Dr. Robert Cavoto, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
First of all, let me, first off, allow me to thank you for the opportunity to speak to Council and to thank each of the Councilmen I have recently met. I'm here to speak about Bill 110631. Some people might call it limiting access to police reports and private information. I call it eliminating public access from public records. These public records are traffic report incidences and they're produced on the road after an accident occurs, public road, by public servants, housed in a public building, maintained by public computers. And my concern is that we provide a very valuable service to the community. There are many people who get involved in an automobile accident and they're completely unaware of what is available to them through their automobile policy. Today you'll be seeing a few of them. We grant you that like in anything else, there have been abuses and misuses of information. Even as in the City Council when somebody goes awry, the Council doesn't shut down. You simply take care of it and you remove that individual. We've been working with the regulator to put together not only just an investigation but -- I'm sorry. We've been working with the Controller to put together not just regulations but also investigation in order to figure out what's going on and how to fix it. My main concern about this is two reasons. One, the insurance industry is for it, and the insurance industry has historically gone out of their way to treat their policyholders unfairly. This is why legislation -- or the Legislature has put together bad faith laws and fair practices acts. Bottom line, when it comes down to dealing with the insurance company, if they want it, it's not good for the people. The other part of this is, if we do do this, there are hundreds of doctors in the City that have many, many employees that will be laid off. Clinics will be shut down, and there will be less of an opportunity for work in the City, not to mention the tax dollars that the cities themselves will be losing. It's bad business, bad for the City, bad for the people. If you balance what's occurring on the scales of justice, you'll see that the argument will be there are some people who are inconvenienced temporarily, temporarily by getting a few phone calls that aren't asked for and unwelcomed. However, many people will benefit by obtaining the benefits that their insurance company is supposed to offer that the insurance company does not offer. It's important to note not only does the insurance company not offer it, in many cases they'll go to these people's homes and offer them a small stipend, $500, $600, to sign their rights away. This happens many, many times. A gross example of this was Katrina. When people were hit by the hurricane, you saw ads all over the TV. They were down there the next day writing checks. This is before people knew what their losses were. This is before people knew what was due them. This was an easy way to save money. The insurance companies make money two ways. One, selling policies; two, denying or limiting what they pay out, no matter what the policy says. And what's really very interesting, there will only be one other doctor speaking here, only one other -
Dr. David Paoline, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning, and I want to thank you for taking time to let me speak. This bill, as Dr. Cavoto mentions, it makes a lot of mistakes. As a treating physician in the area, I can tell you that I've helped thousands of patients who did not know they had benefits under the motor vehicle insurance. Many people didn't know that they could get care, and many people got better because they were told that they could because of the ease-ability of this bill in the situation where the people could get calls. I could go on for hours, but I'm just going to give you some simple examples. One of my patients was hit by a car. She doesn't have insurance. She doesn't have any kind of car insurance. She didn't know that she could get treatment. She was helped. Another patient -- and many patients are passengers. They're not the owners of the car. They don't own insurance, and they don't know that the car insurance covers them as well, and they get help. A third patient of mine was a driver. This just happened within this last month. She called her insurance company and put the claim in. The insurance company adjuster told her that she doesn't want to put this claim in because she has a $500 deductible that she would have to pay. When I informed her that the deductible is only for her car repair, not for her health, she called her back. The adjuster then told her, Well, before you actually put this claim in, let me get all the paperwork done and don't go back to that doctor until I give you your claim number. She hasn't been back. The furthermore is that the claim number takes five minutes. So it is obviously a stall tactic. And as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. If this is one that I found out, how many more is happening here? This bill doesn't solve the problem. As Dr. Cavoto says, they're working with various Council in order to solve the problems within the room, but to close down the room would cause -- get rid of all the good doctors and all the good lawyers that are simply doing business. All those people will simply leave and go to different areas, and all that revenue that they create will be lost taxes for Philadelphia. In addition, many people will lose their jobs. So by closing down this room, you're still going to have the same problems you have. You're going to have a decrease in taxable revenue and you're going to have an increase in unemployment. Do not pass this bill. Rather, fix the situation. Thank you.
