The ayes have it. Bill No. 130458 will be amended. Bill No. 130458 will be placed on the Final Passage Calendar for next week. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown.
Thank you, Majority Leader. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the following resolutions on Final Calendar.
Yes. I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda on the following resolutions: Nos. 130492, 130493, 130494, 130495, 130496, 130498, 130499, 130500, 130502, and 130503. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the resolutions just read by Councilwoman Brown. All those in favor will indicate by saying aye. Those opposed will say nay. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries, and we will consider the resolutions on the Consent Agenda shortly. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Brown again.
Thank you, Majority Leader. I move that the rules of Council be suspended so to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the following bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Those are 130274, 130330, 130347, 130349, 130350, 130352, 130378, 130009, 130123, 130410, 130416, 130450, 130453, 130454, 130460, 130015, and 130452. (Duly seconded.)
I believe -excuse me. I believe included in that list were bills that the President was going to hold, 130178 and 130179.
Majority Leader, my notes do not reflect those bills as stipulated by Councilman Green. 130178 and 130179 were not a part of Second Reading and Final Passage.
It has been moved and seconded that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the bills just read by Councilwoman Brown. All those in favor will indicate by saying aye. 2ND READING (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries, and we will consider the Consent Agenda shortly.
Thank you, Majority Leader. At this time, I would like to recognize the Majority Leader, Councilman Jones, for the purpose of calling up bills and resolutions on the regular Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar.
Thank you for coming back, Mr. President. In addition to bills being considered on the Consent Agenda, the following resolutions and bills are being called up for Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar today: Nos. 130501, 120340-AAA, 130443-A, 130446-A, 130225-A, 130308-A, 130181, 130417, 130444, 130307, 130457, and 130455. All other bills and resolutions are being held.
Thank you very much. Before considering these resolutions and bills on the Final Passage Calendar, we will have our public comment. The public comment will go as follows: If you are interested in speaking on a bill or a resolution on the Final Passage Calendar today, we'd ask -you have an additional?
Mr. President, Bill No. 130501 is being withdrawn. Bills No. 120340-AAA, 130417, and 130455 are being amended.
Thank you. Let the record reflect that. Thank you, Councilman. Again, we will consider our public comment. Before passing bills and resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, public comment will go as follows: If you are interested in speaking on a bill or resolution on the Final Passage Calendar today, you must sign up to the table to my left. The timeframe for your comments will be three minutes. You will go to the podium in the middle of the Council Chambers. There's a device on that podium. When the light turns green, it is your time to speak. When the light turns yellow, that means that you have 30 seconds remaining, and when the light turns red, we ask that you please adhere to the guidelines and conclude your remarks. I want to thank you very much for your cooperation. Mr. Decker, will you please read the name of the first individual who is interested in public comment today.
-- 130161. (Witness approached podium.) MS. McCORMICK: So should I comment on this? I guess I'm a little...
Pardon me? MS. McCORMICK: Should I go ahead and give my statement even though you pulled that? Is this bill or -
It's on -- I'm sorry. MS. McCORMICK: I just wasn't sure whether this bill was being --
Whether or not it's on Final Passage today? I believe it is. MS. McCORMICK: So I'll go ahead and give my testimony. Greetings, Councilmembers. I'm here today as a small business owner of a consulting practice based in Philadelphia, and I'm here to urge your support for Sanchez's U&O bill. (Applause.) MS. McCORMICK: For the last 15 years, I've advised Fortune 100 corporations on their corporate real estate strategy. And what that means in layman's terms is, I help them decide where they are going to put their offices, what markets they will be in. For each company, their decisions around -- their objectives vary on their strategy, and there are many ways that they are looking to fulfill their objectives, whether that be finding a low-cost location or one that attracts a world-class workforce. I run models at score locations with a score city like Philadelphia based on quantitative criteria, things such as tax rates, incentives, cost of living. The bill before you would be one of those inputs in the models that I run, and as you can guess, increasing this rate would not help Philadelphia score for my large corporate clients. However, the reality is, clients that are focused on low-cost locations don't even consider Philadelphia on their short list, really not even on their long list, because of the high tax burden. But my models also factor in softer metrics such as education levels of the City, access to higher education institutions and, most recently, very in vogue with my clients, the cultural climate of the City. For companies whose businesses rely on highly educated knowledge workers and where labor is their number one cost, these softer factors trump the financial operating metrics every time. They want to be in cities where their highly paid skilled workers want to live. Companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Urban Outfitters aren't in Philadelphia because the taxes are low, and they will not leave Philadelphia if you raise the U&O, but they will leave Philadelphia if you and Harrisburg refuse to invest in public education and continually chronically underfund our schools. (Applause.) MS. McCORMICK: They will leave if they are unable to attract employees who don't have the skills they need because the schools are just warehouses. And they will leave if their employees no longer want to live in Philadelphia because they can't send their children to the local public schools. These companies follow their employees, and if the City Council does not approve the one bill completely in your power to raise revenue for our schools, this population of highly educated and skilled workers that have been fueling Philadelphia's revival will leave. I'm also here today as a mother of three sons, a freshman at CAPA, a first grader at Penn Alexander, and a four-year-old we hope will attend there as well. My husband and I both own small businesses in this city, and we too choose to live and work in Philadelphia for reasons beyond the bottom line. Believe me, my accountant reminds me every year the cost of our living and running our businesses out of the City.
