Yes. My name is Victor Pinckney, Sr. Good morning, Council President and Councilmembers. I'm the Vice President of HAPCO Philadelphia. HAPCO Philadelphia is the Commonwealth's largest membership organization for providers of low- to moderate-income private rental housing. HAPCO Philadelphia's membership owns primarily single family, duplex rentals on the streets and neighborhoods of Philadelphia. I also own and manage rental properties in Philadelphia. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 We do understand during these trying times, that we all are going through hardships, tenants as well as landlords. You have good tenants; you have bad tenants. You have good landlords and bad landlords. While I say that, I'm testifying today against Bill 200294, 200295, 200302, and 200305. If these bills are passed, it will have a devastating effect on rental property owners. I currently have a tenant that has not paid rent since February. That pre-dates any COVID-19 emergency period. I was finally able to get a court date scheduled for July the 14th, which I doubt very seriously that that will actually happen. If these bills are passed, my case will get continued if the tenant alleges a COVID-19 hardship, which they surely will do, and I will have no ability to dispute the allegation. I will then have to wait until Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 September to send them a notice or conciliation conference in October to get into court, if I'm lucky, and then will not get an actual lockout until at least November, December. This tenant has no intention of paying. I am now going to lose nine months of rent. That will be devastating to a person owning a single one home, one rental property. I have another tenant who is working and has the money to pay rent, but realizes he does not have to. So it's not paid and there's nothing I can do about it. The state moratorium on evictions is on July 10th. Tenants should not be allowed to live rent free after that date. Under these bills, however, this tenant will be allowed to live rent free for at least an additional three months. My business and the business of members of my organization cannot survive on this. The Governor's emergency declaration wasn't declared Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 until March 6th, 2020. Under these bills, however, they extend the COVID-19 emergency period retroactively to March 1st, 2020. Again, that was before there was an emergency. Additionally, for rents that were due before March 1st --
-- I will be prevented from proceeding on this case as well. Regarding the payment plan --
Yes, sir. These bills take away any incentives for tenants to pay rent on time even if they can. My mortgage payment, taxes, utilities, and repair bills, however, do not stop. Not having the rental to pay for these expenses will destroy my business. Thank you for listening, Councilmembers, and please vote against Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 these bills.
Yes. Good morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
Yes. Good morning. My name is Sherry Thomas and I'm the Director of Housing at the Legal Clinic for the Disabled. I'm here to support the bills in the Emergency Housing Protection Act. At the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, we represent people with injuries or illnesses like stroke, brain injury, diabetes, respiratory illness, and mental health diagnoses. These folks are already at high risk of contracting COVID and now are worrying about being Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 evicted during the pandemic. The risk to them of fatally contracting the disease is ever present, and housing is a human right that can literally save lives. If you don't pass these bills, we're going to see large numbers of people evicted within a short period of time. People will have to quickly find housing in a market that just recently reopened. This is really difficult for people with mobility issues, special needs or limitations, and many will be forced to move in with family or friends, resulting in crowding conditions or entering an already burdened shelter system. When we think about reopening, we have to think of the high risk of transmission when people are shuffled around in this way. Rental assistance, as we've heard, is a crucial piece of recovery, but it is only one piece. I've represented stroke survivors, people with brain injuries, and others with Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 impairments, and these clients often have difficulty gathering documentation, communicating, and processing information. The rental assistance is really of little use if people lack the time and the ability to get to it before an eviction takes place. This legislation is a major step in ensuring the time to access it. The policies that you'll set in place today will impact families for years to come. The trauma of an eviction is lasting, and data shows that it is black and brown communities that bear the brunt of the trauma. We know policies matter. They impact generations of people. Being homeless can change the course of someone's life and their children's lives. Today you have an opportunity to do that, and you must take it. Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 so very much for your testimony. The next witness?
The next speaker is Leia Yarmin. Please use star 6 to unmute yourself. Leia Yarmin.
We can hear you now, Leia. Just please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Absolutely. My name is Leia Yarmin, and thank you for hearing me and thank you to the person who went before me whose testimony I wholeheartedly agree with. Are you ready for me to go?
Okay. Good morning, all. My name is Leia Yarmin. I am a social worker serving people who experience housing insecurity in this city. As I didn't hear enough on this Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 call, I just want to say housing is a basic human right. And during this pandemic, I've been shocked and saddened and angered by the lack of City action in protecting and offering housing. The lack of access to, maintenance of, and safety in housing is violent, and it's easy to see the oppressive racial element when you look at the statistics of who it is that experiences this poverty and lack of housing security in Philadelphia. I speak today about the Emergency Housing Protection Act. The collection of bills should be passed, and I wanted to be on record that I do not believe it is enough. The bill asks for an extension of the moratorium on evictions, for mediations prior to eviction, rent repayment plans, and the waiver of rent late fees. I believe that this bill can be a foundation of how much further necessary protections can be built. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 I would like it -- excuse me. Our citizens deserve housing, and I believe that their housing can be protected through rental forgiveness and for pushing the burdens we placed not on individuals, not on landlords, but on financial institutions. We should not be evicting people who are vulnerable -- is that my whole time?
Yes. I know, it comes up rather quickly. If you could just complete your sentence, that will be great. Thank you so much.
Thank you. I support this plan, but I also believe that in order to protect the people of Philadelphia, we need to have a rental forgiveness and -- dang, I didn't expect it to go so fast, so I guess that's all I have to say.
All right. Listen, thank you so very much for your testimony. We greatly appreciate you sharing with us today your Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 perspective. The next witness, Mr. Decker?
Yes, we can hear you, Marquis. Do us a favor and please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
All right. My name is Marquis Combs. Today I am representing Altman Tenants Union and I am speaking on behalf of for the Emergency Housing Act that we are discussing. Millions of people have already lost their jobs and had their income in some other way affected by COVID-19. Those of us lucky enough to get through the unemployment website still aren't in a position to have financially saved first, last, and security move-in fees. In the event that this mass Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 eviction does take place, what will most likely happen is a lot of people will be forced into homelessness. And there's never a good time to be homeless, but in the middle of a pandemic, it is especially cruel to put capital over community right now, and I believe that is what a lot of these so-called good landlords are doing. What happens if you want to stay? The landlords lose out on some money? Well, guess what, a lot of your tenants have been losing out on money for the past few months. They've been scratching and surviving, trying to make a $1,200 stimulus check stretch throughout these past few months. A lot of people don't have money for rent right now. But I would just like to ask these landlords who are against this bill to really ask themselves what do they think will really happen to their tenants if they do evict them right now? Do they Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 really think that their tenants will be -- do they really think that their tenants will still be safe given the COVID-19 pandemic? Do they think that their tenants will be able to find housing in this current market? Or do they actually realize that they are condemning their tenants to homelessness and to health risks? And that's my time. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Marquis. Next witness to testify?
The next speaker is Samantha Petty. Star 6 to unmute yourself. Samantha Petty. (No response.)
The next speaker is Yosuke Araki. Star 6 to unmute. Yosuke Araki.
Yes, we can hear you. Just please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hi. My name is Yosuke Araki. I'm speaking on behalf of the Emergency Housing Protection Act, all the bills included. I find it really ironic how all of these rental associations, like PRA and HAPCO, are asking for empathy from City Council when that's literally the one trait that they lack, profits over human lives. I mean, the lack of social empathy and solidarity to get people through a pandemic is disgusting, but the question in regard to housing right now is who does the financial responsibility of pandemic response fall onto? It should not fall onto renters, as these psychopaths would lead you to believe. It should not even necessarily fall onto the psychopaths either. It should fall entirely on the government's duty to Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 wholly neutralize the effects of this pandemic. But bipartisan leadership on the federal level has given 80 percent of benefits from tax changes in the stimulus bill to millionaires. Nancy Pelosi is already driving through more corporate handouts in the HEROES Act. There is a cultural and structural lack of social empathy and solidarity to get people through a pandemic of this proportion. These bills will provide significant protection against inevitable reactions that will be taken by financially hit rental owners who will blame and punish their helpless tenants for their monetary losses, punishable by homelessness and, consequently, punishable by death. We're in a global pandemic. Not passing these bills will hold you accountable to death. It is incumbent upon City Council to pass this package of bills, all of them, which unfortunately wouldn't even meet the degree of threats Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 we're faced with. Eviction mediation repayment buys time but still leaves the responsibility of pandemic response on renters, but not doing so will set a terrible precedent for future pandemics that will only become more frequent, amounting despair on your constituents which, as you've seen in the past few weeks -
You're welcome. Thank you so very much for your patience. We greatly appreciate it. The next witness scheduled to testify, Mr. Decker?
