Aye. The ayes are 15; the nays are one. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 120912.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING for Fiscal Year 2012 within the General Fund to the Department of Public Property and the Procurement Department.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker.
Aye. The ayes are 15, with one nay. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 120913.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012 within the Water Fund to certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker.
Aye. The ayes are 15, with one nay. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, do we have any 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING other resolutions?
A non-privileged resolution urging the United States Congress to renew the Production Tax Credit, which supports the growth of renewable energy sources and more than 3,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, before it expires on December 31, 2012, introduced by Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
And a resolution requesting the Mayor to return to Council Bill No. 120656-A, entitled, "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Zoning and Planning,' by revising lot area and parking requirements in certain districts, and making technical changes, all under certain terms and conditions," for the purpose of reconsideration by the Council of the vote by which said bill passed Council, introduced by Councilman Greenlee for Council President Clarke.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING Those opposed? (No response.)
And a resolution recognizing and honoring the Oak Lane Youth Association for their outstanding achievements in the 2012 Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer and Dance Championships, introduced by Councilwoman Tasco.
Mr. President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
And a resolution amending Resolution No. 120538, approving the annual Program Statement and Budget for the expenditure of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative Bond Proceeds for Fiscal Year 2013, introduced by Councilwoman Tasco.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
And a resolution recognizing the 30th Anniversary of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs in the City of Philadelphia, introduced by Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution honoring and celebrating The United Bank of Philadelphia for their tireless efforts to provide banking services to 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING all, especially those in low-income and underserved communities, and their relentless support and dedication to the minority and small business community on the occasion of their 20th Anniversary, introduced by Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for its adoption. (Duly seconded.)
Moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution amending Resolution No. 120538, approving the annual Program Statement and Budget for the expenditure of the Neighborhood 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING Transformation Initiative Bond Proceeds for Fiscal Year 2013, introduced by Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution appointing C. Kevin Gillespie to the Board of Directors for the City Avenue Special Services District of Philadelphia, introduced by Councilman Jones. 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for its adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Is this time for speeches?
No, not yet. We have special business. You're teeing up? Councilwoman, I think you had a couple of votes.
Mr. President, I left the floor. I'd like to be recorded as voting aye on all bills and resolutions that were called prior to my absence -- during my absence.
Thank you. Let the record reflect that those votes were 16 as opposed to 15 in the affirmative. We now will have special business, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion regarding that.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for a rules suspension to permit consideration of special business at this time. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded the rules of Council be suspended to permit consideration of special business at this time. All in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion passes. Mr. Decker, please read the letter from the Mayor.
To the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia, I am returning herewith, as requested by your resolution adopted December 13, 2012, Bill No. 120656-A, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Zoning and Planning,' by revising lot area and parking requirements in certain districts, and making technical changes, all under certain terms and conditions," for the purpose of reconsideration by the Council of the vote by which said bill passed Council.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee for a motion that Council reconsider the vote by which Bill No. 120656-A was passed.
All those in favor please signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the the votes by which Bill No. 120656-A was passed has been reconsidered. The Chair again recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 120656-A. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of Council, and I move for the adoption of the amendment. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 120656-A be adopted. All those in favor please say so by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Bill No. 120656-A has been amended, and this bill will be placed on our Final Passage Calendar for our next session of Council. As there are no other speeches -- I'm sorry. We will now have any speeches on the part of the minority. The Chair would like to recognize Councilman Oh.