Sheryl Garcia, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
Giving honor to God, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thanking him for the Holy Spirit and the privilege and opportunity to be here today. Thank you, Councilmen and Congress, for having me here. I called some people yesterday to let them know to vote no for 110631 for the police record bill. I'm a witness on the behalf of that of what Dr. Cavoto has said and the young man that just spoke. I too myself were in a few accidents, not knowing which way to turn, in so much pain and agony, I was just going to turn -- you know, let it go, but I got a phone call with someone that cared to help me, to show me the way, that there was a better way, because in turning it into insurance companies, I don't know what that is. It's like going to the bank. They want your money, but when you go to get it, they give you a hard time in getting it. But just the same, with these insurance people and paying the deductible, I have yet to get it back. For the people who hit my vehicles, I witnessed it, you know, and involved in it, and the pain and agony is so excruciating, and how the attorneys get paid and you get zilch on the dollar, enough to buy a pair of socks, and you're still in pain for years to come and they have been paid up the hmm and like -- and I'm still waiting. I'm still waiting, and I'm very aggravated behind it all. And I know other people as well, they don't know which way to turn, and when they do try to turn somewhere to get help from an attorney or their insurance companies, it's always put on the back burner. And personally I'm past fed up with it, and I know God hears my prayers and answer them, and I thank him for hearing me today and answering this, because this too shall pass. In Jesus' name. Thank you for your time and patience.
I am an employee of Dr. Cavoto's. I am a driver for his company. I also oppose against -- I'm against this bill, because it not only not makes me a taxpayer, but I need this job because I have three little kids at home who needs me and support -- excuse me; who I need their support and they need mine. And I also think that -- I'm a little nervous, so please forgive me. I ask that you not -- vote against this bill. That's all I have today. Thanks.
Peter Springer, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
I vote against it. My name is Peter Springer. I vote against the bill, because I would have been -- without this, I would have been denied access for my pains and sufferings if they didn't have it. I would have been denied counsel, and I wouldn't have known my rights. And I've been helped out a lot by people who supported this. So I'm voting against it.
Good morning, Your Honor. I just want to thank you. I want to thank everybody for you to have me here this morning. The reason why I'm here, I would really like to be against this bill, because this place have been so much of a good salvage to us, especially for us that lives within the community. I remember when I had my accident, I didn't know where to turn. I didn't know who to talk to, but fortunately as the law did it, I had a call from the office. Just because of that, when I had the call, I feel relief. I went into the place, and it happens that I received the care that I was looking for, and for that reason, I was so much -- I was so much happy, because I really think this place is a great service to the people and it's a great service to all of us that doesn't know -- that doesn't understand the situation when trouble comes your way, and you never know when you will be involved in an accident. So for this reason, that's why I'm here this morning, to vote against this bill, and with your respect, and that is the reason why I'm here. I just want to say thank you and I hope that we are against this bill.
Michael Golden, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
How you doing, everybody? And praise God to be here. I'd like to vote against this bill myself. I've never been hit, anything wrong, and when I was hit by this truck, I didn't know what to do. And I finally got a phone call for somebody to be able to help me. I didn't know a lawyer, nobody. And they helped me get all this, get treatment, lawyer. And the person who hit me stuck $20 in my hand, Here's for your bike, jumped in his truck, drove off, you know. Picking the bike up, that's nice, and helped me up out the middle of the street, and then turned around after you and drove off, you know. And it's hard for people that get hit, you know, by being people to run off to know what to do, you know. It's a mystery for us, and I thank God for this and I encourage everyone to vote no for this. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is John Sambolino. I'm an attorney. I'm here to speak in opposition to Bill 110631. Police motor vehicle accident reports are public records under state law. This bill attempts to unilaterally say that they're confidential and the public can't access them. What I do as an attorney is, we access these records. We send letters out to people who have been involved in motor vehicle accidents offering our services for damages or injuries. People can do one of two things. They can call me or they can throw the letter in the trash. If they call, I try to help them out. People will say, you know, I wish you could help me, but you really can't. I was walking across the street, the car hit me, took off, I don't know who it was, I got hurt. I go, Is there a car under your family? They go, Yes. I go, If there's a car in your family, that insurance pays for your medical bills. Well, the car wasn't involved in the accident. I go, It doesn't make any difference. And they go, How about getting money in my packet? I go, Well, check your policy and see if you have uninsured motorist coverage. If you do, I could help you out. If you don't, I can't help you, but this is how you get your bills paid. Somebody else will call and they'll say, you know, I was hit by a car, took off. I go, Okay. Do you have a car? No, no car. Do you live in Pennsylvania? Yeah. I go, There's a state fund. It's called the Pennsylvania Financial Responsibility Assigned Claims Plan. If you're a Pennsylvania resident and you don't own a car and you get hit by a car with no insurance -- and a hit-and-run car is considered a car with no insurance -- you could put a claim in against this fund. If you have health insurance, they won't pay your medical bills. Your own health insurance pays your medical bills. But if you don't have health insurance, they'll also pay medical bills. People don't know about this kind of stuff. I am here just to help people. If I get 11 calls, I may be able to make money on one of those calls, but the other ten, I can help people get their cars fixed, get their medical bills paid, whatever it takes. Again, this bill is in opposition to state law, and, respectfully, if it's passed, we are going to file an injunction to stop it. Thank you very much.