Ma'am, ma'am, three minutes. MS. McCORMICK: Like so many other parents you've heard from, we live here because we love the City. We found good public schools. We value the incredible cultural richness, and we love the community. And if you fail to approve the one bill completely --
Ma'am? MS. McCORMICK: -- you are sending us a signal.
Ma'am? MS. McCORMICK: You want to let us know -
Hello. Hello. (Microphone turned off.) (Ms. McCormick still speaking.)
Leslie Cheeseman, commenting on 130446-A. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. I am Leslie Cheeseman and I'm here in support of Bill 130446 and in support also in general of increasing our funding for public schools. My daughter is a junior at Central High School here in Philadelphia, and next year she will be applying to college, as will most of her class of 600 rising seniors. However, on Monday, all the guidance counselors at Central were fired. Anyone -- if you remember about applying to college these days, you must have a guidance counselor write a letter of recommendation to apply to college. Counselors are vital in helping students apply to college and finding financial aid, in addition to the many other tasks they perform. If you cut the counselors at the school, fewer qualified kids will be able to navigate the process of applying to colleges and applying for and receiving financial aid. My daughter is also an athlete. This and her other extracurricular activities were all part of what would give her a chance to be accepted to college. However, with the current public school budget, there will be no sports, no extracurricular activities for any of the high school kids next year, including the wonderful Chess Team that you just saw here. That is an extracurricular activity, and although the man who is running it is a volunteer, most of the extracurricular activities are run by teachers who need to be paid. On Monday, her language teacher was also fired. This teacher -- the teacher who was going to teach her calculus class next year was also laid off, along with more than 3,000 other school employees. My daughter is planning to be an engineer. She is the kind of person you want to have and live in Philadelphia. She would pay taxes. The budget cuts you have left her and all the other public school rising seniors, you have left them hanging out to dry. These kids are trying to realize their American dreams by going to college, becoming successful in the United States. So I obviously have a personal investment here with my daughter, but in general, I find the trend here even more worrisome. I have lived in Philadelphia for 23 years and I love the City, but what young enthusiastic, talented teacher is going to stay here if every spring she is fired and has to wait to see if she's going to be rehired? (Applause.)
No talented teacher is going to want to do that when they can move to the suburbs. What talented professionals are going to want to come here and live if there aren't good public schools? And, finally, what businesses are going to want to move here if the population is not well educated? My daughter and all the children of this city deserve better. I urge you to pass the cigarette tax, the liquor by the drink tax, even if the state is not yet willing to pass that we could do that. (Applause.)
Please do your part to stop the harm that is being done to our children, our schools, and ultimately our city. Thank you for your attention.
Hugh Williamson, commenting on 130446-A and 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon, members of Council, fellow Philadelphians. My name is Hugh Williamson. I am an itinerant instrumental music teacher in the City of Philadelphia in the School District of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
I am one of 66 instrumental music teachers whose position was eliminated last week by the School Reform Commission, affecting the 20 students I have here from Shawmont Elementary School. (Applause.)
Just 20 out of 150 instrumental music students at Shawmont alone and over 10,000 students across the City of Philadelphia in our public schools who study instrumental music education. My 8th grade students here, I have a number of them, all of them are going to select high schools this coming year, CAPA, Central, SLA, CHAD, Saul. It's no accident that those students are instrumental music students. Whether they're going to study the arts, the sciences, music, we have had a profound impact on their education. That's why they were willing to come today to play for you. Recently we received a $30,000 grant from the Cole Hamels Foundation to purchase 100 new band instruments, just two weeks ago. You may have noticed this on the news. We were all over it. Who is going to teach those students how to play these instruments? We're all familiar with the names of Kevin Eubanks, Christian McBride, members of The Roots, countless members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, including Don Liuzzi who directs our All-City Festival every year. Who knows, the next John Coltrane, Jimmy Heath or Questlove may be standing right behind me right now. It's long been understood that participation in band and orchestra and the study of instrumental music help students to become better academic performers, to increase attendance, and to develop a positive school climate, of which we have a very successful climate at Shawmont, I might add. Recent research in neurology is finding physiological links in the brain directly tying music-making and learning with cognitive and language development. Learning and playing an instrument builds the brain in ways that nothing else can. Our hope is in the members of Council that you will find a way to adequately fund the schools regardless of the politics. Otherwise, these students and thousands of students will be silenced. Thank you very much.
Suzanne Young, commenting on 130417. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to address this Council. I am Suzanne Young, a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services, which represents City residents throughout the City. I am speaking about Bill 130417, which sets the millage rate for real estate taxes and further provides deferrals for taxpayers. My main point in being here today in addressing Council is that many Philadelphians would be less in need of deferrals and have the ability to pay the real estate taxes if their criminal records were expunged, removing a barrier to employment. According to Attorney General Eric Holder's Reentry Council, about one in three Americans have criminal history records. The percentage in Philadelphia is probably a bit higher than that. According to the Society of Human Resources Manager, which is an organization of human resources individuals, 90 percent of employers do background checking in this current day. The result is that many people with criminal records have a severe employment barrier that limits their income and their ability to consequently pay their bills and their taxes. The employment barrier that is represented by a criminal record was vividly demonstrated just a few short weeks ago when 3,000 people with criminal records showed up at a job fair. The need overwhelms the opportunities and positions which exist. Many criminal records can be expunged, most notably arrests which did not result in convictions, summary convictions, which are the lowest and very minor type of criminal record, and maybe more as the General Assembly considers bills to allow some misdemeanor convictions to be expunged in the future. There are literally hundreds of cases which Community Legal Services have been of assistance to individuals to clear up their record, often removing the only arrest that exists on their record. Philadelphia has a history some time ago of overcharging people with arrests with charges, which means that there are many charges which were not prosecuted by the District Attorney's Office, and these need to come off of people's records. Community Legal Services lacks the sufficient resources. At the end of August, we will lose 25 percent of the lawyers in the Employment Unit that provides assistance to the City residents. We urge City Council to fund Community Legal Services to handle expungement cases. We believe that an investment of $100,000 would generate $6 million annually in savings and tax revenues. For a $60 return for $1 invested as well will improve the life of Philadelphia residents.