Yes, we can hear you, Norah. Listen, Norah, state your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony. You'll hear a bell go off to signal when your time is up. Okay?
All right. Thank you. This is Norah Purcell. I will give some facts about the current crises and how it will affect the most vulnerable. The Coronavirus shows no sign of slowing. Florida had 2,600 new cases yesterday since they reopened. Black people are dying from Coronavirus at three times the rate of white people, two million total cases in the U.S., 27,975 new cases since yesterday in the U.S. Twenty million people in the U.S. are currently unemployed. One in six black workers are unemployed. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 Black and Latino people are two times more likely to rent their homes. The federal CARES Act is set to end July 31st. What will happen when all these people lose money from the CARES Act, are unemployed, and are allowed to be evicted? Housing is a human right, and the most efficient way to keep people healthy during the global pandemic is to keep them in their houses. Ithaca, New York has been the first city in the U.S. to enact a rent free for the duration of the pandemic, and I suggest Philadelphia set an example and do the same. At a time when our black community members need support the most, ending eviction moratoriums will worsen Coronavirus and harm poor renters in the City who are disproportionately black. I appreciate the Tenants Union of Philadelphia for informing me about this meeting, Community Legal Services. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 I talked faster than I meant to. But Housing Protection Act is the least the City can do. People are dying, and to save their lives, you should keep them in their homes.
Thank you so very much for your testimony. We greatly appreciate it.
Mr. Decker, can you please call the next witness to testify.
Yes, we can hear you well. Listen, just state your name again for the record and please proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. My name is Felini Williams. I'm speaking in favor of the five bills of the Emergency Housing Protection Act. I want to thank everyone for the chance to speak today Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 and the people that have spoken in favor of this Act before me. With the amount of people that are unemployed as a result of COVID-19, a lot of people are struggling to have money to feed themselves and their families, and evicting them from the house is actually the worst thing you can do in this situation. Landlords and developers have been focused on their profits and how much money they can make off of people for a long time and not the basic human right of housing that we all deserve. We need to figure out as a community how we can protect everyone in this crisis and not kick people out on the streets. On a personal note, my landlord has been telling us to move out in July, and it's terrifying to think of the possibility of having to look for housing in this time. But thank you for the time to speak, and that's all I have. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020
Thank you so very much for your testimony. Mr. Decker, will you please call the next witness.
Yes. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. You'll hear a bell, Natalie, signaling when your time is up. MS. DiFRANK: Okay. Hi. My name is Natalie DiFrank and I am a renter in the City of Philadelphia as well as a sexual health educator, and I want to speak to supporting the five emergency housing bills. I specifically work within the LGBT community and I'm aware of the immense amount of trauma people are experiencing at this point, especially Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 the black LGBT community. When we are not giving housing at a point where black people are experiencing two pandemics at once while being murdered by the police as they walk outside or sleep in their home is unacceptable. Not only will having housing protect individuals in the City of Philadelphia from experiencing -- from being able to protect themselves physically from what has been informed and paid for by this state, by staying at home is the safest way that we can do this, other than letting the COVID-19 process. Any jobs that are available now for people are only jobs that are used for essential workers or where corporations are not providing accurate or COVID protection to their workers, and this is unacceptable. There is no way that landlords are going to sit here and say that renters are the ones who owe them money when they are obviously Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 financially privileged to be able to own multiple properties. Renters as a whole are people who have marginalized identities and do not have access to own land within this area. This is unfair and wrong, and we need to support the five emergency housing bills in order to protect the community and hope that people experience less trauma than what they already do from just walking in the street outside. Thank you. That's it.
Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Decker, will you please call the next speaker.
