Thank you, Council President. The following bills and resolutions are being called up from the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars today: Nos. 240369, 240386, 240387, 240388, 240389, 240390, 240391, 240397, 240402, 240403, 240192, 240215, 240216, 240244, 240247 and 240087. The following bills and resolutions on the Calendar are being held: 240012.
Thank you very much, Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson. Before considering these bills and resolutions, we will consider public comment as Stated Meeting 92 05/09/2024 -- the Chair recognizes Councilmember Cindy Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. My apologies but I have to leave Council chambers, but I would like to be recorded as voting aye on all bills and resolutions.
Leave is granted and your vote is recorded. Thank you very much. Before considering public comment, your public comment must concern matters on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars for possible action at today's Council session. All speakers must sign up in order to testify. If you have not already signed up for today's session, please do so now by giving your name to Ms. Hassen at the table outside the rails to my left. I'm just going to ask if Stated Meeting 93 05/09/2024 you have any sidebar conversations, please take your conversations outside the Council chambers. It makes it difficult for me to hear up here while I'm trying to go through our agenda. All speakers must sign up in order to testify, if you have not already done so as I just mentioned, please see Ms. Hassen at the right -- at the left outside the rails. Once you have signed up, you will be called in the order in which your name appears on the sign-up sheet. Under ideal circumstances, public comments each will have three minutes to speak. However, due to our lengthy, very lengthy agenda for the day, the time limit will be 2 minutes. In order to be fair to all those wishing to speak, I intend to hold faithfully to the two-minute limit. When you begin Stated Meeting 94 05/09/2024 speaking you will see a green light on the podium. When there are 30 seconds remaining to your time, the light will turn yellow which is your reminder to conclude your remarks. Once two minutes have passed, the light will turn red and the Sergeant-at-Arms will disconnect the microphone. At that point, please yield the podium to the next speaker if you have not done so already. I also reserve the right pursuant to our rules of Council to limit repetitious comments on the same subject matter. I would now like to ask the Chief Clerk to please read the title of our first speaker.
Reverend Kevin Haynesworth. Can Patricia Ford, Sharif El-Mekki and Ryan Gittler-Munez also make their way Stated Meeting 95 05/09/2024 to the podium. Reverend Kevin Haynesworth, Patricia Ford, Sharif El-Mekki, Ryan Gittler-Munez, Destineh Kelly, Charles Black, Paul Birdsong. (Witnesses approached podium.)
Good morning, City Council. Thank you for the privilege of being here with you today. I come to speak on behalf of our late Pastor of Christ Community Baptist Church, Reverend Dr. Arthur R. White. We come to ask the Council to approve the renaming of 41st and Parkside in the name of Reverend Dr. Arthur R. White, who served faithfully as pastor of Christ Community Baptist Church from 1981 to year 2000. Pastor White was a faithful servant of the community. He worked with the late Lucien Blackwell, and we thank God Sister Stated Meeting 96 05/09/2024 Jannie Blackwell is here this morning. We worked with John White, Sr., John White Jr., and many of the Councilmembers as well as civic and association leaders. Pastor White was faithful in the East Parkside community for nearly 40 years, not just as Pastor of Christ Community but as a servant of the East Parkside and Mantua community. He Faithfully led an antiHIV and AIDS march every year throughout East Parkside and Mantua at a time when the 19104 area code was the highest HIV contact area. Pastor White was very dedicated to the community, dedicated to uplift the citizens of the community and a faithful member of the community. And we ask that City Council would approve the resolution to rename 41st and Parkside in the name and in the memory of Reverend Stated Meeting 97 05/09/2024 Dr. Arthur R. White, servant of the community. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Good morning. Thank you, City Council, City Council President, especially Councilmember Rue Landau and our community liaison Tamir Harper for extending the invitation to speak on the day the City of Philadelphia declares May 9, 2024 as Black Teacher Appreciation Day. My name is Sharif El-Mekki. I'm the founder of the Center for Black Educator Development. Our mission is to rebuild our Black teacher pipeline. To show our appreciation to Black teachers, we have a very simple, powerful message to the City, state and nation and, that Stated Meeting 98 05/09/2024 is, what our students told us, we need Black teachers. But why do we need Black teachers? Because Black teachers save Black students' lives. They expect to help Black students to achieve. They don't overpenalize Black students. They reflect the world of possibilities for Black students. They also reflect a more just society. They counter racism, promote cross-cultural understanding and prepare all students for a complex world. We know Black teachers are good for all students as well as our school system. We