Susan Clampet-Lundquist, commenting on 130446-A. (Witness approached podium.)
I'm Susan Clampet-Lundquist. I'm here in support of Bill 130446-A. I've lived in Philadelphia for over 20 years, and my husband and I have loved raising our two daughters here. They've had a wonderful, enriching experience in public schools for the last ten years, and we've seen so many improvements to the City over this time. We've seen more and more families make the choice to stay in the City and send their kids to public schools rather than making a mad dash for the suburbs when their kids turn five. As you know, when more families with middle to high incomes stay in Philadelphia, more revenue flows to the City's coffers. But this is going to change dramatically with the brutal cuts that have been made to the School District's budget. You are going to hear the sounds of tens of thousands of minivans exiting the City rather than subject their kids to something that cannot even remotely be called a comprehensive education. There's also going to be families that keep their kids in Philly schools. By choosing to side with the cigarette and restaurant industries and voting against these revenue streams for the School District, you will relegate them to an incredibly subpar educational experience. They will be in buildings with a skeleton staff learning literacy and math, with few creative and no athletic outlets. Why choose to narrow down their lives at such a young stage by not investing in them? In doing so, we are sending them the message that they are not worth it, they are actually worth less than a packet of cigarettes and a martini. And what happens to their dreams deferred, to borrow from Langston Hughes? My 7th grader wrote a letter to state legislators about her feelings of betrayal due to the decrease in funding for schools. She quoted Nelson Mandela, saying "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." By not stepping up and making school funding a priority, we are taking away this weapon from our children and leaving them defenseless in a global economy that is becoming more and more competitive. In her letter, she points out how unfair it is that schools just across City Avenue are more well-funded than ours. Why do we shortchange our kids and treat them as less worthwhile than kids in Lower Merion? I'm worried that people who can exit will exit, and with this exit, we will see a huge blow to the City's revenue stream. The complaints from businesses about what will happen with an increase in the cigarette tax or the liquor by the drink tax are nothing compared to the sucker punch the loss of thousands of families will have on the City's well-being. And this loss isn't just a short-term loss. Eviscerating the schools of just basic services as counseling, athletics, music, and second languages will hurt the City for decades to come, both in reputation and in earnings. Philadelphia will be known as the city that refused to invest in its children and the City that has an uneducated workforce. Certainly we will not be known as a city with a world-class education. Why would any firm like in the hi-tech or biotech industry want to move to a city which lacks a young and vibrant workforce that has been educated in a comprehensive and creative way? Please push back against the far more well-funded cigarette, restaurant, and commercial building industry and side with kids and families. Do the right thing. Vote for the cigarette and liquor by the drink tax and the use and occupancy taxes. As my daughter states in her letter, "I do what I'm supposed to do. I get all A's and I work hard for them." I know that you all work hard, and your history of hard work has demonstrated a care for Philadelphia's youth. Now is the time to step up once again.
Clarc King, commenting on 120118. (Witness approached podium.)
Thank you, President of the Council. Thank you, Councilmembers. The proposal to sell Philadelphia Gas Works is the result of private-sector financing and market forces that will see PGW under the control of international energy cartel. Selling PGW is like the United States selling NASA. It is the source of America's strength. PGW is the source of Philadelphia's strength. The government of the people is to protect the population from cartels, energy, food or financial, as our founding fathers protected us from the British East India Company. The crisis before us is in not realizing the danger in the present. The American principle that all men are created equal has been completely swept away by the money power. A giant, ever-expanding congressional enabling act exists in the fed's unlimited bailout system, in the sequester, in the attack on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The Dodd-Frank Act, the no-jobs recovery all do away with democratic republican principles. Regarding the financial services provided by Wells Fargo and Bank of New York Mellon in Resolution 130225 and Bill 130227, we can only understand the implications by examining the particulars of the 2005 Bankruptcy Act, the agreement between the United States FDIC and the Bank of England and the Dodd-Frank Act in particular that give primary position to holders of derivative claims, defying all rational thinking, eliminates all fiduciary responsibilities and duties to its customers, and that bankers have unlimited parameters in operation of banking and resolution processes when an insolvency crisis occurs. U.S. cities all across the nation under terms dictated by the private-sector finance subject to IMF conditionalities where police, fire, education professionals, and other workers are purged from the workforce. This is a crime, an economic offensive, not economy formation, not rational policy of funding government. The degradation of our standard of living is unacceptable. Political leadership needs to say so. There are investigations of LIBOR rates, of interest rates on credit default swaps. In a legal axiom, fraud vitiates everything it touches. Therefore, the City should be investigating the origination of its loan documents. It is the City, man's greatest invention, that organizes a sustainable human habitat, orders the priorities of production facility and support of the population standard of living. The bank is to facilitate that power. The creation of the public bank is key to issuing necessary credit that directs labor and brain power and increasing and elevating a new standard of living in Philadelphia.
