Madam President, the Committee on Rules reports one bill with a favorable recommendation.
Thank you. I would ask the Chief Clerk to please read the report.
To the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia, the Committee on Rules, to which was referred Bill No. 060292, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 14-1611 of The Philadelphia Code, 'Benjamin Franklin Parkway Controls,' by providing for additional height controls in the vicinity of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, under certain terms and conditions," respectfully reports it has considered and amended the same and returns the attached bill to Council with a favorable recommendation.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Madam President, I move that the rules of Council be suspended this day as to permit first reading of Bill No. 060290. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading this day of Bill No. 060292. All in favor will please indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the bill just read will be placed on our First Reading Calendar for today. Council will now proceed under a special order of business, a resolution recalling Bill No. 060260, and at this time, the Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Thank you, Madam President. I offer one resolution, and because this resolution was not circulated yesterday, I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit consideration of the resolution at this time. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended to Councilman O'Neill's resolution at this time. All in favor will please indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. And, again, I would ask the Clerk to please read the title of the resolution.
A resolution requesting the Mayor to return to Council Bill No. 060260, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Zoning and Planning,' by amending Section 14-104, entitled 'Non-Conforming Structures and Uses.'"
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Madam President, I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution has passed. The Clerk will please read the letter from the Mayor.
To the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia, I am returning herewith as requested by your resolution adopted May 11, 2006 Bill No. 060260, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Code, entitled 'Zoning and Planning,'" for the purpose of reconsideration by the Council of the vote by which said bill passed Council.
The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill for a motion that Council reconsider the vote by which Bill No. 060260 was passed.
All in favor please signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the motion passes and the vote by which Bill No. 060260 was passed has been reconsidered. The Chair again recognizes
Thank you, Madam President. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 060260. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of Council, and I move for the adoption of the amendment. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 060260 be adopted. All in favor will please indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Bill No. 060260 has been amended. This bill will be placed on our Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar for our next session of Council. The next order of business is 5/11/06 - STATED - 1ST READING the consideration of the Calendar. The Chief Clerk will please read the bills on the First Reading Calendar.
Bill No. 060292, an ordinance amending Section 14-1611 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Benjamin Franklin Parkway Controls," by providing for additional height controls in the vicinity of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, under certain terms and conditions.
The Chair agrees. And that completes our First Reading Calendar for today. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for the purpose of calling up the bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar to be considered today.
Thank you, Madam President. Today our Calendar starts at the bottom of . 060144 will be amended. On , we will hear 060142 and 162, and, finally, on the last page, 060160. All other bills are being 5/11/06 - STATED - 2ND READING held.
Thank you very much. I would ask the Chief Clerk to please read the title of Bill No. 060144.
An ordinance amending the ordinance approved June 28, 1966, Bill No. 1845, as amended, known as the Philadelphia Housing Development Agreement Ordinance.
Councilman Clarke, did you want to be recognized?
Yes, Madam President. Madam President, I would like to offer an amendment to this bill. The amendment has been circulated. It's the bill that I spoke of last week about the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation and the disposition issue. So I'd like to make a motion on the amendment to Bill 060144. (Duly seconded.) 5/11/06 - STATED - 2ND READING
It has been moved and seconded that the amendment be adopted. All in favor will please say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the amendment has been passed. The Clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 060142.
An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Southampton Road, a Railroad right-of-way, Hornig Road and the Roosevelt Boulevard.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill 5/11/06 - STATED - 2ND READING pass finally. The Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 15; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, this bill passes. We will now consider Bill No. 5/11/06 - STATED - 2ND READING 060162.
An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Worthington Road, the Poquessing Creek Park, Carter Road and Southampton Road.
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 15; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, this bill passes. The last bill to be called for consideration is Bill No. 060160.
An ordinance for the purpose of creating a Citywide wireless broadband Internet access system, all under certain terms and conditions.
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 15; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, this bill passes. That completes 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 Krajewski.
Madam President, I would just like to say happy birthday to one of our colleagues who is celebrating their 75th birthday, Councilman Kelly.
