Thank you, Council President and City Council, Councilman Jones, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much, Councilwoman Blackwell, for introducing the moratorium on school closings. PCAPS -- (Applause.)
Just to back up, my name is Anne Gemmell. I'm the Political Director at Fight for Philly. Fight for Philly is an active supporter of the PCAPS Coalition, and we stand with the many, many, many community folks, parents, teachers, students who think that this plan is not a good idea, not well evaluated and, as Council President himself said, was created by bean counters. We believe that fervently, and we're happy to see this moratorium put into place. That being said, we don't believe that the plan will cost -- we don't believe that the plan will save money in the long run. In Washington, DC when Michelle Rhee also tried to implement a massive butchering of school closings, it ended up costing three times what she said it was going to save all along. So we don't believe it's going to save money. That's the first thing. But, more importantly, we don't think and don't believe from all the community meetings that we've heard and all the people that we've organized, we don't believe for a second that it is fair that all these communities, our most vulnerable communities, are going to be plunged into chaos for less than one percent savings. That is absurd. And we're so happy that Councilpeople are willing to go out publicly and take a stand against this very ill-conceived plan. That being said, we are in a crisis. We have a state budget crisis, and that is where this crisis -- the road of this crisis leads to Harrisburg. There's no doubt about it. And this Coalition will be just as organized. We will be just as organized. We will be just as fired up in Harrisburg, when Corbett comes to Philadelphia. When there's a bus trip to Harrisburg, we will be ready to fight, and we are looking for you to lead the way. We are looking for you. (Applause.)
Just a reminder, since 2010, a funding formula implemented by Governor Rendell, which was fair and rational and served the poorest children in the state very well, was totally wiped off the books, almost eviscerated by this republican government in Harrisburg. This needs to come back on the table, and we need City leaders like the leaders in Philadelphia, Reading, Allentown, Pittsburgh, all the community -(Applause.)
We need all of those folks to come together, all the people that care about this issue, care about public education as the bedrock of our democracy, and we cannot stand by. A billion dollars has been cut. We want to look to restore some of that, and we're hoping to get your back when that time comes in a very difficult, what promises to be contentious, state budget fight. We'll be there. (Applause.)
Thank you for your comment. I would ask the Chief Clerk to please read the name of our next speaker.
Hanif Palmer, commenting on 120340-AAA. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Council. My name is Hanif Palmer. I'm here to say that I am a parent of children in the Philadelphia public school. Closing these schools is really going to hinder these children all the way across the City, the safety, the commute, everything. We really need to bring everything back to the table and really sit down and take a look at what's really at stake, which is the education and the safety of these children in Philadelphia. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you for your comments. Will the Clerk please read the name of the next person to testify.
Che Saitta, commenting on Bill No. 120340-AAA. (Witness approached podium.)
Hi. I want to thank Council and Councilman Greenlee for introducing the paid sick day bill again. (Applause.)
My name is Che Saitta and I'm currently with Fight for Philly, but before I got a job with Fight for Philly, I was a restaurant worker. I was working three different restaurant jobs, and I could tell you as a restaurant worker, I've seen people cut their fingers, cough, be actually quite sick, still with stitches that they went to the hospital the night before, working on the line, cutting people's food and serving it to them. And right now with this flu epidemic that everyone has been hearing about, it's impossible to believe that your food has not been touched by somebody who has the flu. You're kidding yourselves if you believe your food has not been touched by a sick person. Restaurants claim they cannot afford this, but I don't know about you, but everywhere I walk there's a new restaurant opening. There's new restaurants opening left and right and expanding and asking to be expanded. And right now -- I recently graduated from Temple University, and I want to say 90 percent of my friends are currently working restaurant jobs. These are really the only jobs that they can afford. And as -- I know the opposition usually says the reason why they will not support this bill is for economic reasons, it's not the right time, it's bad economic policy. Well, as a worker in this city, I believe this is good for the economy. What this will do is create good jobs that young people like me will want to stay and work at. If the jobs that are being offered in Philly are, pardon me, but crappy with no sick leave, no good money, why would we stay here? So please support this bill. Help create better jobs for the youth of Philadelphia and stand with the people. And don't be persuaded by the lobbyists of Comcast and by the lobbyists of Dunkin Donuts and by the lobbyists of Walmart. Stand with the people who really need this. And I would like to thank Greenlee again for supporting this bill, and I would also like to thank my Councilman Clarke for supporting this bill. We appreciate it. (Applause.)