Jenny Robinson, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. Thank you for allowing me to speak. My name is Jenny Robinson and I'm in Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. We have 700,000 members in the five-county Philadelphia region, 79,000 of whom live in Philadelphia and many of the rest travel and work and visit Philadelphia every day, and we are here on behalf of those motorists. And so we'll be clear on what this issue is. The City Records Department is taking advantage of a loophole in state law and is selling our personal information from accident reports. For the cost of a privilege pass, our names, addresses, phone numbers, insurance information and other personal data are being sold to anyone who wants to pay for it. Marketers are paying those fees and reselling the information to others, who then solicit accident victims for business. Imagine being in a crash and having to deal with injuries and vehicle damage. It's traumatic, and we have heard from a couple of people, and I understand what a traumatic experience that is. But AAA Mid-Atlantic believes that that choice of whether to be in contact with a healthcare provider or a lawyer or anyone else should be in your hands as a motorist and consumer. Being solicited in an unwanted way by people whom you did not give the permission to have your information is annoying at best and potentially illegal at worst as it can lead to solicitation for insurance fraud. According to the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority, state agency, more than one-third of people hurt in auto accidents exaggerate their injuries. Nationally it's estimated that insurance fraud involving motor vehicles cost an estimated $58 billion a year. One study estimates this crime adds as much as $200 to the average annual cost of auto insurance. That's money out of all of our pockets as consumers. Councilman Jim Kenney's Bill No. 110631 would close this loophole and protect your privacy. This bill will ensure these reports will remain confidential and only available to those who need to see them. And, by the way, AAA has conducted an opt-in e-mail campaign with which 130 of our members chose to generate letters to all members of City Council, and they've been provided with the letters as well as with the list of the people who are interested in seeing this bill pass and having our privacy protected. Thank you very much.
Norma Van Dyke, commenting on 110563. (Witness approached podium.)
My name is Norma Van Dyke. I live in Center City, and I'm here in regard to putting signs along the highway in view of a historic district. It seems clear that what's being voted on today is the supremacy of councilmanic privilege. Is upholding the tradition of councilmanic privilege worth risking a 10 percent reduction in federal highway funding? Is it worth violating existing laws which have been successfully defended all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court? Is it worth overriding unanimous vote of the Planning Commission? Is councilmanic privilege more important to Councilmembers than the validation of the community will as reflected in the master plan for the Delaware River Waterfront? What would be achieved by passing this legislation? Or will Council signal to incoming members that there's a new day in City Council? Your answer will give the -your vote will give the answer to that question.
Virginia Brown, commenting on 110805. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. Councilwoman Verna, members of City Council, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Virginia Brown and I'm Vice-President of District Council 47 retirees and Coordinator of the Coalition of Retirees for Economic and Social Justice, and we're here today in support of Bill No. 110805. We oppose House Bill 934 and believe that it is a form of voter suppression. Many senior citizens, ex-offenders, young people and persons with disabilities do not have a voter ID and will not know that they need one until it's too late. We believe that everyone should have the right to vote, and encourage you to vote against this bill today. The Coalition supports the opposition to House Bill 934. Thank you for your time.
Deb Noone, commenting on 110631. (Witness approached podium.)
