Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Chorus of Ayes.)
Ayes have it. And Resolution 140419 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 140421.
A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the South Central Urban Renewal Area, identified by house numbers and street addresses as 1507 Catharine Street and 1515 Catharine Street.
Mr. President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Chorus of Ayes)
Ayes have it. And Resolution 140421 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 140422.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situated in the 31st Ward of the City of Philadelphia.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Chorus of Ayes)
Ayes have it. And the Resolution 140422 is adopted. Mr. Decker, will you please read the title of 140314.
An ordinance authorizing the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Property to construct, own and maintain an accessible ramp and step encroachment located 1201 North 61st Street.
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The Ayes are 16 and the Nays are 0. Majority of Members present voting in the affirmative. The bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 140207.
An ordinance amending Title 12 of the Philadelphia Code entitled, "Traffic Code," to revise the fee for the use of parking meters.
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 15, the Nays are 1. Majority of Members present voting in the affirmative. The bill passes. Mr. Decker, 140180.
And ordinance amending an ordinance(Bill No. 877), approved September 16, 1994, by amending an exhibit thereto, in order to increase the limit of the amount of funding any entity may receive in any fiscal year from the Philadelphia Activities Fund.
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question is, shall it bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. The Ayes are 16, the Nays are 0. The majority of Members present voting in the affirmative. The bill passes. Mr. Decker, 140224.
An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to acquire title from the Salvation Army to a certain tract of land at the southeast corner of 22nd and Market Streets, known as 2140 Market Street; and amending Chapter 15-200 of the Philadelphia Code entitled "Fairmount Park," to make the parcel part of the Fairmount Park System and to make technical changes.
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 0. Majority of the Members present voting in the affirmative. The bill passes. Mr. Decker, do you have any additional resolutions?
A resolution celebrating the impactful, accomplished and joyful life of Philadelphia Home -- Human Rights Leader, Lawyer, Professor and Mentor David M. Rosenblum who's sudden and tragic passing at the age of 47 has stunned his family, friends and has left a hole in the hearts of the Philadelphia LGBTKQ communities introduced by Councilman Kenney.
I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Chorus of Ayes)
The ayes have it. And that resolution is adopted.
A resolution recognizing and honoring the dedication and commitment of Philadelphia School teachers who continue to fight every day to improve the lives and educational outcomes of young people throughout our City, introduced by Councilwoman Reynolds Brown, Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilwoman Bass.
And the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
I move for the adoption, Mr. President. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Chorus of Ayes)
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much. With that I will call for speeches on behalf of the Minority. And the Chair recognizes Councilman O'Brien.
On Tuesday Philadelphia voters will have an important ballot question before them regarding the constitutional rights of the most vulnerable among us. The right to counsel is a fundamental, procedural safeguard guaranteed under the Bill of Rights to all persons accused of a crime who are unable to afford a lawyer. In the landmark case Gideon vs. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court recognized the fundamental role that legal representation plays in a fair criminal justice system. On November 14, 2013, I introduced with co-sponsor Councilman Bill Greenlee a three-piece package of legislation regarding indigent representation, which is not just limited to the criminal counsel but also includes a very large number of complex dependency cases involving children. One of those measures, Bill No. 130851, seeks a change to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter as it relates to specific contracts relating to indigent legal representation. Currently, City Council has no authority to review contracts that the Administration enters into when the length of the contract is for one year or less. I do not believe that every contract should require City Council approval. However, I do strongly believe that any contract dealing with an individual's constitutional rights is important enough to require Council approval. I understand that amending the Home Rule Charter is not an action to be taken lightly, but these contracts are of such importance that an exception to the Charter is not only required but is in the best interest of the City. The right to counsel is a constitutionally protected right. The contract the Administrations eventually plans to issue an RFP for and sign deals directly with this constitutionally protected right. This Charter amendment will not prohibit the Administration from entering into a contract. It will just require a public forum to be able to review the contract and get answers before any contract is signed. Without this legislation, there is zero public input. My proposed narrow amendment to the Charter requires that all contracts for the rendering of services for a year or less that involves the expenditures of more than $100,000 for the purpose of providing legal representation and related services for the indigent may only be made when permitted by ordinance. This provision applies to the contracts renewals and extensions. In order to make the amendment as narrow as possible so as not to open the floodgates of Council approval for every contract, I did the following. Put a monetary threshold of over $100,000; two, specifically state that this amendment only applies to contracts dealing with the legal representation of the indigent. The monetary amount is necessary to make sure that only large contracts are considered. As a result, this excludes individual private attorneys who are currently providing legal representation to the indigent by being court appointed conflict counsel. However, the monetary amount includes the Philadelphia Defender's Office, Child Support Center and Community Legal Services because these organizations have been successfully contracting with the City for many years. They are exempt from the review requirement unless Council provides an ordinance to the contrary. I urge Philadelphia voters to answer "yes" to the proposed charter change Question No. 3 when they go to the voting booth on Tuesday. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. And the chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Mr. President. On Tuesday, voters will go to the polls and vote in the races for Governor, Congress and the State Legislature. There's also a big push for Ballot Question No. 1 that will confirm our ability to extend our living wage and benefit standard to subcontractors. In 2005, I introduced a Philadelphia 21st Century minimum wage standard bill, a living wage ordinance that requires City-supported employers to pay at least 150 percent of the minimum wage to its employees. That wage standard was already required in Philadelphia to get a job creation tax credit requiring a minimum hourly wage of $7.72 an hour rather than just $5.15. For the record, some are being paid only $5.15 an hour in 2005 even if they worked 40 hours per week and worked all 52 weeks in the year. Earned less than $11,000. Obviously, the purpose of legislation was to assure that as many employees as possible within the City of Philadelphia earn a new wage and enables them to live with more dignity and increase economic self-sufficiency. The City contracts with businesses to provide goods and services and provides financial assistance to developers of economic development and job growth. Such public expenditures should also be invested in a better community economic standard. It is an investment in those that are most vulnerable economically. Since my original law was enacted in 2005, we raised the wage standard from $5.15 to $7.72 to $10.88 per hour. And now we aim even higher because we are still the poorest big city in America. That's real help for real people, in fact, the people that need it the most. I was glad to stand with the Mayor last week to create a new higher standard of $12 per hour through his Executive Order. I look forward to soon introducing a new bill that lifts wages permanently. But we must also pass this ballot question to make the necessary changes permanent. So on Tuesday, May 28, vote "Yes" on 1. To make it easier, vote "yes" on all questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. And the Chair recognizes Councilman Oh.