Just very quickly, I appreciate the woman's comments, but I want to tell everybody else in the room this is not the time to talk about the paid sick leave bill. We will have a hearing and there will be time to talk about it. I'm sure we'll hear a lot about it. So while I appreciate the comments, it's not the time to talk about it, if anybody else plans to comment on that. Thank you, Mr. President.
Councilman, I really appreciate you making that comment so I don't have to make it. Just briefly, the rules as stated, if there is a bill or a resolution on the Final Passage Calendar, that's the time to speak. So there will be an opportunity both at the public hearing and an opportunity at the final passage to speak on this bill again. So that's what the Councilman is referring to. Thank you, Councilman. Mr. Decker.
Gwen Snyder, commenting on Bill No. 120340-AAA. (Witness approached podium.)
Hi. I want to thank Council and particularly Blondell Reynolds Brown for starting to pay attention to non-profit property taxes. (Applause.)
I'm Gwen Snyder. I'm the Executive Director of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice. We're a coalition of over 40 faith, community, labor, and student groups. Our constituents are students, teachers, librarians, and our neighbors, workers and the communities that they serve. Our schools are shutting down because we don't have enough money, and at the same time, we are watching non-profits who own office space rented out to private practice or universities that have a Hilton and don't pay taxes. After April 2012, we had the opportunity to start working on enforcing the Pike County decision, implement good neighbors policy, and make sure that our neighbors, our non-profits, are paying their fair share. At Jobs with Justice, we are a non-profit. We're not looking to target or attack other non-profits. Many of our members are non-profits, but if you're operating a business on non-profit land, it's still a business and it should still be paying taxes regardless of who owns it. (Applause.)
In December, we delivered a letter signed by 15 different leaders from different organizations, the presidents of both AFSCME District Councils, the President of the Firefighters Union Local 22, as well as clergy, student groups, community groups. We need to implement good neighbors policy. It's the first step towards non-profits paying their fair share towards sewers, towards firefighters, towards our library. Mayor Nutter has not responded to our letter. We need him to act and be a leader for the 99 percent, not just the one percent. (Applause.)
We need a response on enforcement of the good neighbors policy, and we're excited this dialogue is about to begin. Again, Councilwoman Reynolds Brown, thank you so much for introducing this. I look forward to these conversations and having better neighbors.
Robin Rouse, commenting on Bill No. 120340-AAA. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning, Council. My name is Robin Rouse. I am a parent of children at Bartram High School. We are glad to know that Council voted on holding off of closing the schools. It's hard on the commute for my kids and their safety. Myself and the parents want to be a part of the change, but closing the school is not the way to do it. We all need to stand together and fight in Harrisburg for fair funding for education. (Applause.)
Dawn Hawkins, commenting on Bill No. 120340-AAA. (Witness approached podium.)
Good morning. My name is Dawn Hawkins. I'm also a parent with a seventh grader at elementary school. I want to thank Ms. Blackwell, also you, Mr. Clarke, for passing this bill, also the rest of the Councilmen. I just want to thank y'all, because it's very important that our children get their education. We are asking for an education and not incarceration. We are asking for our children to be the future and not the past. We are asking you to pass this bill so our children can be a productive and successful person in life. We are asking you to pass this bill. Our children are our future. (Applause.)