know these things to be true, but you know what is false despite what some may claim, that young Black high school and college students do not want to teach, because they do. A few months ago when the Center for Black Educator Stated Meeting 99 05/09/2024 Development put out our yearly call for Black high school and college youth to serve as our teacher apprentices this summer during Freedom schools, over 300 signed up to work this summer teaching 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. We have too many applicants for our spots. But without our ability to expand our program, we are faced with a nonsensical reality, to turn away highly-qualified and highlymotivated Black high school and college youth who are saying we want to become Black teachers. This includes nearly 100 young Black men who are interested in exploring teaching through a program that has proven its ability to convert their interest into actionable future teachers. City Council, this keeps me up at night and it should keep you up as well. Leaders of Stated Meeting 100 05/09/2024 Philadelphia, we lost 1200 Black teachers in the City between 2000 and 2020, and we need to double the number of Black teachers in Philly to match the number of Black students in our public schools and quadruple the number of Black men teachers to reach parity for Black boys. Shout out to Councilmember Isaiah Thomas for leading the charge to recognize October as Black Male Educator Month. And I want to thank City Council for recognizing this. And as Marian Wright Edelman said, it is harder to be what you can't see. Let's make sure that our students can see us. Thank you. (Applause.)
Good morning. My name is Patricia Ford. And I am here to speak on the resolution of Child Care Appreciation. I wanted Stated Meeting 101 05/09/2024 to speak because child care is the first thing that most babies see as opposed when they're going to -before they attend actually their education. And the child care worker is the first one to nourish your child, to teach your child about kindness, about camaraderie, about sharing and all of those things seems to get lost in between 6 years old and when they start 2nd and 3rd grade. I think it's very important for child care workers to be appreciated just as teachers are because they are teachers. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
My name is Ryan Gittler-Munez, and I'm an environmental justice organizer at Stated Meeting 102 05/09/2024 the Public Interest Law Center testifying in support of Resolution 240386 appointing Jennifer Greenberg to the board of the Philadelphia Land Bank. The Public Interest Law Center uses high impact legal strategies to advance the civil, social and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region, facing discrimination, inequality and poverty. We are also the only organization in Philadelphia that offers pro bono legal representation and organizing to urban farmers and gardeners through our Garden Justice Legal Initiative. We are proud to call Jenny Greenberg a critical partner in our work to preserve Philadelphia community green space, and we commend Council President Johnson for putting forward an appointee Stated Meeting 103 05/09/2024 for the Land Bank Board with a demonstrated commitment to supporting urban agriculture. Jenny leads Neighborhood Gardens Trust, the largest nonprofit Land Trust focused on securing, protecting and supporting community gardens and communitymanaged spaces in Philadelphia. NGT has preserved 53 community gardens, an incredible accomplishment given that there are roughly 450 growing spaces in the City according to the Philadelphia Urban Agriculture Plan. At the Law Center we work closely with Jenny and NGT on a host of land policy issues over the past 10 years, including a stormwater fee exemption for gardens and improvements to the Land Bank'S green space policies. Through her work with NGT as well as personal relationships Stated Meeting 104 05/09/2024 developed from working alongside many of the City's community gardeners, Jenny has firsthand experience of the opportunities and challenges that exist today for nonprofits and community members trying to work with the Land Bank and with a background in urban planning, she also understands the importance of balancing new development and green space to foster healthy livable neighborhoods. I want to close with a highlight from yesterday's urban agriculture hearing where over 100 gardeners and advocates packed this chamber. When Jenny was called up to testify and Councilmembers Gauthier and Brooks congratulated her on her pending Board appointment, the room erupted in applause. It's obvious that the urban agriculture community Stated Meeting 105 05/09/2024 supports Jenny's nomination to the Land Bank Board. She is a trusted advocate for community gardeners and has a successful track record of preserving gardens and green spaces. Her deep understanding of the complexity of assembling and preserving land will make her an asset to the Board and further our collective efforts to shape a cleaner, greener and safer city. The Law Center urges City Council to swiftly approve her appointment to the Land Bank Board. Thank you. (Applause.)
Destineh Kelly, Charles Black and then Paul Birdsong. (Witnesses approached podium.)
My name is Destineh Kelly. On behalf of O'Shae Sibley, our family would like to say thank you for recognizing and honoring his life. That's all. Thank you.