Thank you. I just wanted to say happy holidays and God bless everybody. It was a tough, hard year. I think we did a lot of good things. I know we don't always agree on things, but I have the utmost respect for everyone here. I see how hard you work. I think the public does not really recognize how much time and effort all of you put in. You take it on the chin. You get out there. So certainly this is a welcomed reprieve from this portion of the work, but certainly I'd like to just say based on my religion and everything else, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Mr. President. I introduced, along with Councilman Henon and others, a number of tax measures today, and Councilman Jones proposed an amendment to a tax measure today, and people hear me talk and think a lot about taxes, and that's because, in my view, the City's tax policy is the only lever that we can pull in the short term in order to create jobs and grow our economy. Everything else that we have to do is much more difficult and much more long term. We have to fix our schools. We have to provide better quality services, less crime, clean streets, pick up trash and leaves on time, et cetera. One thing and one thing this body can do by itself with 12 votes, without worrying failure to hire people for money we appropriate or anything else, is to change our tax policy. That is why I focus on it so much. And with respect to taxes, I am serious as a heart attack, and our tax policy is killing the City of Philadelphia. And so we have proposed today some tax measures that will help software companies and people in the technology field level the playing field. They will essentially have to pay no taxes on sales outside the City and have to pay taxes only on their sales inside the City. This will remove any barrier to any one of those companies wanting to locate downtown where the talent is, et cetera. These tax debates are going to continue. We have AVI coming up next year and a bunch of other things, but -and I note that people may have noticed over the past few months I've been working more closely with the Nutter measures, including zoning and other things, and one of the things that Mayor Nutter or the Administration did so well last year was a major reform; in fact, the elimination, of the business privilege tax. They eliminated that tax by renaming it the business income and receipts tax. And I, in a similar bold move, am proposing today to eliminate the wage and net profits tax and rename them the earned income -- excuse me. What am I renaming them? The employed residents and non-residents income and earnings tax, or the ERNIE. So as we continue these important debates in the future about the taxes that are strangling our economy, what used to be the BPT and the wage tax, we can now focus on sending Bert and Ernie back to Sesame Street where they belong. Thank you, Mr. President.
you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. Just quickly, pleadings were filed yesterday in the Court of Common Pleas to stop the Fire Department's ill-conceived mass involuntary transfer plan. It will be heard tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. in Judge Tucker's courtroom, which is City Hall Room No. 675. I intend to be there and I invite all my colleagues who have just unanimously voted for the resolution I introduced today to join me. And, finally, Council President, I just want to say that I think you've done a tremendous job this year in leading this body and reasserting ourselves as a body that works together, that discusses things, and that is important. And I really do admire your steady hand and your calmness, which I don't seem to possess, but your calmness which you've treated everyone with respect. And your staff has been phenomenal and very effective, that I just wanted to thank you and wish you all -- wish you a Merry Christmas and everyone here a Merry Christmas. Thanks again.
Thank you so much, Councilman, for those kind words. I actually thought you were going to say you admire me for being able to stand up here since 10 o'clock, because I'm like ready to sit down. I'm sorry. Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Mr. President. I will be brief. I just want to make a brief comment about a situation. Certainly you have seen two articles in the Sunday Inquirer over the past month about the Urban Affairs Coalition that puts the credibility of this 43-year-old organization into question. A long member of the Board of Directors and a former employee of the Coalition, I can state, without a shadow of doubt, that its work in the interest of more than 150,000 low-income Philadelphians on an annual basis is beyond reproach. For the last 43 years, the Coalition has supported community organizations and took up the mantel of being the fiduciary arm so that community organizations can run their programs. Many organizations have the know-how to run the program, but we found in the past and even during the days of Charlie Bowser that it was difficult for them to deal with the finances. So the Coalition picked up this mantel, as well as providing support and running programs that have benefited hundreds of programs in this city. I have collaborated with them on issues such as predatory lending, the Logan sinking home area, and my driveway project that we are trying to launch, and many, many others. It is entirely unfair for these articles to be written about a Board and staff have not seen. I urge the state and the Inquirer, whose Editorial Board called for the release of the report but refuses to give it to the Urban Coalition, to release the report so that we can address the issues in question on a level playing field. Thank you all very much, and we thank you for the support of the Urban Affairs Coalition. I also wish to wish all my colleagues a very happy holiday. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. Just briefly year end, again, I echo Councilman Kenney's comments about your leadership, but also the other members of this body have put of work. I want to recognize Councilman Henon, who we had hearings up in his district about absentee landlords and going out there and really taking them on and taking them to task. I think about the good works of Councilman Greenlee and Councilman Johnson fighting for the restoration in this budget for beds for women that have been abused and are seeking shelter. I cite recently, just today, Councilwoman Blackwell's fight for ROCs and always being the righteous opposition, even if it's just on kids on skateboards, but she's willing to fight for everybody. Councilman Green and Councilman Goode always paying close attention, close attention to the taxing situations in this city. I can go on with, Councilwoman, the freshmen, the Serious Six and your chairmanship and stewardship of Parks and Rec and fighting for cameras on each of those spots. about Squilla his sweater and how much joy he brings these Chambers. But the serious work that all of them have added to this body under your