Deacon Marsha Moore, commenting on Bill No. 120340-AAA. (Witness approached podium.) DEACON MOORE: First of all, I want to give honor and good to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's who I serve besides the City of Philadelphia, and I'm from Southwest Philly. First of all, I want to talk about this tax reassessment. When I bought my house in '77, it was 10,500. Now all the houses going for 51,000 and up. Secondly, our schools. I was a truant officer until I was brutally attacked in a home invasion, and we need our schools. We got three schools in Southwest Philly High -- Southwest Philly high schools, and my daughter go to one, Commodees (ph). We got to get up 5:30 every morning and wait for the bus, but thank God her father work at the post office. But we're still out there in the morning. I'm watching other children doing Safe Corridors. So please, please reconsider with the moratorium, because we can't afford to lose another generation, and our kids -(Applause.)
And then our children are getting up 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning. I'm up every morning 5:30 doing Safe Corridors at 58th and Kingsessing, waiting to make sure nobody attack our children. Ms. Jannie, you've been there from day one. I love you. Thank you. And Mr. Kenyatta. But just rethink the plan about the schools. Our children get up early enough to go to school. Let's not make it 4 o'clock in the morning. God bless.
There are no other speakers on the public comment list, Mr. President.
Thank you, Mr. Decker. We will now consider resolutions and bills on the Second 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, would you please read the title of Resolution No. 121044.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Thirty-Second Ward of the City of Philadelphia.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Those opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it. Resolution 121044 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 120970.
A resolution approving the appointment of Lynette Brown-Sow as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. Mr. Decker, 120971.
A resolution approving the appointment of Bonnie Camarda as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
It's been moved and properly seconded -- we need to make the motion first.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Resolution 120971 is 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING adopted. Mr. Decker, 120972.
A resolution approving the appointment of Joan Markman, Esquire as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Resolution 120972 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 120973. 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
A resolution approving the appointment of Kenneth A. Murphy, Esquire as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Thank you, Mr. President. Again, I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 120973 is adopted. 120974, Mr. Decker.
A resolution approving the appointment of Leslie Callahan as a member of the Board of 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for its adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 120974 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 120975.
A resolution approving the appointment of Shellie Jackson as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. (Applause.)
I 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING think I see Ms. Jackson in the audience. Councilman Jones.
I enthusiastically move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 120975 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 120976.
A resolution approving the appointment of Nelson Diaz, Esquire as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Thank you, 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. President. I move for its adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 120976 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 120977.
A resolution approving the appointment of Vernell Tate -(Applause.)
-- as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 120977 is approved. Mr. Decker, 120978.
A resolution approving the appointment of Herbert Wetzel as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. (Audience members yelling "Herb.")
Let the record reflect that your cheers were not as loud as the residents. Councilman Jones, 120978.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 120978 is adopted. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 120656-AA.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by revising lot area and parking requirements in certain districts.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Councilman O'Brien is voting aye. 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Councilman O'Neill.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING title of 120918.
An ordinance amending Chapter 11-300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Board of Surveyors," by adding a new section to revise and codify the notice requirements for public hearings held by the Board of Surveyors on changes in the City Plan.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. All members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, will you please call up 120917.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by revising certain provisions relating to allowed uses and dimensional standards in commercial districts.
Thank you, 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. President. I offer one amendment, and that amendment has been circulated to all Councilmembers.
Thank you. Do you want to make a motion on the amendment.
The amendment has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The bill is amended. (Applause.)
For the record, that bill will be placed on Final Passage for next Council session. Council will now reconsider the 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING vote by which Bill No. 120889 was passed. Mr. Decker, will you please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by defining Registered Community Organizations, the requirements for their establishment, and the parameters and expectations of notification.
