Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. The resolution passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 120531.
An ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of the proposal set forth in a Resolution approved by Council proposing an amendment of The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to a preference in civil service regulations for the grandchildren of firefighters or police officers who were killed or who died in the line of duty.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now 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 having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 120561. 6/28/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
An ordinance authorizing the City of Philadelphia to enter into purchase obligations for the delivery of electric supply for use by facilities owned and leased by the City.
This bill having been read on two different 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 having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, do you have any other bills or resolutions?
A resolution recognizing the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the groundbreaking gender equality legislation that increased educational and athletic access to generations of women and girls, introduced by Councilman Kenney.
I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.) 6/28/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
It's been moved and properly seconded. Those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution authorizing the City Council Committee on Rules to hold hearings to investigate the creation of Registered Community Organizations and the impact they will have on the community, introduced by Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
Moved and properly seconded. 6/28/12 - STATED - 2ND READING Those in favor? (Aye.)
And a resolution urging the Pennsylvania Auditor General to conduct a forensic audit of the School District of Philadelphia to provide a greater degree of transparency into the District's finances so that the City of Philadelphia can consider solutions to the School District's current fiscal crisis, introduced by Councilman Johnson.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson. Councilman, can you ask for a rules suspension.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson. 6/28/12 - STATED - 2ND READING
Council President, I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit consideration of this resolution on today's Final Passage Calendar. (Duly seconded.)
Been moved and properly seconded. Those in favor of rules suspension say aye. (Aye.)
I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. Those in favor? (Aye.)
There are no more resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
No more? That completes our Calendar. Any speeches on the part of the minority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Oh.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. At the end of this process now, I just would like to kind of at least from my perspective draw some conclusions or make some points that I think are important for the public. We are trying to tackle the issue of making Philadelphia a better city, a more prosperous and more is our goal and our challenge. This is just the beginning of that process for this newly elected legislative body as it sits today. In 1970, our city had 766,400 jobs, and 20 years later, we lost 156,200, leaving us with a 610,000 jobs. And 20 years later, we lost another 59,800 jobs, leaving us with 550,400 jobs. And according to Econsult, they predict that by 2012, we may lose another 75,000 jobs. That alone would be $156 million in wage tax just by itself, not including any other tax that would be generated from the loss of those jobs and those workers. And so we're really challenged at this point in time to reinvent our city, to be more competitive, to ensure that we are increasing the number of jobs and opportunities in our city. In that process, we have this issue of our schools, which are vitally city, but in this discussion about saving our schools, I think we really are looking at the true meaning of saving our schools. Our schools, Philadelphia School District, places 95th out of 105 local school districts. Out of 545 school districts in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia places 477. Our state, Pennsylvania, places 22nd out of 50 states in the United States, and our nation only places 14 out of 34 economically developed nations. So our nation, our state and our city is very much challenged. And so we are now looking at $4 billion in long-term debt for our School District. And so as we in City Council do step up to support the schools and the school children and education and reform and the future of Philadelphia, I very much appreciate what everyone in this body has done to ensure that we are on top of the schools, that we're not just giving money to keep a system that is poorly performing alive, it the money it needs and the support it needs to get the long-term financing as the beginning of real earnest education reform for a better Philadelphia. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilman. Well said. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. First, very quickly, I want to congratulate you on a successful budget. You took the mantle at a very difficult time and probably, as I told some of the Serious Six, which are the freshmen that have earned their title today, this wasn't easy. This is probably the hardest vote they will have to take in these Chambers, but they did so, and I want to commend them as well for being here, for standing up to their core convictions, each and every one of you, and in those rooms made your voice, the issues that you care deeply about and that you were elected to serve to implement. So I want to applaud them. Finally, I want to applaud the Supreme Court today. (Applause.)
We need to applaud them for standing up just doing the right thing for millions and millions of Americans who have been told, yes, you deserve healthcare, yes, you deserve the inalienable right to be provided for in the greatest nation on earth. So I want to applaud them. Finally, what I did was -- note these little plastic bags that you find on your desk. They are herbal teas that are designed for as you go forth through your summer, because you never get a break. You never will get a break, but every now and then, I want you to sit back and think about the work you did, and this tea, all of you, my republican alike, to mellow out and say that we have to look forward to doing this all over again in September. Thank you, Mr. President.