Elliott Seif, commenting on 130446-A and 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. I'm a longtime educator and currently a volunteer in several Philadelphia schools. My children went to public schools here in Philadelphia, and my wife and I are big supporters of public education. Proudly, my daughter was also one of the Central Six that integrated Central High School. Today I'm speaking for the parents, staff, and interested community members of the Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice, a very successful public high school located in Northwest Philadelphia. I am Chair of its Advisory Council. Every year, 65 to 75 percent of our students scored a proficient level on the PSSA tests, and 90 percent or more of our students go on to some form of higher education. Many of our students receive awards and scholarships. Our programs consist of a strong academic set of courses geared towards higher education, but our students are also trained in peer mediation, take special courses that examine conflict resolution strategies, ethical behavior issues, worldwide problems and problem-solving strategies. They all do community service and complete a rigorous senior project around a peace and social justice theme. We have many other special programs, including this year having a finalist in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Competition. If our budget for next year holds, sadly, most of these programs and courses will be lost. Our budget currently eliminates four out of 14 teachers. I'll repeat that. Four out of 14 teachers. Strips away all our special courses and leaves us with no secretary, no counselor, no librarian, which we didn't have anyway, no -- less nursing care, no extracurricular, and no special programs that require funding, and even all the loss of our supplies and materials. Our school will be less safe and, in some ways, impossible to open. Imagine what would happen if you, City Council, lost your secretaries, aides, supplies, and other essentials. We're not the only school in this predicament. Science Leadership Academy, Central, other Parkway high schools and so on, all the public schools are in this predicament. Sheldon Hackney has talked about the danger of South Philadelphia High School going backwards and even the safety issues that these cuts pose. You didn't cause this problem, but you can help solve it. Here's your choice. You can support small increases in taxes, including liquor by the drink tax that will add 25 cents to the cost of a bottle of beer, to assure that students have a decent educational experience next year or you can turn down or never vote on these or allow these cuts to happen. Your choice. Small tax increases, decent education. Small tax increases, decent education. Which will it be? Doing this will then allow us to go to the state and get the 1 percent more funding that we need from them. Also something that ought to be easy when you're talking about 1 percent --
-- to allow to make this happen. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Janis Chakars, commenting on 130161 and 130446-A. (Witness approached podium.)
Janis actually. Janis Chakars. We know about the problems in our schools, problems that stem from government's inability to find stable and reliable funding. Today I'd like to speak about some of our successes and why parents should continue to send their kids to Philadelphia public schools and why the state and city government should support them by all means necessary, including the use and occupancy tax, liquor by the drink, and cigarette taxes. I came to Philadelphia three years ago and I moved to Roxborough because of the elementary school Cook-Wissahickon, and I have not been disappointed. I'm proud my kids have excelled at the school and that the school continues to meet academic yearly progress. I'm proud that we have a principal who is innovative in terms of pedagogy and administration and makes the school work despite the weak and unpredictable resources at her disposal. I'm proud of the teachers who work selflessly under the same conditions. I'm proud of the staff that create a safe environment for our kids. I'm proud that the school has found an outside partner for our needed after-school program, that our parents have worked to put together needed tutoring program. I'm proud that our school banded together to raise money for the art program, and I'm proud that we've won grants for environmental initiatives. I'm proud that students, parents, and teachers and staff have fought to save and improve the school this spring, all year, every year. The school is a success despite the fact that the government does not give it due support and despite the fact that the majority of our students are on free and reduced lunch. The school takes care of its community. It is the principal reason that people want to live in the neighborhood and that the neighborhood is a vibrant place to raise a family. However, these achievements are despite, rather than because of, the efforts of our city and state government. City Council as a body cannot take credit for the success. The doomsday budget is here, and you have not gotten us one penny of relief so far. A week before you go on summer break, we are not one inch closer to averting the scenario in which all of the achievements at Cook-Wissahickon could be undone. You make people question your integrity when a few liquor lobbyists come to these Chambers to testify and you support them over the dozens of parents that have testified here representing thousands -(Applause.)
-- thousands of citizens across the City. I urge you to pass the liquor by the drink tax, the use and occupancy tax, the cigarette tax, and join in the success of our schools rather than impede it.
Helen Gym, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Hi. My name is Helen Gym. I'm here from Parents United for Public Education, and we have a number of parents who are going to speak. And we're here in support clearly of the use and occupancy bill, the cigarette tax, and the liquor by the drink tax. This body was never supposed to be Harrisburg. You weren't supposed to be the ones who let our schools, our children, our teachers, our programs, our counselors and women, who comprise a majority of those 3,783 layoffs in this city, you weren't supposed to be the ones to let them down when we needed you the most. You weren't supposed to be the ones to honor the Masterman Chess Team in this Chamber and then avert your eyes as their program got cut from that school because we couldn't find the money for it. You weren't supposed to be the ones to punt to Harrisburg for unpassed and unendorsed, unguaranteed legislation rather than give us a school funding guarantee today for the children you already serve. You weren't supposed to be the ones to do any of that. You were supposed to be the ones to do everything possible for the children of this city in the time when we needed you the most and not the least that you can get away with. But I was never more disappointed to be reading the paper this morning and to read what happened at City Council yesterday. Never before have so many people stood up for an essential issue around public education, only to be blocked by a handful of people in these Chambers. There is a solid core which is backing the cigarette tax, the liquor by the drink tax, and the use and occupancy tax. There is a handful of City Council members who will not stand up for the children of the City, and we will not forget. I was thrilled when so many new Councilpeople came in this year -- or in 2011, and I just want to just take a second. I'm not calling anybody out, but I just want us to think for a second. David Oh, you want to have a hearing on world-class education on Monday. It starts with having a chance at a world-class public education system. It doesn't happen with 3,883 layoffs. (Applause.)