Thank you. Personal information of Philadelphia residents listed on police reports is being harvested and brokered by telemarketers and medical providers for their sole benefit as they exploit easy access to this information and the use of the residents of Philadelphia for their personal gain. For years I received complaints from mostly uninjured Philadelphians upset at receiving multiple unsolicited phone calls on their personal cell or unlisted phone numbers after an accident. My investigation led to the privilege pass room, which provides inexpensive and complete access to accident reports and any personal information on them. One City chiropractor who is a friend of mine said he couldn't afford the going rate of up to a thousand dollars for a week's worth of accident victims' names, and he described the privilege pass and telemarketing process to me. The privilege pass holders have total access to everything on the report. Some information is actually protected under the Right to Know laws, information such as the names, addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, vehicle VIN numbers and registration plates, insurance policy number, information on minors in the accident, essentially the entire report. There's no system in place to identify who takes possession of anyone's specific personal information. Each City resident's personal information is sold many times over and ends up with many different telemarketers and medical providers. Once the lists are compiled, the competition for patients begins. These are not advocates, but telemarketers who are not even subject to criminal background checks before they get this information. They give the impression that they're from the resident's own insurance company, further confusing residents, who wonder why their company keeps calling them when they already told them they were not injured. They feel their privacy was invaded and they're angry at personal information getting into the hands of strangers. They're afraid of the possibility of identity theft. They worry about who has their information and what else will be done with it. Telemarketers sometimes offer payments up to $25,000 to entice the person to go for treatment even when they were told there was no injury. At your committee hearing, resident Kathryn Rolle testified she was advised to fake an injury, and when she continued to resist, she got harassing calls. Another resident, Mike Ebner, testified he received 15 calls to his unlisted home phone number within days of his accident, and another person testified she was called even though her car was parked and unoccupied. I've interviewed people that were solicited that did not even receive all the treatment that was billed. We know of no other jurisdiction in the state that has a system like Philadelphia's privilege pass facilitating the marketing of their private citizens by allowing average citizens to scrutinize and retain personal information from unredacted police reports and broker out the information. Somehow doctors and patients manage to find each other everywhere else across the state without this system. Some people say that telemarketers provide a valuable service advising the residents of their available benefits. Under Pennsylvania Code, insurers by law must disclose all the benefits, coverages and provisions like available medical benefits to those with a claim. How are the telemarketers even remotely qualified to advise on liability benefits and coverages available from the scores of different insurers and policies out there? And should the City provide the personal information, making it possible for telemarketers to offer unsolicited and unprofessional insurance and coverage advice?
Voting no continues to allow personal information from your residents to get out on the street and sold purely for the benefit of third parties taking advantage of it, while voting yes will protect the personal information of your constituents from further exploitation. Thanks.
Good morning, Council President. My name is Albern Brown. I'm here to give testimony in support of the Contractors Roundtable Council position on this bill. I'd like to say that I'm a contractor of -- I'm the owner of two companies here in Philadelphia, two steel companies. I'm a manufacturer and fabricator of a company that's residentially based and commercially -- does commercial business in the City of Philadelphia. We also have a company that is -- I'm the only, by checking today, the only African American union contractor in the steel construction industry. I'm here also to support Mr. Ali's position against this bill, because basically he represents the Contractors Roundtable Council. He also -- he's also an advocate of the everyday citizen. Things have to change the way business is being done in the City of Philadelphia, specifically for minority contractors. I hate to use the word "minority" because it's such a vast word, where African American or black contractors really represent even a less number that's represented in the construction industry. I'm asking City Council and people to do something about the way construction is done in the City of Philadelphia, to come up with a law or some type of ordinance where African Americans, black contractors, can be -show some type of -- to be able to get work that -- under that designation of, I'm sorry, for participation, because we get less -- we get 1 percent basically of the minority participation. Things have to change, and I'm just asking for support in helping passing laws so that we can get the business that we should be entitled to.
Yes. Good morning. My name is Shaka. I'm from -first I want to thank City Council. This is the first time I had a chance to speak to the most powerful City Council in my lifetime, and I want to thank you and good morning for being here and receiving me warmly. I'm from Contractors Roundtable. We're the organization that shut down the Convention Center, turned that into a ghost town, stopped the traffic from here all the way into Camden. People calling from Jersey wanted to know what was going on in Philly. I want to thank Councilman Darrell Clarke for helping us to bring the Keating, Papa Keating and Baby Keating, to the table and negotiate with the Keatings. I want to thank you, Mr. Clarke, for that, for assisting us. One of the key crisis in black life is the lack of an economic power base that give us a permanent place and permanent power in the construction of Philadelphia. We need a power base that will give us a more moral, material and meaningful interpretation of life. A lot of times we get this misconstrued interpretation of life. So, therefore, the man -- the black man and woman that comes to our community with dirt on their boots is not the hero, or the Councilman or Councilwoman that come home with their suit, tie and briefcases, they're not the heroes in our community sometimes. It's the drug pusher. That's the first line of fire. That's the people that your children meet when they get off of the school bus coming home while we're at work. They're economic terrorists in our community. A.P. to us is another form of economic terrorist. As we look at their records the past three years, they did over $52 billion worth of business and no contracts to the African American or African community or -- I mean, it's no deals being made. There's no correspondence being made. I met A.P. I shook his hand. I didn't know to shake his hand or put both of my hands up in the air. It felt like a stickup. What I'm saying is this: That something has to change. We can't change one economic terrorist for another. We have human possibilities. Our human possibilities are denied. We want to send our children to college just like they send their children to college. We cannot send our children to college on food stamps. We need contracts. No, we don't want to come in and sweep up your jobs after you finish building what you have to build. We like your buildings, but we're tired of sitting on the other side of the chain link fence and watching you build beautiful buildings and we can't do for our community. It's a travesty, and, like I said, they're denying human possibilities. There's no telling what we could possibly do if we wasn't denied and shut out. And these are taxpayers' dollars. What is A.P.? Absolute Power. I don't think so. We will meet you at the gate. Ask Keating how much money he lost. We turned that job site into a ghost town, and we ain't going away. We here to stay. And this is for ourselves and history. Thank you so very much.