If only we can send some of that tea to Washington, sir, get more reaching across the aisle. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Mr. President. Very briefly, I'd just like to have comments about three things. First, I'd like to announce that Crystal Jacobs of my office had an eight-pound, eight-ounce baby boy -- a girl, girl, girl, girl -(Applause.)
-- this morning at 2:03, and she's doing fine. I certainly want to echo the comments of Councilman Jones about the healthcare bill being passed. It's very important. All of us know constituents as well as family members and friends who have no health insurance and how difficult that is, and as Dr. Schwarz has mentioned in commentary in some of the news articles, it could help our health centers in Philadelphia where we provide healthcare to our citizens. The other point I want to just make is that I too want to echo my displeasure with the School District on the notification process for including not only us but any other stakeholder in the discussion about the Superintendent. I've served on several search committees, and at the point you begin, you have a schedule and you know when you're going to meet with which stakeholders and the time. And given our schedule here in are doing in their districts, it was unforgivable to give us 24-hour notice. I did not have the opportunity to meet either of the gentlemen due to my schedule. I did watch one on the program Monday afternoon. And so that was a disservice to us, particularly since they're asking us to provide money to them for operations. So I certainly hope we're not starting off on the wrong foot, that we move forward in a better manner as they hire the new person, and I hope they select a good person. I can't tell. I don't know. But anyway, that's my comment on that. The second thing, I'd like to ask my colleagues to write, call, e-mail our State Senators in Harrisburg not to vote for the payday lending bill. That bill is not a good bill for our citizens here in Pennsylvania, particularly Philadelphia. The Senate -- the bill is now before the Senate. We ask you to the Senate to not vote for it. There seems to be some notion if you give people an opportunity to have the payday lenders in Pennsylvania, they won't get hurt by the Internet, but, you know, they're not going to go to the Internet to take a payday loan. And certainly we look at the issue of HEMAP. We supported the inclusion in the budget of HEMAP by the Governor, and the House bill and the Senate bill sent the -- included the HEMAP program back into the budget. But if we introduce and we have this payday lending bill, it's going to take away all of that, because you're going to have the same people who are going to get payday loans and will lead them back into high debt, delinquency and foreclosure. So it's an ongoing circle of people trying to rape poor people and take away their money and their wherewithal, and I say to the sponsors of the bill in Harrisburg, we on this in 2000 about predatory lending and the housing market, and you can see what happened with the whole housing -- collapse of the housing market. And so this bill brings an ill win of no good. So, colleagues, today is the day. I want you to contact our State Senators and members of our House delegation not to vote for Bill 2191. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too would like to congratulate you on your first budget and the entire leadership team of Councilman Jones and our Whip, Blondell Reynolds Brown, and our brutal and unrelenting Deputy Whip, Bill Greenlee. I was going to make some brief comments about --
Councilman, don't forget our leader, Minority Leader and our Minority Whip.
Congratulations to our Minority Leader and Minority Whip also. I don't get to vote for them, Mr. President.
Well, congratulations to my leadership team and your voters.
I wanted to make some brief comments on 174 and had my light on, and it just started moving and so I turned my light off. But I think there is an important story that was told here today, and, that is, people who are close to the poverty line have a difficult time living and making ends meet in the City of Philadelphia, and there was a request that the Cohen bill think all of the people here today can -- or that were here today should go back to their neighborhoods and homes and look at their neighbors who are unemployed and try to understand that if we want to create jobs in the City of Philadelphia, we have to lower the wage tax broadly. It is our tax structure, our tax system that is causing the kind of hemorrhaging of jobs that Councilman Oh just described. And so the vote for 174 today was a vote for a four-letter word, J-O-B-S. When I think of City Council, an old ad comes to mind. The old Oldsmobile ads where the tag line was, This is not just your father's Oldsmobile. Well, this is not your father's City Council. The Mayor and the Administration have proposed over half a billion dollars in taxes over the last few years. Last year it was a $130 million tax increase. Council provided 35 million. It made cuts to spending proposed by the Mayor. This year Council provided $40 million, made additional cuts to the budget proposed by the Mayor, when the Mayor asked for 94. All of this 75 million will go to the schools, not the City. The City must live within its means, like every other Philadelphia family must. We have prevented as a Council hundreds of millions of dollars of taxes requested. Guess what? The sky has not fallen. I voted no on taxes this year because a line must be drawn, and I draw the line here. The drip, drip, drip of additional taxes must end. I challenge the Mayor to come to us with a budget proposal next year in January, not March, that decreases City spending and lowers taxes over the next Five Year Plan so we can create and not lose jobs. It is time to make the tough choices, not the easy one, and to stop that provides the water torture of another new tax every year. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Mr. President. I first need to echo sentiments shared by members already regarding your leadership, how much I too have appreciated your style in navigating 16 other members towards consensus. Not an easy task. Secondly, with regards to the School District, I join Councilman Kenney, Tasco and others who were, at best, disappointed by the late notice. Marian Wright Edelman wrote a book for parents, which stated if you're sloppy at little things, you'll be sloppy at big things. It's my hope that going forward the School District will tighten up its notice, because we are interested and we want to be in attendance. It helps simply to have notice so that we can schedule our lives. Lastly, to underscore the enormous victory for many with President Barack Obama and the Supreme Court upholding, for the most part, his Affordable Care Act. This is a landmark ruling, ensuring a place in history, of course, for President Barack Obama. And having done a little bit of homework, at the Democratic Convention in 1979, Senator Ted Kennedy, one of our most outspoken healthcare advocates our nation has ever seen, gave a speech that very well could have been written yesterday, wherein he stayed, It is wrong that cities are struggling against decay. It is wrong that women and minorities are denied their equal rights. And it is wrong that millions who are sick cannot afford the care they need. One of the most shameful things about modern America unbelievably rich land, the quality of healthcare available to many of our people is unbelievably poor and the cost is unbelievably high. We can make healthcare a basic right for all, not just an expensive privilege for the few. Today, Mr. President, we have good news. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt gave the nation Social Security. In the 1960s, Lyndon B. Johnson gave us Medicare and Medicaid. Now in the 21st century, President Barack Obama has given the nation the Affordable Care Act. I would like to believe that some place in heaven the greatest advocate of healthcare, Senator Ted Kennedy, is looking down with a huge smile on his face. I thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too want to reiterate what a lot of Councilmembers and my colleagues have said about the leadership that has gone on with this Council in the budget process. This was my first budget, and from what I understand, it's probably one of the tougher ones in the last several years, but just to hear the openness and having leadership listen to your ideas and being able to work with us to come up with a compromise. There was no winners and losers. It was a tough decision all the way across, and we voted on things that we necessarily didn't want to, but in the end, I think we reached a goal of compromise with the AVI to push it back a year, knowing that we'll do it in 2014. I think it was the right thing to do, and I think it wouldn't have been able to happen without your leadership. So I thank you for that and thank Council and the colleagues for being able to work we think can benefit the City. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Mr. President. Again, I too publicly want to thank you as Council President keeping the members informed on a regular basis. And the members of this body I want to thank. It's been a privilege to go through my first budget with each and every one of you. This process has been challenging and the discussions has not been easy. And as we wrap up our first session, my first session today, I've come to the conclusion that while we may not always agree, each one of us is willing and able to make tough decisions, and some of them I'd rather have root canal over, but we've made tough vote we take, it matters to somebody. This body, our leadership here in City Council, proved that it makes responsible decisions for the City and for our constituents. I want to thank my staff personally, and I want to thank the staffs of each member here in this body for all their hard work and dedication, coming in early, staying late and working our way through it as a unit collectively to get to where we are today. Finally, I want to commend my fellow freshmen for their energy and commitment thus far; in particular, Councilman Squilla for your bold move early on in this process dealing with real estate, and I look forward to working with everybody in this body as we move forward. And for my fellow freshmen again, there is no Council Presidency -there's no Council apprenticeship, as I found out, as we jump our feet into the fire here. So I commend all of you and I acting responsibly. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Mr. President. Let me also salute you for your leadership in this budget process, but salute you for something else as well, for the creation of the Jobs Commission. I've been serving on the Jobs Commission for a couple of months now, even meeting as recent as this week. So when I hear discussion of taxes and jobs come up, I'm inclined to speak about it, because that's part of my summer work this year. When anyone says that the correlation between taxes and jobs is that if you lower taxes, you will create jobs, that's simply not true. What is true is that if you don't have a competitive tax structure, you will lose sought to cut taxes, business and wage taxes, over the years, we did have -- we began to stem the loss of jobs, but we didn't necessarily create jobs because we lowered taxes. When Tom Corbett tells us that, we should reject it. When Mitt Romney tells us that, we should reject it. And when it's said here in Philadelphia, we should reject it. The truth of the matter is, we should cut taxes when we can in order to stem job loss, but the Jobs Commission is going to take a very hard look at what actually does create jobs. If we look at the five years of sustained job creation in the City over the last several decades, they occur between 1984 and 1989, what I refer to as the Goode years under Mayor Goode. Interesting enough, that happened after our wage tax was raised to 4.96 percent under the previous Mayor. So the correlation between taxes and jobs is something we need to be very the truth. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to ask our colleagues through the summer when they are thinking about AVI and its implementation after we actually get the numbers that we need, to think about setting a millage rate. We've put things in place to help folks who have been living in gentrified neighborhoods and are longer term residents, and Councilman Goode always reminds us, and rightfully so, there will be folks whose property values have lessened are paying more than their fair share. But there is a group of folks that we need to figure out a way to cushion the blow, and those are the folks that have moved into this city in the last nine years or less, that have that are struggling, that helped to bring those neighborhoods back, that are contributing and paying their taxes every year and that can't afford necessarily to be hit, which would have been hit -- we would have been hitting them with a 1.8 millage rate with $80 billion in aggregate property value. Some of those taxes were going up five, six, seven thousand dollars in one year. And in the conversation I had with the Mayor, which was a short conversation, I said to him, Do you have six or seven thousand dollars in your household budget that you have available for next year, as some of these people are going to be asked to do, and he said he understood that that was a difficult thing. I don't think people shouldn't pay their fair share of taxes. I don't think the value of their homes should not be taken at full value, but those folks who have shown a commitment to city life incivilities of city life are the ones that are out there doing the graffiti removal, coaching little league, sprucing up the neighborhood, doing town watch. I don't want to punish them. Even though their house value is what it is, I don't want to punish them to the point where we send out a message that those folks who have made a commitment to the City who are thinking about maybe moving into the City might not as a result of what we do. So as we move forward on AVI, let's be fair to everyone. People's housing values have gone down, they should pay less. If they live in a gentrified neighborhood and we can protect them, we will. But the one group of folk that we haven't tried to protect yet or I guess thought about protecting yet and we need to do that are those double income people with no children or little children who have moved into the neighborhoods and improved them and the went up as a result of it. I think we have to look out for them, and I would hope everyone would think about that during the course of the summer so when we get back here in the fall, we can start tackling this problem again. And thank you again, Mr. President, for your leadership. It's been refreshing and it's been open, and you keep your word, and that's all you can ask from a leader. So thank you again. And thank all my colleagues, and have a nice summer. Although I will say this again, because I say it every year, we're not -- press, we're not going on a summer vacation. We're not off all July and all of August. All of us work every single day, and you see us around here. And I haven't seen that quote in many stories lately about Council being off for the summer. You know we're not. So we thank you for not writing it. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson.