Cindy Bass, you came to every single school closing in Germantown. That has got to be backed up by every single dollar that goes into our schools. We've got to find everything possible, and that includes use and occupancy. Mark Squilla, you are head of the most educated, rapidly changing demographic district in this city. It is changing, with people who want to see a future in this city. You have a responsibility to them. Kenyatta Johnson, I also feel so strongly, because you visited South Philly High in its worst moments, but you saw the possibility of it to transform under Otis Hackney. He deserves your support today. He deserves his counselors. He deserves an assistant principal. He's merging children. He needs the use and occupancy bill. He needs the liquor by the drink. We need a school funding guarantee today. One last, Bobby Henon, your district, so well populated, they survived a massive school closings blow, only to have everything get stripped out of their schools. I'm going to wrap up. All I want to say is, we need a school funding guarantee from City Council today. That is the use and occupancy tax. There are countless reasons, but you already know what they are. This is a defining moment for public education. You're either going to stand up and stand up for our schools or you're going to run, and we are going to remember who was not there.
Marla Scott, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Good afternoon. My comments are short, so the red button won't go off. Ladies and gentlemen of City Council, I just urge you to vote yes to any tax that's going to help fund the school system and get rid of the SRC, the Sorry Reform Commission. Thank you. (Applause.)
Tanayia Coffer, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Tanayia Coffer. Good morning -- good afternoon. I stand just to represent Northeast Philadelphia parents and community, specifically Fox Chase where Representative O'Neill is our Councilman. And we just want to -- a few weeks ago, we had an emergency parent meeting because, of course, as the story has already been told several times, the answer is no to our children, no counselors, no anything, no librarians, no nurses, which we haven't had for a couple of years already. We just want you -- you sent a representative on your behalf, Ms. Boyle, and she ensured us that you had our best interest at heart and that you would do all that you can, but I stand today just saddened because I see that the answers are still being no to our children. And we just ask that you be a man of your word and support any tax, any bill that is for our children that's going to release some funding so that we can send our children to school and they can have pride in their school and that they don't end up in the $400 million/billion prison that's being built for them. We just ask that you do what you have to do to say yes to our kids, because they deserve more. And I sit and I just think it's just sad that we have to stand here, because we all know that children are the future, and if we don't invest now in them, then we're just going to be investing negatively later on. So that's all the comments that I have. O'Neill, we just ask that you stand by the Fox Chase community and be in support of all those things that we need for our kids to have a quality education. Public education was always made to be an equalizer, and if we get rid of public education, then there is no equal. We won't be able to provide our kids what they need so that they can have the opportunity to be successful in their lives. (Applause.)
Catherine Brinky, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Hello. I hate to say it, but I am vastly disappointed in City Council, with a few exceptions, such as Councilwoman Sanchez, who has really gone to bat for our public schools. The Mayor announced on national television yesterday that Philadelphia is okay with getting out of the business of public schools, which is understandable. Philadelphia has done a bad job, but charter schools are not the same as neighborhood public schools. Two-thirds of them are worse performing than public schools. Property values are tied to public school catchments, and when you de-value the public schools and cut their funding, you make them institutions in the ugliest sense of the word and you cut your property tax base as well. And as many people have said here today, people will flee. People will flee for the suburbs. Anyone who can get out will. I know that many of you will be up for reelection, and it's a long time. It's two years. And maybe you think people will forget, but if people spent a hundred thousand dollars to live in the Penn Alexander catchment, they're not going to forget when they don't get into that school, because it's one of the few good schools, and they're not going to forget when their property values plummet. And people aren't going to forget when their neighborhood school that they love, even if it wasn't high performing, is closed and when they've lost jobs. When 25 percent of your voters have school-age children in this city, you have just alienated one-fourth of the population and any of their friends. (Applause.)
I urge you all to vote for the use and occupancy bill, and that's just one step along the way to reforming the public schools and funding for them, and I'd like to commend Councilwoman Sanchez for that. There is so much more that needs to be done. You should consider school improvement districts with voluntary neighborhood taxes. You should take back control over the School District of Philadelphia. This is our School District. We should have control over it. And maybe you should look to the Philadelphia Parking Authority for how to collect delinquent property taxes. They seem to know what to do. (Applause.)
You might also want to consider enforcing some of your building codes for broken windows and other rain-making, money-making code enforcement that would be able to fund our schools, because you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot even if it is two years to election. Thank you. (Applause.)
Harold Sheppard, commenting on 120118, 130494, and 130446-A. (Witness approached podium.)
