Many folks in this Chamber may not know that Councilman Jones has provided direct leadership around school funding and education options district, and I want to take this opportunity to congratulate him, as I have constituents in my district who travel to SLA Beeber in his district because that is a high-performing school with high-performing slots, which is what our parents are asking for. But I do this introduction because I believe there's great promise. There's great promise because after all the chaos around school funding, we have certain things that have been missing in the past and in the debate. We have leadership. Dr. Hite has provided strong leadership and a renewed faith in all of us that we can lead to a better situation at the District, the SRC's leadership and, of course, our Council colleague Councilman Green taking on this enormous task. We have a plan, and Dr. 0 which sets a pathway to what could be good educational opportunities for all children. And we have a plan, which outlays the $320 million that Dr. Hite says can help us lead to a good path, not the best path but one that he feels strongly that he could steward. Yesterday, in part thanks to the leadership of you, Council President, and Council and the Administration, we saw some positive great promise in the sale of the buildings, four buildings, that are going to sell for about $37 million and net the District 30 million. While it falls short of our goal for June 30th of 77 million, it is also great promise. The last two years this Council has worked very hard to multi-task and tackle many issues - zoning reform, AVI, providing relief for homeowners, and every single time through your leadership, Council President, we have been up to the task. Let me first start by saying that nothing, nothing can replace the so desperately needed and that must be done at the state level. Nothing that we do can replace that. Nothing can replace the money that -- the federal money that we've lost through the stimulus package. And while Governor Corbett's proposal of $27 million is only a conversation starter, we need to engage in a real strong public debate around long-term, consistent, predictable funding for the School District. I am pleased of this Council, my Council colleagues and this Council, for the constant leadership that we have provided in the last three years as it relates to this issue. I do not doubt for a minute that everyone in this Council is extremely committed to the children and to the future of Philadelphia and that we understand that school funding is a top priority. This introduction is about options on the table, as we've done in every single debate around school education. This Council will continue to provide leadership. Council President, we look to you and your leadership as you continue to collaborate with our state colleagues and state government to ensure that we do what is necessary. Our children deserve nothing less.
As the poverty numbers in the Pew study shows, ensuring that Philadelphia has a growing middle class is vitally important and lifting folks out of poverty should be a top priority. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I rise this morning to also talk about education. The first is just an announcement and a reminder 4th at 9:00 a.m., Dr. Adrienne Jacoby, Executive Director of Philadelphia Reads, will brief Council on Philadelphia Reads and discuss related issues. The second thing I'd like to talk about deals with the closing of schools. My colleague just mentioned four schools. Well, as you know, I have University City High School, and that includes Charles Drew School and Walnut Center, in addition to Wilson School next to the University of Sciences on the same block and Shaw School at 54th and Warrington, which is the Hardy Williams School. And there is print in the paper, but I'd like to mention we all love WURD, my favorite radio show, but certainly I had some issues today with a moderator. I don't really know him, but a new moderator who called me a liar today and who said that I made a deal and that the schools were being sold for a pittance. This is what happens when people don't do schools were being sold for a pittance because I made a deal to get a community room in the Youth Study Center or the Juvenile Justice Center at 48th and Haverford in my district. I tried to tell him you don't mix those kind of fundings. And a community center in the building and selling schools, totally different entities. We don't control the School District land or the buildings. You don't mix that funding. And if I have that kind of power and authority, the schools wouldn't have closed in the first place. Having said that, they said I knew about it. And we all know we heard about it yesterday. Like people tell us things like they're doing us a favor the day before. And we heard about these sales certainly the day before I did as well. And so I suggest that if this gentleman would check his records, he would see that when the Juvenile Justice built, it was in the papers, they accused me of holding it up for three years and they had my picture on the front of the Daily News calling me Jannie Blocker. Now it was funny, but it's not funny when it's you. They call me Jannie Blocker, not Jannie Blackwell. And we went through -- it's working out fine. We love the leadership there. It's working out fine, but my point is and I told them, you know, I know that I represent the community, some of you think, on certain issues to a fault, but Lucien Blackwell taught me a long time ago that you have to honor the people who elect you. And so sometimes maybe it is considered that I do it to a fault, but I try to stay true to what I think I should do. Pray first to God and then try to do what the people who elect me want me to do. So I suggest to this gentleman a community center -- my goodness, we got a community room in that center. Sure, I community room versus selling a school, three schools right in that area and all that it entails? I would suggest that when someone goes on the radio, any moderator, that they be fair. You do your homework if you want to attack people, and you should at least be honest about what you're saying. I have no reason to call a station and lie and make up things about the sale of schools in my area. I wish we weren't here in the first place. We all wish we had more money. I wish I controlled that as well. I mean, the gentleman said that I know everything that's going on in my district. I have power, but I'm not quite that powerful. So, again, we ask that -- we challenge them to come back, do the right thing, say the right thing, and I challenge you to be honest, because I know I am. Thank you, Mr. President.