That's interesting. Well, it's been a pretty interesting first term, but I want to just start off by commending you on your leadership during this budget process. I think my first time going through the budget process as an elected official in Harrisburg, it wasn't on time. One year it was I think we finished around July 6th. One year we finished around December 20th. I do remember that one, because I voted on a Sunday. So I do commend you, because this was a very, very tough budget season. I'd like to also just acknowledge first and foremost, as Councilman Jones said, the Serious Six, but my new colleagues that I came in with. For Councilman Squilla, for plate and making sure that we do AVI right. So I commend you of also making sure that we don't, as your grandmother say, dive into murky water. So thank you for your courage in stepping up to the plate and not bowing to pressure so we can actually perform a blind vote that can severely impact all of our constituents. For Councilwoman Bass for doing a great job in chairing the Parks and Recreation Committee. Those are some of the best committee meetings that I participated in. And we even named the Dell after Georgie Woods in Councilman Jones' district. And so it was a good experience for myself. And for the great Councilman Oh, who was my friend before I became an elected official, in stepping up to the plate and making sure we put jobs and jobs development first and foremost here on the agenda in City Council as well as in the City of Philadelphia. friend Bobby Henon for introducing the good neighbors law to go after those slum landlords that pervade the 2nd Councilmanic District as well as in your district as well. And my good friend, Mr. Speaker, from Harrisburg, who also brought his passion regarding autism and education down here to Philadelphia as we echo for quality education for all children regardless of their special needs or not as it relates to education. For the members who have been here prior to me coming, I'd just like to thank all of you for your wisdom, for pulling me to the side and kind of pulling me up on some issues, giving me encouragement on other issues and opinions on other issues. I can sincerely say this has been a very rewarding experience for me since I've been here, but even as we move forward, I want to make sure that we always continue an issue that I'm passionate about, is young people have an opportunity to follow their dreams in the City. Councilman Jones wants to focus on Youth Courts. I think it's a good idea. When we talk about education -- I went to both sessions in the evening for more than three hours with Councilwoman Blackwell to listen to both candidates, who basically are responsible for taking the School District of Philadelphia to the next level. That's a very important and critical issue, because I'm tired of doing the same thing and getting different results. And so I'm looking forward to the accountability plan that's going to be moving forward. I talked about the AG just basically from a perspective that if we're going to ask Harrisburg for money, then we need to make sure that those who receive the money are doing right by those who they're supposed to be taking care of, which is the students and the taxpayers in the City of Philadelphia. a body, moving forward, working together, we can do a great job in pushing public education forward but, more importantly, making sure our young people have an opportunity to do the things that they want to do in their lives, and I take that part personal. So thank everyone for their great work that they have been doing, and take care.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership. I applaud the Supreme Court decision, mention that some 15 forums we've had all the issues that deal with education, our committees had to deal with. But after Councilman Kenney's remarks, I decided I would say something of taxes. We voted against these real estate taxes today because Mantua is a community that we fought for more than 30 years. It was a community that broke records in terms of infant mortality, crime, drugs, you name it, and finally it's begun to turn around. We've invested a lot of time and our dollars there. And although in Spruce Hill, some taxes have gone up narrowly in that -more in that area in University City, all over Mantua, which is one of the lowest income areas in the City, their taxes go up. In this real estate market, all of their taxes have gone up. We fought hard. These are people who fought gentrification, who fought university expansion, from great-grandparents all the way down to great grandchildren. They have survived. And I just find it unconscionable that we finally reach this point in trying to turn around that area and they're taxes to go up. So that is why, for those who are concerned about my vote, why I felt that I had to stand up and fight for them, although we knew the votes were there otherwise, because we have to in the final analysis try our best to represent the people who bring us here. And, finally, I will say that everybody is always invited every year -if you didn't get an invitation, you will -- to our annual health fair and holiday party for the homeless that we celebrate every year on the Friday closest to my birthday. So if you haven't been invited, you will receive notification. And I will keep it positive and let it go from there. Thank you again.