-- City Council, President Clarke, staff, citizens of Philadelphia. My name is Harold Sheppard. I'm also a public employee, and I'm on my lunch hour. And I'm also Brother Cye, commenting on 120118, and this is about resolution authorizing the Committee on Transportation and privatizing. I previously worked for PECO for 15 years, and I was hired under the consent decree because of vast discrimination. PECO did not admit guilt, was forced to hire a lot of black and brown people, all of which were targeted for dismissal. I want to say at that time that PECO was mostly an Irish company. I'm afraid that if we privatize PGW, that the regulatory standards will be relaxed. I'm also afraid of the spoil system and political patronage, which will also further hamper the safety. Privatization will allow discrimination to prosper. It will also allow more political appointees. And with safety issues, which we've just further seen at 23rd and Market Street and in past years down in Kensington where that building collapsed and firefighters lost their life, we're looking for trouble. There seems to be a greater push to privatize everything. You just heard a gentleman testify about the Liquor Control Board. So we're going to put hundreds and thousands of employees on the unemployment compensation line and then have to apply for food stamps and extended compensation claims. We also see the privatization of our schools through the charter system such as Mastery and Edison. We also see to push to privatize the Turnpike. Also see snowplows in the winter with outside contractors to remove snow. I remember this City Hall was also manned by District Council 33 employees now that are replaced by private people to clean police stations and also the Police City Hall. So I'm going to further explain that it's insanely carte blanche to Governor Corbett with the Marcellus Shale. You know that I have a big interest in bidding for this Philadelphia Gas Works. They already have the most favorable non-profit sharing climate of any city in this United States.
Your three minutes are up, sir. You have three minutes. I don't know if you were here. There's three minutes to testify in public comment.
Jona Peisson, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Hello. My name is Jona Peisson. I'll try and be brief. I just want to give my testimony as a taxpayer and parent of a three-year-old. We've been -- me and my wife have been in the City now for seven years, and we really like it. We have a great community that we live in, and we're just coming up to that time when it's time to sort of consider schools. And as many has done before us, we were looking at moving out of the City, and we really don't want to do this. As I said, we enjoy the community we're in. I don't believe in commuting. I will not have my child commute to school either. And our options for public schools in Philadelphia are very slim, and they don't look like they're getting any better. And we're fairly good earners. We don't mind paying our City taxes. We don't mind paying increased property taxes as long as it goes to good things. But we're just one of those people -- one of those families that's taking our money with us, and if nothing changes, we're going to have to leave the City. And we feel sad about it, but that's how it seems to be. And we don't really care where and how the funding comes to the school, but we do hold you people here responsible for creating good schools for our children. Thank you.
Good morning, everyone. All the Councilpeople, good morning. I want to say this. It's very important that we get funding for schools, that that's very essential. Let me say that. But what needs to be looked at too, like I seen yesterday, it needs to be accountability with the District before they ask for about $60 million or 120 from the state. They need to have accountability behind the money when they receive it. So let's not be so quick to just throw money after bad money. Let's put parameters in place so when they receive this money, then it has some accountability behind when they get the money. Because you don't want to be here two or three years from now talking about, Well, what happened to this. A lot of funding for children with special needs don't receive the things that they need, good lunches, different things as far as PE and different things of that sort. Because if they can't financially handle their own books, if they got to keep coming to City Council, running down to the state to keep asking for money, then the fundamental question is this: How are y'all financially handling your books? Because the question is, if you can't handle your books and you got to come back to the same City Council, state time again, over and over and over again, somebody somewhere is not handling their books correctly. So we need to fundamentally find out where does this serious problem that's been going on with this for many, many years, even when I was a child. Okay? And I'm 41 years old. And I was hearing my mother and all of my family members still talk about this years ago. So before this City Council gives over 60 million, find out what they're doing with it and where the holes are first, because the children is what's fundamentally important, and it always seems to be that they're not getting what they need. And that's all I have to say. Thank you very much.
P.D. Brown, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
I hadn't planned to speak today, but I want y'all to know something. The thing you hear me say, I'm tired of being sick and tired. In two days, my mother birthed me, and I'll be 60 years old, and I'm tired of being tired. Now, I'mma give you just a little bit of what I seen in the last 30 years, because I tried to put a training program here in the City and everybody rejected it, and that was wrong. You understand? It was wrong today and it was wrong then. But what I want to say -there's two things that I want you to know. I mean what I'm saying, that we as a people in our community have to make a change. I can tell you in the Wilson Goode Administration, in the John Street Administration, in the Nutter Administration, that we have not risen, not one bit. What has happened is, we have run down. That's what has happened, you know. And I want to tell you one thing, that 10 percent tax deal, all that construction that was done in this city, that was a fall for the school system. And Sandra Dungee Glenn is sitting right there. I say repeal that tax. You understand? Because it was going to hurt our children, and that's exactly what it done. That's exactly what it done. You know, I was going to straighten some of this stuff out, Darrell. I mean that. I'm going to invite y'all tomorrow down to the Clef Club, all of City Council. You understand? I'm going to invite you to show you what I'm doing, because I'm going to do the right thing for the people. Do you know that? I'm not going to do the wrong thing. I'm going to do the right thing. I'm running, and I'm going to win. And I'm running independently. And I'm going to get y'all, and there ain't nothing -- it's not really about y'all. It's about what is going on in this town. We got a black Mayor, a black President of Council, a black Police Department, a black Fire Department, but black people can't rise. I got a problem with that, y'all. I really do. And I got two job players. You want to sit down and discuss it? Come on and see me. Y'all have a blessed day.
