COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LICENSE AND INSPECTIONS City Hall, Room 400 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, February 4, 2026 1:00 p.m. PRESENT: CHAIRMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILMAN CURTIS J. JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS MAURA MCDONALD, Clerk P R O C E E D I N G S CHAIR DRISCOLL: I now note that the hour has come. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the roll to take attendance? Members that are in attendance, please indicate that you're present when your name is called.
Councilmember Squilla, Chair Driscoll. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Present. Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present and the hearing is now called to order. This is the public hearing of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections regarding Bill No. 9 251097 and Bill No. 250980. Ms. McDonald, would you please read the title of these bills?
Bill No. 14 251097, an ordinance amending Chapter 9-4400 of the Philadelphia code entitled, "Responsible business operations" to add illegal sales of tobacco products to minors and unlicensed tobacco retailing as nuisance behaviors and require completion of a department approved tobacco retailer education and compliance training as a condition of lifting cease operations orders, all under certain terms and conditions. And Bill No. 250980, an ordinance amending Chapter 9-3900 of the Philadelphia code entitled, "Property licenses and owner accountability" by requiring non-resident landlords to provide verifiable contact information and designate local contact and establishing penalties for non-compliance, all under certain terms and conditions. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you, Ms. McDonald. I also want to note the attendance of Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. Welcome. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first panel we have to testify this afternoon on Bill 22 No. 251097.
Dawn Kiesewetter, director of environmental health services for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Good afternoon.
I'm not Dawn Kiesewetter. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Yeah, I can tell. Please state your name for the record and proceed with the testimony.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Driscoll and members on the Committee on License and Inspections. My name is Ben Hartung and I'm a public policy advisory with the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention for the Philadelphia Department of Public health. Thank you for the opportunity to testified today on Bill No. 251097 introduced by Councilmember Phillips. Nuisance behavior in Section 9-4401 of the Philadelphia code by adding the illegal sale of tobacco products under Federal law, including but not limited to the sale or distribution of tobacco products to individuals under years of age or operation 11 of a tobacco retail establishment 12 without a permit as required by 13 Chapter 9-631 of the Philadelphia 14 code. 15 The Health Department 16 agrees that the sale of tobacco 17 products to minors and the sale of 18 tobacco products without a 19 Philadelphia retailer permit is 20 nuisance behavior. Both activities 21 are illegal under Philadelphia law pursuant to Philadelphia code Section 9-622 and Philadelphia code 9-631. Both activities negatively impact public health by causing children to become addicted to tobacco products and making it harder for people to quit. Nearly 4,000 Philadelphians die each year due to tobacco use. This bill also requires that retailer determined to ne nuisances because of illegal tobacco sales complete tobacco retailer and compliance training within 60 days of executing a nuisance abatement plan. This bill will give the Health Department an additional enforcement tool to address businesses with repeated violations of tobacco sales laws. The Health Department currently requires businesses with a Philadelphia tobacco retailer permit to complete an education modual on a yearly basis. These existing materials can be used to create a tobacco retailer education and compliance training for nuisance business that this bill requires under Philadelphia code Section 6 9-4404. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you for your testimony. I want to first recognize Councilmember Phillips.
Thank you so much for your testimony. And just to begin, I wanted to provide some opening remarks even though this may not necessarily fall into this particular bill. I just want to thank Cykhira Walton on our team for today's non-resident -- non-resident landlord bill. That was her idea. And I'm supporting it because a lot of times our staff, right, have to take on calls and they're thinking through how do we address these issues in the city of Philadelphia. And she came to me and said she has an idea and she wants -- would love for me to present it. And I'm proud to support this idea she came up with to help better Philadelphia. So thank you, Cykhira. So, you know, I just want to say for too long tenants and city agencies have struggled to reach absentee landlords. Many licenses list PO boxes or virtual addresses making enforcement nearly impossible. As documented, more than 55 percent of Philadelphia homes are renter occupied. And over 62,000 units -- there's over 62,000 housing code violations have been recorded since 2020, many linked to unreachable owners. This legislation has been a challenge for many Councilmembers and a long status quo that have allowed those gaps to persist. Now, while there are many different opinions on how government should go about this, the reality is that the current system has not delivered safe, accountable outcomes. This legislation closes the loophole on several issue. It requires landlords to provide real verifiable addresses and prohibits virtual and symbolic locations and mandates that non-resident owners designate a responsible local agent who has agreed to serve. Just as importantly it establishes a 30-day cure period, owners receive notice and opportunity to comply before fines, license actions or tenant remedies apply. This is something that much of the Business Association and Apartment Association folks really supported because they wanted to have the opportunity for their clientele to get support in this area. This balances fairness with accountability. Now, secondly to this bill 9 I wanted to address the amended tobacco retailer education and compliance ordinance. Our communities are facing a surge in illegal tobacco sales and unlicensed vape smoke shops, many of which sale flavored and youth targeted products to minors. These practices contribute to addiction, chronic absenteeism and safety concerns in our schools. This bill also pushes against the status quo where repeat violations often result in temporary closures without meaningful change. While perspectives may differ on enforcement approaches, doing nothing has not protected our children or our neighborhoods. This legislation brings illegal tobacco activity into our existing nuisance enforcement frame work and introduces a constructive education-based solution. Together these bills send a clear message. We are serious about safe housing, we are serious about protecting our youth and we are serious about supporting responsible businesses. I look forward to working with my colleagues, community stakeholders and city agencies to move on these important measures. I just want to say thank you to the Public Health Department for working with myself and Cykhira to deliver this legislation. This idea was generated by me, and Cykhira and I, we worked on this together because we visited spaces such as Northeast Philadelphia, Ogontz, and Mount Airy and so forth, and West Oak Lane. And experienced a lot of tobacco retailer establishments opening and closing because they are selling to minors. And the reality to me that's a travesty that they get back open and they did it and did it again. Now, we have to put a little bit more ownist in making sure that they don't do it again. So my hope is that this particular bill helps solve that. I just want to ask you a quick question. What are just some things you all are thinking about when it comes to enforcement of this potential new law?
