Onetha McKnight, commenting on 140488. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. MS. McKNIGHT: Good afternoon, everyone.
Please proceed. Good afternoon. MS. McKNIGHT: I am Onetha McKnight and I am here to speak on Bill No. 140488. I would like to thank Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr. -- thank you, Councilman Goode -- and the rest of City Council for passing a stronger version of the Mayor's Executive Order around 21st century living wage law and benefits. I work at Philadelphia International Airport for a company called Prospect. I currently make $5.75 an hour, plus tips that are not guaranteed. Despite the Mayor's Executive Order and numerous bills in City Council and voters' overwhelming support of a ballot measure for 21st century wages and benefits, employers at the Airport still have not paid workers the wages nor have they outlined a plan. We want to make sure City Council put measures into place to look at enforcement and implementation around the current laws. We work hard, we pay taxes, and we deserve to be treated fairly. (Applause.) MS. McKNIGHT: After all, we help make Philadelphia's airport and the City run more smoothly. Again, I want to thank City Council for fighting for higher wages for deserving Philadelphians. Thank you for allowing me to speak.
Thank you so much for your testimony. (Applause.)
Carol Duncan, commenting on 140488. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning, members of Council. Thank you for hearing my comments on the same resolution that the previous speaker was speaking of. I am Carol Duncan, Co-Chair of POWER's Job Strategy team. I also serve as POWER's representative on the Living Wage and Benefits Review Committee, which acts as an agency of Council to review the implementation, effectiveness, and enforcement of Chapter 17-1300. I am thrilled, as I know all of you are, that together we passed Ballot Question 1. However, POWER has concerns with the rollout of that legislation. On Tuesday this week, I participated in a meeting of the Living Wage and Benefits Review Committee. We heard a statement during our public community segment from representatives of the Animal Care and Control Team that has 58 workers subcontracted to a City-funded organization. I might not have all these details exactly right, but this is what I understand. They explained that their contract was renewed in June. They were expecting to see the new law was carried out and that their paychecks were increased, but they saw no increase. They wondered why, since the legislation states that the voters having approved the amendment that the ordinance shall take effect immediately. We could not get a good explanation for the failure to issue the wage increase. I understand in general that the procedures for implementing the legislation are not yet crafted. I am asking on behalf of POWER that Council urge the Administration to speed up the implementation of legislation. Every week that goes by prolongs the struggles of low-income workers to maintain health and housing. I thank you all for the stance you have taken to raise our most vulnerable citizens to the security of a living wage. Thank you. (Applause.)
Fatmata Massaquoi, commenting on 140488. (Witness approached podium.)
Hi. My name is Fatmata Massaquoi. I would first like to thank the City Council to pass Bill 140488 to cover 21st century wage benefits to cover all workers. I work at the Philadelphia International Airport for 18 years under different subcontractors. I started work for Delta Global Services. Here I was paid $8.50 an hour and benefits, short of healthcare, free flights, EIE bonuses. When DGS lost contract to Prospect, Prospect workers work at 7.50 by hour and all DGS workers were able to keep their pay rates. We lost all benefits. Prospect offer no sick days, no personal days, no flight benefit, no healthcare, and no benefits. We as workers, we are not asking to be paid a million. Just a fair and -- just a fair and livable wages. We should always have to work -- we should not have to wait for those companies to do the right things and give workers their rates. We hope City Council and Administration as well as US Airway, we do everything to -- and do everything to -- I'm sorry.
Do everything to implement and enforce those wages as soon as possible. Again, we would like to thank City Council for passing the legislation today.
Rodney Oglesby, commenting on 140512. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Council President Clarke and fellow members of Council. My name is Rodney Oglesby, Executive Director for the School District of Philadelphia's Government Relations Office, and I'm here today to comment on Bill No. 140512, which is on Final Passage Calendar for today. On behalf of Superintendent Dr. Hite, SRC Chairman Bill Green, most importantly, the students and families of our great city, we want to thank City Council, all of City Council, today both for passing this bill which provides $27 million to the District for the current fiscal year and also for introducing a new borrowing bill that would authorize an additional $30 million borrowing for the next fiscal year. We appreciate that the timing of this new bill emphasizes the need to continue pressing Harrisburg for funding, and we are united with Council in that effort. Based upon Council's commitment today, we are going to build into our budget this additional $30 million for the next fiscal year. So I want to thank Council for its commitment. With this commitment, we're going to be able to avoid over $40 million in cuts in the budget that the SRC adopts on June 30th. So, finally, I just want to say thank you again to all members of City Council. The children of Philadelphia, the families of Philadelphia appreciate your support and we appreciate your hard work for the education of kids in the City. Thank you.