Charles Black, Paul Birdsong. May Sharon Neilson, Laverne Cheeseboro and Makayla Myers also make their way to the podium. (Witnesses approached podium.)
President Johnson and Council, my name is Charles Black. I live in Center City. I'm a person with a speech impediment and I am here to speak in favor of Councilwoman Ahmad's resolution on TEDx. This weekend 12 amazing people will present Stated Meeting 107 05/09/2024 their TEDx talks, which are local versions of the global TED talks. There has been some confusion about this being in a park, but this is just what TEDx says, our event will take place at City Winery in (inaudible). I ask your support of this as this conference is putting Philly back on the global TEDx platform. We have sold out our conference and we have people coming from Chicago, North Carolina and many other places who are staying in City hotels, spending their money here and are seeing all that Philly has to offer. This is the first year of our event but we'll keep growing and making a great event. I would like to thank Councilmember Ahmad for this resolution, the Majority Leader for proposing it and for your support of TEDx. Thank you. Stated Meeting 108 05/09/2024 (Applause.)
Paul Birdsong, Sharon Neilson, Laverne Cheeseboro and then Makayla Myers.
So since we're doing honorable mentions today, I want to mention the original Panther Party, the Los Angeles chapter that we're under. So I want to mention Comrades General Aubron, General Degon, Field Marshal Masego, General K&G Chief Rumir and Musa. I want to mention them because those are honorable revolutionaries that are actually in the community fighting for the defense of the Black man, woman and child and are willing to see about that by any means necessary. I also want to mention the brothers and sisters that are behind me that are from the streets of Philadelphia that live there Stated Meeting 109 05/09/2024 every day and that are affected by the rules and policies that are decided upon right here right now. I want to say on behalf of everybody here that we feel spit in the face. The reason we feel spit in the face is because we sitting in here and kumbaya --
Paul, just quick. I'm just asking you to stick to the legislation.
4100 Parkside Avenue, y'all want to rename that but that's within the mile of the Clara Muhammad shooting. That's within two miles Stated Meeting 110 05/09/2024 of 53rd and Chancellor where three people were shot and you don't know who did it yet. That's within 2 miles of 50th and Osage. All these shootings happened there within a couple weeks and nothing has been done except with the 53rd and Chancellor one and the 50th and Osage, but we worried about renaming streets. That's not what the people -- these people live in that community. They're not concerned about you renaming the street. They're concerned about it being safe for their children. They're concerned about you getting that forensics lab together so that you can solve the crimes because these people done lost people and they don't know who killed their people because you don't got a -- you got an obsolete police force, right. So I heard Stated Meeting 111 05/09/2024 you interrupt me, right. I'm interrupting all of y'all got going on to say that these people need justice. These people need closure. These people need safety. We don't care about no street names. We care about being safe. That's what we care about. Give us a forensics lab that can actually solve crimes. Give us a force of people from our community that can actually deal with us. Give us officers that are trained to deal with people with mental issues instead of slamming them or shooting them. Give us that. Otherwise we don't want to hear it because when we hear everything but what we are concerned about and we vote for y'all, we call bullshit. All power to the people. (All the power to the Stated Meeting 112 05/09/2024 people.)
With all due respect, good brother, right, just respect the chamber. You can talk to me when we get finished, but all we asking is democracy. Just respect the chamber. That's all.
That's all. That's all I'm saying, good brother. But thank you.
Okay. Well, we just spoke. You want to talk about respect. Talk about how your man's over there, when we came up to the school, he tried to stop us from coming in and reached out and almost grabbed the sister's breast. And when I told him to back up, he Stated Meeting 113 05/09/2024 want to have a little argument with me, right. So we talking about respect, get your people's. Where'd he go --
We'll address it, Paul, but thank you. We'll address it. Thank you, Paul. Will the Clerk please read the title of the next person please.