I just acknowledge that the problem with tobacco retail is real and we thank you for introducing this bill. I think in terms of this bill specifically, we would love to work with your office to get out in the community and do education of retailers. Because I mean upfront making sure the community knows that folks need have a permit to operate and be able to report to us so we can get out quickly and stop things in the bud. I mean, there are nuisances that we need to get out and cease, and that's another part of the tool kit that I manage, but making sure that folks in the community feel empowered to speak out and say this business is not properly licensed. We need you to get out there and use your tools, I think is what comes to mind.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon. I wanted to start by commending the bill sponsor for both of these bills, but especially the absentee landlord bill. I believe that in the 3rd District we actually have more than 55 percent of people who rent so, you know, the majority of people rent. But a lot of times, we're at a loss for contacting some of these landlords and getting them to take meaningful action on their properties. And it's -- you know, my staff has had to turn into research experts to track down some of these nameless, faceless, LLCs that own quite a lot of property, but not doing well by our neighbors. And so, you know, obviously we need housing in this city. Some of that housing is going to be home ownership, some of it -- a significant amount of it is rental. But also owning a business is a privilege, it is not a right in this city. And folks who own a business have to follow rules and be good neighbors and citizens. So I think this bill takes us closer to that and I really appreciate it because it solves a critical need. I also appreciate the nuisance business bill. I just wanted to just ask a few questions because we struggle with this so much in my district. And it feels like I'm just, you know, we're calling the Health Department again and again and again for the same properties and that these properties, or these businesses are getting cited, but we're having difficulty resolving the behavior, or getting these folks out of our community if they don't follow the rules. So one thing I wanted to ask about -- or two issues that we've had problems with specifically. One, there are businesses that open after the city's, sort of, hours, I guess. So I have a business, for example, that opens at 4:00 p.m. and it's been a struggle to get folks out there to inspect because I think that doesn't align with the established work schedule. What can we do about that? Because we can't -- you know, if these folks are being a problem after 4:00 or after 5:00, then we have to be a problem to them after 4:00 or after 5:00. So that's No. 22 1. And No. 2, I also had issues with inspectors going to sites and saying I don't see it. It's happening, other people see it. So what can we do to inspect maybe if they're hiding their products behind the wall or somewhere in the shop? What are the measures that we're able to take, so these folks are not outsmarting us based on their time of operations or where they're placing products. We need to be smarter ideally and more nimble than them. And so I'm wondering if you could, sort of, speak to those items.
Sure, I can speak to those. After hours operations, we do have connection with the Philadelphia Police Department. So we would refer them to the police department to go check on the sales if it's after operating hours for our sanitarians because they do work a regular 9:00 to 5:00 schedule. In terms of inspecting beyond, you know, the footprint of the store and looking around, the authority to do that comes from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. And you may have heard this before, but if there are reports of hiding things, you know, behind -- we've heard of secret compartment in the back where the residents might be if it's that sort of setup of a retailer. We should get that and specifically send that information and we can reach out to the Department of Revenue to go out and do sweeps. I mean, the resources we have with the Department of Revenue and the time is something that we need to work on, I think. But that's who we rely on to do more sting operations like that.
Thank you for speaking to that. Thank you for this bill. I'm grateful for anything that gets us to a different place than where we are now, but I will continue to push. These folks are severely bring down the quality of life in our neighborhoods. We cannot allow them to be smarter and faster and more nimble than we are. We have to keep up with the pace with which these stores are taking over our commercial corridor. Thank you so much.
Thank you. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you, Member Gauthier. And your point is well taken and thank you for responding that that flex inspection timing is going to be critical. So as your department looks at your budget next year and your hours, I don't know all your implications, regarding the union, but I think it's important to the members of this panel that you pursue what you were talking about there. With that I recognize Member Curtis Jones.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was handling something of great priority which is lunch. First of all, thank you Mr. Chairman for having this most important hearing. And thank you to the authors of the bills that are focused on the quality of operation within our communities. I want to also shout out Member Jeffrey Young. Yesterday he had an important hearing addressing some of those business operations within his district which reflects the 3rd, which reflects the 9th, which reflects the 6th and the 4th. So it's a city-wide concern. I want to also shout out Kathy Gilmore-Richardson who has been laser focused on some of the concerns that some of these businesses pose. So the questions I'm about to ask I do not need a response this moment because I want to keep the hearing moving. But please give the answers to the Chairman and the members of this committee. So let's start with how many bills have been introduced most recently to address some of the operations of small business concerns in our corridors and are they being codified in a way that what happens in the Health Department when it comes to Liquor By The Drink, what happens when they are selling Lucy cigarettes, what happens when they're selling these oils that are intoxicants for our kids. And for me, gambling machines and their operation and how all of these things go to work together to create a toxic community environment. And that somebody is looking at all of our efforts individually and codifying them in a strike force way to the Nuisance Business Task Force that says that, no, we didn't see what Health Department was looking for, but we saw three other things that should shut that down. So that is codification is the question of the laws that we are passing. That's No. 1. Number 2, how do we, are we, will we close to loophole that Member Driscoll takes the time over months to identify some of the operations that are illegal in your districts, our directs. And then all of a sudden we finally get to the point where we close them down, and they close for a week and open back up in their cousin's name. All of that work, all of your time, all of those tax dollars dedicated to address an issue that they quickly circumvent. How are we monitoring the relationship between cousin businesses, LLCs that are related that just go about the business of ignoring us? So the that's question No. 2. Are we closing that loophole? Number 3, how are we looking at overlays? Now, I don't know -- your bill, Member, is at large, it doesn't matter what district it's in, right?
But we're piecemealing these kind of controls over businesses, whether you're talking about Kensington, whether you're talking about West Philly to kind of say, we don't want a certain type of business and I stereotype them as those Halloween lights, you know what I'm talking about. The Halloween lights that are all around those retail stores. And do we have an hours of operations that is city-wide? So when are businesses supposed to close? Some of them like 7-Eleven are 24, but is there a regulation that covers these? So those are a series of questions that I don't need the answer to right now. But for sure when we come back for the budget, I will ask at the end, hopefully we will have those answers and be clear about what our position is. Thank you, Mr. Chair. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you, Member Jones.
I was taking notes. Thank you very much. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you. Yeah, so I think that's all we have for this panel. Thank you for your testimony.
Thank you very much. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Ms. McDonald, will you please call the second panel we have today this afternoon to testify this afternoon on Bill No. 251097?