Yes. Good morning, City Council. This is Lori Fulton for the record. I am speaking in support of the housing protection -- the Emergency Housing Protection Act. I am a singer and voice actor, and I have been proudly living in Philadelphia since Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 1981. I implore you to listen. When the moratorium on evictions is lifted, what will thousands of Philadelphians do? COVID-19 attacks the lives and killed thousands of Pennsylvanians. Although Pennsylvania's numbers are lower every day, more are still -- more Pennsylvanians are still dying. The Coronavirus' deadly impact has closed performance spaces, theatres, and restaurants where I work. All of my work in addition has been cancelled or postponed until 2021. What will happen to me and thousands of Philadelphians who are out of work through no fault of their own when the moratorium on evictions is lifted? How long will the pandemic unemployment assistance be awarded? Will there be another stimulus bill to help Philadelphia residents make ends meet. I just received my $1,200 a week ago. City Councilmembers, please listen to the voices of Philadelphians Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 who are the lifeblood of Philadelphia's economy and culture. I ask City Councilmembers to think on the alternative. Think about the thousands of Philadelphia constituents losing their homes, apartments, and businesses, finding themselves homeless and completely impoverished for the first time in their lives. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.
The next speaker is Christina Gesualdi. Please use star 6 to unmute yourself.
Yeah, we can hear you. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Okay. Great. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 My name is Christina Gesualdi. Good morning. I'm a renter in Philadelphia and I'm also part of the Philly Tenants Union, and I'm speaking in favor today of the Emergency Housing Protections Act, all five bills, but I really want to narrow into Bill 200304. This is a bill that asks for relief and recovery of losses when an illegal or forced eviction happens. And just to make very clear, this is already happening during COVID, and this is also something -- it's not new, you know, after COVID. It's something that has happened before COVID as well, landlords, small, medium, and large, just shutting off utilities, showing up at the property, sending building managers or sending intimidating family members, forcing entry to the property to forcefully evict their tenants, and a lot of times it's an illegal eviction. The court hasn't fully processed. They don't have an active rental license even. Sometimes it's a Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 mass eviction. We've seen that already in our city. And like if a bill can't even -- if this bill is only asking for a minimum of $2,000 toward recovery of losses for the tenant when something like this happens, if that can't pass like to recover people's -- I mean, I don't think $2,000 can recover anyone's trauma and losses really from a forced eviction, an illegal eviction. But as a bare minimum, if that can't pass, then I just urge us to think like what are we protecting. What myth are we protecting about how this city and housing properties work. It's just as bad as people protecting the Columbus statue. Worse actually and -yes. That's all. Thanks.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony.
The next speaker is Alicia Frausto. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020
Good morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Alicia Frausto and I'm a former leader with One PA, a former teacher, and grocery store worker. Thank you for providing me this opportunity to testify on the ways in which Philadelphia City Council can help ensure that vulnerable renters are protected during this economic and health crisis. My housemate used to work at a restaurant, while I worked as an independent educator and part-time at MOM's Organic Market. When restaurants and schools closed, both of us lost half our incomes. We reached out to our homeowners or landlords and informed them of this. They responded and said they would reduce our rent to $1,200. We tried to negotiate for a larger relief, but they wouldn't move the price down. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 We still cannot afford this, but we had a choice - choose $1,200 a month or be homeless. It was made very clear that the priority has and would be that the rent is paid and not that the health or well-being of us as individuals are important. The e-mail went on with them sharing information about how you could pay based on unemployment checks. They also suggested jobs that we know are highly at risk. And for what? They got in the business of providing housing, a human right, a right that shouldn't be negotiated, especially during a global pandemic, a business that has a history of shutting black and brown people out of the wealth game. This can very well lead to many of us being formally or informally evicted next month. This is my story: My landlords were two white men who were actively gentrifying a predominantly black Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 neighborhood in West Philadelphia, and they decided to rent to us, two brown queer folks. During the negotiation process, they had the nerve to tell us they were nervous to rent to us in the first place because of our jobs, and they told us to consider not renewing our lease because we couldn't afford it. What if we wanted to renew and stay in our home? They would have found some excuse or raised the rent, and many black and brown folks can't afford the rent price anyways. There was a housing crisis before this moment, and the global pandemic was not something we created. The wealth gap is not something we created either. It's something the government created, and it's something the government has a choice to fix at this moment. Racism and classism in the poorest big city of the United States goes on in the housing game, and the Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 underlying prejudices and assumption about who we were or what we could afford showed up in our negotiation process. Philadelphia City Councilmembers, I am calling from California because of this crisis to demand that you pass the full Emergency Housing Protection Act so renters like myself can be protected during and beyond this pandemic.
