Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The next bill for consideration is Bill No. 980314. The clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An Ordinance amending Section 9-205 of the Philadelphia Code relating to sidewalk sales by adding a new provision prohibiting sidewalk sales on the 200 block of West Lehigh Avenue, both sides.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The clerk will call the roll.
Councilwoman Clark is voting aye. Councilman Cohen. SECOND AND FINAL READING CALENDAR
Councilwoman Tasco is SECOND AND FINAL READING CALENDAR voting aye. Councilwoman Verna.
Aye. The ayes are 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The next bill for consideration is Bill No. 980343. The clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An Ordinance granding permission to Piatranio Casetta, trading as Casetta's Cheese Shop, located at 7401 Castor Avenue, to construct, use, and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe on the east side of Castor Avenue.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The clerk will call the roll.
Aye. The ayes will 17, the nays are zero. A majority of all members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. This completes our consideration of the calendar for today. Are there any speeches on the part of members of the minority? Are there any speeches on the part of members of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to just take five minutes to reflect on some of the events that took SPEECHES place last night in this chambers. Earlier this morning my colleague, Councilman Cohen, walked up to me and said that maybe we ought to shake hands in public and show the press and our colleagues that there are no hard feelings from last night. And we all know that last night was not only a long night, but a very emotional night. There was a lot of lively debate that took place. And at one point Councilman Cohen and I got into a very heated exchange, a verbal exchange. And one of the comments that was made to me by Councilman Cohen was that I was -- he referred to me as a stranger in this chambers. Being the musical director of this Council and a life-long admirer and fan of the former singer, our most recent loss, Frank Sinatra, I just jotted down a verse of a song that was one of my favorite Sinatra songs. And I would just like to sing this verse to you, Councilman Cohen, as I was thinking about what transpired last night. Strangers in the night, exchanging glances, wondering in the night what were the SPEECHES chances we would pass this bill before the night was through? Strangers in the night. Thank you. (Applause.)
It is easy to see why we need a summer recess, real easy to see. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Fernandez.
Thank you, Mr. President. On a briefer note about a couple of things affecting our community, I think it is great to note that tomorrow Kvaerner will open its headquarters here in Philadelphia, and it can mean many jobs in our city and region. And then, secondly, I think the folks putting together the Greater Philadelphia Home Ownership Fair in City Hall courtyard all week really should be thanked for making available so much information to the public about home ownership opportunities in our city.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill. SPEECHES
Mr. President, Father Kelly sang his prayer today, Councilman DiCicco sang his speech. I am going to try to do... (Laughter.)
On a serious note, about ten days ago there was an unbelievable act of God in the Byberry Industrial Park, the tornado that whipped through there. None of the pictures or press reports really did justice to the severity of it. And if it had happened during the day, lives would have been lost. And if it had gone anywhere but through an empty industrial park in the middle of the night, the residential neighborhood right next door, lives would have been lost. We were all very, very fortunate. But there is a whole lot of damage, there are a whole lot of people out of work. There still are, to some extent. But the people that responded immediately from the city and from Philadelphia Electric really have to be commended. From the city, particularly Commissioner Fran Egan was up there with her work SPEECHES clothes on early that morning with a crew from L & I. And all I heard last week as I toured the area were people commending the business-friendly aspects of everything the L & I inspectors did when they were in a very tough situation. The PECO workers were fixing lines while lightning was striking the next night, were still trying to fix, get lines off the street. And the Police Department had to cover all these traffic problems with people in and out, where they were allowed to go, where they weren't. And it was nice to hear businessmen who had been devastated by the losses that they had talking so well about our employees and also our PECO Energy employees, which, while they're not city workers, perform a public function. I just wanted to mention that for the record. And you won't believe what it looks like even ten days later, but it was nothing like it was right afterwards when that tornado went through. MOTION TO ADJOURN Thank you.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Verna.
Mr. President, I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, June the 18th, 1998, at 10 o'clock. (Duly seconded.)
All in favor let it be known by saying aye. Those opposed say nay. The ayes have it. This Council stands adjourned until Thursday, June 18, 1998, at 10 o'clock a.m. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, June 11, 1998, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: STATED MEETING _____________________________________ DEBRA A. WHITEHEAD, RPR