Jacob Zychick, American Heart Association, and Heather Miller, Lawncrest Community Association. CHAIRMAN: Well, welcome. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hello, my name is Heather Miller and I'm here representing Lawncrest Community Association today. Well, first, it's my pleasure to give testimony before this esteemed panel. Thank you Chairman Driscoll, Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jamie Gauthier, my Councilman, Councilman Anthony Phillips and Councilman Nicholas O'Rourke. Again, my name is Heather Miller and I serve as Vice President of the Lawncrest Community Association. I'm here today to express my support for amending Philadelphia co-Chapter 9-4400, the proposed tobacco and retailer education bill. It's a reasonable adjustment to business operations which would require illegal sales of tobacco products to minors in unlicensed retailers to undergo education and compliance training as a pre-requisite for lifting a cease operations order. This measure is a positive step towards holding business owners accountable for blatant violations of law designated to protect our most vulnerable population, our children. Many business owners particularly in impoverished areas with predominately black and brown communities target children to maximize profits by flagrantly disregarding the laws intended to safe guard the health and well- being. It's imperative that we hold these individuals accountable and one effective way to do so is through education. Removing excuses for non-compliance. I would like to thank Councilman Phillips for his ongoing commitment to fighting in the communities and especially our youth, along with the rest of the esteem panel members. Thank you.
Dear Chair Driscoll and members of the Committee on License and Inspection, on behalf of the American Heart Association, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on the significant growth and unlicensed and improperly licensed vape shop retrailers operating -- CHAIR DRISCOLL: Excuse me. Could you state your name for the record?
Sorry about that. The effectiveness of current prevention to control efforts intended to protect our young people from these harmful tobacco products. Evidence based strategies to address tobacco have led to the use of traditional cigarettes reaching its lowest point in decades. The American Heart Association is still deeply concerned about the prevalent use e-cigarette use by kids in Philadelphia. Thirty-eight percent of youth have tried and percent 8 currently use e-cigarettes. Each 9 year the tobacco industry sells over 10 $300-million of their deadly 11 products in our city. 12 Seventy-four percent of 13 e-cigarette sales are flavored 14 products. Research has shown that 15 most teens start using tobacco with 16 flavored products. These harmful 17 products are appealing to young 18 people and many mistakenly believe 19 they are less harmful. Unfortunately preemption has limited municipalities in Pennsylvania from implementing evidence based public policy as a strategy to reduce tobacco use in our communities. State preemption has prevented Philadelphia from implementing a prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. But even with limited authority, Philadelphia tobacco control advocates have found opportunities to address the use of these harmful products. One success has been decline of tobacco retailer density by nearly percent in the 13 three years that regulations were 14 originally strengthened. 15 Tobacco retailer education 16 compliance ordinance continues to 17 strengthen the city's efforts to 18 address the use of these harmful 19 products. 20 Thank you to Councilmember Phillips for listening to public health officials and community stakeholders that led to this innovative legislation being introduced to address tobacco and vape retailers found to operate unlicensed and improperly licensed. This legislation would help reduce use of tobacco products, strengthen retailer compliance and education, and continue to expand effective tobacco control measures in neighborhoods. This legislation along with continued efforts by the city of Philadelphia, School District of Philadelphia, Smoke Free Philly and advocates will help continue to reduce young people using these harmful products. When government agencies, elected officials and public health leaders and community stakeholders work together, we can address public health challenges like the use of harmful tobacco products. This legislation introduced by Councilmember Phillips would continue to strengthen the city's tobacco enforcement efforts to ensure our young people do not become addicted to these harmful products. The American Heart Association is committed to collaborating with the city of Philadelphia, City Council, Philadelphia Department of Public Health to implement innovative, evidence-based strategies to end the use of tobacco products in Philadelphia. And also would like to wish everybody a happy heart month this month. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you both for your testimony. Councilmember Phillips?
I just want to say thank you so much for your testimony and support. It means a lot to all of us, not only in the 9th District, but as Councilmember Gauthier said, those that are going to through this throughout the city of Philadelphia. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you for your testimony. Are there any -- hearing no 7 further questions from members of the panel, no other panels to testify on Bill No. 2351097, we will move on 250980. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first panel we have to testify this afternoon on Bill 14 No. 250980.
Basil Merenda, Commissioner Inspection Safety Compliance Division, Department of License and Inspections. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Good morning, Commissioner. Before you begin -- before you begin, Commissioner, I want to thank my colleagues here who were praying and acknowledging the one year anniversary of the plane crash Saturday. Heather Miller, you were there with your folks in the Lawncrest community. You know, a lot of us were working real hard for the first two weeks, but your department was working real hard for 365 days. So I just wanted to open up a thank you and your department for all you did for the plane crash victims and all the businesses up there and the homes whatnot. So I just wanted to start out with that. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: Yeah, we appreciate your recognition at the service on Saturday. It was a solemn ceremony, the Mayor did a great job with that recognizing all the first responder, as well as our folks that were out there from the very first hour. Councilmember Phillips was there, as well as Councilmember Gauthier. CHAIR DRISCOLL: And O'Rourke. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: And O'Rourke, yes, sure. I'm sorry. CHAIR DRISCOLL: And in spirit, Councilmember Jones. He was one of the first people to text me that night. Driscoll, whatever you need. So with that, state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: My name is Basil Merenda. Good afternoon, Chairperson Driscoll, members of the License and Inspection Committee. My name is Basil Merenda and I'm the commissioner of the Department of License and Inspections, Safety and Compliance Division. That's the construction side of the re-organized L&I. I'm here to provide testimony on Bill No. 250980 introduced by Councilmember Phillips which will amend Section 9-3900 to increase accountability of non-resident landlords. As the committee is aware this bill would require that when a property owner does not maintain a physical address within Philadelphia the owner must designate a local agent with a physical address in the city. That agent would be authorized to receive legal notices and emergency communications on behalf of the owner when a property is found to be in violation of applicable property maintenance and licensing laws. The bill also authorizes the department to verify owner and agent contact information and provides additional enforcement tools when an owner or agent fails to maintain responsive contact. At the outset the administration supports the spirit of this legislation and thanks Councilmember Phillips for the advocacy on behalf of his constituents around the issue which is one we encounter regularly with our enforcement work. The administration shares the goal of improving landlord responsiveness and strengthening the accountability particularly where absentee ownership has contributed to unsafe or deteriorated conditions which is why L&I currently has an existing process to identify both the property owners and/or local point of contacts. When the property owners cannot be readily reached by tenants or the department it delays necessary repairs, deters enforcement actions and can pose serious risk to tenant safety and quality of life ensuring there's a reliable, responsive and verifiable point of contact for every licensed property is essential to public health safety and effective enforcement. Our inspectors day in and day out work tirelessly to inspects properties across the city of Philadelphia with the mission and vision to build and sustain a safer Philadelphia by embracing best practices in technology and consumer service. Our goal is to enable the public to access information, secure required approvals and comply with building safety requirements in a convenient, reliable and transparent manner.