Sharon Neilsen and Laverne Cheeseboro and Makayla Myers. Laverne Cheeseboro, Michaela Myers --
Thank you. Thank you, City Councilmembers Brooks and Landau, for presenting the Child Care Awareness resolution and thank the other Councilmembers. I want to say a special shout-out Stated Meeting 114 05/09/2024 to one of my partners in advocating and elevating the voices of Philadelphia's children and families, the Honorable City Council President Johnson formerly known as State Rep. Johnson. As my colleagues would state, child care is an essential service. But not only in the support of Philadelphia's Working Force, we are also our early care and education facilities or services. We support families in their need for self-sufficiency. We partner with families to help them remove barriers that will hinder their child's future success. Child care is the only setting that I know that helps eliminate tomorrow's problems today. Studies after studies have proven that quality early care and learning impacts families Stated Meeting 115 05/09/2024 dependency on social services, decreases or eliminates early intervention services needed in kindergarten, decreases teen pregnancy, high school Dropout rates, unemployment or underemployment and crime rates, but we need more. We need pay equity so that child care teachers with similar credentials and experience are paid the same salary and benefits as their K through 12 colleagues. We need an equitable reimbursement rate for care that actually covers the total cost of child care, and those rates should be based on the child and not based on the child's setting, whether they're receiving quality care in a home, group or center. Support for Children and experiencing trauma due to the challenging behaviors or due to Stated Meeting 116 05/09/2024 COVID and those who need early intervention services, we need a clear consistent and accessible path for getting services. And finally, while we are proud on this historic journey with the first woman Mayor, let's pledge to make a few more historical accomplishments. We need to give families direct access to early care and learning opportunities that will support them in reaching their fullest potential by proclaiming early childhood education and human rights for every child in Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Greetings, Councilmember President Kenyatta Stated Meeting 117 05/09/2024 Johnson, Councilmembers and Councilmember Larsandu(ph). Can you hear me -- okay. Thank you for your acknowledgement and resolution on this day. I am the owner of Heavenly Made Creations in Southwest Philadelphia. I am the director, the teacher, cook, nurse, nurturer, janitor and all things child care. We are understanding the priority and sense of urgency on the major matters of this City. We must remember child care. As early childhood educators, we are the first responders of children from birth to 5 and remain a part of the village in our communities. The service we provide is very unique and not a one-size-fits-all. A work day for us would not succeed without child care for anybody in here. In addition to remembering us on Teacher Appreciation Week, Stated Meeting 118 05/09/2024 when mentioning K to 12, please remember early childhood education. (Applause.)
Next I want to call up Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Youth Engagement and hailing from South Philadelphia. I want to start off first with Ms. Shania Bennett. (Applause.)
Good morning, everyone. My name is Shania Bennett. I'm Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Youth Engagement, and I'm glad to testify before Council today supporting Councilmember Thomas' resolution recognizing Youth Apprenticeship Week. Too often our young people are not included in the conversation around economic activity, but when Mayor Parker Stated Meeting 119 05/09/2024 says economic opportunity for all, she means young people will be included in that. You don't even have to take my word for it. Look at the new City College for Municipal Employment in partnership with the Community College of Philadelphia. Mayor Parker knows that employment with the City of Philadelphia can set an individual up for a lifetime of economic stability, and that's what the Mayor Parker's Administration is all about. I will also like to highlight the apprenticeship programs that are happening right here in the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Water Department has placed 73 percent of its apprenticeship participants into permanent civil service opportunities as well as nine individuals from the Department of Stated Meeting 120 05/09/2024 Fleet Services will land permanent civil service opportunities for their futures and future opportunities for them to have substantial opportunities moving forward. These apprenticeships will change these apprentices' lives and that's what Mayor Parker's Administration is all about, in which Mayor Parker is committed to with the Office of Youth Engagement and labor unions and other apprenticeship organizations that offer pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeship opportunities for workforce development. So again, I just want to thank you for allowing me to testify. I have my youth commissioners here. You'll hear from them and other young people. And we just want to say thank you for allowing and recognizing Stated Meeting 121 05/09/2024 Philadelphia Youth Apprenticeship Week. Thank you. (Applause.)
Good morning, Council and my fellow Philadelphians. My name is Makayla Myers, and I'm a member of the Philadelphia Youth Commission. I am testifying on Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas' resolution recognizing Youth Apprenticeship Week. Thank you, Councilmember Thomas, for sponsoring this legislation and thank you for recognizing the important role apprenticeships play in ushering young people across this City into economic stability. Youth apprenticeships give young people the skills they need to grow into productive, financially stable Stated Meeting 122 05/09/2024 adults. When you give people pathways to economic opportunity early in their lives, it sets them on the school-to-paycheck pipeline, as Councilmember Jones would say. Too often young people are depicted as agents of chaos and disorder, but it doesn't have to be that way. I believe the people in this building under the leadership of Council President Johnson and Mayor Parker can pave the way for a better quality of life for all Philadelphians, especially as young Philadelphians. And it starts with ensuring we have the skills to thrive in this increasingly competitive job market, which is why youth apprenticeship is so vital. So thank you again, Councilmember Thomas, for celebrating Youth Apprenticeship Stated Meeting 123 05/09/2024 Week and thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I do want to make a reminder that we've seen so many young brilliant minds come through these chambers, and I want you guys to think about that when Final Passage comes along. Thank you. (Applause.)