Ruth Birchett, commenting on 140231 and 140581. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon, Councilman. I am speaking first on 140231 and really want to immediately express my appreciation to Councilman Jones and the other cosigners on this bill, because it's going to provide for a homeownership opportunity in our communities. The Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zone is a good thing, and we're looking forward to it. Council President Clarke especially, I'd like to see in the future this designation for our area of west of Broad Street, north of Lehigh and north of -- yeah; south of Lehigh Avenue and north of Cecil B. Moore in particular. We're looking forward to that. Pursuant to this as well, I speak to you in reference to Council Bill 140581 in reference to the Redevelopment Authority conveying many parcels of land to the Philadelphia Housing Authority. For this I have concern. In our North Philadelphia community, we have many developments that have been completed and look very, very nice with the utilization of dollars through the Philadelphia Housing Authority. However, my concern is that in many of these projects, tax credits have been used, and tax credits have a life of generally 15 years. My concern is the disposition of the homes and the land once the tax credits have expired and the future disposition of these homes, that they not be flipped into properties that are no longer available financially for low-income people. That is a major concern. We have that concern at 21st and Norris with the 8 Diamond Homes there. Once those tax credits expire, it is our understanding that those 152 townhouses may belong to and be able to be disposed of as Michaels Development would want to. And so I would appreciate further discussion and consideration for the Council Housing Committee to be cognizant of this and consider the future of our neighborhoods. In closing, I would like to say that we have considerable concern about the accelerated sale of William Penn High School, and we would ask our Council President if you would meet with the William Penn Development Coalition in reference to that. It's our understanding that this afternoon SRC's meeting, that the SRC will be putting to a vote the sale for -- providing for the sale for this property pulled out away from the list of all of the 21 schools, and we understand, and we do agree that the schools should be sold. However, we want this property, this 14-acre property, as a STEM school for our community. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. And, Ms. Birchett, if you and Ms. Woods and other individuals that I see here, friends of mine, have time after the Council session -- if you don't, we can meet at a later date -- to clarify what one of the proposals is since I see a sign that talks about a stadium. I understand the concern, but if we can meet a little later or at another time, we can get some clarity on some of the things that are actually being proposed.
We're available to meet today, and thank you for that immediate response.
Tashira Moss, commenting on 140377. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. My name is Tashira Moss. I grew up here in Philadelphia, born and raised, educated in private school, actually went to public high school. After that, I went to college, came back home, had some financial troubles, working full time. I go to Kaplan online. I pretty much say that to say on May 31st, I was arrested for a small amount of marijuana. I had to spend the night in jail. I missed a day of work. I just recently was fired for that from that job because I was still on probation as a new hire, which means I didn't have any sick days or vacation days. And because I had to call that a sick day when I had to spend the night in jail, I was fired for that. Now I have to pay $200 and make an appearance in court or else I'm going to go to jail. I have no criminal history. I've never been arrested before. I've never experimented with hard-core drugs or anything like that. Barely drink. Well over the legal age, though. Today is my birthday. I'm turning 24. Just say that to say that it's caused like a lot of -- this small amount of marijuana, not saying it's right or wrong or whatever, but for me to get arrested, I lost my job, I have to pay $200 or else I am going to jail for a $5 bag of marijuana I think is very outrageous and quite ridiculous. And not only for me, but for people that's in my circumstances. There's people out there who smoke crack, do heroin, but then there's people, they might smoke marijuana from time to time, they have a regular job, they live normal lives and not bad people, no criminal history, no issues like that. But now I have to deal with the system and I might go to jail. I just lost my job. So I'm in a whirlwind of craziness right now, but I wanted to just speak up on that because I feel like it's unfair and I feel like a $25 fine would have sufficed. Glad we paid it. Because now I don't know who is going to hire me. I have a record now and I don't have a job anymore and, you know, I feel as though that's an issue that needs to be spoken on, because it's unfair, in my opinion. That's all I have to say. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony, ma'am. (Applause.)
Ryan Damon, commenting on 140377. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. Hi. My name is Ryan Damon. I'm from a small town in South Carolina like the great Joe Frazier. I graduated with honors from Charles Y. Audenried High School in South Philadelphia in 2002. I have since created a solid work history for myself since moving here at the tender age of 14. My last job was the longest to date. I was a senior teller at Citizens Bank for a period of six years before I quit because of a robbery. Well, because I was robbed twice in -- I was robbed twice in a three-week period. So a very traumatic experience for me. So I've been -- which I'm still going to court for, because I know it's the right thing to do, is to testify, that is, on behalf of my job because of what happened with that experience. I'm sad to say that I was affected by this practice. It slowed down my expungement process, because I was in the process of getting an expungement when I was arrested for a small amount of marijuana as well just like my friend there. I also -- when I was arrested -- so in hopes of gaining meaningful employment, I have -- like I've done so many times over the years, it doesn't bother me that I was held accountable for my actions, but it does bother me that the amount that I was held accountable for was just the $200 for such actions. Not to mention that this is apparent for many campuses like Temple University, LaSalle, Penn State, and many other places around the country. I was honored when Mr. Lee, Michael Lee, that is, from The Post program invited me, along with Councilman Kenney, to voice my opinion about such action. In closing, I hope that there is a brighter future for this bill, and at this time I would like to thank you for your time, your patience, as well as your ears. Thank you. (Applause.)