Both divisions of License & Inspections strive towards the goal from the ISC side, my side of the department, a structures life begins under the care of ISC, including building permits and plans, monitoring of construction sites, trade and business license concerns and ensuring structural integrity and renovations and permitting for renovation to name a few. The responsibilities of the quality of life, the other side of L&I begins once a structure is completed, including the enforcement of vacant and unsealed properties interior and exterior property maintenance complaints filed by tenants and neighborhood folks alike. And also, concerns regarding proper use of business compliance, including nuisance businesses, limited lodging and enforcement of the property maintenance code to name a few of the responsibilities that come under the purview of the other side of L&I, quality of life. Both divisions converge on several points as both offer litigation support for municipal and equity court to the Law Department , along with cross collaboration and referrals to the appropriate unit. L&I achieves code compliance through collaboration, education and effective enforcement measures that hold businesses, contractors and property owners a accountable. In relation to the ordinance before the committee today, L&I already has a process to identify property owners and local agents. Information on responsible parties including individuals associated with LLCs and designated local agents is collected through the rental license applications. Ownership may be verified by our in-house research team before any notice of violation is issued, ensuring legal notices are delivered to the correct party and helping prevent delays or disruption in our enforcement. Our enforcement mechanism is issuing notices of violation with the goal of getting the property back into compliance. We traditionally give those who receive a violation up to 35 days to get in compliance and rectify the violation. At that point we then go out and reinspect. If the violation has not been complied, we then issue a final notice of the violation. At that point if the violation is still not complied, the case is referred to the Law Department for court ordered enforcement. We identified a few technical, legal and operational concerns with the current draft of the legislation. Our aim in raising these issues is to help ensure the obligations and requirements and it imposes are clear enforceable and well integrated into the departments existing regulatory framework, so it can achieve its intended purpose. Number 1, as introduced and amended, this legislation raised several concerns including legal separation of powers and other potential unintended consequences which have been sheared with the Law Department sponsor through a law department memo, if I'm not mistaken. Section 9-3907 of the code already requires non-resident landlords to designate a local management agent who's authorized to receive legal notice and to provide contact information for the party responsible for routine maintenance of the rental properties. This requirement is enforced through the rental license issuance and renewal process. And the information is maintain in the departments eCLIPSE system. In addition, the department is in the process of implementing enhanced controls to ensure that the city's address rather than the post office box is provided. Number 3, the bill as introduced and amended would not impose any new enforceable obligations on L&I and would not change landlords obligations when renting properties where they don't reside. Although managing information is not currently published on the city's website, it can be obtained through existing mechanisms including the open data request. Additionally Section 9-3907 requires the managing agents to provide contact information directly to tenants. Owner information is also collected through the Commercial Activities License, the CAL.
And rental licenses processes -- and the rental license process is partially published online. Publications will expand once the form used to collect LLC ownership information is replaced with a structural data field in the electronic system. As introduced and amended, the disclosure of the name and email by the department of L&I raises legal and liability concerns for the city that were flagged by the Law Department. We would recommend consulting with the Law Department on this section. Number 5, the tenant remedy section raises several concerns around the accelerated timeline for L&I to take action and does not take into account re-inspections that may need to take place. There are also concerns around the tenant withholding rent as there are some limited circumstances in which the court would recognize the tenant as having a legitimate right to withhold rent. We would recommend consulting with the Law Department. The proposal suggest that an email address may be used for service of notice. While email may be a helpful supplement or a courtesy communication tool, the department is required to serve official notices by postal mail or in-person to ensure proper notice and due process requirements. Clarification is needed to ensure this provision does not conflict with existing legal notice requirements. The department appreciates the inclusive of additional enforcement tools, but recommends that any new penalties be aligned with the existing Class 1 violations. This alignment would ensure consistency across the departments enforcement program that provide clarity and uniformity for our inspectors on the ground. Number 7, there are several legal concerns that have been flagged by the Law Department which we would recommend checking with the Law Department on, including the ambiguity on the penalty section, the language under oath which is not found in any section in Title 9, and the accelerated timeline that requires sooner actions than L&I operates under. Number 8: The proposal appears to prohibit property owners from using international addresses. While international addresses are not common, the department does encounter legitimate cases, including service members stationed overseas and international companies that own or operate property in Philadelphia. Specifically we would recommend clarifying this provision to avoid the unintentionally excluding those circumstances and overburdening our over seas service members. Accordingly, we would respectfully request that this legislation be held in committee to permit us to work with the bill 15 sponsor on a counter proposal that may better achieve the goal of landlord responsiveness and accountability to ensure we keep all of Philadelphia's residents safe. Thank you for the opportunity to provide the testimony to the committee and I'm happy to answer any questions at this time. That was a mouthful. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you for articulating and putting it in writing so the maker of the bill has your concerns and I'm sure in his thoughtful consideration that he will look at the things you just highlighted. I will share with you as Councilmember Gauthier said earlier, and I'm surely Councilmember Jones and O'Rourke and Phillips' offices may share, the frustration level we have in trying to identify and contact these folks is heightened. I mean it's so frustrating. We try so hard to be responsive and when we can't get through to anybody and there's these LLCs and phony PO boxes and all these other things. So I think the frustration that you're hearing from us is not what you've articulated in your testimony, it's just us trying to do a good job. So with that, I would like to recognize the maker of the bill. Councilmember Phillips.