Hey, how you doing. My name is P. Michael Boone. And I just want to thank Council President Johnson for allowing Joseph to speak and also Councilmembers Thomas and Gilmore Richardson. Thank you so much. And here's Joseph Taylor.
Hello. My name is Joseph. I'm 10 years old and I'm representing the Junior Barber Academy. Since I've been -since I've been cutting hair, I've been feeling good and I like cutting hair because you would Stated Meeting 124 05/09/2024 never know what somebody going through and stuff. And I feel like if I cut hair and give them a good haircut, I can change their day. And also, since I've been in the Junior Barber Academy, I've been gaining new friends and new opportunities and a great membership. (Applause.)
I think we're going to declare today City Council Youth Day. So that's what it's about. Will the Clerk please call the next person please.
Anton Moore. Can Talyla Kent, Alia Reed and Andreina Perez Hein also make their way to the podium. Anton Moore. (No response.)
Talyla Kent. (Witnesses approached podium.) Stated Meeting 125 05/09/2024
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Talyla Kent and I'll be speaking on behalf of the Youth Apprenticeship Week. I just want to talk from a more personal standpoint of someone who has been in the pre-apprenticeship program and who is now an apprentice. I want to start by thanking Council President Johnson for the opportunity to speak, and thank you, Councilmembers Thomas and Gilmore Richardson, for introducing the resolution. Youth Apprenticeship Week is designed to increase awareness of registered apprenticeship programs and to highlight the benefits of apprenticeships as a career path. For me personally, I know that I came out of high school thinking that college was the only route because I was not told about Stated Meeting 126 05/09/2024 the options that I had as a student who didn't really want to go to college. And now, after being thousands of dollars in debt, after only doing about two and a half to three years of college, I was able to attend and graduate from the Sammy Stanten and Senior Pre-apprenticeship Program created by Sammy Stanten, Jr. And now, I am proud to be an apprentice of the IBEW Local 98. (Applause.)
Thank you. And I did all of that with no prior construction experience, no long years of schooling and no college diploma. And I know for a fact that I'm getting a unique opportunity to make more than I would have if I had finished college with the major that I plan to pursue. And as someone else said, these students are our Stated Meeting 127 05/09/2024 future. And I hope that they get the opportunity to say that they were told about all of their options and say that they were able to make a career for themselves without a college diploma and without going into debt. Thank you. (Applause.)
Alia Reed, Andreina Perez Hein and Monica Robinson. (Witnesses approached podium.)
Hello. Good morning. My name is Alia Reed and I am here speaking on Youth Apprenticeship Week. First, I want to thank Council President Johnson for the opportunity to speak and a thank you to Councilmembers Gilmore Richardson and Thomas for Stated Meeting 128 05/09/2024 introducing the resolution. It's an astounding privilege that I stand in this room today. I am here in front of you all because of WINC. What is WINC, Women in Nontraditional Careers. It is a pre-apprenticeship program that will guide you through the basic requirements to gain entry into an apprenticeship of your choice. As a graduate of WINC and a minority, I am comfortable and confident to walk into any union hall and deposit an application for entry. This is a glass-breaker for me, my son and the other 26 women who graduated with me. The potential opportunities that are available to me and others like me through apprenticeships is potentially life-altering. And I want to thank you for having those programs around to change lives, Stated Meeting 129 05/09/2024 not just of mine but of my son and the women who graduated with me. Thank you. (Applause.)
