Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. We will now consider Bill No. 100547.
An ordinance amending Section 19-2604 of The Philadelphia Code, relating to tax rates 10/28/10 - STATED - 2ND READING and credits for the business privilege tax, by amending the provisions providing a credit for contributions to community development corporations to add certain non-profit intermediaries as eligible recipients of contributions.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. This concludes our Calendar for today. Are there speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the part of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President and colleagues, today I congratulate Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, the 2010 winner of the Richard R. Green Award, the nation's highest individual award in urban education. The Council of the Great City Schools has awarded her that status, and they did so at their annual conference in Tampa, Florida last week. In voting her the prize, considered the top honor in the country for urban education leadership, the citation noted her reform blueprint, Imagine 2014, her plan to increase resources to the neediest schools through weighted school funding, the renaissance schools' turnaround initiative and the creation of Parent University to increase community engagement. Nine superintendents of big-city school systems competed for the top award for an urban educator, which is to an outstanding school board member and superintendent from 65 of the largest urban school districts in the country. Arlene Ackerman quoted -- this is a quote from the award -- the people who gave her the award, and I quote, "Arlene Ackerman is one of the best big-city school superintendents in the country and is most worthy of the nation's highest individual award in urban education," says Council Executive Director Michael Casserly. "She is smart, dedicated, innovative, effective and completely committed to our urban school children," and they sincerely congratulated her. It is gratifying to know that the rest of the country recognizes the gem that we have here in Philadelphia. Dr. Ackerman's blueprint for education reform, Imagine 2014, is working. For the first time since records have been kept under the federal No Child Left law, half of Philadelphia students met standards on state exams. I look forward to more successful outcomes from Dr. Ackerman and Philadelphia's children under her leadership. And I also want to state that I appreciate the School District's quick support and turnaround of retrofitting the F.S. Edmonds school at Sedgwick and Thouron Avenue last week after we had had an incident of bullying on the school grounds. Vernon Price from the DA's Office and I and the staff, School District staff, toured the school, kind of evaluated what was needed, and in a week's time, they had cut brush back, enhanced the lighting, so it's now a safe place for not only students who attend that school, but residents at the neighborhood who use the school's playground for their children. So I appreciate the work that she has done. I congratulate her on this award. We continue to support her, and District for their very much cooperation with us. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. I'm going to allow Councilwoman Brown to go before me.
Thank you, Councilman Goode. My topic is the same, Madam President, in that Councilman Jim Kenney often acknowledges how we do not celebrate what is well in our city. Our city is a city of firsts, and today, as Councilwoman Tasco has indicated, another first has happened. She's already stated that, yes, Dr. Ackerman is smart, innovative and I would add to that that she has handled adversity with grace. We are aware of 2014, the blueprint, and the beauty of that strategy is that her goal to funnel more resources to the more needier schools, more resources to the more needier schools, contrary to popular opinion. Another first for the District under her leadership is that records -since records have been kept, our young people are doing better over the last five years. We must acknowledge that that upward climb started under the leadership of Paul Vallas and Chair Lady Sandra Dungee Glenn, who actually should be credited for recruiting Dr. Ackerman. Sandra Dungee Glenn refused to take no from Dr. Ackerman and actually went to San Francisco to have multiple sit-downs with her. Our own President, Barack Obama, gave Dr. Ackerman a shout-out at Masterman for what she has accomplished. So I join Majority Leader Tasco and others in saluting, congratulating and lifting up Philadelphia school's the nation's top urban school leader, another first for Philadelphia. Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. I have sad news to report. I regret to inform my colleagues and the general public that the Committee of Seventy doesn't care about the working poor. In a city with a 25 percent poverty rate, the issue of fighting poverty is not one of the Committee of Seventy's core objections. In fact, the Committee of Seventy is supporting poverty wages because of its big-business board members. Since 2005, the City has had a local minimum wage standard. Since 2009, this City has also had a minimum benefits to the City government, agencies, certain City contractors and financial aid recipients. This spring this Council decided to codify that policymaking within the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter. It is Ballot Question No. 1 on Election Day, but the Committee of Seventy opposes that ballot question, which is co-sponsored by Councilwoman Sanchez. This proposed Charter change would confirm City Council's power to require certain companies to pay their employees a certain minimum level of pay, to provide their employees with a certain minimum level of benefits. The Charter change allows for the standard to be applied to professional services contracts as well. The new minimum wage and benefits ordinance currently requires certain City-supported employers to pay at least 150 percent of the federal minimum wage to its employees. It also mandates that if the employer provides of its employees, the employer shall provide each full-time employee healthcare benefits. There is an exemption for small businesses with annual gross receipts of less than $1 million. A company may also request a waiver, if necessary. 88 per hour, which means that a person who works 40 hours per week for all 52 weeks of the year should make at least $22,600 for working full time year round. The purpose of this legislation is to assure that as many employees as possible within the City of Philadelphia earn an hourly wage that enables them to live with more dignity and increase economic self-sufficiency. The standard is based on existing local and state job creation tax credit laws. So what's up with the Committee of Seventy? Once again, it didn't do its Seventy says it's concerned about the costs. Whose costs? The Administration can offer a waiver to social service agencies or others that can't afford the standard. And there is already, as I mentioned, an exemption for small businesses. So whose costs? The cost of Seventy's big-business board members that make the decision to oppose livable wages, an unethical decision, because many could be impacted by the Charter change and be forced to pay more livable wages. It is a conflict of interest for them to make that decision. But the same big-business board pays Seventy's President and CEO a quarter of a million dollars. 88 per hour, which means that a person who works 40 hours per week for all 52 weeks in a year should make at least $22,600 working full time all year. But the big-business board of the Committee of and CEO more than ten times that to ride his Jaguar into Philadelphia from the suburbs to protect their big-business greedy interests. As former editor of the Daily News, he should know that his former paper actually endorsed the standard, not once but twice. The Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed the standard today, to their credit. The Committee of Seventy calls their opposition to this ballot question a non-partisan recommendation. What do we already know about the Committee of Seventy's board? We know that it lacks diversity, thanks to Councilwoman Reynolds Brown. It lacks racial diversity. It lacks gender diversity. It lacks diversity with regard to economic class, and I'm willing to bet it even lacks political diversity.