Thank you, Chairman Driscoll. I concur with what you're saying. This is where we are. For me, I respect the American tradition of separation of powers and I also understand why those lines exist. But I want to be clear that when a family is living next to a deteriorating property or a tenant is living in unsafe conditions, they are not asking which branch of government has jurisdiction, they're asking for help. I have a pastor here who went through this very similar situation that helped us create this bill. He wasn't -- me trying to explain technicalities to them didn't matter, what matter is how are we getting it done. You know, people want to live in a safe home, they want their block to look decent, they want dignity in their neighborhoods. This is not an academic debate about authority, this is about doing what's right. So government does not work when we point fingers and pass responsibility, I'm sure you know that. But it works when we show up for people. So I just want to quickly just note that you noted that we wanted, you know, more time for this to be worked on. And to me, you know, the reality of the matter is that that's the problem I see with government response, is that we talked about this issue way before the summer. We brought it formally during the summer about this issue and how we were going work on it together. We pointed out the problem and unfortunately you're the department that has not come up with a solution. I don't expect y'all to -- you know, you don't work for us in that way, right, but we are partners. And I do believe that had a timeline been presented about how you're going to solve our problem, that would have been different than providing what I got from your team members is just all the reasons this doesn't work. I would been more like, oh, they're actually work to change this. I don't have the faith that you're work to change this because I never got a solution to the problem. And to me even before the hearing we had all these issues you would have told me, just give me a backwards timeline in three to four months, six months, whatever, I'm going to give you a better answer to this and I'm going to keep updating you. I would have been more in tune with saying, you know what, even though Cykhira did all this hard work, we are going to hold off. But because I don't trust that, I want you all to use this bill to actually figure it out. Right. And then if you figure out something better, come back to us. Right. And I think if you come back to us with something better, all the merrier. All we want is the success of Philadelphia. And I think that's where our frustration is, is that we just need you to come up with a time frame of how you're going to get this all done. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: They are all legitimate concerns, Councilmember, and we're frustrated as you are with dealing with the -- on my side, the construction side, with the fly by night operators, contractors that are not properly licensed, not co-compliant and not meeting the tax obligations. And I'm sure the quality of life side, they have their concerns also. Candidly, I was brought into this at the 11th hour so to speak. Like I said, my focus is on the construction side, but I can certainly get involved in trying to see what we can do. In other words, I'll bring fresh eyes to look at this, and we can certainly work together with you. In fact, Saturday evening we worked with Councilmember Gauthier. There was an issue about a particular apartment complex that the tenants did not have any heat. And I explained to the Councilmember that that was the quality of life side. However, be that as it may, be that as it may, I told to Councilmember, we have the CSU inspectors on the street, emergency duty. And I would be willing, more than willing to send CSI inspectors there to see if there's any integral and structural issues.
I don't think you're the person -- I think it's more the quality of life side we are concerned about and that's who we are really more in contact with. I'm with you. Just for me, even if you can lend your ideas to that side, that would be really helpful because they need it. I just want to also articulate the fact and I'm going to stop because I want to get through this hearing as quickly as possible. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: Yeah.
But just the idea of the city of Philadelphia, like basically saying just give us more time for an issue that we have a -- there's a pastor here and he's going to talk momentarily, but there's a space in our district, a vacant lot, received like 80-something, a ridiculous amount of violations. And he was literally trying to change this lot to a space for the community for the church, but couldn't get the -- can I get the number to this person? And there's nothing on file. And it just sits there and we have to go through this process of trying to see if we can get it on Sheriff's sale and it becomes a nuisance property in the community. So now it's like, while you're saying give us -- like that other side is saying give us more time. We're like, what are you talking about? You need time, but it's not fair that we're your partners. I know sometimes when the Mayor says something, you get it done in 15, 30 days. But when we say something, yeah, we're not your boss, I respect the fact that -- but we're your partner. And I feel there should be a level of connectedness where you respect what we have to do for our community as well. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: So noted. At least on my side of L&I, I can proudly say that I setup a pretty good protocol, reporting protocol with all the members of City Council. So we can certainly make sure that that is addressed and they are all legitimate concerns. And I look at us all working together, not just the Mayor, City Council, the departments all working together for the good of the citizens of Philadelphia.
I have to ask this question or Cykhira is going to ask why didn't you ask the question? How does L&I handle situations where mail is returned, emails bounce back and phone numbers are disconnected? And then, how does the inability to reach a responsive owner or decision-maker affect timeliness for compliance? COMMISSIONER MERENDA: That is a challenge, Councilmember. You hit it on the head. That is a challenge. We have research staff that goes out and does additional review of various databases to find better addresses and better locations for owners of those properties. And, in fact, on my side when we have to, for example, an ID or an unsafe property, we also have to try and identify the mortgage holder, in addition to the property owner if that's the relevant issue. So that is a challenge and we have a research staff that looks at a variety of different data basis to get more up-to-date information on a particular property.
Well, I'm not going to preach to the choir. I just want to say I hope you come up with something if you think it's better. But as our body I feel we are responsible for responding to our constituents, our neighbors and we have to come up with something on our own. We did a lot of amendments having worked with the Law Department and L&I, I'm the first person to really listen. A lot of the stuff that you were mentioning, I mean it doesn't -- if you have all these things in place, then why is it not working? Some of it just doesn't make sense. So I'm just hoping that something can come from this, and that you do find ways to enforce this law. Because as you said, the reason why we're doing this is because if they're not responsive we need to move on from them in the city of Philadelphia and give them a serious violation, and that's the way we solve that problem. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: Sure. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Member Gauthier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As you mentioned, I saw you at the memorial on Saturday evening and you were ready to jump into action for me for a senior building that didn't have heat, even though it's not your shop. Right. And so I appreciate your work and dedication. But I also want to support my colleague and just give you an example. I appreciate your detailed list of feedback and, you know, the fact that you-all took time to reviewing the legislation, that's obvious. But any suggestion that we are doing this well or that we have what we need in place is just not true in terms of what we are seeing on the ground. And I wanted to give you a specific example. So I had a block in Southwest Philadelphia, a rowhome block, right? And there's a property, sort of in the middle of the block, a rowhome that was being rented by an absentee landlord, somebody I believe they were out in California. There was drug dealing happening out of this property, there was a shooting outside of this property. And these folks between their activity and traffic had locked this block down to the point where the residents on the block were looking to me for action. And sure we got an address from L&I, but there was no response to that address. We had to get on the Internet and search and find this person. And you know, in the meantime, I'm being responsive to the residents. I go to a block meeting on the block, I was afraid being on the block with what was going on. And so thankfully we did find the landlord, he wasn't an awful person. He was willing to evict the tenant. Now, I'm not the evict the tenant Councilmember, that's rarely -- that's rarely my position. But in this situation where there was violence happening, drug activity happening, essentially this one bad actor taking over a whole block, I was like, yes, evict the tenant, right. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: Unacceptable.