Good morning. My name is Andreina Perez Hein and I am speaking in support of Councilmembers Thomas and Gilmore Richardson's resolution recognizing Youth Apprenticeship Week in Philadelphia. Thank you to the Councilmembers for introducing this resolution and to Council President Johnson for the opportunity to speak here once again. I speak before you as a resident of the 2nd District of Philadelphia as the Executive Director of the nonprofit Everybody Builds, but most importantly as a mother. Today I am joined by my Stated Meeting 130 05/09/2024 7-year-old daughter Annabelle and my 6-year-old daughter Lola who are young Philadelphians. They are 1st grade and kindergarten students at Southwark School's Two-Way Spanish English Immersion Program, a hidden gem in our Philadelphia public school system, and we assume this counts as an excused absence. You may recognize them from the Carpenters MLK Day of Service or the NAWIC Block Kids Competition. I make it a point to expose them to experiences like these because my own exposure to the construction industry at a young age is what put me on the path to where I am today. Annabelle and Lola love to hear about what I do at work and are always asking why I work so much. So I brought them here today so they could see for themselves and they could hear the passion, Stated Meeting 131 05/09/2024 commitment and support our City's leaders, citizens and their own mom have for supporting youth like them, the future of our City and our workforce. The economic growth of Philadelphia will be driven by expanding opportunities for our young people. This is even more crucial when thinking about our historically underserved communities. Providing youth with meaningful engagement and structured activities and programs such as apprenticeship coupled with positive inspiring role models is a pillar for violence prevention. Youth apprenticeship programs play a pivotal role in guiding our children away from the streets and towards pathways into skilled careers and lifelong success. These programs are critical in the construction Stated Meeting 132 05/09/2024 industry for helping to build the next generation of skilled workforce in the trades. This is why Everybody Builds is proud to support union building trades apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs like CARP, Rosie's Girls, Sam Staten, YDC's CAP and MyWIC. Together programs like these working in partnership with our City government, CTE schools and labor unions play a critical role in advancing youth into construction careers and building the next generation of skilled trades workforce, but it takes a village. We all need to come together to support, encourage and celebrate our youth and youth apprenticeship programs. Thank you to our City Councilmembers for commemorating the importance of Stated Meeting 133 05/09/2024 Youth apprenticeship week for our city. On behalf of Annabelle and Lola, they thank you for the future career opportunities they will have through youth apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
Monica Robinson. May Marilyn Pitt, Regina Brown and Nadira Griffin also make their way to the podium. (Witnesses approached podium.)
My name is Monica Robinson and I'm also speaking in favor of the resolution Stated Meeting 134 05/09/2024 for Youth Apprenticeship Week. I know I can't say much more than what's already been said, but I do want to thank you, Council President, for allowing us all to speak today. And I want to thank you Councilmembers Thomas and Gilmore Richardson for co-sponsoring this resolution. I currently serve as the Director of Community Engagement at the Philadelphia AFL-CIO. Now we are a federation of over 100 unions in the building and construction trades, public and private sector industries in Philadelphia. We fight for social and economic justice. The inaugural Youth Apprenticeship Week celebrated May 5th through the 11th supports our fight by increasing awareness of registered apprenticeship programs among youth, parents, educators and Stated Meeting 135 05/09/2024 many more. Registered apprenticeship programs provide a pathway to good-paying, familysustaining careers which allow apprentices to earn while they learn. We all know that youth are the present and future of our workforce. We also know that Philadelphia is the biggest, poorest city in the nation. We must be intentional and ensure youth and young adults, especially those who have been historically underserved and marginalized, have access to opportunities in registered apprenticeship programs. Thank you. (Applause.)
My name is Stated Meeting 136 05/09/2024 Marilyn Pitt and I've lived in Councilman Young's District for the last 53 years. Prior to my retirement, I worked as a reading specialist in Philadelphia for 40 years and after retirement I volunteered as a reading tutor at Hackett Elementary School in Kensington, my local school. I'm here to testify on Bill 240369, which asks the Council -which asks the City Controller to conduct a permanent audit of the funds distributed in Kensington. As a longtime neighbor in this area, I'm invested in making sure the kids in Kensington succeed. I believe the best way for City Council to ensure quality education for kids in Kensington and for every child in Philadelphia is to increase the share of property taxes going to the School District, providing the schools with $100 Stated Meeting 137 05/09/2024 million of recurring local revenue. The District is currently underfunded by $1.4 million. The City's share of funding for the schools is $100 million below the funding levels in 2008. We desperately need increases in funding that would allow the District to lower class size below the current ratio of 1 teacher for 30 students in kindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms, especially since this is the critical period when children are learning to read. The School District is scheduled to launch a new reading curriculum this fall. The curriculum is based on science of reading principles that have had dramatic reading gains in other urban districts, but a new highquality curriculum is not enough. We need smaller class sizes and we need teacher training and coaching Stated Meeting 138 05/09/2024 along with the books and the materials the curriculum requires. Most of all we don't want to be in the position of providing yet another inadequately-funded and poorly-implemented reading program in the Philadelphia schools. If we do this, we are dooming our children to continue to fail in the acquisition of foundational reading skills. That's why I'm here today asking Council to invest $100 million in our School District. Thank you.