This bill having been read on two different days was duly approved by City Council on December 13th, 2012 and was returned to the Council by the Mayor as disapproved at today's session of Council. The question is shall the Bill No. 120889 pass notwithstanding the Mayor's disapproval. Please note that a vote of aye is a vote to override the Mayor's veto and a vote of nay is a vote to sustain the Mayor's veto. Mr. Decker -- 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say I served on the Zoning Code Commission for three years. A lot of thought and effort and compromise was spent during those three years on coming up with the proper balance between creating registered community organizations, the kind of notice that was going to have to be given by the organizations and by developers, and this bill creates notice requirements that are almost impossible to legally comply with. They will hold up projects in the courts for years because someone on the block can simply say, I didn't get a notice from. And this is required from both the RCO and the developer to every person on a block. This is going to create legal roadblocks to development and job creation, which is the exact 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING opposite purpose of passing the Zoning Code. This has not been tried. So I think we need to give the current method that was passed by this Council through a great series of compromises with the Administration, with the Zoning Code members, et cetera, a chance to succeed before we start changing it, especially for extremely burdensome changes that are notice requirements that will keep projects in court for years. There are many other problems with this, multiple meetings with developers instead of one meeting that has to be organized, and the requirements to be a registered RCO are so weak that a group could register 50 and a developer would be required to have 50 meetings before they could put a bill before -before they could get the zoning change or get their hearing before the ZBA. This is a big mistake, and I urge my colleagues to vote no.
1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. Let me say and many of you will remember that at the request of the Chairman of the Committee, he said go out and try to work it out, and we did that. Some of the language that is now being criticized in the Mayor's veto was the language that his people wrote. We agree and we're always happy -- I believe in compromising, and we're happy to continue to work with the Administration. But those issues that my colleague just spoke about are all the issues that we talked about in my office many times and the issues that we came up with a compromise, and they agreed to the compromise and agreed to the bill. So I hope my colleagues will -now they want to start all over as if we had never had the meetings, we never had the compromise. And we worked very, very 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING hard. I believe in the art of compromise and that it takes all of us to try to do the right thing and serve our city. So I hope my colleagues will take that into consideration. And we told the Mayor as recently as this morning when he said he had a problem with it for some -- even after all of this, we said we're still happy to work with them. We're happy to work with anybody who has ideas. We understand changing the Zoning Code -- and this is just one of the early bills, so there will be many issues that we may consider, because after we had the hearings -- I went to every hearing in my district on the Zoning Code. We knew what we agreed to, but then they went and told some offices, changed it, did not talk to people, and that is why we have these issues that we have to deal with up front. But it is our responsibility to do so. We're happy to do that. We're 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING happy to still continue to work with the Mayor and his Administration, but I ask my colleagues if they will continue to support the right of communities to know when there is zoning in their area. I ask them to continue to support this legislation and support the override. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Mr. President. Just very quickly. I just have to endorse particularly the beginning of what Councilwoman Blackwell said. As Chair of the Rules Committee, that day it was a very contentious hearing on a number of issues. I asked, as Councilwoman Blackwell said, for both parties to go talk about it a little bit, because it didn't sound from the public statements that were being made that they 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING were that far apart. They came back and as usual in compromise, not everybody was happy. That's what a compromise is. But it seems to me, best that I remember -maybe my memory is getting bad -- that they agreed, both sides agreed, to this bill and the wording of this bill. And now they come back at the end and basically say, Well, we don't agree with everything in it. Well, again, that's what I think a compromise is. So I certainly will be voting to override, because I think in fairness, I think Councilwoman Blackwell tried to work out to the best of her ability and I think everybody tried to work out the best middle ground we could find, and that's what we do a lot of times in this place. So I will be supporting the override. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Green.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say that I respect both of my colleagues, understand their point of view, but a compromise does not mean -- because the Administration may have agreed or may not have agreed with what is in this bill is not really relevant to the substance of the bill, and I am telling this Council that projects that you want to get done will be held up for years because of the burdensome, expensive nature of these requirements and we will all rue the day that this veto was overridden. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. That's absolutely not true, period. (Applause.) 1/24/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
Finished, Councilwoman? Thank you. Mr. Decker, are you prepared to call the roll? Again, a vote of aye is to override the Mayor's veto and a vote of nay is to sustain to the Mayor's veto. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.