Susan Gobreski, commenting on 130161. (Witness approached podium.)
Hi, everybody. It's me again. My name is Susan Gobreski. I'm the Director of Education Voters, which is a public interest organization advocating for strong public schools. I'm also a Philadelphia resident, a mother of children in Philadelphia schools, and my husband and I also decided to move into the City and stay because we believe in the City and we believe in its future. So I want to make a couple of points, one of which is that this is surely Governor Corbett's school district. No art, no music, kids who can't go to college because there's no counselors, programs cutting, teachers fired. This is a school district that Governor Corbett wants us to have. And Harrisburg actually would like nothing better than for you guys to come up short. They are waiting. It feeds what they believe. It's what they want. It allows them to impose measures and to continue the downward spiral. So I heard somebody say once this may not -- what's going on right now in Philadelphia may not be your fault, but it is your problem. Right? So whether or not the School District is here for malevolent reasons or bad reasons or because of the chronic underfunding or any combination, it is a problem that has to be solved. So you guys need to come up with dedicated funding for the schools. Right now you have to focus on what you can control, and what you can control is the U&O tax. You can control revenues that you actually have the authority to approve. Parents are frustrated and angry, and by making people wait and holding out on them, you're cutting into their vacation time and their family time. At the end of the school year, while we're all worried and when we should be celebrating the success of our children, people are worried and panicked, and they're spending a lot of time paying attention to you, which you may like, but I'm hoping that you're going to get a little tired of it too and that you are going to just cut to the chase and approve the funding. The game of chicken that's going on with Harrisburg about who goes first is, first of all, totally irresponsible. It's passing the buck, and it is exactly that, it is a game of chicken. It's chicken, people who don't want to take a vote unless the other guy goes first so that they can't get blasted. We understand that it's hard to take a tax vote, but we do want you to do it. People will pay to live in a place where there's high quality of life. So I know that the City asked you for -- SRC asked you for 60 million, but actually I really want to do better. If we get 300 million right now, we get back up to the level of desperate, and I really want our schools to be the great schools that all of our children deserve. And I feel like if you guys have the capacity to come up with a hundred million -- and my calculations say that you do -- then that is actually where you should set the bar. That should be the floor. Thank you. (Applause.)
There are no other speakers on the public comment list, Mr. President.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to respond briefly to the speakers who made impassioned pleas here to support education funding. We don't have the Hobson's choice that has been presented. There is not only 161 or only this bill or that alternative. In fact, the only way, as Helen Gym said, to provide -- and Susan Gobreski was just talking about it - guaranteed school funding within our control is to do something simple, which is to increase the millage rate provided to the School District. I have an amendment to Bill 181 to do that today, to provide $32 million, and I hope my colleagues will support it.
Thank you, Mr. President. I will also say that the issue that is brought before us from so many good people who have very great concerns, at the end of the day, I do believe is a shared problem when we say our problem. Our problem is for all the children in this city, not just the children who go to good schools, but the children who go to bad schools, and the shared issue that we should confront right now is, in addition to the funding that we can do, is to fix our schools. That's a heavy lift for this body. It's a challenge to our Mayor. It's a challenge to our state system, but it's also a challenge to the residents, businesses, and parents that are in our city. Fixing our school system is a critical thing that we should be doing. The realities of this situation is that we as a city consist of 1.5 million people. Our state has 13 million people. Our resources are much like that of a pickup truck that people are asking and demanding carry the cargo of a tractor-trailer. It's not excuse-making, but the reality is there's only so much that we can do. We will do, I believe, the funding that we have been asked to do to fill up this pickup truck as much as it can carry, but I think it is also important that people who are advocating for better education in addition to funding temporarily this year a sinking school system also roll up their sleeves and start talking about fixing our entire It cannot simply be that people come here and ask a pickup truck to carry the weight of a tractor-trailer. We have to appropriately ensure that we are funding and improving education, and I would say we have to start it this year. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. We will now consider today's Resolution Consent Agenda. I would ask Mr. Decker to please read the titles of all the resolutions on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of a resolution on the Resolution Consent Agenda. Upon such objection and without debate, the resolution will be immediately removed from the Resolution Consent Agenda and placed on today's regular Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, would you please read the titles of the resolutions on the Agenda.
Resolution No. 130492, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the West Philadelphia Redevelopment Area, identified by house number and street address as 4030 Haverford Avenue"; and Resolution No. 130493, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the 44th and Aspen Urban Renewal Area, identified by house numbers and street addresses as 820, 821, 832, 846, 848, and 860 North Markoe Street"; and Resolution No. 130494, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the urban renewal of a portion of the Cecil B. Moore Avenue Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 1703 through 05 Cecil B. Moore Avenue"; and Resolution No. 130495, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Model Cities Urban Renewal Area, identified by house numbers and street addresses as 1309 through 13 North Sixth Street and 1319 North Sixth Street"; and Resolution No. 130496, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Model Cities Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 1614 North Twentieth Street"; and 130498, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Nineteenth Ward of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 130499, entitled "A resolution appointing a new five person committee entitled the 'Responsible Banking Review Committee' pursuant to Section 19-201 of The Philadelphia Code"; and Resolution No. 130500, entitled "A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Fourth Ward of the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 130502, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the New Kensington-Fishtown Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 2130 East Dauphin Street"; and Resolution No. 130503, entitled "A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the New Kensington-Fishtown Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 2026 through 28 Martha Street."