leadership should not go without recognition. And I'm proud to be a part of this body and want to say and invite everyone, we're having an anti-crime summit at the St. Joe's University, a two-day summit, and all members are invited to participate. And I want to say that even though we close out this year, we're at 318 on the murders, 318. And may our goal for next year to be able to report on behalf of the City of Philadelphia be zero, zero deaths in our city. That's a lofty goal and one that we may not achieve, but I know every time we submit a bill that deals with gun control, every time we fight for legislation that employs our young people, this helps reverse that trend and helps to change that statistic. your work all year, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman, for your good stuff. The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Council President. And on a lighter note, since I'm the most festive-wearing attire today, although my colleague Mark Squilla kind of beat me in the ugly sweater contest. Misery loves company. Thank you. I'm going to take the liberty to say to the Councilmembers who have longer tenure than us six incoming freshmen that we not only enjoyed this past year, but we appreciate engaging in the process, especially under your leadership. And I can say that that experience and the tough decisions where we had to stand up and be counted is something I believe is invaluable to us decision-making moving forward. We now know how to make sausage. I don't know if I want to eat it anymore, but we know now how to make sausage. I also want to make special thanks to my fellow freshmen colleagues, Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, Mark Squilla, David Oh, and Denny O'Brien, for their partnership in many things and their energy. And I believe that the six of us have an incredible opportunity moving forward making Philadelphia a better place here in the months to come and in years to come. So I wish everybody here today a happy holiday and wish everybody be safe. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Bass.
Thank you, want to join my colleagues in wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a wonderful and prosperous new year. And it's been absolutely just an honor to serve that I just can't even put it into words. So I just wanted to say that. But also I also wanted to recognize that my predecessor is here, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. It's homecoming day today. (Applause.)
And so when you're on the other side, it's easy for folks to say, Oh, you should have done this or you should have done that or give advice or make judgments, but I just wanted to say that we really appreciate you and all that you've done. So thank you so much.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
Now, how work? Do you look at it and then you start calling seniority folks first and then kind of break it down to freshmen? I like been on like two or three public speeches, but nevertheless, just joke. I always want to know how that part operates, but maybe Councilman Jones, my former employee, will give me an idea.
About eight years? All right. That's if I'm retiring to open up my own church. But just first and foremost, one, I want to acknowledge Mr. Custus and the members of the Mayor's Office of Reentry who have come down here again to watch this body in action, and I want to thank these young men for -(Applause.)
-- for watching us, and really as they focus on staying on the right path, taking time to actually be in the right place at the right time as opposed to something that's negative. And so I did want to acknowledge them, and also as we move forward, begin to be prepared, as I look at my district, a very diverse district, to continue focusing on a couple of issues. One, yesterday we had a roundtable discussion on the issue of crime and violence with health experts from Children's Hospital, Temple University Hospital, and a couple other experts as it relates to looking at the issue of crime and violence and behavior from a mental health standpoint. And I thank Councilman Curtis Jones for coming out as Chairman of Public Safety and supporting our efforts as a prelude to his crime summit. I want to make sure that as we move forward and we have these heated debates in City Council, that we remember that our murder rate is constantly rising and that as we move year, we constantly and vigorously debate how do we reduce the issue of youth gun violence in the City of Philadelphia, providing more job opportunities for our young men and also making sure that we find -- we have a comprehensive strategy to make sure that our streets are much safer. As we sit back and look forward to the hearings from Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell regarding our education system, yesterday I had a town hall meeting with the Center City Residents Association and SOSNA, South of South Neighborhood Association, regarding the state of public education in the City of Philadelphia, and thus far, I'm looking forward in really working in partnership and in conjunction with our new Superintendent regarding making sure that all young people receive a quality education as we look at these tough economic decisions that we have to make regarding school closures, but also a hearing regarding looking at alternative revenue sources, possibly a concept of looking at a partnership between one of the casinos and the City where we can provide some additional revenue for our School District as well as our unfunded pension fund. And as we move forward, one of the key issues that haven't been discussed since this summer is the numbers regarding AVI. And as I prepare and move forward with my plan for my district, I'm just waiting to see what is it going to look like, rather we're talking about millage rate, rather we're talking Kenney gentrification bill and even in the area in some parts of my district how do we look at supporting those long-term residents who have lived in our district and will be impacted by the implementation of AVI. And so those are just some of the key things that I just wanted to raise as we move forward and look into my Councilmen six group, I thank you for being part of this team. I think after next session we won't be freshmen anymore. We'll probably be more of a renegade squad. But I want to just thank you for serving with me. And to all the senior members, Councilman Goode, I've bent his ear regarding minority participation and partnering up with Blondell Reynolds Brown, Majority Leader as we look at the expansion of the airport and making sure that there's wealth-building for everyone, and I look forward to working with you on that issue. But all of the senior members in some way, some capacity have offered words of wisdom and encouragement to me in this process, rather it's Councilman Jannie Blackwell saying, Here's how you need to address these issues regarding developers in your district and making sure it's a balanced approach.