So thank you goodness we got the landlord to work was, but we did the research work. I made a phone calls. We don't mind, this was an important issue, but we don't have the capacity to that for the significant amount of absentee landlords in this city. So we need help and we need a better system and I fully support my college on getting this bill done. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: If I may comment. Any nuisance property situations like that, I'm sure that quality of life will get out there as quickly as possible. In fact, Ranee Reinhardt who is one of the hardest working folks at L&I, she works on the quality of life side and she's in charge of the nuisance property unit. If you can get an address and any other addresses like that, I'm sure Ranee will get there as soon as possible.
It's done. This was a couple of years ago. It's done. You know, the property is being rented by someone else and I haven't heard those complaints. But what I'm saying is we don't have the capacity to do that with every bad actor. We have to have a better system and more supports in place. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: Sure. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Member Jones.
So real quick because we got to move on this hearing. Three things, time is not neutral. No matter how much we kick the can down the road, people are still being kicked out. L&I has to do its job, that's No. 1. Brith Shalom, I won't go into the long history of that and finding that owner. And then filing $23-million worth of investment, you were there, my colleagues were there. We wound up putting that owner in jail because we found him. It's so material that he then went to jail, and that's an important part. And what I would say is we are at the tip of the iceberg around the city of distressed properties like this so we have to get our game in order. And the only final thing I would say is that whatever information you find out about property owners please share with the revenue commissioner. Because if they're hiding about repairs, they're hiding about taxes. COMMISSIONER MERENDA: More likely than not. Yeah, I agree.
That's all I got, Mr. Chairman. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you, Member Jones. And thank you, Commissioner, for your testimony. Much appreciated. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the next panel to testify on Bill No. 250980?
Reverend Nicholas Christian, Sr., Heather Miller, William Scott and Garrett O'Dwyer. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Good afternoon. You guys can pick your order and in that order state your name and please proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon. My name is Nicholas Christian. I serve as the pastor of the Philippian Baptist Church located at 5801 Broad Street. I want to thank you Councilman Phillips for the opportunity to testify today. I believe I was the pastor he alluded to a bit earlier in this address. I want to begin with the words of the Profit Jeremiah, Chapter 39, verse 7. Where he says seek the peace in prosperity of the city to which I've carried you. Pray for it, for if it prospers, you too will prosper. That scripture captures why I'm here today. Black history month is not only about celebrating historical achievements. It's also about prophetic honesty regarding systems that have historically harmed our communities. It's about the responsibility we share to heal and repair these communities not exclusively as pastors or believers, but even politicians, leaders and dare I say systems whose power and positions are uniquely equipped to be repairers of the breach. Safety, housing, land use, investment and neighborhood stewardship have always been central to the story of community repair. From redlining to disinvestment to absentee ownership, black neighborhoods have too often carried the burden of neglect while others benefited from their distance. I speak today as a pastor, as community leader, a former resident and a current servant of North Philadelphia. But more importantly, like many of you, I am a lover of our city as a whole. And I also speak as someone who has witnessed the consequences of non-resident landlords being unreachable and unaccountable. In our community a property on Park Avenue became a source of ongoing harm because the owner was not local or unreachable and did not steward the land responsible. Over time the property became overgrown and neglected. Trash accumulated, illegal dumping increased and people from outside the neighborhood began using the space in ways that disrespected people that actually lived there. The effects were not abstract, they were personal, they were human. Our seniors, some of whom attend my church, were unable to walk safely on the sidewalks. They could not easily park their cars near their homes. I personally witnessed elderly resident, already vulnerable, walking on the streets because the sidewalks were no longer feasible. Blocked by blighted property and bad property stewardship. This is not just an inconvenience. That's a significant dignity issue, that's a safety issue. When residents and local leaders tried to do the right thing and sought help, there was no one to contact. No local representative for the property, no accountability, no owner of said property. And sure, L&I and leaders faithfully responded to calls and complaints, levied fines and addressed the debris. And of course our Mayor's team has since come and attempted to beautify the property, however, this problem has persisted nearly 18 years on this block alone. Because 19 levying fines and penalties against 20 a unreachable source can't effectively address the issue that inconveniences our neighbors. Removing debris and dumping isn't preventative, it's reactive. The lack of access to things like peace and safety caused by properties like this one and others like it all around our city create stress, frustration and a deep sense of abandonment. And it sends the message to our people in our neighborhoods that people in our neighborhoods and communities matter less than the convenience of ownership from afar, regardless of the owner stewardship. And so this bill amending Chapter 9-3900 of the Philadelphia code is not just more red tape. It's a step toward justice requiring non-resident landlords to provide verifiable contact information and a designated local contact is not excessive, it's basic accountability. It ensures that when problems arise there is someone who must answer, someone who must act and someone who must care. This legislation protects communities like mine.
It protects our most vulnerable, it protects our seniors, families and children. It helps prevent minor issues from becoming public safety crisis. And it affirms the principal that black and brown communities and all communities have known to be true. When no one is a accountable, harm multiplies. Thus, as we celebrate Black history month, as we celebrate 2350 years of independence and the unfinished pursuit of liberty and justice for all, and as we all journey toward One Philly a United City and one America, a united nation, let the celebration be ingratiated with a quest for peace in the city through the creation of bills that value people over distance and stewardship over neglect. Accountability is not anti- development, it is a foundation for healthy, sustainable development. And for these reasons rooted in scripture, lived experience and love for this city, I strongly support this bill and urge its passage. Thank you for the opportunity to be heard and for your commitment to the people of Philadelphia. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you, Reverend.
All right. Hello, again. Well, I hate to have to follow pastor here. I'm going to keep it simple. I can go on and on with examples like yours in my community -- CHAIR DRISCOLL: Can you begin by stating your name for the record again?