Bishop J. Darrell Robinson, commenting on 140377. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. I'd like to take the time to thank City Council, Council President, and for all of those that are here surrounding this bill. I was not arrested for a small amount of weed, but as you have heard, we have two young people here that were not only arrested for a small amount of weed but the rest of their lives are jeopardized. Their future is jeopardized. Their ability to make money and to live a decent life in the City is jeopardized because of a small amount of weed. I'm here in support of this bill, because most of the people that are affected by the bill are my children, my youth, those who I represent. Unfortunately, the young man and the young woman will have to now really wrestle to get a job. And what will be the alternative? What will they be able to do when they are not able to find a job? I think that we need to look at this very seriously, because we're in a city that is arresting our black youth at a disproportionate number. They are egregiously being affected and hurt. That fine lady spends a night in jail, a worker, a good citizen, a good person, and now she has to carry the taint of a record for carrying a small amount of weed. Is that right? Is that fair? The fact of the matter is, it's not right and it's not fair, and I think Councilman Kenney has presented a very good bill, one that will hopefully stop some of the bleeding. You know, the statistics are alarming to me. I'm a pastor. I try to help youth. I try to get youth jobs, and it's just ridiculous, because when I ask the youth for the amount of years that I've been in the ministry, which has been over three decades, when I try to get these youth jobs and I ask them about their records and they say, Well, you know, I had some weed and I got stopped and, you know, I haven't been able to get a job, in the streets they call it trapping on the block when they sell drugs. If they're not able to get a job, then what other alternatives do they have to take care of themselves, to take care of their family? Trapping. Our youth create the darkness in which they are raised up in. And I'm not trying to give a sermon, but I want to be very clear. Our youth did not create that darkness. Our youth did not create this unfair bias, this racially biased policing. They didn't create it, but they have to exist in it. That's just not fair. And you know what's even more alarming, that even if we do the right thing and pass the bill and make sure that these youth are only fined, the only youth that will be fined is still, I'm afraid, those youth that are part of my ethnicity. I'm very sad at the way we handle things in this city as it relates --
Can I say one more thing before I sit down? This is my last statement. They turned the mic down and everything. It's good to be able to control the mic on a preacher. But let me say this: I'm not for so much the legalization as I am for us being fair. God bless you.
Thank you, Pastor. Thank you for your testimony. (Applause.)
Bilal Qayyum, commenting on 140377. (Witness approached podium.)
President Clarke and members of City Council. First of all, let me take this opportunity to thank you for your support last week of our 25th Anniversary of the Father's Day Rally Committee, and I'm here this afternoon to support Bill 140377. In the legislation that Councilman Kenney outlined, it reports that 4,000 arrests are made every year and 82 percent of them are African Americans. And I can bet the majority of them are African American males. There's not a Councilperson sitting here whose district I haven't been in at night campaigning to stop violence, interacting with guys on the corner who are up to -- some of them are up to no good. Some of them are up to no good because they see no hope or have no hope to make changes. But we spend a lot of time in the streets interacting with a lot of these young men trying to get them to go to the right route. And it took me a while to digest and look at this bill, and I had a discussion with Councilman Kenney about me supporting it. And you heard the comments and particularly the young lady, and I don't know of anyone of my age that hasn't tried some smoke, that smoked some weed, and I'm pretty sure a lot of you I'm looking at right here in Council, members, smoked some weed, but it was by the grace of God that you were not stopped and arrested, sent to jail so that you would not be sitting here this morning in City Council. So I am pleading with you that the vote would be favorable today. I know that in my college years, there was many a days that I had a little bit of weed, Al, to get me through. Well, he just looked at me. I'm sorry. It doesn't make it right. But we all experiment, we all try, but we were not arrested and held hostage. The four engines that drive the Philadelphia economy - hospitality, education, financial service, and retail - if you have a felony commitment, you can't get work. We know and y'all know my work, and I can tell you between 60, 65 percent of African American males are jobless in the City of Philadelphia. Why? A lot of them do have records, unfortunately. So we don't need to be adding to the continued prisonization of particularly African American males. I brought with me this morning a book, and I think a lot of you are well aware of this book. If you have the need to read it, it's by Michelle Alexander called The New Jim Crow: The Mass Incarceration in the Age of the Colorblindness. Michelle documents that this is a trend across the country to put African American males into jail, and they start with -- the hook is with marijuana. So I would indulge and plead that the Council do the right thing this morning and pass this Bill 140377 so we could start hopefully seeing a decrease in the number of our young folks going to jail. I also will say this and end by saying this: We will have a responsibility -- when I say "we," my organization and other organizations -that we need to educate our young folks about what the bill is and that they should not be going around smoking. It's not in their best interest. And I would share with you that this morning I had the discussion with a police officer, which will be named nameless, and he said even though this bill passes, if the police stop young males and they don't have the proper ID, they could be still taken to the police station. Well, guess what? That's going to happen in the African American community, not necessarily the white community. So we got to have an education campaign to our young males that they need to have the proper information and they need to have the proper knowledge to keep them out of going to prison. So, once again, I hope and plead that this morning that you will do the right thing and pass this bill. Thank you very much.
Lisa Nucci, commenting on 140596. (Witness approached podium.)
