Councilwoman 02/26/04 - STATED - 2ND READING Reynolds Brown.
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The next bill being called for consideration is Bill No. 040065. THE
An ordinance authorizing and directing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 58 of an area bounded by 9th Street, 10th Street Callowhill Street and Noble Street, under certain terms and conditions.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. 02/26/04 - STATED - 2ND READING The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The last bill being called for 02/26/04 - STATED - 2ND READING consideration is Bill No. 040067. THE
An ordinance amending Section 9-205 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Sidewalk Sales," by prohibiting sidewalk sales on portions of Franklintown Boulevard.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. That concludes the Calendar for today. Are speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the part of the majority. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I'd just like to say thank you and congratulations to my colleague Councilman Michael Nutter as we see the movements around MCP. There's an effort to keep them here, keep them open for a while and patients can find some way to resolve their issues. But also, I think through the discussion in this Council about the nature of the closing and all the facts that were brought out about Tenet and its motives or lack thereof that a resolution was -- some form of a resolution was brought forth. And in addition, we can see that their lack of sensitivity caused the head of the organization to be fired. I think it's very important that we bring issues before this City Council to discuss them so that it brings a light to what's going on. We are responsible to our voters, people who put us in office, to have the debate and have the discussion. And I just want to thank him for making -- while it was tedious for some and unpleasant for others, it certainly brought to light what was going on with MCP and helped us bring to some resolution that issue, and I want to thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. My colleague Councilwoman Tasco caught me completely off guard, but I do thank her for her remarks. We do have a long way to go, but I think some serious progress has been made. And I had actually in slightly more privately way had today wanted to talk with our colleague Councilman Goode who is the Chair of the Committee on commerce and Economic Development for his tremendous support and cooperation in terms of -- it's not the norm that we would have literally three hearings on very serious matters three weeks in a row. And it takes a lot of time. Every hearing was about four to five hours over a three week period. And I think the Councilman and his staff deserves a tremendous amount of acknowledgment for working with us to make that happen and create the kind of environment that, as Councilwoman Tasco said, could bring focus to this issue. In addition, naturally, Members of Council, Members of the Committee, and people who were not on the Committee were diligent in coming to these hearings. And again, as Councilwoman Tasco said, brought out a lot of information. We had, I think, six or eight State Representatives and a State Senator, a US Congressman, Congressman Fattah, and a United States Senator and Senator Specter come to the first of the three hearings. I think Tenet Healthcare started to take those hearings very seriously. And then with the double pressure coming from Governor Rendell from the other side, they finally realized that not only had they made a serious mistake, but that also maybe they should pay more attention to what's going on here in Philadelphia and try to turn this situation around. So I am cautiously optimistic based on the agreement that Tenet Healthcare reached with Governor Rendell and the Department of Health. But we do have a lot of work to do between now and June 30th with the extension. But I think Councilwoman Tasco some that there is very serious work to be done here in this City Council, and whether it's through ordinance or bill but also our resolution process gives us an opportunity to either bring information out or give people a voice and a forum in which they can talk about the things that they care about. The patient testimony, the employees, all of the participants in this process, I think, helped to galvanize, not only around this issue, but to bring attention to the larger issue of what's going on in healthcare, not just in Philadelphia, not just in Pennsylvania, but across the United States of America. So as Congressman Fattah said, this is a national problem, but we're dealing with a very local issue, and what is the company prepared to do. So the talks and conversations will continue. I'm sure, if necessary, I'll call on the Councilman again. The Committee certainly reserves the right to reconvene if things are not going in the right direction. good conversations are taking place right now, and I appreciate all the support from my colleagues. It is a win for all of us. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. Are there any other speeches on the part of the Majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Madam President, first, I had I would like to make up for an error I made earlier when introducing the cosponsors on the abolition front on supporting the creation of a week to celebrate the anti death penalty. I forgot to mention that Councilman Ramos was also one of the three chief cosponsors with Councilwoman Miller and Councilwoman Brown. I would also like to take this opportunity to have the Chair recognize three representatives of the Food and Commercial Workers of America who are valiantly carrying on the fight that we talked about in the first Acme Markets and the Albertsons Company, John Meyerson and two of colleagues and would request that the Chair ask them to stand and be recognizes.
If they would stand, we would certainly like to recognize you. (Applause.)
The Food and Commercial Workers are not only a very large local union, but they are a union which always has responded whenever workers were endangered in any area of work. So they really deserve a very special thanks. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
You're welcome, sir. Are there any other speeches on the part of the Majority? (No response.) Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco for a motion.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand 4, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, March 4th. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Thank you very much. (Council adjourned at 11:08 a.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of February 26, 2004, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: STATED MEETING _________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR