And Bill No. 030167, an ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion City Plan No. 63, by striking from he City Plan and vacating Melon Street from 16th Street to 17th Street.
And Bill No. 030199, an ordinance authorizing David Dinh, 1122 South 10th Street to construct, own, and maintain a one-story vestibule addition on the south footway of Washington Avenue.
The Chair agrees. The bills just read by the Chief Clerk will be placed on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar for our next Session. That concludes the First Reading Calendar. The Chair at this time recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for the purpose of calling 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar.
Thank you, Madam President. Today Bill Nos. 020728, 030068, 020076, 030163.
Yes. I didn't get to that yet. 020621, 020810, 030016, 030097. 030098, 030178, 030220, 020809, 020084, 020817, 030034, 030106, 030189, 030231 all being called up for second reading final passage. All other bills are being held.
Thank you. We are going to consider a resolution before the Calendar because they pertain to the change of the Home Rule Charter. The Clerk read the title of Resolution No. 020084. THE
A resolution prosing 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE an amendment to Section 2-102 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to the redistricting of the City to revise the boundaries of the councilmanic districts after each decennial census and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter for at motion.
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption of Resolution No. 020084. (Duly seconded.)
Since Resolution No. 020084 proposes an amendment to the Home Rule Charter, it requires the approval of two-thirds of the Members of this Council. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Aye. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE THE
No. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE THE
Aye. The ayes are 12, the nays are 4. A two-thirds majority having voted in the affirmative, the Resolution No. 020084 has been adopted. The Clerk will please read the title of Resolution 020817. THE
A resolution proposing an amendment to Section 6-400 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to the authorization for City Controller audits of agencies receiving appropriations from or performing services for the City and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia.
Madam President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Since Resolution No. 020817 proposes an amendment to the Home Rule 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE Charter, it requires the approval of two-thirds of the Members of this Council. The Clerk will please call the roll.
Madam President, I would like to correct my vote as voting no on the previous resolution. I will aye on this one. Thank you.
The record will reflect that Councilwoman Blackwell changed her vote on Resolution No. 020084. And the votes now are the ayes have 11 and the nays have 5 on that particular bill.
Just a point of information -- point of inquiry maybe. I just had a conversation with Councilmembers Blackwell and Krajewski who asked me a question which would seem to indicate that there might be some lack of information with regard to the redistricting resolution. Either a concern that a commission would be created, which was the concern raised by one member, or possibly other questions. I didn't know that that was a question by the members, so I'd 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE certainly be available to answer any questions. There seems to be also, I'm hearing, a concern that we can only redistrict every 10 years. This particular amendment to the Charter changes the part that requires the Council to redistrict every 10 years. It doesn't affect whether we can or not in any interim period. The Charter requires us to redistrict every 10 years. This measure would establish an actual process which, I think, all of us might agree if we can find any agreement. There is no present process. It still requires us to do redistricting every 10 years and actually establishes a Council Committee of our leadership to put together a plan, take testimony, listen to the Members and the public and then present such a plan to the Committee of the Whole to take action. I think we saw that notwithstanding the Charter requirement on the every 10 year redistricting, we just did a redistricting bill the tail end of last year. And I do not believe that this particular measure would impact that. So, I mean, I certainly apologize if there was any lack of information or misinformation about that particular issue. What the bill does, Madam President, is 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE a couple things: It establishes a Redistricting Committee made up of the President, the Majority Leader, the Majority Whip, the Minority Leader and an At-Large Member appointed by the Council President. That group of people would seek to develop a redistricting plan to be presented to this Council in the form of a report and a resolution. It also establishes, I believe as the charter laid out, that the Council would be the redistricting process. It removes the penalty for not completing the redistricting process by a certain date. Philadelphia is the only City of the top 10 cities in the country that has such a penalty, which is the withholding of salary. No other City from New York to Detroit has such a provision. It also maintains the redistricting process as a Council matter, which I think it should be a Council matter since it involves districts and redistricting, which is similar to how the process is conducted, again, in virtually every major City in America. So that's what the bill does. It does not establish some unknown group of people as a commission. I think we know all the proposed commission members. They're the four leaders and 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE one other person to be appointed by the President. That's what the bill is. That's what it does. And it actually lays out a somewhat detailed process through which you would do redistricting. I think anyone would have to acknowledge that under the Charter there is no particular process presently laid out for how to do redistricting other than telling us when it has to be completed and that the wards and divisions have to be contiguous to each other. So that's what the matter was, Madam President. And that would be the shorter version of the explanation.