Thank you so much, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, want to go on the record as saying I'm very excited to see the work of the Jobs Commission over the summer and look forward to seeing its report and hopefully supporting it. I'll be especially interested to see if it contains any recommendations to increase taxes and create jobs at the same time. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
One of the biggest challenges of the Tax Commission is, it's made up of people from the business community, from government, from the non-profit sector, and they all have different opinions on how to create jobs. We know that businesses are the ones who actually create jobs. We in government try to spur job creation through initiatives and other things. One of the things we are our decision-making is, people should actually have a job creation strategy before they just talk about taxes.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you. Before I call for a motion to adjourn, I just want to say that I want to thank all of my colleagues in earnest. You guys are great. You've been very supportive. You guys are the hardest working -- I've been here 12 years, and in all due respect to my colleagues, but as a group, you have been the hardest working Council that I've ever been a part of and have ever witnessed. To talk about the number of sessions, the Serious Six -- well, you know, Councilman, you'll six months, you are no longer a freshman. So that's over. From the number of sessions that we've had in this building, the number of sessions that we've had in neighborhoods and unprecedentedly going out, standing-room-only crowds, participating in other things, having veterans fairs and feeding the hungry, working with Philabundance and all of the things that you do on a singular basis, I just want to say, man, you guys are awesome. So I just want to say thank you all for your support. And I know while I get to stand up here and take all the congratulatory messages from you all, the real deal when we get in that room, if it's not for you all, I know how it turns out. It doesn't turn out very good. So I just want to say thank you all so much for your support and your hard work. Second, I want to say that 12 budgets, I've seen things across the spectrum. Sometimes we get a feel-good budget -unfortunately not too often -- where everybody walks away happy, and sometimes we get something kind of in the middle. And in this particular time, we probably can say that nobody got a hundred percent of what they asked for, and that was the challenge that we had. But what I would like to do is look at it as a reset moment, because the reality is, we have an opportunity to reset the agenda as it relates to how we deal with the state, because we've had unprecedented conversations with the state early on, meeting with them at the Convention Center, getting those relationships, being in a position to actually talk to members about what legislation is moving and what we'd be interested to -- in realtime. We've had an opportunity to talk to our citizens and be able to have great staff. And, guys, I want to thank you all, because without you, we would be really in a pretty pickle. Being able to really get an accurate assessment of our individual districts and the City as a whole, as they provided maps and information, and you've been really good on that. I want to thank you all. The business community, understanding their concerns, having opportunities about whether or not it should be real estate tax increases or U&O. At the end of the day, I know the business community is a little concerned about what the action that we took, but at the end of the day, we're here to make tough decisions. The good thing is that we now -- I think we're going to be in a better place as we move ahead and decide what we're going to do. Will we be in a position to have some level of flexibility as it relates to our taxation, get a little relief from some of the uniformity that causes us to have to raise business tax at the same rate as we raise residential taxes, because -and we've seen through this process that's somewhat of a challenge. Being in the position to have the appropriate measures as it relates to support for individuals as we move to AVI, maybe we need a little flexibility there. And I think one of the more significant things that came out of this is, in spite of the difficulties -- and I want to say for the record in a very public way, I want to commend the Mayor for taking us to a point where we will ultimately go to AVI. And I know a number of mayors have attempted this and, frankly speaking, they were not able to get to a level that we are. I want to commend him.
From our perspective, we just weren't ready, but there's a commitment to move forward to AVI, do it in a fair and equitable way, and I think for doing that, because I know it was very difficult for him to try to push this budget through. And throughout the difficulties associated with this particular budget process, our relationship is still intact. And to the press, yes, the Mayor and I still meet every other week in spite of the fact that we may not necessarily agree on all of the measures before us. So we figured out a way throughout this difficult process to continue our relationship, and I think we will have a stronger relationship as we move ahead, because at the end of the day, it's not about me, it's not about my colleagues, it's not about the Mayor, it's about the citizens of the City of Philadelphia. So with all of that, I just want to thank you all so much for your support and your help. If somebody else congratulates me, I'm going to cry. You know, nobody wants to see a grown man cry. But, guys, thank you all so much for your support. I look forward to working with you over the summer as we move towards this process. So with that, I would like to recognize Councilwoman Brown for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, September 13th, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, September 13th, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. Those in favor? (Aye.)
Thank you all very much. ) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on June 28, 2012, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. ) A 74:24 119:10 137:25 49:11,20 50:15 abatements 63:6 adequate 53:12 afford 35:15 American 21:23 51:13,15 54:22 ability 7:11 137:2 53:15 137:24 145:6 31:18 64:25 54:24 55:20 able 45:11 139:12 adhere 19:6 Affordable 65:15 66:2 56:3,22 57:9,19 139:22,25 adjourn 156:15 137:10 138:15 Americans 31:19 57:21 58:6 140:23 158:25 162:9 African 21:23 33:15,21,25 59:16,24 60:9 159:5 160:20 adjourned 162:12 31:18,18 35:21 59:10,12 63:11,13 65:12 absence 6:8,11,21 162:18 163:4 afternoon 67:3 59:23 60:4 66:18,23 67:10 abstain 99:9 ADJOURNME...