So I urge voters to vote yes on Ballot Question No. 1, fight poverty and tell the rich guys to drive their Jaguars and shut up when it comes to our economic opportunity. Thank you, Madam President. )
Thank you, Madam President. I just want to remind folk about the diabetic screening today and the diabetic education awareness event immediately following -well, it starts at 11:30 in the Caucus Room, and anyone in City Hall is invited to come over and get screened. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I certainly agree with all the comments made regarding Dr. Arlene Ackerman, and we do commend her for her going through some issues these days with regard to charter schools, but nonetheless, we are proud of her leadership and of her creative programs. I would also like to note that in addition to the screening that Councilwoman Miller noted, that Abdul Muhammad, father and son, have provided some sandwiches and snacks in 476, if anybody would like to partake in them. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez.
Thank you, Madam President. I wanted to add to my colleague's, Wilson Goode's, comment and just say that the most disappointing issue related to this is the fact that they did not meet with the bill sponsor. And it's very important as we create independent groups who want to help shape policy that part of it is working together, and we've proven with the Board of Ethics and others that we can work in collaboration to the same goal. So I just for the record wanted to note the fact that they did not call us and they did not meet with us, and we're very disappointed with that. I wanted to take a moment, we distributed a copy of the Sunday article written by Mark Zandi, the Chief Economist of Moody's, regarding our Philadelphia business tax reform and just wanted to add and remind people that for the last two years, we've been working really hard and thanks to the leadership, as I mentioned when I introduced this bill, and the consultation of Econsult on this piece of legislation. I think Zandi's article is as self-explanatory as it can be in terms of what our intentions are, the benefits of this and whatever foreseeable unintended consequences there be, which at this point appear to be none. We continue to work with the Administration on this. We've met with dozens of businesses, small businesses, accountants representing thousands of businesses. We've met with the editorial boards of both the Philadelphia Daily News and the Inquirer, which led the Inquirer editorial board to ask Mr. Zandi to review our proposal in an objective manner and come up with his review of it, and as you could see from his article, he glowingly endorses our out-of-the-box thinking. So to ensure that folks are aware of our work and give folks an update before we go into the public hearing sessions, which we intend to have in November, next Thursday at 1 o'clock we will do a briefing for Council and for its staff after Council so that we can give you the presentation we've given others, the lessons that we've learned in many stakeholders. We continue to meet with those stakeholders who have questions, some which have been answered, I believe so, by Mr. Zandi's objective presentation, but we will continue to meet with them, with the chambers and others as we move this forward, and I want to thank all my colleagues for their help, their support. And we, from the beginning, are willing to meet with anybody else who is concerned about this or has any questions as we try to move forth what we believe to be the best small business and business reform initiative this city has seen in the last few decades. So thank you very much.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. to acknowledge things we do right and also things we need to do better, and I want to stand today to thank my colleague Donna Reed Miller for introducing the resolution to look into allegations of police abuse, misconduct and confrontations with the public. It is a courageous stance. It is a difficult -(Applause.)
It is a difficult task to balance the right of police officers, their right to go home to their families in the evening, and the right for every citizen to believe that they should be treated with dignity and respect. And this process that she is undertaking, and I will join in with her, is a delicate effort to assure citizens that the rules for me and you are the same for those who happen to wear blue, and it's an important concept that this body needs to make sure that the public knows exists. you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco. (Applause.)
Thank you, Madam President. I'd just like to remind everyone that Tuesday, November the 2nd is Election Day. It is a very important day, and I remind people if they don't vote, they don't count. It's a very important election. We can't tell you how to vote, but we ask them to peruse the candidates who are running, vote for their candidate of their choice, but the important thing is that they vote. The polls are open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Councilman Jones, your light is to be recognized?
Thank you. Are there any other speeches on the part of the majority? (No response.)
Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, November the 4th, 2010, 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, November 4th. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Council will be adjourned until Thursday, November 4th. Thank you. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.) 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 on October 28, 2010, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)