Thank you for inviting us here to speak today on Resolution 140596. My name is Lisa Nucci and I'm President of the Art Institute of Philadelphia. I am here today with our Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Harry Costigan. The Art Institute of Philadelphia was founded in 1971, and we've been providing creative students with career-focused education for more than 40 years. Regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the Art Institute offers degree and diploma programs in a dozen of areas of the applied arts, including design, media, culinary, fashion. As of 2013, the Art Institute of Philadelphia enrolled approximately 2,500 students.
Our thousands of graduates are distinguishing themselves as creative professionals with --
Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. What's your name?
Okay. I just wanted to make sure. You guys want six minutes instead of three?
No. Our thousands of graduates are distinguishing themselves as creative professionals with businesses throughout the Greater Philadelphia area and beyond. For example, in 2013, 86 percent to 100 percent of our culinary, web design, interior design, and fashion graduates were working in their field within six months of graduation. Our graduates are an important source of employees who can fill the skills gap in our city's most important industries both today and tomorrow. It's clear that the Art Institute of Philadelphia is an important part of the City's economy and that the skills we offer are key to the health of the City's business community. For example, our culinary graduates are in demand by restaurants and food service establishments that are part of the leisure and hospitality industry, tourism being a significant component of the Philadelphia economy. In service to our community, the Art Institute of Philadelphia has partnered with several organizations, including the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, MANNA, and the Art Museum of Philadelphia, to name just a few. In 2013, our outstanding service to this city earned us a citation from the City of Philadelphia for our students' work on the Philly Youth Success.
Our main message today is to tell you about the negative impact the proposed federal Gainful Employment rule could have on the Art Institute of Philadelphia's ability to provide skill graduates to the Philadelphia economy. We are very concerned, and here's why: The Gainful Employment rule as currently proposed will deny access to student aid for over a million students nationwide who are currently enrolled in programs that are deemed ineligible for failing to meet certain arbitrary metrics with no clear alternative. The proposed rule primarily targets at private-sector institutions that serve a disproportionate number of underserved students. We support the Administration's interest in providing greater access and opportunity to low and minority students to pursue higher education, and we agree that student debt and college affordability are issues that need to be addressed. Today we urge you to support the resolution being introduced by Councilman Oh. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your testimony. (Applause.)
Greg Brinkley, commenting on 120232. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. I would like to first say I'm commenting on 140525, which speaks about the election of Ms. Asia Coney, Ms. Ethel Wise to the Board of Commissioners. This was placed on a fast track by Councilman Jones. I have no problem with the work that they're going to do. What I do have a problem -- I'm the President -- I'm Greg Brinkley, President of the Abbotsford Homes Resident Council. What I am concerned about is the process. The process very clearly, we had a young lady from the Abbotsford Homes who ran, submitted all the proper documents. It was ruled illegal. We appealed that process and was deemed she wasn't. The problem, Mr. President, was that by the time she got her hearing and was deemed eligible, there was only nine days left for the election, clearly giving the advantage to the other candidates of almost two months. I sent a letter to your office, because you and the Mayor are responsible ultimately for selecting the persons or approving the persons from that process. I sent letters to both your offices, and in fact, I even saw you on Delaware Avenue. I went to my Councilman, Curtis Jones, trying to facilitate this meeting. Again, this isn't about Ms. Coney or Ms. Wise. I spoke on record to the Philadelphia Housing Commissioners. There is no issue on whether Mrs. Miller was properly -- had followed due diligence, because it was okay. They agreed that. They did not give her enough time to have the same access as others to access the residents. I think that was a major infraction upon the democratic process, and when we -- I'm told that from your office that someone in your office, you guys didn't want to revisit the issue. So what does 80,000 residents do who is entitled to run for a historic election? This is the first time it's ever happened. So now we just say, Oh, the heck with it, even though she was correct. The only way to remedy this situation before you guys -- before the Council can vote on it is to order a new election. Thank you very much.
Helen Gym, commenting on 140512. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. First of all, I want to thank the members of City Council, especially our Council President, Darrell Clarke. As a Philadelphia public school parent, we've made it a singular mission to reach out to every single one of you in different ways, and I felt like since you have heard from so many of us over the last few weeks, I thought it was really important today that you hear from a parent who said thank you as we move something forward. So it's very much appreciated. And for as much heat as you might have felt or heard from parents who are deeply concerned about what's happening in our public schools, we promise you that our attention is now on Harrisburg and we will go to Harrisburg. We will be talking with our local and state legislators about what's happening with our cigarette tax and other promises. We'll also be reaching out to the Chamber of Commerce, to higher ed institutions, to the Parking Authority, and every other civic and public entity that has the responsibility to fund our schools responsibly. I do want to, however, bring up a humble reminder about what we were able to accomplish and what still needs to be done, because there's still a lot more that needs to be done. Today, Philadelphia public school children will leave schools, and many of our families will be left in the lurch, most of us uncertain of about at least $66 million in a gap that is going to be significant for next year. The money that moves today is not sustainable funding, as we all know. It's a one-year expense, and we need to be thoughtful and careful about long-term funding solutions that are happening. We also want to be thoughtful that the conditions that our schools are in right now are extreme. Schools opened this year under circumstances that every educator should have found appalling, and all of us did. We had no nurses and counselors in schools for weeks on end. Willard Elementary School's families fought for years, almost ten years, to get a brand new school building built. Their number one thing that they wanted built in that building for their five-year-olds, six-year-olds, and seven-year-olds who are going to be reading was a school library. That library is dark and closed because we can't afford librarians. There are only 14 in a school system with 200 buildings. Bartram High School had 148 staff in June 2011 and opened this year with 101, and we look at the violence that happened to young children through the most difficult times of their lives and we ask ourselves whether we are conducting a sickening social experiment on children to see how much they can take, and then when they don't meet the standard, we call them out for it and we punish them for it. That is not accountability for the people who matter. (Applause.)