Jihad Ali, commenting on 110518-A and 110517. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning, Madam Chair, members of Council. I have some documents I'd like to give into the record.
P. P. Construction. I'm here today with the other members of our organization because we're here to express our outrage that no African Americans are included in that project. One thing I would like to say in the record, I would like to support that group that was here earlier, because myself and my family, we're products of protests and change, and as Shaka told you, we were advocates of protest. We stood in front of buses. We did all that. And as you pass your baton to a new leader in this community, we hope that that leader will have the dignity and respect that you've always shown the people as you show us today. So as we pass the baton to the young people, we want them to have the heart and courage that we had. So that works. We want to see that happen. I hate to rush when I say thank you, because, Madam Chair, you have always been as you are today to me. When I've come down here, you've listened to me. You've always given me respect, because I was a citizen, not because I was a member of a prestigious law firm or because I was wealthy, but because I was a citizen, and I respect you for that, because all I have is truth and my word, and that means a lot to me. Other members of Council, Councilman Clarke, he has been exceptional. Councilman Goode, he has been exceptional. Councilwoman Blackwell, she has been exceptional. Councilwoman Brown, Councilman Curtis Jones, I have to give you a lot of respect, because you have a memory, because when you got the power, you remembered me. The Bible talks about Joseph in the cell, and there was a guy in there, he said, Remember me. And the guy didn't remember, but, Councilman, you remembered me. You had faith in me, and I respect that, and I will never let you down. Councilman Kenney, I respect you because you allow me to come and talk frank and blunt, and it's hard sometimes when you have to say, Well, look, white and black, it sounds like it's decisive, but it is the truth. You know, I really respect that. P. hearing, we talked time after time. P. P. came in there, he was outraged that I had the audacity to talk about this issue with him. He thought that he could buy you. Councilwoman Blackwell, thank you for not selling us out. Councilman Clarke, you've given me enough opportunities. I presented this at the public testimony, everything. You've given us an opportunity. I thank you. We've done everything that we could do at this Council. The system works. We'll go to the next stage. But this issue about excluding African Americans, it starts right here, like all protests. " When we had these hearings here, you asked, this body through the efforts of Councilman Goode, asked for economic opportunity plans. Well, they gave you a blank paper. You pass it out. Then they attach a plan, and then the plan on , they say we're going to have an oversight committee. They say we're going to have a working committee. On they say we may have it. What is that? So what they want to do is like they used to say in the past, they want to jive us. They want to BS us. They want to bamboozle us. But the thing is, if we have a committee, whoever the leader is, take a page out of Eddie Rendell's book. When he went to the top, he empowered other people. Councilman Goode, there's no other champion on this issue of inclusion than Councilman Goode, Councilman Jones, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown. When you go to the top, Councilman, take them with you and we'll make this thing happen. Thank you, Councilwoman. )
Christopher Sawyer, commenting on 110563. (Witness approached podium.)