My name is Heather Miller here representing Lawncrest Community Association. Sorry, Chairman. So I'm here to strongly support amending Philadelphia code Chapter 9-3900, regarding property licensing and owner accountability. This amendment is the vital for enhancing our communities quality of life in ensuring non-resident landlords are held accountable for building deterioration and code violations, securing the sustainability of our neighborhood. I have direct experience with how some non-resident landlords evade accountability and compliance through various means. There is no 20 valid reason why they should not be required to provide verifiable contact information and appoint a local representative within our community. Considering that they profit from their properties, such accountability measures are a must. I call on each of you to support this essential amendment. And I'll be glad to come back and testify at another time with more specific examples of what my community has been going through for a little over years from non-compliant 11 landlords. Thank you. 12
Good 13 afternoon, Chairperson Driscoll and 14 members of City Councils Committee 15 on License and Inspections. My name 16 is Garrett O'Dwyer and I'm the 17 policy director at the Philadelphia 18 Association of Community Development 19 Corporation or PACDC. 20 Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony in support of bill 250980, new accountability protocols for landlords to receive a valid rental housing license. We want to thank the bill's sponsor, Councilmember Anthony Phillips for taking the initiative because the status quo is unacceptable and inaction isn't an option. PACDC is the leading voice of non-profit community development corporations in Philadelphia. Our 606 CDC members and over 90 associate members are responsible for addressing key affordable housing, social service and economic development needs across our city. Every day CDCs are addressing the compounding issues that arise from landlord neglect in our communities. Poor property maintenance leads to significant deterioration of basic household systems, which jeopardizes the habitability of the residents or tenants. These tenants are often forced to make the desperate choice between tolerating conditions that risk their safety and health or the roof over their head. For many of our low income tenants leaving simply isn't an option. The lack of affordable housing and how high up moving cost means the alternative to dangerous house is often no housing at all. However, remaining in these conditions exposes them to health risk which can lead to lost days of work or school, further jeopardizing their financial stability and economic mobility. While the burden on landlord neglect fall hardest on tenants, they are not the only ones impacted. Negligent external property maintenance makes these properties a blight on the community at large. Blight is like a cancer, adjoining homes are often the first to suffer, but prevailing conditions of neglect can expand whole blocks and impact entire neighborhoods. Numerous peer review studies many of them conduct in Philadelphia have demonstrated the connection between unmitigated blight and poor health and quality of health outcomes including increase crime and violence. Bill No. 250980 seeks to empower tenants in communities to hold negligent landlords accountable by mandating that property owners provide basic identifying information as a requirement for obtaining a rental housing license. For too long problematic property owners have used existing registration loopholes to remain anonymous through shadowy ownership structures, phony mailing addresses and useless contact information. This legislation will mandate things that are common sense. Beneficial owners of property will be required to provide their primary residential address which will be subject to verification by the Department of License & Inspection and out-of-town owners will be further required to designate local agents to function as a point of contact. If passed this bill will ensure that L&I will have a point of contact if code violation arise and can hold property owners responsible for unaddressed infractions if they persist. Having to provide this information on the record is a needed step to fundamentally altering the current incentive structure for owners who choose to allow their properties to deteriorate. To be clear the problematic owners that make this legislative necessary do not represent the majority of Philadelphia's private rental market who are mostly small landlords that try and follow the rules and provide safe stable housing for their tenants. These landlords are key to our housing supply especially for housing affordable to moderate income individuals and families and we should be thoughtful about conditions that might raise operating costs that are generally passed onto the tenants.
We have concerns that mandating local property owners who say just live over the city limits to register local agents within the city may require them to pay additional fees for entities to represent them in this capacity and we'd encourage the bill's sponsor and the committee to consider whethere a geographical exemption to the local agent requirement that is broader than the city limits is appropriate and would address some of those concerns. The harm created by increasing investor ownership of residential real estate is something that Philadelphia and cities across the country are contending with. This was recently the subject of PACDC's equitable development symposium where we heard from local and national thought leaders on practical steps that localities could take to prevent and address negative impacts on communities. An important component is developing the capacity to adequately hold negligent property owners accountable. That is what Bill No. 250980 seeks to accomplish. We support this legislation and look forward to working with City Council on additional steps we can take to develop a housing echo system that encourages responsible property ownership. Thank you for the opportunity to testify this afternoon. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you all three for your testimony. Member Phillips?
No, just thank you so much. Pastor, incredible, incredible. Thank you. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Hearing no 15 further questions for this panel, are there any other panels to be called? So we'll move to public comment then. Will you please call the first person making public comment we have to testify this afternoon on the bills before the committee today?
Hello, Council. How are you? CHAIR DRISCOLL: Please state your name for the record and proceed with a testimony.
Not a problem. My name is Robert Gray. I'm a licensed real estate agent here in the city of Philadelphia, I'm also a resident here. Today specifically I am here in on behalf of bill 251097. I wanted to come in with an open heart to listen to the Councilmembers because I think its important and at the heart of this legislation there is a core that cares about the youth and that to me is something that's very imperative now. I'm very alive and well in this city. I'm walking in the subway currently. I also work part-time at Chipotle so engage with the youth frequently. However, I cannot support this bill for three reasons primarily. The first being it's completely redundant. Okay. We have laws in place for a reason and there are a lot of business owners who follow the laws and do what they're supposed to make sure they have the proper coherence with whatever the city provides, and also the state regulations as well as federal. And these are laws that have been put in place for a reason. So I'm here on behalf of those business owners to represent the American business owner who is tired of constantly being harassed and harangued by L&I. And when it comes down to my second point that this will open the door for further discrimination as well as bias. We heard the Council today talk about them, and they, and the Halloween lights. And these businesses -- and these business owners are people, they represent different nationalities that may not be welcome to some. But they are taking a market share here in the city and paying their taxes as well. So I think there tends to be a tidal wave of an agenda to villainize these people that are business owners and property owners that they are somehow crooks or somehow don't have the best interest of Philadelphia, when in fact they do. Because they pay a higher tax rate and they also have to contribute to dealing with the people that are actually creating the nuisance outside of their business, who are using drugs and handling paraphernalia, and hanging out and twerking in the street. Okay. So I understand on one hand we do have to hold people accountable when they violate these certain laws and things. But I personally have reached out the L&I when I had a surge of water going through my ceiling and nothing was done. What did they do? They came around next week, though, to give me a trash citation outside of my apartment which was not my trash. So what we need do really is focus on what is L&I doing with our city resources and our taxes? Are they actually making sure that the youth is being connected with resources so that they don't have to rely on the streets to tell them how to behave. We also have an issue here. We are putting resources towards another ordinance, when we can be putting resource towards education in our schools with programs such as DARE, which has been successful in the past and working with students directly to show them a moral fiber and a change that needs to happen. We also are now dealing with the third point that I would like to make today. And that point is where are the parents? Where are they? To care about the lungs and the hearts of their children because they are the ones that are responsible to tell their kids to say no. And if they are lighting up a Newport in the car, the chances that their child is going to be addicted to tobacco are extremely high. I have several relatives that the mother smoked, the daughter smokes, and now the granddaughter is breathing it in. And you know what, that's an individual problem. And we need to focus on allocating our resources better in this time of the economy. We see government agencies weaponize and use against people that pay their taxes. Look at what ICE is doing and now we have L&I basically doing the same thing. To label every business owner as a nuisance when they are not, they are a contributing member of society. When it comes down to Bill 11 250980, I think it's a good step in a good right direction.