I want us to think very quickly about South Philadelphia High School. This week the principal at South Philadelphia High School will graduate for the first time his 9th graders that he saw from 9th grade to 12th grade. Four years of a principal that returned. We fought for that stability, but this year she had to deal with merging hundreds of students into a school and a thousand dollars less per child. If we fight for people like Otis Hackney at South Philadelphia High, if we believe in stable schools, if we think schools can turn around, then how do we expect him to be able to do that work for a 20 percent pay cut and a thousand dollars less per child? These are not budget cuts anymore. They are not. They are human rights abuses happening in this city to our children. (Applause.)
It's not belt-tightening. I'm totally wrapping up. It's not belt-tightening. It's not thoughtful. And as much and as difficult as I know this budget season is -- and I am not on the side of the School District, on the side of any particular entity, Council, legislators. That's not the issue. For all the problems that we have, the only people who pay are our kids. They pay through the lack of services, through the attention that's paid for them. We're fighting for them. That is the only thing that we're looking for. And so I just want to say all of that to say that this is a moral issue of our times, and we will be back. We'll be back to ask you to resolve this issue before September. We don't want to open schools again in the circumstances that we did. I do want to thank you for the movement that we had, and we will see you hopefully this summer. Thank you.
Thank you. You know, talking about being useless, following the eloquent Helen Gym is an impossible chore. So I will just merely say, I'm an attorney with the Public Interest Law Center. We've been working in the schools. We collected over 900 complaints for this year about the terrible conditions and the lack of nurses, the lack of counselors, the lack of enough teachers, expanding class sizes, the terrible conditions that Helen has just so eloquently described. So I want to say first thank you. Thank you very much for taking the actions approving the $27 million that's on your agenda for today and for putting on your agenda the $30 million for September. That will help the situation greatly. That will all go to our children. We thank you. But I need to echo Helen's remarks. It will only help bring us to the situation where we are this year. That is not a tolerable situation. So I urge all of you to continue working on what a long-run solution will be. It's the only solution for our children, is a real one, will take care of all of their needs and not patchwork that unfortunately we have to put up with with this year, and we thank you for at least getting us to that point. And we will be back to talk to you in the summer and in the fall about what a real solution will be. But thank you for this step.
Clarc King, commenting on 140445. (Witness approached podium.)
Thank you, President of the City Council. Thank you, Councilmembers. And I am addressing 140445, and that is the ordinance authorizing the treasury to enter into an amendment agreement with the too-big-to-fail bank, and I just wanted to say that the Dodd-Frank Act still exists, that the specter of a bail-in process hovers the United States banking system. And I want to remind the political leadership that economic warfare still exists, that the private central bank intrigues of speculative bubbles, defaults, devaluations, bank rate manipulations, deflations, and inflations are the tools being used by liberal city of London-centered and controlled economic planners today. If you are told that you cannot fund your education system, that is not financial sense. That is economic warfare. And political leadership once again should act with that certain knowledge. I say that the creation of a public bank will serve to protect the rights and power of the citizenry of Philadelphia, and I ask that City Council create that resolution. I would like to thank the City Council for Resolution 140512. It was a great idea to get the assistance of another agency, a department within Philadelphia, and I'm sure that there are more departments and agencies within Philadelphia that can help out the School District of Philadelphia. Thank you so much.
Devon Miner, commenting on 140512. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon, Council President and members of City Council. My name is Devon Miner. I am here today on behalf of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, also known as PCCY. We would like to thank the Council President and the Council for your support of public education and for your recent allocation of 30 million in new funds. However, these funds are needed sooner rather than later. Last summer we saw the District cut central office positions and close over 20 schools. We cannot continue to allow the Philadelphia School District to crumble. We cannot lose any more school staff and lose any more teachers, nurses, and counselors and expect our children to be productive in a classroom of 41. However, we would like to let you know that PCCY is working diligently in Harrisburg to put pressure on legislators to pass the cigarette tax. If anyone here today wants to learn more about how they can get involved with some of our efforts in Harrisburg, please feel free to see me afterwards. Thank you.