Madam President, members of City Council, my name is Christopher Sawyer. I'm a homeowner, resident of East Kensington. I rise before you in opposition to Bill 110563, which is an attempt to spot zone a large illuminated sign for the benefit of a single property owner. I'm not here to discuss the fact that the property owner owes $68,000 for his illegal sign or the $200,000 the City of Philadelphia has spent in time and energy involved in litigation over this sign launched by the property owner. I'm not here to discuss the fact that this sign is already prohibited by a federal rule and that the property owner has gone to the Supreme Court, then denied certiorari. I'm here to remind you that before you decide to once again spot zone something that no one in the immediate area wants, except for one property owner, without input by those affected, except me and a few others standing here before you, this is the legacy Philadelphia City Council has left us. The City of Philadelphia has the highest amount of property tax arrearages in the nation for any major municipality. For approximately 550,000 properties on the books, 110,000 of them are in various stages of delinquency. So as you walk down the street, one out of every five lots you encounter is likely to be delinquent and not contributing badly needed income to the School District of Philadelphia, police, firefighters, street sanitation, City employee pensions, City payroll, bond repayments or any other basic functions of City government. This makes Philadelphia's bond debt toxic to invest in. Excluding those arrearages for those affected by the current recession, there are properties with arrearages that date back to the Kennedy Administration. Detroit, a failed American city with two-thirds of its population gone since its nadir, has a better delinquency and recovery rate than Philadelphia. For streetscapes, the area beyond property lot lines, enforcement of Philadelphia City Code concerning illegal signage, some simple examples, is weak. Consider Title 10, 10-1200 that regulates outdoor bandit signs. Enforcement is practically non-existent. How do I know? How about you come walk with me together through a couple blocks of South Philly, Mayfair, Overbrook and just look up at your utility poles. I know you guys drive cars. You see this stuff every day. It looks like this (indicating). Chances are excellent that you see plenty of illegal signage all around you outside of Center City. Agency officials have told the community that it's too hard to find who owns these things, even though we have a law that bans them. org, which proves otherwise, that you can identify these people that are putting up illegal signage, signage that Bill 1100563 is dealing with on a massive scale. I work a full-time job and I can find many of these owners just in my spare time. Why can't anybody who gets paid -- who receives a paycheck from the City? My favorite sign -- these are my favorite signs to deal with. "We buy houses," one of the most pernicious types of illegal bandit signs there are. There are people who treat Philadelphia -- the people who put this up, they treat Philadelphia property as a commodity, not for reinvestment or development, but to pass property around like baseball cards. These are real estate wholesalers who are not realtors, they're not licensed, who operate in the City with a game plan of snatching up properties at subpar value, usually targeting our most vulnerable citizens, then finding a landlord investor, many of whom are not familiar with the Fair Housing Act, the PA Landlord-Tenant Act of 1951 or City ordinance regulating rental property. One such warehouser, Mr. David Albert Slafman, whose signs explain we'll buy your house --
Excuse me, sir. Can you conclude your remarks? You're beyond your three minutes.
Property issues and illegal signage in zoning all together affect our most immediate environment. The way our City government approaches these issues colors almost every aspect of our lives - crime, taxes, revenue, quality of life. They're all connected. Judging by how many of my acquaintances of mine that have packed their bags and have moved out of Philadelphia, I would grade our City's efforts at addressing these issues and following up with actual enforcement to be an F. Spot zoning, poor response from Streets complaints, countless L&I complaints being stamped as unfounded even when photographs, legal documents and video of issues are widely publicized, the fact that everyone here knows that you don't have to pay your property taxes and really worry about consequences unless you live in Chestnut Hill, and now this spot zoning Bill 110563, the residents of Philadelphia have justified caution and reason for concern and to fear their City Council. Thank you.
Tullu Speaker, commenting on 110563. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. My name is Tully, T-U-L-L-Y. Ladies and gentlemen of City Council, my name is Tully Speaker. My wife, Jane, and I live in Logan Square, a few blocks away. We ask you to vote in opposition to Council Bill 110563 because it amounts to spot zoning of a small parcel near Vine Street between 6th and 7th Streets. It allows electronic flashing wall wrap commercial advertising signage, and thereby violates the special sign controls in effect in the Vine Street corridor, and it violates the size and distance restrictions of the federal Highway Beautification Act. We ask you to vote in opposition of it. Thank you for your time and attention.
