Aye. The ayes are 15; the nays are two, and the bill passes. The Clerk will please read any additional resolutions on today's Calendar.
A resolution supporting the National Minority Business Development Agency and recognizing October 5th through 7th as Philadelphia Minority Enterprise Development Week which provides critical information to foster the growth and competitiveness of the minority business community, introduced by Councilman Curtis Jones.
Thank you. It was also introduced by other members of Council, but I move for the adoption (Duly seconded.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. That completes our Calendar for today. 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. Thank you, all members of Council, for supporting the resolution for Obama's Jobs Act. It was brought home to me last Thursday when I left my office on my way to a hearing here and a gentleman who had a distraught look on his face, apparently -- a minority, apparently over 50 and apparently in distress. I asked him was he okay. He responded sheepishly no. And the next words that came out of his face scared me to death. I was not prepared for this. He said, I'm about to kill myself. He said he was about to kill himself because he had been unemployed close to two years, had reached the 99 week percentage point and did not know how he was going to maintain any type of life-style, any type of future. A recent article by the Inquirer showed that right home in Philadelphia poverty went up 2 percent, from 24 percent to 26 percent; that this knows no race, no color; that in that article they cite Mrs. Sidney, 34-year-old Northeast woman, single mother, who lost her job as a certified nursing assistant and then plummeted from a middle-class environment to impoverished environment and is about to be evicted from a $640 a month apartment, and prospects are that she will move into a City-run shelter. This job proposal, along with good work done by Councilman Clarke to create a Jobs Commission, good work done by Councilman Goode and myself to try to move Bill No. 110143 to look at contracting opportunities to create local stimulus jobs here under our control, are things that we have to do. As President Obama said in the State of the Union Address, that some people just can't wait until the next election. They're forced with the reality of meals that they will miss, jobs that they don't have and evictions that are looming, along with utility shut-offs. We have to do what we can. of this building are neighborhoods where hundreds and thousands of people go through this. Three hundred and ninety-seven thousand of our fellow Philadelphians live below the poverty guidelines. This is something that begs our attention. And I think we've done some of the good work, but we have a lot of work to do. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez.
Thank you, Madam President. I personally wanted to thank you, the leadership team and all of my colleagues for the work over the last few months on redistricting. Many of you know since I got elected initially in 2007 I have been active in the census count and I have talked about redistricting for many, many years, and negative feedback and people not believing that this Council in a collegial way would listen to public input and create districts that reflected the population trends, some of the challenges that the City faced, we did meet our deadline. We did it in a collegial way. I didn't throw anybody out the window. And I just want to publicly acknowledge all of my colleagues, Councilmen DiCicco and Kenney in particular for their alternative plan, and say that on behalf of the residents of the 7th Councilmanic District, who have felt disenfranchised for many years, the Latino community in particular, thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My comments were actually going Jones' comments, but I would like everybody to note that Councilwoman Sanchez really just spoke like a lawyer, because what she said is she didn't throw anybody out the window. What she didn't say is she threatened to throw a lot of people out the window in that process. You know, colleagues, Council President, what Councilman Jones just talked about is the truth, and it continues. Every ten years the poverty rate increases in the City of Philadelphia. We know that what we are doing is not working. Every single decade we lose 40 or 50 thousand net jobs. Every single year we lose four or five thousand net jobs, yet we keep patting ourselves on the back for incremental and marginal progress that does not bring about real change in the City. We talk about increasing test scores in the schools, which are of having everybody at grade level in 2123. We tout companies if they decide to come to Philadelphia or stay here, yet every year net we're losing jobs. We have to be bold and be willing to take risks, be willing to be wrong if we're going to right the ship that is the City of Philadelphia. That means we have to be willing to do things that will not be popular. We have to fundamentally change the way we educate our children. I'm questioning today whether or not the School District is capable of doing that. We have to be willing to take risks with our tax structure, lose revenue in the short term with the hope that it will turn things around in the long term by eliminating job-killing net income tax and other things. We have to take risks if we're going to get a reward. Doing the same thing, tinkering around at the margins with incremental to solve the poverty problem or educate our children, and I hope that in the next four years, we seriously look at doing things that could put our jobs in jeopardy. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. Does anyone else want to be recognized? (No response.)
Seeing no one, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 6th, 2011, 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 6th at 10:00 a.m. say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Thank you all very much. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on September 22, 2011, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (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.)