Thank you. Councilman Clarke, your light is on. Do you want to be recognized?
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I would like to thank Councilman Nutter for the explanation because I was in my explanation just going give what I perceived the explanation of the bill. And I hate to bring up old wounds, but I remind Members that had this particular process been in place in the most recent redistricting, I would not currently represent 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE anything south of Fairmount Avenue. It was because of, be you like it or not, the involvement of the Mayor in the process that it allowed us to ultimately come to a consensus on the final redistricting process that, as the Councilman indicated earlier, was just this past year. My concern that a similar situation could happen somewhere down the line, and not to suggest that it would, that if the Mayor, whomever that Mayor may be -- it surely won't be this particular Mayor in 10 years or whenever we decide to do redistricting again -- a similar situation can happen with the least senior Member of the City of Philadelphia. So that is my primary concern about this particular bill. I see that as one of the only two changes in the current process. I believe under the last redistricting bill you, in fact, convened a committee. That committee, in fact, issued a report and a map. I see this simply as a way of getting the Mayor out of the process and not penalizing us for not doing our due diligence on getting this particular bill. So that is my primary concern because of what happened to me personally in the last redistricting process. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE And I think that this particular bill relates to the Mayor's involvement, this particular Mayor's involvement, in that last process. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. I agree half way with Councilman Clarke just said. And a person who is greatly affected by the redistricting and I do appreciate what the Mayor did and I do feel that if it wasn't for the Mayor's involvement, as along with what Councilman Clark said, it would have been a bigger problem for me and for the 7th Council District. But what I do differ from Councilman Clarke is I think this bill lays out the ground rules and we won't need to have the Mayor involved because I think -- thank you for helping me, Mayor, and I appreciate it. But this wouldn't be necessary next time because of this bill, and I wholeheartedly supported this bill. We know the ground rules going in and deal with it then. It may be 10 years down the line or sooner if we chose to do it. All I want is a fair redistricting process, and this seems to lay it out. So Councilman Nutter, thank you for your 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE diligent work on this.
Thank you, Madam President. I appreciate Councilman Clarke's concerns and also deeply appreciate Councilman Mariano's comments. With regard to one of the issues that Councilman Clarke raised, I think that -- I can appreciate your concern about how the last process was conducted. I think as you laid out what the committee did, which is actually what this was modeled after, my recollection is at least at one time the report that the Committee that was established put forward was not the report that was ultimately accepted by the Body. But the way to deal with the whole issue of making sure that members are -- their concerns are addressed or taken into serious consideration is the fact that under this provision it is not a simple majority that would approve a redistricting plan; it is a two-thirds of this vote of this Council, which is a much higher standard and is the same standard that is in place with the present process because if the 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE Mayor vetoed one of the last redistricting plans and if 12 members overrode the Mayor's veto, that would have been the plan in place. I think the Councilman is quite well aware that there were not 12 votes at any in time to override the veto, otherwise, we wouldn't have gone the four and a half months, which the salary penalty obviously did not work as the Charter framers had intended, otherwise Members would not have gone so long without pay. So I sought to address that particular certain and I thought the Councilman might have that kind of concern by the fact that you establish the same standard which is present, which is 12 members overriding a veto which would end the process and put in a provision that the redistricting plan has to be approved by 12 members. It is the same standard, the same hurdle that you have to get over.
Councilman Clarke, your light is on. Do you care to be recognized?
Absolutely. Madam President, I agree with Councilman Nutter. And he has essentially made my argument that if the 12 votes are required, why is the Mayor being taken out 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE of the process?
Thank you, Madam President. What are we considering right now? Are we considering the resolution? Are we considering the bill? What's being considered right now?
Councilwoman Blackwell, I think you changed your vote to no. Does it still remain?
Okay. I don't see any reason for us to be debating this. We will be considering the bill shortly. So the ayes are 11 the nays are 5. This resolution having failed to receive the approval of two-third members of Council, the resolution is not adopted. To have the Chief Clerk, did you read the title of Resolution 020817? THE
Would you, 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE please? THE
A resolution proposing an amendment to Section 6-400 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to the authorization for City Controller audits of agencies receiving appropriations from or performing services for the City.