Cye Harold Sheppard, commenting on 140512. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon, Mr. President. Good afternoon, City Council. Good afternoon, citizens of Philadelphia. Any time anything has to do with schools, I'm there. I wish we could look at maybe the top 50 salaries of the people that work at the Board of Education. I think if they slashed their salaries, it might be enough to put a significant dent in the deficit. And they remain at work failing our children, failing our future, and failing us. Instead of going to jail for a crime, they stay in their positions and reap many rewards. It's crazy. Then I'm watching our schools being sold with the public not at the table that we paid for and the privatization of everything. In New Orleans right now, there is not one public school left. They're all charter and all private. So we got to wake up. That's the way that's going all across the country. I would also ask that we not sell PGW. Jobs have been promised for maybe three years, and you lay off all the people making a lot of money, been there a while, connect with Marcellus Shale, our water system, our eco system. I continue to say get the frack out of here. Lastly, I'm limping right now because of the tremendous beating I received at the 14th District Police Department. Enough is enough. You need to address that. There's not a few good officers -- few bad. It's a few good. Last thing. I want to close on an upper note. On July 10th to July 16th, 25,000 black men will invade Philadelphia, spend money, do workshops. I'm a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and I hope we roll out the red carpet and we will uplift from our principles, manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift. Enjoy your summer. Thank you.
There are no other speakers on the public comment list, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. We will now consider today's Resolution Consent Agenda. I will ask that Mr. Decker please read the titles of all the resolutions on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of the resolution on the Resolution Consent Agenda. Upon such an objection and without debate, the resolution will be immediately removed from the Resolution Consent Agenda and placed on today's regular and Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker will now read the titles of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda.
Resolution No. 140580, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Strawberry Mansion Urban Area, identified by house number and street address as 2459 North Thirty-Second Street"; and Resolution No. 140581, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Model Cities Urban Renewal Area, identified by house numbers and street addresses as 1414 through 24, 1426 through 32, 1500, 1502 through 24, 1528 through 38, 1540 through 42 North Twentieth Street and 2001 through 2005 Jefferson Street"; and Resolution No. 140582, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, the Twenty-Ninth and Forty-Seventh Wards of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 140583, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, 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 Sixteenth and Twenty-Eighth Wards of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 140584, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Kingsessing Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 2008 South Salford Street"; and 140585, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, 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 Thirty-Sixth Ward of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 140586, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, 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 Twenty-Fifth Ward of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 140587, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, 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 Seventh, Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Thirty-First Wards of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 140590, entitled "A resolution also naming the unit block of Lehigh Avenue from 28th Street to 29th Street as 'Van R. Thomas Way' in memory of Mr. Van R. Thomas' lifetime of community service and social activism to improve economic opportunities and quality of life for residents of the North Penn community in the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 140591, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the urban renewal of a portion of the New Kensington-Fishtown Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 2426 Frankford Avenue."
Thank you. The Chair again recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion to adopt each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that each of the resolutions on the Consent Agenda be adopted. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda have been approved. We will now consider today's Bill Consent Agenda, and I would ask that Mr. Decker read the titles of all the bills on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of the bill on the Consent Agenda. Upon such objection and without debate, the bill will immediately be removed from the Consent Agenda Calendar. Mr. Decker, please read all the titles of the bills on the Consent Agenda.
Bill No. 140437-A, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Powelton Avenue, Lancaster Avenue, 37th Street, Warren Street, 36th Street, Filbert Street and 38th Street, and by revising use and dimensional regulations in that area of the City"; and Bill No. 140408-A, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Girard Avenue, Taney Street, Poplar Street, and 27th Street"; and Bill No. 140438-A, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Institutional (Special Purpose) District Master Plan of Drexel University in the vicinity of 33rd Street and Chestnut Street, for the construction of a new hotel with retail space"; and Bill No. 140442-A, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by John F. Kennedy Boulevard, 23rd Street, Cherry the Schuylkill River"; and Bill No. 140444, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Spring Garden Street, 5th Street, Girard Avenue, 2nd Street, Brown Street, and 3rd Street"; and Bill No. 140277, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Lindbergh Boulevard, Suffolk Avenue, and Island Avenue"; and Bill No. 140222, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones,' by designating the Mantua Housing Opportunity Zone pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative"; and Bill No. 140226, entitled "An Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones,' by designated the Francisville and Brewerytown Housing Opportunity Zones pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable -(Audience member yelling.)