Thank you, Madam President. I just have two announcements I'd like to make. One is that on Saturday, May 13th, the Mt. Airy Church of God of Christ and my office will be sponsoring our Annual Youth Summit and we invite Councilmembers to stop by. It is a day where young people at the church for activities, workshops, sports activities, and it's a great day to see young people engaged in positive activity. So it will be at Ogontz and Stenton Avenue and the program will be at 10:00 a.m., and we invite our Councilmembers to come. Also, on Wednesday the 17th, we will host a public hearing co-sponsored by the Committees on Public Safety and Public Health and Human Services. Those hearings will be at Olney High School on the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia. The discussion will be how to address the issue of violence and develop programs which are designed for a ten-year period to deal with violence and bring solutions to some of our community problems. So we want our Councilmembers to come and we invite the listing audience to participate. And, finally, Madam President, I'd just like to say that the other day I with some regret that Michael Williams was transferred to the Law Department. Unless there is support from the second floor and the Mayor, the MBEC office will not be effective. Charlotte Nichols is a fine person. I know her, but she will not have any success unless the support comes from the second floor. And until we see that, MBEC will not be an effective organization. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I want to make a couple comments that I alluded to earlier and again thank Councilman DiCicco for his comments with regard to Officer Gary Skerski. There is clearly a problem in time at this moment, and you alluded to it earlier. The killing of a police officer does affect all of us, no matter where it takes place, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the situation. This City Council has been trying to deal with this particular issue in the course of the budget process and has called for the hiring of more police officers. Originally, the Administration was concerned that overtime was the way to go, that it will take a while to get new officers on the street. Of course, they have to be trained. That takes a certain amount of time. I would only suggest that we rethink the current situation, where there are 475 Philadelphia police officers in the DROP program. We lose ten a month and approximately another 25 a month through the usual retirement process. Those officers don't need to be trained. They're already Philadelphia officers, and I would only suggest that we take a look at trying to provide some additional incentive or even a request that those officers be allowed to stay with us for at least upward of a year, keep them in service, to the extent that those who want to stay. It is obviously a very tough and dangerous job. And that would help alleviate some of the pressure on the Police Department as it continues to experience a decrease in its ranks. There must be a way for us to hold on to many of those officers, who some of whom I know looked at the DROP program at a certain point in time, many of whom are trying to figure out what they're going to do next, and I think in a call back to public service at a time of crisis here in our City, many of those officers, I think if properly approached, would more than consider staying to continue to serve the citizens of this City. Skerski, as has been reported, is the first police officer in about ten years to be killed. So far this year, we've had three Philadelphia police officers shot, including Officer Skerski. I talked to a person in New York City this morning. New York City has 36,875 police officers. 36,875 police officers. So it's more than one and a half times the entire complement of public servants here in Philadelphia. Year to date, they have had none shot and none killed. To the individual who has committed this crime, it seems to be fairly clear from statements in the news media that the person is probably someone already known to the criminal justice system, as he apparently indicated that he was wanted and would not be caught. This is not television. This is not a movie. You will not shoot your way out of this particular situation. " It is only a question of when, because the Philadelphia Police Department will track you down, they will find you. There is only one of you. There are 6,500 of us. And the best thing for that individual to do and the safest thing for that individual to do is to turn himself in. You have already taken one life, and your life is probably pretty much over. The only question is how much longer you will live. He should turn himself in and end what will be a continual manhunt to track him down. And the Police Department knows that they are dealing with a very seriously dangerous person, and they will approach him should they come to find him as a very seriously dangerous person. He should turn himself in. Councilwoman Tasco in caucus this morning made reference to the other -- there are quite a few, but this is certainly one of them -- that a 13 and 14-year-old were arrested after an investigation with drugs and weapons, and they're part of -I think the headline referred to them as kingpins in the drug operation.
Thirteen and 14 years old, sleeping with a weapon. And also arrested in the same household apparently from news reports possibly a father or other adult in the household. Now, I would only say "possibly" and I don't know for sure. I'd at least say it was a male person. Certainly not a man, clearly not a father, because no man or no father would allow their child to be involved in this kind of activity under any set of circumstances. There is a provision -- and this is no cause for alarm, but I think that we are in unusual circumstances, which require an unusual response. There's a provision in The Philadelphia Code, Section 10-819. " It empowers the Mayor to take a variety of significant and unusual actions at a time when there is danger to the general population. And I would be the first to say that in some parts of the police district where I live, in the 19th, and there are others around the City, where we may need to seriously consider implementing certain provisions of Section 10-819 to get a grip on what is going on in many parts of this City. The Philadelphia Police Department and all of us as public servants cannot continue to run around from crisis to crisis, emergency to emergency and have no decent amount of time to try to take stock of where we are at the moment and what we are doing, how we are doing it and what we're going to do differently. Because at the present state of affairs, the current system is not working. I think that we are compelled to step back and take a very we are doing from a policing, law enforcement, public safety, crime prevention standpoint and not be afraid to analyze from top to bottom issues of personnel levels, deployment, police district boundaries, the management structure, the powers and duties of the Police Commissioner and what it means to try to run a police department, a paramilitary organization, in the 21st century. We cannot be afraid of that kind of analysis. This is not about individuals. It's not about personalities. It's not about criticizing anybody. It's about the public safety of this City. And I think that when you look at what is going on in some other cities across the country, their crime rates are going down, ours continues to go up. The time for that kind of analysis is now. The time for all of us to come together is right now. The Councilwoman has made reference to a the City, and certainly all of us should try to support them and participate in them, but I think that we are beyond a crisis moment and requires all of us to step above the normal comments and commentary, come together, do the kind of analysis that we need to do of our public safety system here in Philadelphia, learn from best practices across the country and try to make this City safer. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. Today at 10 o'clock Men United for a Better Philadelphia started hosting -- it's still going on now -- the 4th Annual Lucien E. Blackwell Guiding Light Award. It's in the Mayor's reception room downstairs. We look forward to joining now, and we want to thank them and all of those who honor Lou's memory. Thank you.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Finally, I'd just like to remind everyone that Tuesday is Election Day and we ask them to go out and exercise their right to vote. Pay their political dues. Thank you.
You're welcome. Are there any other speeches on the part of the Majority? (No response.)
Seeing none, again, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco for a motion to adjourn. Oh, I'm sorry. Councilwoman Miller.
Just a follow-up to Councilwoman Tasco's Election Day reminder. On this Tuesday's polling places, we're hoping that voters will remember to vote yes on the ballot question that talks about Philadelphia and video surveillance cameras. So we're hoping that people will support that and vote yes. Just a reminder. Thank you.
Madam President, I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May the 18th, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.
It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May the 18th at 10:00 a.m. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Thank you. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 11:30 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 May 11, 2006, 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.)