Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. We will now consider Bill No. 100093.
An ordinance authorizing and directing the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, on behalf of 5.6.10 STATED - FINAL-PASSAGE CALENDAR the City, to enter into, execute, and deliver an agreement with the Philadelphia Housing Authority to broaden and make more efficient housing opportunities and related services administered by the Philadelphia Housing Authority and existing within the City.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is: Shall the bill pass finally? The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 100216.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010 from the Grants Revenue Fund - The Director of Finance Provision for Other Grants to the Housing Trust Fund, the Mayor Office of Housing 5.6.10 STATED - FINAL-PASSAGE CALENDAR and Community Development.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is: Shall the bill pass finally? The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. We will now consider Bill No. 100217.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010 within the Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance - Federal Stimulus Funding to the Department of Parks and Recreation (Parks), the Department of Human Services, Philadelphia Prisons, and the District Attorney.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is: Shall the 5.6.10 STATED - FINAL-PASSAGE CALENDAR bill pass finally? The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Council President 5.6.10 STATED - FINAL-PASSAGE CALENDAR Verna?
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. We will now consider Bill No. 100214.
An ordinance amending Title 4 of the Philadelphia Code by amending Subcode F, entitled "The Philadelphia Fire Code," by further delineating the Philadelphia Fire Department's mission and obligation to provide fire and other emergency services via uniformed fire personnel, including firefighters and fire-service paramedics, and clarifying that all uniformed fire personnel, including fire-service paramedics, are authorized and required to act as fire personnel.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is: Shall the 5.6.10 STATED - FINAL-PASSAGE CALENDAR bill pass finally? The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Council President 5.6.10 STATED - FINAL-PASSAGE CALENDAR Verna?
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all medics having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. (Applause.)
Are there speeches on the part of the Minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the part of the Majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. I rose a couple of weeks ago to talk about the condition of bridges in the City of Philadelphia. It was 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES reminiscent of a court case called Brown versus the Board of Education when Amtrak said that they would do repairs with all deliberate speed. I'm glad to report today and thank my colleagues to say that progress has been made, and it won't take twenty years to get it done. Amtrak has agreed to remove the rusting metal that serves as a monument to the rust belt away from the bridge. They put metal plates to safeguard the holes that are in the bridge. They plan on painting the bridge and are making progress to secure fencing so that debris does not fall from the bridge. So I'm happy to say to my colleagues here today thank you for your continued support in this matter. I kind of felt like Captain Ahab, and that bridge at 52nd and Jefferson was my white whale. I would only caution us to say that these are Band-Aids, Band-Aids that 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES need to be addressed, but the long-term solution is the repair and replacement of major bridges in the City of Philadelphia. Councilwoman Blackwell shares that same fate at 40th Street. So as we look to the federal government for stimulus money, we need to use those dollars in efforts on projects that make a difference to Philadelphians every day. So thank you again and, most importantly, the Parkside Business Association for their agitation so that we did not have Brown versus the Board of Education.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell. 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES
Thank you, Madam President. We have today our Partnership for Prescription assistance table outside. And certainly, we invite everyone to inform their constituencies so that they may take advantage of this prescription service. Thank you
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Madam President. I am pleased to have raised numerous spending cuts for consideration to this body and to the Administration that the Mayor has decided to do accept in part. It is for only 17 million of the 46 million I proposed, but he agrees we can cut Prisons by 5.5 million rather than 9 million that I've suggested; or 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES Police by 3 million, reducing overtime, rather than 6. However, I just received a letter from the Administration that all members of Council have, and there are significant numbers of reductions that apparently were either misunderstood by the Administration or mischaracterized in its revised proposal. It is a weak and nonsubstantive response to responsible spending reductions off of the amount the Administration has requested us to appropriate. For instance, the Administration contends that the proposed savings in public health will severely impact services. I am having difficulty understanding this contention. The $571,000 in savings in my proposal were ones provided by the department, savings based on filling all vacant positions which were funded in my proposal. 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES Similarly, with respect to Parks and Rec, my proposal was to fill dozens of currently-vacant servicedelivery positions -- 12 rec leaders, 9 rec facility caretakers, 15-plus maintenance workers -- while saving 1.6 million by not adding 43 brand-new positions. The Administration's contention that filling these vacancies but not adding the new positions will somehow have serious consequences for the operations of the department, including canceling systematic community safety initiatives already underway has the ring of fear-mongering. I cannot understand how, when there are not currently people in that position, we are somehow engaging staffing reductions, which is the phrase consistently used throughout the Administration's response. It is not a staffing reduction to not have a new position. It does not 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES hurt services to not have a new position. It maintains services at current levels and, in many cases, increases services where boots are on the ground. Like in Sanitation, 100 unfilled positions can be filled in my proposal. In Parks and Rec, 36 can. So I was disappointed in the response, but I'm glad to see some movement in the direction of responsible cuts so that we can make sure our taxes are as low as possible. The fundamental disagreement that I'm having with the Administration is, during a recession, we should not reduce -- I'm sorry. During a recession, we should not increase the cost and size of city government. We are the only major city in the country considering such a thing. We need to lower the cost and size of government responsibly over time through attrition, working with our unions, through the implementation of 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES technology. And I look forward to continuing working with my colleagues and the Administration to getting in place more responsible cuts. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Miller.