Bill No. 140226, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones,' by designating the Francisville and Brewerytown Housing Opportunity Zones pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative"; and Bill No. 140227, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Philadelphia Opportunity Zones,' by designating the Point Breeze and Gray's Ferry Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative"; and Bill No. 140231, entitled "An ordinance establishing a new Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones,' authorizing the designation of Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones; establishing definitions; authorizing disposition of publicly-owned zone properties for nominal consideration pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative"; and Bill No. 140354, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones,' by designating the area bounded by Hunting Park Avenue to the north, Lehigh Avenue to the south, Broad Street to the east Street to the west as a Housing Opportunity Zone pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative"; and Bill No. 140443, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 10-1001 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Fees of Commissioner of Records,' to raise the fee for recording documents"; and Bill No. 140445, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the City Treasurer, on behalf of the City, to enter into an amendment agreement with Wells Fargo Bank for provision of payroll banking services to the City"; and Bill No. 130922, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Regulation of Business, Trades and Professions,' to clarify that it is discrimination based on sex and therefore an unlawful business practice for any employer to fail to accommodate an individual's reasonable need to express breast milk"; and 130950, entitled "An ordinance amending The Philadelphia Code to provide for the authorization of certain pedestrian enhancements to occupy, by license, a portion of the right-of-way"; and Bill No. 140382, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 9-213 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Farmers' Markets,' by amending the permissible locations"; and Bill No. 140386, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Philadelphia Parking Authority to construct, own and maintain various right-of-way encroachments within the public right-of-way on Arch Street, Filbert Street, and Eighth Street"; and Bill No. 140387, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 9-204 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Sidewalk Vendors in Center City,' by adding new and eliminating previously designated vendor locations in Center City"; and 140388, entitled "An ordinance authorizing Lifestyle Wealth Management to construct, own and maintain two glass and metal awning encroachments to be located at 1646 through 48 South 12th Street, on the west sidewalk of South 12th Street, and the north sidewalk of Morris Street"; and Bill No. 140389, entitled "An ordinance authorizing Tiffin Bistro to construct, own and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe at 1100 Federal Street"; and Bill No. 140412, entitled "An ordinance legalizing an existing external steel stairs to the second and third floors encroaching on the public right-of-way at 3066 E Street"; and Bill No.
140415, entitled "An ordinance establishing parking regulations in the vicinity of: Watts Street and Porter Street; Juniper Street and Mifflin Street; Emily Street and 11th Street; Mifflin Street and 11th Street; 13th Street and Oregon Avenue; and 13th Street and Ellsworth Street"; and Bill No. 140441, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 12-2800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Administrative Adjudication of Parking Violations,' by providing further regarding procedures for appealing adjudications of parking violations and making technical changes"; and Bill No. 140446, entitled "An ordinance legalizing an existing fence and flag poles, and approval to construct, and maintain a new fence, and flag pole encroaching on the public right-of-way at 4300 Tacony Street"; and Bill No. 140454, entitled "An ordinance granting permission to ABEER, owner of the property Oak Lane Diner, 6528 North Broad Street, to legalize a one-story concrete masonry construction"; and Bill No. 140482, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the striking from No. 63 of a certain right-of-way reserved for drainage purposes, water main purposes, and gas main purposes, over former Hamilton Street, between Eighteenth Street and Nineteenth Street"; and Bill No. 140483, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 307 by striking from the City Plan and vacating a variable width portion of the southerly footway area of Vine Street from Seventeenth Street to a point approximately three-hundred four feet eastwardly therefrom"; and Bill No. 140490, entitled "An ordinance authorizing Cafe Italiano to construct, own and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe at 1871 Cottman Avenue"; and Bill No. 140492, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 12-2700 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Permit Parking Districts,' to revise the 'vehicle' to include motor-driven cycles, to specify the manner in which the number of vehicles in a household is to be calculated, and to further provide with respect to the fee for the issuance of residential parking permits to motorcycles and motor-driven cycles"; and Bill No. 140450, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation and the Commissioner of Public Property to enter into an agreement to lease to Temple University an interior portion of the East Park Canoe House, located on Kelly Drive"; and Bill No. 140448, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Finance, Taxes and Collections,' by adding a new Chapter 19-4000, entitled 'Income Inequality Initiative - Earned Income Tax Credit,' providing for the implementation of a policy and procedures to enable all Philadelphia residents who are eligible federal Earned Income Tax Credit to apply for and receive the maximum credit to which they are entitled, with particular focus on the approximately 40,000 EITC-eligible Philadelphians who have not yet applied"; and Bill No. 140141, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Procurement Commissioner to enter into purchase obligations for the delivery of electric, natural gas and motor fuel energy supplies for use by facilities owned and leased by the City"; and Bill No. 140449, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Procurement Commissioner to enter into an agreement with Bicycle Transit Systems for the delivery of a bicycle sharing system"; and Bill No.
140452, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 6 of The Philadelphia Code, known as the 'Health Code,' by amending Section 6-103, entitled 'Penalties and Cease Operations Orders,' by adding a new Chapter 6-1100, entitled 'Nuisance Health Establishments,' and by amending Section 19-2602, entitled 'Licenses,' providing for identification and closure of nuisance health establishments"; and Bill No. 140274, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 21-1600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Housing Trust Fund,' to provide annual operating support for affordable rental units that are developed using the 4% federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit"; and Bill No. "
Thank you, Mr. Decker. These bills having been read on two different days, the question is for each bill now shall the bill pass Decker shall call the roll, and from being called, each Councilmember shall vote aye on each of the bills or nay on each of the bills or indicate those bills which the member is voting aye or those bills for which the member is voting no. Mr. Decker, please call that roll.
Aye on all bills. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bills Chair recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion.
Thank you, Mr. President. I make a motion that we make an exception for one more public comment. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. We will have one public comment at this time. (Witness approached podium.)
I would like to thank Councilman Curtis Jones and to the Councilmembers here at-large for me and giving me the opportunity to speak. My name is Basiymah Muhammad Bey and I was born and raised in the South Philadelphia area of the City, but I've been a resident of the Strawberry Mansion area for the last past 20-something years. I came here today because I think the City Councils understand the contradictions that are going on in Strawberry Mansion as it pertains to us not being respected as homeowners that I am, as block captains that I am, as activists that I am, and certainly as business owners that I am. There is a zoning last week to build a recreation center in the center of our block, that being the 3200 block of Berks Street. We knew nothing about it. There was no discussion about it.