Thank you. recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion to adopt each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda today.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the receipt of an additional committee report -- no. Wait a minute. Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of each of the resolutions on the Consent Agenda today. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda be adopted. All in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and each of the resolutions Resolution Consent Agenda has been adopted. We will now consider today's Bill Consent Agenda. I will ask Mr. Decker to please read the titles of all of the bills on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of the bill on the Consent Agenda. Upon such an objection and without debate, the bill shall immediately be removed from the Consent Agenda and placed on our regular Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, would you please read all of the titles of the bills on the Consent Agenda.
Bill No. 130274, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code by repealing and replacing Section 14-507, entitled '/CDO, Central Delaware Riverfront Overlay District,' to provide for new special controls, and by amending Section 14-702, entitled 'Floor Area Bonuses,' to provide area and height bonuses for the Central Delaware Riverfront"; and Bill No. 130330, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Parkside Avenue, 52nd Street, Merion Avenue, Girard Avenue, and Belmont Avenue"; and Bill No. 130347, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Cecil B. Moore Avenue, 21st Street, Nicholas Street, and 22nd Street"; and Bill No. 130349, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Girard Avenue, Broad Street, Fairmount Avenue, 16th Street, Brown Street, Francis Street, Perkiomen Street, and 19th Street"; and Bill No. 130350, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Harbison Avenue, Tulip Street, Sanger Street, Tulip Street, Cheltenham Avenue, Keystone Street, Van Kirk Street, the Delaware Expressway, Fraley Street, Eadom Street, and Bridge Street"; and Bill No. 130352, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Venango Street, K Street, Tioga Street, Palmetto Street, Atlantic Street, and I Street"; and Bill No. 130378, entitled "An ordinance to amend the Institutional Development District Master Plan of the University of Pennsylvania, located at 461 University Avenue and 3300 Chestnut Street for construction of the new College House Dormitory and the new Neural and Behavioral Sciences Building"; and Bill No. 130009, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 19-2600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Business Income and Receipts Tax,' as it relates to non-profit activity"; and Bill No. 130123, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 2-305 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Office of Property Assessment; Chief Assessment Officer; Powers and Duties,' by providing for standards for tax exemptions and for documentation requirements"; and Bill No. 130410, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to convey to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development all or any portion of those parcels of City-owned land at, or generally in the vicinity of, 16 South 34th Street, 18 South 34th Street, 3409 through 13 Ludlow Street, 3415 through 17 Ludlow Street"; and Bill No. 130416, entitled "An ordinance approving a Lease Agreement between Philadelphia Gas Works by Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation, solely in its capacity as operator and manager of the City-owned Philadelphia Gas Works, and Germantown Realty Investment Group for certain premises located at 212 through 14 West Chelten Avenue"; and Bill No. 130450, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to convey certain or all interests in portions of a parcel of land located at or in the vicinity of the Northeast corner of the intersection of Roosevelt Boulevard and Poquessing Avenue"; and Bill No. 130453, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to enter into a lease St. Agnes MOB for use by the City of a portion of the premises located at 1930 South Broad Street"; and Bill No.
130454, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to acquire certain land in the 30th Ward of the City of Philadelphia located along the Schuylkill River between South Street and Christian Street, known as 770 through 80 Rear Schuylkill Avenue"; and Bill No. 130460, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to convey to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development a 90 foot wide strip of land located between Roosevelt Boulevard and 2700 Southampton Road"; and Bill No. 130015, entitled "An ordinance renaming and designating Conshohocken Windemere Park, located at 3910 Conshohocken Avenue, as Woodside Park"; and Bill No. "
Thank you, Mr. Decker. These bills having been read on two different days, the question is shall each bill now, shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker shall call the roll, and upon being called, each member shall vote aye on each of the bills or nay on all of the bills or indicate those bills for which the member is voting aye or nay. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye on all bills, except for Bill 130416 from which I recuse myself and abstain for the reasons submitted in a memo to the Chief Clerk.
Aye on all bills. A majority of all the members having voted in the affirmative for each of these bills, the bills on the Consent Agenda are passed. Let the record reflect that Councilman Green has abstained from Bill No. 130416. We will now consider bills and resolutions on the regular Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, would you please read the title of Bill No. 130494. That was apparently on Consent. It was not reflected on this document. So at this time, I'd like to call up 120340-AAA. 6/13/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
An ordinance enacting a new Chapter 19-3800 of The Philadelphia Code authorizing the granting of tax exemptions to longtime owner-occupants of certain properties in the City of Philadelphia.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that we adopt the amendment that has been circulated to the members of Council on this particular bill. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 120340-AAA be adopted. All those in favor? (Aye.)
Those opposed? 6/13/13 - STATED - 2ND READING (No response.)
The ayes have it on that amendment. And, Councilman, that bill shall be on next week's Final Passage Calendar. Thank you. Mr. Decker, 130443-A.
An ordinance amending Chapter 2-300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Property Assessment," by further providing for the manner in which assessments are determined.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon. I'm sorry. There's no amendment on that one. My fault. This bill has been read on two separate days. The question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 130446-A.
An ordinance amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes and 6/13/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Collections," by providing for a City cigarette tax and by authorizing the School District to provide for a School District cigarette tax.
This bill has been read on two separate days. The question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.