And I never shy away from Curt, being my former employer at PIDC and bending his ear, as well as Councilman Kenney, being a former professor in South Philadelphia and pulling me to the side and kind of hipping me to some of the things that's going on around there, or Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez saying, Hey, listen, if we're going to do affordable housing and development, here's how we do it. But, listen, I'm going on and on -- and Ms. Tasco kind of like just really leaning in my ear to kind of just school me about Council in general. But, listen, I thank you. Thank you, Councilman Clarke, for your leadership. I appreciate the leadership team, and I want to wish everybody in here, as I always say, a happy holiday. Always keep a smile on your face. It's not that deep at the end of the day. There's people out there going through much more than what we're dealing with, part, the people we represent, the people we fight for, we'll probably be okay, but we have to keep the good fight up for them. Thank you very much. Y'all have a good holiday, and peace.
Thank you, Councilman. And I want to thank all of you for a great year, an extremely productive year. If Councilwoman Miller wasn't in here, I'd probably say the best Council ever, but we have a former member here, so one of the best Councils ever. And I want to thank all of you for your support throughout all of the issues that we've been dealing with, very challenging. You guys are awesome. I was on TV a couple of weeks ago talking about how great it was. We were talking off the camera about how great it was to have members who were so proactive in terms of dealing with issues. much for your support. Thank you for all the great work you've done. We have a very challenging schedule ahead of us next year as it relates to some very significant issues. During the break, we'll be talking to members about the Council agenda as we move forward. And I want to thank all of you and hope all of you have a wonderful and a safe holiday season. With that -- first, are we doing the check presentation? Mark had to leave. Okay. We have to find a photographer. So we do have one check presentation with respect to the Women Against Abuse issue. So if you guys kind of hang around. Second, I'd like to say there's food in the Chambers. I've gotten that -- in the Caucus -- the long tradition by the Council Presidents that you had to pay for their food, and I have capably taken that tradition up. So we So I would like to ask you all, just the Councilmembers initially and former Councilmembers, to join us initially in the Caucus Room so we can partake of some good food, and then subsequently members of the staff and other individuals to come in. Again, thank you all very much. With that, I'd like to recognize Councilwoman Brown for a motion to adjourn.
I thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of all the leadership team, we'd be remiss not to wish everyone a healthy, joyous new year filled with many possibilities. And with that, we look forward to the new year. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded Council stand adjourned until Thursday, 24th. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. We are adjourned. ) 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, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. ) A accusations 158:21 159:23 216:13 250:14 111:8 114:23 ability 24:25 100:24 108:7 181:6 269:8 251:18 252:16 117:24 118:3 116:13 167:25 accused 100:20 279:22 253:15 254:11 121:9 130:14 able 12:19 14:2,9 accusing 100:19 addressed 73:2 255:11 256:8 135:19,22,23 84:18 112:7 achieve 80:17 125:17 223:10 257:5 261:12 137:14 113:23 177:5 271:20 addresses 70:23 adult 94:24 age 87:16,23 95:2 180:19 186:7 achievements 123:18 124:21 192:10 130:5 176:3 189:7 267:12 39:5 252:9 adequate 132:12 192:13 agenda 57:1,18 271:16 acknowledge adhered 178:17 adults 174:13 58:1,9,19 59:3 abrupt 153:25 79:21 275:17 adjacent 98:8 advance 79:10 138:1,22,24 absence 5:12,14 276:5 adjourn 283:12 adverse 128:23 139:1,3,6,10 5:20 258:13,13 acknowledging adjourned 283:20 advertisement 140:1 141:1 absentee 270:5 280:2 283:25 284:9,10 2:25 142:1 143:1 absolutely 86:6 acquire 142:4 ADJOURNME...