Ms. Bey, one second. Can you just say you're talking about PHA.
You're supposed to testify on something that's on the -
Give me a second. So I believe there's a PHA resolution that was on the Calendar referencing something. Just say you're talking about PHA for the record.
Okay. So you're well aware of it. I was not aware of it until a week and a half ago that there was a zoning meeting that was making a determination. There were blueprints already set up, without our community having any knowledge that this was being in place. And I am appalled today to sit here -- and I thank you, Councilwoman Tasco, in respect of your information that I see here, because as we build in communities, we are in respect for the homeowners the housing development is building, and there is no development for the community. There is no Block Grant offered to my block. There was nothing offered to us. There was investments that were going on. And I wanted the Council to know that we in Strawberry Mansion has been divided, but we have come together because we feel like we're being undermined. We feel like land is being sold and stole from us with no representation. And I came here today to say that as a homeowner in that block, we do not want a recreation center built in the middle of a residential area that is only accessible to PHA residents. As a matter of fact, I think you understand, Councilman Clarke, President Councilman Clarke, 5th District. Our area spoke with you. We do not want it. And so we need someone to speak to. I brought it here because I raised at-large, because we almost feel like what do we do at this point? When someone come to you with a blueprint of what they're going to put there without talking to you, it draws a fight. So today I say that Strawberry Mansion has developed itself and organizing itself, and we need someone to talk to us. This development will not go up without being respected and having an equal opportunity for the participation of the -- in combination over 63 something million dollars that will be invested. The young black men in our community don't have jobs. Young black contractors and -- well, just contractors in general are not at the table. So that is a serious problem, and we need to rectify that. I thank you all for the patience and listening to me. Thank you very much.
6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING Thank you for your testimony. (Applause.)
Thank you. We will now consider the bills and resolutions on the regular Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. And we will ask Mr. Decker to read the title of, I believe it's, 140596.
A resolution urging the United States Department of Education and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, to reconsider the "Gainful Employment" rule that as proposed could derail the educational careers of millions of Americans and have a disproportionately negative effect on low-income and minority students who want to attend college.
Thank you, 6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING Council President. I'd like to make a motion that the resolution be adopted, but I would also like to be heard, with your permission.
Thank you very much. I wanted to explain that the Gainful Employment rule that is now being considered in Washington by the Secretary of Education is well intended. It deals with the fact that there's high debt for student loans. What I would say, unfortunately this focuses on for-profit versus non-profit institutions. Here in Philadelphia, for example, as we're looking at a new economy emerging where artists, musicians, software developers, videographers, filmmakers, journalists, writers, and all sorts of other skilled and talented persons are entering our workforce, many of them, if not most of them, go to for-profit career training 6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING institutions. But whether it is a non-profit like Temple University or University of Penn or a for-profit entity, what happens is most of these people who come out of these schools and training programs may not be able to get a job right away or they may not get a job in their profession or they may not make a lot of money initially. What this rule is doing is, it distinguishes that if you come out of a non-profit university or college, that that college can continue to grant financial aid loans and work study programs to their students. However, if you go to a for-profit entity like the Art Institute and so many others in Philadelphia that provide culinary education such as the Restaurant School and others, that if graduates from that school are not earning enough money, there's a ratio that they have to have no more than 12 percent of their earnings for that year after graduation be for repayment of 6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING student loans or 30 percent of their discretionary income. So what happens is based on this history of earnings-to-debt for student loan repayments, students who currently go to the schools will no longer be allowed to receive work study grants or student loans, and the result of that will be that these students will not be able to go to college or to go to career schools. So while it's well intended, it has very negative consequences based on an artificial measurement that particularly for Philadelphia and other urban centers, especially those in the creative/innovative economy, will be very, very hurtful to. And so this resolution urges the Secretary of Education to reconsider the possibility of narrowing the scope to focus on those problematic institutions, but not to create such a large bucket that even the good institutions where many low-income 6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING students are attending who need help, even middle-class students, need help in order to finish their education. So I would urge my colleagues to vote yes on the passage of this resolution. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. It's been moved. Can I get a second? (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that Resolution 140596 be adopted. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and Resolution 140596 is adopted. Mr. Decker, please read the 6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING title of 140146-A.
An ordinance adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2015.
Thank you. This bill has been read on two separate days. The question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 14; the nays are zero. A majority of members present -I'm sorry; two. The ayes are 14; the nays are two. He doesn't get a vote, sir. He's Curtis, but not the appropriate guy. The ayes are 14; the nays are two. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 140408-A. No. That's Consent. I'm sorry. 140147.
An ordinance amending Section 19-1806 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization of Realty Use and 6/19/14 - STATED - 2ND READING Occupancy Tax," to further authorize the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia to impose a tax on the use or occupancy of real estate.
Thank you. This bill has been read on two separate days. The question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.