Jovida Hill, commenting on 110563. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning and thank you for this opportunity to speak before you today. My name is Jovida Hill. While I serve as Vice-President of Logan Square Neighborhood Association and I am a former Board member and Board Chair of SCRUB, which has admirably served as the public voice for public space, but today I appear before you in no official capacity. My testimony is as a private citizen who opposes Bill No. 110563 that would permit a wall wrap and/or digital signage in the area of Vine Street between 6th and 7th Street. I would like to pose this question: How many of you have ever traveled to a third-world country? Those of us who are fortunate enough to have had the gift of international travel are struck by what makes our nation and our city great. One of the things that invariably happens to most of us is that as much as we have appreciated our travels abroad, we are always grateful to come home. And with my own travels, and I suspect with yours, there are some striking differences that we have when we have traveled to third-world countries that give us pause, and these are aspects that are very pertinent to this bill and the economic and political climate we find ourselves on this day and in this city. Just outside of these hallowed halls of democracy, we have local citizens in concert with people across the nation who are standing up to oppose what my parents could never imagine or what I could never imagine for my own children in terms of the depth of the devastation of our assumed way of life. In pursuit of the American dream, none of us in our wildest nightmares could ever imagine the erosion of the middle class that we find ourselves today with regard to the impact of wealth inequality. The two things we find most striking when we travel to third-world countries is that there is no middle class. There is a handful of the very wealthy and everybody else is poor. The other thing that we are painfully aware of is the cacophony of outdoor advertising unfettered by protective legislation. Let me be clear. I am not opposed to councilmanic prerogative. Actually, I believe that of all of our elected officials, our District Council representatives are the most accountable to those of us who put them in office. However, this bill sponsored by Councilman DiCicco throws a monkey wrench in this social contract since as a retiring Councilman he will never have to face the wrath of his constituents. But you do. I also offer that you have absolutely nothing to lose by opposing this legislation that sets a deleterious precedent for outdoor advertising. This bill is not in the best interest of our tourist district. It is not in the best interest of this growing neighborhood that research has shown that the closer you live to outdoor advertising, the value of your home is reduced by --
Excuse me, Ms. Hill. Can you conclude your remarks? Your three minutes has been up.
Okay. Runaway outdoor advertising that intrudes on our public space is more like the third world. The Occupy Movement articulates how much we have at stake. We don't want to be a third-world nation any more than we want to be a third-world city.
Robert Taylor, commenting on 110805, 110802 and 110803. (Witness approached podium.)
Members of Council, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Robert Taylor, a citizen of South Philadelphia. I'm commenting on Resolution 110805, reject the PA House Bill 934, restrictive voter ID requirements by Jones and Sanchez; Resolution 110802 and Resolution 110803, World Diabetes Day and American Diabetes Month. I rise in support of these resolutions, and I thank the Councilmembers for introducing them. Voting is a fundamental right. Restrictive voter ID requirements may require people to get government permission to vote, and it is expensive for the state to provide such ID's. The government should be able to check any of the names on the list against various lists that they already have, such as driver's license lists. Again, we must be aware that finding a cause is the cure. The rate of diabetes has exploded in the past three decades, meaning an estimated 350 million people in the world now have the disease. In almost every region of the planet, diabetes prevalence has risen or at best remained unchanged, according to a major international study published and the special online report by the Lancet Medical Journal. Genetically engineered foods like high fructose corn syrup, the poison that promotes obesity and liver damage, according to David Gutierrez of National News, two new studies have added more reason for concern that high fructose corn syrup causes significantly more harm to the body than mere sugar content would suggest. The first study published in the journal Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, research from Princeton University found that rats consuming high fructose corn syrup gained more weight and developed more cardiovascular risk factors than rats consuming equivalent amounts of sucrose. Some people have claimed that high fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true. Researcher Bart Hoebel. As if the nature of high fructose corn syrup wasn't threatening enough, 50 percent of high fructose corn syrup has actually been found to contain toxic mercury. Please see Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey M. Smith for more information. We must say no to these unavoidable risks. I thank you for your time.
David Fante, commenting on 110670. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning, Council President Verna and members of City Council. My name is David Fante. I live at 1332 Rodman Street, and I'm here to speak about Ordinance No. 110670. I'd like to report that we, the homeowners of the 1300 block of Rodman Street between Juniper and Broad, have been negotiating with the developer and are in the process of finalizing an agreement which is satisfactory to all parties. It's not likely that the plans will be contested based on this forthcoming agreement. We have requested that the City Planning Commission defer approval of the plan of development until it's finalized and contains the terms of our agreement with the developer. It's my understanding that this was acceptable to the Planning Commission. We would also like to acknowledge that we appreciate Mr. Dranoff's willingness to negotiate with us, and we look forward to an amicable resolution to this process. Thank you.
Robert Rothschild, commenting on 110307 and 110670. (Witness approached podium.)