I, too, have a ballot question to talk about, Ballot Question No. 2. " The question voters have to ask themselves is, is it more important to keep an ineffective law in place or to change it so we can solve critical, longstanding problems? "Resign To Run" is an ineffective law in terms of making politicians more ethical. It does, however, make politicians in Philadelphia less effective. Each year the public schools need hundreds of millions of dollars from the City, money they will not get from our General Fund because our already too high taxes are not high enough to cover the lack of funding that comes from the State. This year the public schools are asking the City to provide 195 million of $440 million request, and that's just to maintain the schools and have slight improvements. Philadelphia does not have this money. Therefore, we are looking at two tax increases: 1 percent sales tax and a cigarette tax. But any money that we provide to the schools also means less money for important City functions such as public safety, pension debt, tax reduction, social services, parks and recreation and so forth. This will happen next year and the year after and so on unless we as a City take action to change this paradigm. In order to do so, we must think outside the box, identify the key obstacles that prevent us from solving the problems and remove them. The thing we cannot do is do nothing and expect the problem to solve itself. " That limitation only applies to Philadelphia City-elected officials. None of the other 2,500 cities and towns in Pennsylvania have this restriction. As a result, they have their full team of local, state and federal elected officials advocating for them. Because of this restriction of more than 60 years, Philadelphia's 24 City-elected officials including our Mayor, DA, Controller and Councilmembers are perceived outside of Philadelphia as non-combatants in the political fight to help Philadelphia and its schools. Emissaries, yes; combatants, no. In other words, politicians outside of Philadelphia are convinced that our City-elected officials are not going to quit their jobs to run for Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General, Treasurer or Auditor General. If they do quit, the likelihood of being a serious candidate against an elected official from outside of Philadelphia since they do not have to quit is considered slim. It also takes a long time for someone to resign and mount up a campaign. As a result, Philadelphians do not have the kind of political clout that we should for a city of our stature and size. Regardless of whether Philadelphia's elected officials win or not, the mere act of running can dramatically change the outcome of a statewide race. That is of great concern to decision makers across the State, and that's important if we are going to have our ideas heard and solutions presented seriously for Harrisburg's consent. Right now Philadelphia is not fully at the table in a political sense. While other school district cities and towns flex their political muscles and present a coordinated effort which includes municipal expertise, Philadelphia's State delegation does not have the horsepower that comes from adding 24 City-elected officials that can bring more expertise and advocacy to Philadelphia's cause. It's time Philadelphia unshackled it's City-elected officials to do what politicians are supposed to do for their communities, and that is to engage in politics to the fullest to fight for the people of this City. Harrisburg will not solve our problems on its own. Each member of the legislature represents their own school district, city and town. It's up to us here to come up with a plan to fund and improve our schools and City. It has to make sense to legislators in Harrisburg and to their constituents. I suggest that we focus on generating more and keeping more of our own revenue since we provide more revenues than any other city or county in this state.
Philadelphia is responsible for producing one-third of the State's GDP. We give more than we get. If we rise, the State rises. If we fall, the State falls. There is only one instance that I can think of in a major sense where that statement is not true. There is a subsection of the amount that we give and get. And that is schools. We have the largest School District with the most complicated issues. Our School District does not have taxing authority, so 55 percent of our City's property tax goes to schools. That provides only 26 percent of the City's total contribution, which is 42 percent of the school's budget. The State provides 55 percent of our school budget, the rest coming to Federal Government. In order to be able to reach an agreement with the State regarding how we can adequately fund our schools and transition back local control, we need to harness all of our City's expertise to present a great plan and use all of our political power to close a deal. Amending "Resign To Run" takes 24 of our elected officials off the bench and puts them in the game. Right now we need this for our schools and our City's future. So, I urge voters to vote "yes" to amend this outdated and harmful restriction. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Mr. President, I just want to thank you on behalf of all of us here for your leadership in carrying our water, "if you would," up to Harrisburg and doing what you've done consistently over the last three years being our voice up in the halls of Harrisburg, putting our agenda before our co -- co-allies in the House and in the Senate. The best compromise probably is the one that everybody dislikes a little, but also gets what they need in the end. Not necessarily what they want, but what they need. And I just want to say that it has been a privilege to watch you move quietly at times but effectively all the time up in those hallways. And I just want to express my thank you for that.
Thank you so much, Councilman. But I am, again, a true believer of any one individual is only as strong as the team. And again, I say this is the best team that I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Thank you so much. There being no other speeches, Chair recognizes Councilman Brown for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Council stands adjourned until Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
Been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Chorus of Ayes)
Ayes have it. m. Thank you all very much. ) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same.
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