Thank you, Madam President. I'd just like to let the public know that the deadline for submitting an application for membership to the Police Advisory Commission is soon approaching. The Advisory Commission was created to bridge the gap between the community and the Police, and I applaud its selection process because it allows for diversity. I just wanted to say that I urge citizens to participate in this process by submitting an application. 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES And anyone that wants to be considered as one of 21 nominees must submit an application by next Thursday, May 20th, the Thursday after next, at the close of business. Council's Committee on Public Safety will hold a public hearing at which all applicants will have a chance to speak before Council submits its nominees to Mayor Nutter. The process is simple and can be done online. Citizens have three options to obtain an application: They can visit www.phila.gov to download a copy of the application; they may visit any Philadelphia public library; or they may go to City Council's Chief Clerk Office, Room 402, in City Hall, to pick up a copy. But we do want to urge people to apply. We actually announced the opening of the application process a couple weeks ago and just want to remind folks that if they haven't applied that 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES now is the time. And also, the completed applications can be e-mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered or mailed. So I just wanted to again remind folk to apply for the Police Advisory Commission. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. I just want to thank Councilman Jones for his tenacity in dealing with Conrail on his bridge. I'd just like to -- I'm sure I speak for a lot of District Councilmembers who have Conrail tracks in their district, that they -- we aren't even asking paint up or for fix up of the bridge; we only want them to clean the track and the land around where they own 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES and keep it clean from trash. And it's been an ongoing battle with Conrail through the years since I've been here. So congratulations to him on getting that bridge done. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. Are there think other speeches on the part of the Majority? (No response.)
Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, before I call for an adjournment, I just would like to make a very brief statement. With respects -- and believe me, I do not want to enter into the debate between Councilman Green and the Administration. 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES
I was just saying that I do not want to be engaged in any way, shape, or form in the debate between Councilman Green and the Administration with respects to expenditure reduction. But I would like to briefly speak from my perspective of how what's happening with respects to that process. First, I think it's a little to premature to put a number on what the actual expenditure reductions will be because that is an ongoing process. Secondly, I'd like to say that whatever that agreement is and whatever that dollar figure is, it's as a result of the participation of all members of Council in a series of meetings facilitated by you and your staff and other staff from other Councilmembers. So it was a group effort, 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES whatever that number ends up being and the level of expenditures and how we apply them. So I just wanted to clear that. From my perspective, that's how that process happened. So with that, I call for the adjournment.
I want to concur with Councilman Clarke. Everybody on Council's done a lot of hard work on this budget, and I'm proud to have worked with people and sat in meetings and worked together to identify potential reductions. I do want to make clear for the record that with everything I'm proposing, I am increasing by 47 the number of paramedics and firefighters vacancies that can be filled. I'm 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES increasing the number of unfilled positions in Parks and Recs by 36. I'm increasing. So these are not reductions; they are increases over current service levels in almost every area of government. And I want to make that absolutely clear. And it is my goal to increase government responsibly where we have, you know, decreased it to a point where we have to maintain a basic service level, but we need to really consider additional cuts to the requested appropriation, not to services, not to staff. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
I don't mean for this to be a debate. I do concur with Councilman Clarke about the process that we're going through, and it's not over yet; it's 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES fluid and moving forward. But I keep trying to get Councilman Green to understand, yes, he has selectively chosen areas to increase, but the increase is -- we've cut those departments in the past, so it doesn't even get us to the level of service that we need to operate the facilities. So I appreciate his efforts to um... I think I'll end there. Thank you.
Councilman Green. This is really becoming a debate.
Thank you, Madam President. Many of you probably do not have the letter from the Mayor that he sent to Council; my staff brought it down to me today. The Mayor, in that letter to Council, identified $17 million of cuts he was willing to accept. 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES So, in my statement, I was not suggesting the process was over. In fact, I was suggesting that, hopefully, it was a good first step and, hopefully, he will continue to look at this as closely as we are. Thank you.
Again, the level of cuts that the Mayor has agreed to came as a result of the leadership of City Council. Thank you.
Although I indicated that I did not want to get into a debate with Councilman Green -
I guess if 5.6.10 STATED - SPEECHES I respond other than calling for an adjournment, I will continue to be dragged into it. So, with that, I will call for an adjournment -(Applause.) -- to May 13, 10 a.m., 2007.
It has been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May the 13th. All in favor will say aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it, and the motion carries. (Proceedings end at 11:40 a.m.) * * * C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings of the 5/6/10 Stated Meeting of the Philadelphia City Council are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me on Thursday, 5/6/10, and that this is a true and correct statement of same. __________________________________ JOSEPHINE CARDILLO Registered Professional Reporter (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter's.)