Hello. My name is Robert Rothschild and I live at Spring Garden and North 4th, and the first thing I'd like to briefly comment on is the Callowhill Reading Viaduct Neighborhood Improvement District. A little over a year ago I moved from New York City to Philadelphia. I lived about six blocks from the High Line. That was probably in that neighborhood one of the best investments that was made. The city, although it is mostly privately funded, there was an improvement district put in place, and that was an important start to the whole change of how that came about, the High Line came around. I've been over taking a look at the Viaduct. It's not very far from where I live, and I think it can be an important contribution to the City of Philadelphia. There's a lot of construction that's planned for that area. I know the Goldtex building is going to move into condominiums and I think it would be very positive, and it's a very small investment for the business owners in that area to make. I actually put down the wrong number for my second one, so may I change that? Sir, I put down the wrong number for my second comment. May I change that? I want to speak on 110563. So, as I said, I live at Spring Garden and North 4th and I -- the second number is 110563 -- and I looked at -somebody had done a mock-up of what this billboard is going to look like. And I think about moving to Philadelphia and I think about all the wonderful things that I've sort of discovered how livable a city it is, how wonderful the different neighborhoods are, and when I see something like this, I think about people coming down the highway and thinking, Oh, you know, we've got this wonderful city center buildings here, we've got creative districts coming up, and suddenly they see this billboard. Now, I know that, because I've 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING read the bill, that you exclude certain things from it, but here's what I want you to think about when you're voting on this. If you're driving down that highway with either your family or let's say even better than that, you're bringing someone into the City because they're talking about moving their business here, and you see on this huge billboard, Welcome to the City of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, brought to you by Trojan. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there anyone else here who has signed up to provide public testimony on today's agenda? (No response.)
Seeing no one, that concludes today's public comment period. We will now consider the bills and resolutions on the Second Reading and Final Passage 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING Calendar. The Clerk will please read the title of Resolution 110799.
A resolution approving the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Mantua Urban Renewal Area, designated as Parcel Nos. 73 and 74.
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING (No response.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of Resolution 110800.
A resolution approving the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Mantua Urban Renewal Area, designated as Parcel Nos. 286, 287 and 288.
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly.
A resolution calling for the City Council Committee on Education to hold hearings on the School District of Philadelphia plan to close certain schools facilities and to make grade changes in others.
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of Resolution 110802.
A resolution proclaiming November 2011 as "American Diabetes Month."
Madam President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. We will now consider Resolution 110803.
A resolution celebrating November 14th, 2011 as "World Diabetes Day" and encouraging all to participate in the "Believe in Blue" Campaign.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING resolution be adopted. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. We will now consider Resolution 110804.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Thirteenth Ward of the City of Philadelphia.
11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING Again, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Madam President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of Resolution 110805.
A resolution urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to reject House Bill 934, which imposes unnecessary and restrictive voter ID requirements that would 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING disproportionately impact African-American and Latino voters, senior citizens, people with disabilities, the homeless, low-income citizens, and young voters, and thereby disenfranchise law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to vote.
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING We will now consider Resolution 110806.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Fifty-Second Ward of the City of Philadelphia.
Thanks again, Madam President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.) 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. We will now consider Resolution 110807.
A resolution appointing a five-person committee entitled the "Living Wage and Benefits Review Committee" pursuant to Section 17-1311 of The Philadelphia Code, the purpose of which shall be to review the implementation and effectiveness of Chapter 17-1300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Philadelphia 21st Century Minimum Wage and Benefits Standard," and to make recommendations to Council regarding the adoption of resolutions calling for debarment of certain contractors and recipients of City financial assistance under Section 17-1312. 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of Resolution 110808.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia, without consideration, 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the First Ward of the City of Philadelphia.
The Chair recognizes Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 110518-A. 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING
An ordinance authorizing the Procurement Commissioner to enter into a lease and related agreements with the Philadelphia Municipal Authority for use by the City of certain cogeneration facilities to be located at the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant at 3899 Richmond Street.
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. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't see your light on. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Madam President, when this bill was amended two weeks ago, I abstained for the reasons that the law firm with which I am associated represents a party of interest in this matter, and I'll be abstaining on final passage today. And there's a companion bill. It's the last bill on 11/17/11 - STATED - 2ND READING the Calendar, 110517, that I will be abstaining on also. Thank you.
Thank you. 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.
Councilwoman Krajewski is voting aye. Councilwoman Miller is voting aye. Councilman O'Neill is abstaining. Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
And the record again will indicate that Councilman O'Neill abstained. We will now consider Bill No. 110631.
An ordinance amending Title 21 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Miscellaneous," by regulating the public availability of police accident reports, including, but not limited to, providing for the confidentiality of certain information contained in such reports, and providing fees for the issuance of such reports.
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.