Thank you. Good? Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
My name is Kyla Van Buren. Throughout this crisis, after losing my job, I volunteered multiple days every week to try and support other tenants. I flyered neighborhoods, Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 answered endless housing questions, read through leases, and helped people try to communicate with landlords. And throughout all of this, the only thing that's clear to me is the severity of this housing crisis and how few options people in this city have. We need more rental assistance. I know people keep saying it's coming, but with no clear promise and no protections, we're all left waiting in fear for what our landlords will say next and what will happen when the courts reopen in July. Recently I've been trying to advocate for a tenant who has become disabled due to a complex illness. For two years she's been trying to secure a housing subsidy, and during this pandemic, she lost her work, so is in even more trouble. When she tried applying for unemployment and other public health benefits, she's been stuck in the bureaucracy of that system and Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 still hasn't heard back or received any aid, and even if she does get granted aid, it will only be about $500, which is less than half of her rent. Do people like this deserve to be slapped with evictions, late fees, back rent, and harassment from landlords? Just because Governor Wolf has declared business as usual doesn't mean that it's safe for Philadelphia renters to be evicted and displaced, while we are still very much in the middle of this health crisis. I ask you, all of you, City Councilmembers, please extend the eviction moratorium. Please allow for year-long repayment plans. And please pass the Emergency Housing Protection Act. Thank you.
There are no other speakers on the public comment list, Mr. President.
Thank Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING you, Mr. Decker. Can you please recognize Katherine. We will recognize Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson at this time for a point of information.
Thank you, Madam Majority Leader and Council President and colleagues. I ask to be voted -- I ask to be noted as voting aye on all bills and resolutions. I need to be excused for special business.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Leave shall be granted. The record will reflect your aye vote.
Thank you. That concludes our testimony from witnesses. We will now consider the resolutions and bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. And, Mr. Decker, if you can please read the Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING title of Bill No. 200296.
An ordinance constituting the Fifteenth Supplemental Ordinance to the General Gas Works Revenue Bond Ordinance of 1998; authorizing the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the "City") to sell, either at public or private sale, one or more series of Gas Works Revenue Bonds and Gas Works Revenue Bonds to refund such Bonds.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green for an amendment to Bill No. 200296.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to offer an amendment on your behalf to Bill No. 200296. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of Council. I move for the adoption of the amendment. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. All in favor of the motion Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Bill No. 200296 has been amended. Bill No. 200296, as amended, will be placed on the Final Passage Calendar at our next session of Council. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 200297.
An ordinance constituting the Twenty-Third Supplemental Ordinance to the Restated General Water and Wastewater Revenue Bond Ordinance of 1989, as supplemented; authorizing the Bond Committee to issue and sell one or more series of tax-exempt or taxable Water and Wastewater Refunding Revenue Bonds and revenue refunding bonds.
Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Thank you. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
All right. The tech guys, we have feedback. Go ahead, Mr. Decker, as they try to correct that.
Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson is voting aye. Councilman Green. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all the members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200298.
An ordinance authorizing the Bond Committee to sell bonds at public or private negotiated sale, to provide funds toward various capital municipal purposes; providing for appropriations to the Sinking Fund Commission for the payment of such bonds; authorizing agreements to provide credit or payment or liquidity sources for the bonds in connection with issuance of the bonds, and certain other actions.
Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING 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.
Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson is voting aye. Councilman Green.
Aye. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Council President Clarke. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200299.
An ordinance authorizing the City Treasurer, on behalf of the City, to enter into an amendment agreement with Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania for provision of payroll banking services to the City.
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.
Councilwoman Brooks. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson is voting aye. Councilman Green. (No response.)
Aye. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200300.
An ordinance approving the Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget providing for expenditures for the capital purposes of the Philadelphia Gas Works (including the supplying of funds in connection therewith) subject to certain constraints and conditions, and acknowledging the receipt of the Revised Forecast of Capital Budgets for Fiscal Years 2022 through 2026.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilman Domb. Stated Meeting June 18, 2020 6/18/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson is voting aye. Councilman Green.