But let's ask ourselves why doesn't L&I have these phone number, why don't we have these addresses? Could it be that there's a silent partner there wiping away this information? And it took a lot for me to come today because I know you don't have the resources as the Councilwoman had commented that we don't have the resources to research people, but I'm sure you do. And I'm sure they have been researching. They have been researching, harassing business owners, following their next location, going to second and third locations to find citations and create revenue for their department. And you know what, Philadelphia, I just want to say thank you and I know my time is coming. I want to say thank you, Philadelphia, because we are going to getting better and don't have anything else to write citations for and now we're a nuisance. And I think we can do better if we just can work on connecting with the youth on a more direct scale. And I'm here to support change for the good and the better Philadelphians and hard working Philadelphians that are paying these taxes to support this Council. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you. Please state your name and proceed with your testimony.
My name is William Scott. Thank you for providing the time for me to make my comments. I'm here in support for the non-resident landlord accountability board on behalf of myself and the Logan Civic Association. In order to qualify or discount my comments it may be useful for you to know that I've been a member of the Logan Civic Association since 2013. Further, my background includes an extensive history in the real estate development investment and management businesses. That experience was gathered here in Philadelphia and other parts of the United States. Beginning in 1978 and continuing through to recent days it has been my great good fortune to work and partner with some of the most significant people and projects in Philadelphia's history. Those people and projects are inclusive of but not limited to, Samuel Evans of Evans-Pitcairn, the builder of 2000 Market Street, Center Square and the Independence Blue Cross building, while simultaneously inventing the Suburban Office Park. Bill Rouse, who built 1900 Market Street, Liberty Place, the Comcast Center and a little thing called Liberty Property Trust while simultaneously ensuring the success of the Philadelphia Convention Center and the development of the Kimmel Center. Steve Solms who virtually invented the adoptive reuse business with the historic landmark for a living multi-family apartment business. Tony Lordi of Pitcairn Properties, 1800 and 1880 JFK Boulevard and the Bell Atlantic Tower now known as 3 Logan. Jonathan Butcher of the former New York Stock Exchange member firm Butcher and Singer, who provided the financing and encouragement for a partner in me to create the new real estate investment of Butcher and Singer which became a model for a number of the New York Stock Exchange member firms to use in creating their own real estate investment divisions. Don Harvey of Pitcairn Properties who built 5 Penn Center, now known as 1501 Market Street and 1760 Market Street. Then later joined me at Pantzer Properties where we created a real estate management company to lease and manage 3-million square feet of office and residential properties, a hotel and two shopping centers. All of that history and more relate directly to the Logan Civic Association experience and to the proposed legislation. Every one of us involved in the above projects learned that once the parade of praise and uniqueness and innovation of design goes past real estate is always and everywhere a management intensive business. It requires transparency on the rights and obligations of landlords as well as tenants. And it requires action plans in the event of ordinary maintenance and casualty recovery. No responsible landlord would isolate a tenant from access to such plans. Putting tenant performance aside for a different conversation, our experience at the Logan Civic Association shows that too many landlords are acting irresponsibly and blinding tenants not only to the procedure for ordinary maintenance, but failing to provide functioning contact information to any responsible party or person in the event of a casualty. This is dangerous and unaccessible. In our view this legislation attempts to take a step on a path of finding a fix for this unacceptable condition. Logan Civic Association and I support this bill. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Thank you both for your testimony. Ms. McDonald, any others for public comment?
There are no 17 more names for public comment. CHAIR DRISCOLL: I would like to thank all witnesses for joining us today and this concludes the hearing and we now go into the public meeting. There being no further questions and no other witnesses to testify on Bill Nos. 251097 and 250980, I'll ask -- so we already established -- I would like to move in to the public meeting. Mr. McDonald, will you please call the roll to take attendance? Members that are in attendance, please indicate you're present when your name is called.
Vice Chair Squilla, Chair Driscoll. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Present. Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 251097.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 251097. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 251097 be approved.
Second. CHAIR DRISCOLL: The Chair notes for record that Councilmember Jones seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 251097 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of council. All those in favor of the motion -- my apologizes. We want to adopt the amendment first. So let's -- let's start from the beginning so we are clear, for the record. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 251097.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 251097. A copy of amendment has been a circulated to members of the committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 251097 be approved.
Second. CHAIR DRISCOLL: The Chair notes, for the record, Councilmember Jones seconds the motion. It has be moved and properly amended that Bill 24 No. 251097 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it. The motion carries. And the amendment to Bill No. 251097 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 251097 as amended.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill No. 251097 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of council be suspended to permit first reading of the bill at our next session of Council.
Second. CHAIR DRISCOLL: The Chair notes for the that Councilmember Jones seconds the motion. And it's been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 251097, as amended, be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 250980.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 250980. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 21 250980 be approved.
Second. CHAIR DRISCOLL: Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Jones seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment of Bill No. 250980 be approved. All this in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it. The motion carries and the amendment to the 250980 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips on Bill No. 13 250980 as amended.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill No. 250980, as amended, be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that rules of council be suspended permit first reading of this bill at the session of Council.
Second. CHAIR DRISCOLL: The Chair notes, for the record, that Councilmember Jones seconds the motion moved and properly that Bill 4 No. 250980, as amended, be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. And further move that the rules of council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. The ayes have it. The motion carries. This concludes the business before this Committee on License and Inspections today. Thank you all very much for your attendance and thank you, members. (Meeting for the Committee on License & Inspections concluded at 2:35 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence are contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me of the above case, and this copy is a correct transcript of the same. _______________ Samanda J. Rios