I move again for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Since Resolution No. 020817 proposes an amendment to the Home Rule Charter, it requires the approval of two-thirds of the Members of this Council. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Aye. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE THE
Aye. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE THE
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A two-thirds majority having voted in the affirmative, Resolution 020817 has been adopted.
I think it would be helpful to everybody to be informed that two-thirds means two-thirds of the total membership of City Council, the full complement 17. It is not two-thirds of the vote cast because, obviously, 11 is more than two-thirds if there were 16 Charter Members of City Council. But there having been 17, the requirement under procedure of the Home Rule Charter still requires the same 12 to be considered two-thirds. That's 11 to 5 vote fails the Charter test of two-thirds although it's actually more than two-thirds of the voting members. So I just wanted 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE to make that explanation. Councilman Rizzo was kind enough to say, "Hey, aren't we doing it wrong because isn't 11 more than two-thirds of 16?" Of course he was right, but the Charter sets forth its own requirements which we must obey.
Councilman, thank you. It was very thoughtful of you to bring that to our attention. With our guests, I'm sure they were being very quizzical about that, too. Thank you. The Clerk will please read the title of Resolution No. 030034. THE
A resolution proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule relating to the composition of the Board of Pensions and Retirement and providing for the submission of an amendment to the electors of Philadelphia.
Madam President, I move the adoption of Resolution No. 030034. (Duly seconded.)
Since Resolution No. 030034 proposes an amendment to the Home Rule Charter, again, it a requires the approval of 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE two-thirds of the Members of this Council. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Councilman Nutter. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE
Aye. The ayes are 15, the nays are 0. Councilman Clarke is just arriving. How do you vote, Councilman Clarke, regarding Resolution No. 030034?
I'm sorry. I will be voting aye on this particular resolution.
The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A two-thirds majority of Council having voted in the affirmative, Resolution 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE No. 030034 has been adopted. The Clerk will please read the title of Resolution No. 030106. THE
A resolution proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to establish that a bid preference can be allowed in the awarding of public contracts to Philadelphia firms and that the extent and nature of the bid preference shall be provided by ordinance.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Resolution 030106 be adopted. (Duly seconded.)
Since Resolution No. 030106 proposes an amendment to the Home Rule Charter, it requires the approval of two-thirds of the Members of this Council. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Councilman Clarke. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE
Councilwoman Reynolds-Brown. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A two-thirds majority having voted in the affirmative, Resolution No. 030106 has been adopted. The Clerk will please read the title of Resolution No. 030189. THE
A resolution proposing an amendment to Section 5-300 of the City Charter relating to the functions of the Department of Health by adding a new subsection declaring that the health care is an essential safeguard of human live and dignity and that there is an obligation for the City of Philadelphia to ensure that every resident is able to realize this fundamental right and requiring the Department to prepare a plan for universal health care coverage that permits everyone in the City of Philadelphia to obtain decent health 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE care on a regular basis.
Madam President, I move the adoption of the resolution and request the opportunity to speak.
What this does is to place a responsibility upon the City Health Department to come up with some thinking and plans for what do we do with the uninsured Philadelphians. Nationally, there are 42 million, at least, and probably by this time 43 or 44 million Americans who have no health insurance at all. What this resolution does is aims to provide a series of plans which the Legislative Body and the Mayor can consider in determining how do we avoid that problem for Philadelphians. Currently, we have health clinics for the very poor that may not be covered by welfare. But for middle class families and for others, there is no coverage at all. This is aimed at making every the responsibility ultimately of the government to make sure there is some health plan 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE available. What they'll come up with, we don't know, but we think it's time to plan and plan in a way that will produce results ultimately. So this is just the plan to direct the Health Department start spending time designing a program that you recommend to us that Philadelphia people will consider it and then later there may be a decision. As of now, there's several hundred thousand Philadelphians who have no access to health care at all. Thank you, Madam President.
Since Resolution No. 030189 proposes an amendment to Home Rule Charter, it requires the approval of two-thirds of the Members of this Council. The Clerk will please call the roll. THE
Aye. 05/01/03 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE THE