Regina Brown, Nadira Griffin and Jeremy Blatstein. (Witnesses approached podium.)
My name is Stated Meeting 139 05/09/2024 Regina Brown. I'm a mother of 13 children. I live in the West Philadelphia area. I'm here to testify on Bill 240369, which asks the City Controller to conduct a performance audit of the escalations --
Regina, just one second. Sergeant-at-Arms, please close the door. Ms. Regina, you can proceed.
Of the funding distributed to the Kensington area. This bill is intended to make sure the families in the Kensington neighborhood have the resources to thrive. Councilmembers, please look at the flyer on your desk. Now is the time. I want to remind City Council that one way to help families thrive is by expanding PHL PreK by 250 seats in this year's Stated Meeting 140 05/09/2024 budget. As you can see, 58 percent of kids of Philadelphia are not in PreK. 45 percent of the kids in District 7, which includes Kensington, are not in PreK. That means 58 percent of the kids in Philadelphia and 45 percent of kids in District 7 are not getting the resources that my kids have experienced. All of my kids have gone through the PHLpreK and I cannot tell you the level of support that I have received because of it. My 5 and 6-year-old are my most recent PHLpreK students. My 6-year-old is going into 1st grade this year. Because of PHLpreK, I have more confidence that they are prepared for school. Both my 5 and 6-year-olds were diagnosed with learning disabilities. Because they were Stated Meeting 141 05/09/2024 enrolled in PHLpreK, both of my children are able to get the services they need to make sure they're not falling behind. They received speech and occupational therapy. For my rising 1st grader, PHLpreK helped him develop good social and emotional skills. He's able to play with age-appropriate toys. He's able to play with his peers. He's able to communicate his needs and wants better. He's able to retain information. The PHLpreK team is able to set goals for him and work with him until he reaches these goals. In fact, they don't just work with him. They work with the whole family so that we are able to support him as well. This year when he enters a new school I know that he is more prepared. I feel more confident because I have Stated Meeting 142 05/09/2024 already gotten support through PHLpreK and I'm confident he's better able to get continued support in 1st grade. PHLpreK has been an invaluable resource to me and my children. This is why I wanted to share my experience with you. City Council, when you're thinking of ways to support families in neighborhoods like Kensington and across the City, please think of investing in early child education. Expand PHLpreK by 250 seats in this year's budget. Thank you.
Nadira Griffin, Jeremy Blatstein, then Ogbonna Hagins. (Witnesses approached podium.)
Good morning, Stated Meeting 143 05/09/2024 Councilmen and women. My name is Nadira Griffin. I am the Philadelphia's community ambassador for all 10 District City Council Districts. I am here on behalf speaking on the Resolutions 240386, 240387, 240388, 240389, 240390. I am in support of the bills -- of the resolution, and I want to thank Councilman -- all of you for the courageous job that you are doing. This is a difficult job to represent the people, so I thank you for that. But what I'm also advocating as well as the community is that I be appointed one of the Board of Directors for the Land Bank. We need someone in the community that's appointed on that board to make sure that we advocate for the people, and not a person that is elected or appointed by Council or any other party. So we Stated Meeting 144 05/09/2024 are advocating for that. As a former teacher of the Philadelphia School District, as a product and graduate of a vocational technical high school of the School District of Philadelphia, we're advocating that no more land is distributed or built until we start building schools for our children. The School District of Philadelphia has schools that are dusty, dingy, dull, dilapidated and we need to redirect this. We need to -- we're in desperate disrepair, so this is beyond -- the schools are beyond a band-aid. We need surgery. So we're advocating that we start building schools where our children can thrive, where our children can go there, feel safe and to focus. We have trash around our schools. We need to clean the schools and the trash up around our Stated Meeting 145 05/09/2024 schools because this creates mental health issues. When we go to our schools and we see the condition that they are in, we want justice, inclusion and equality in our urban schools. We need to build schools that have STEM, classes and trade programs in our schools. So we need new buildings that's bright so our children can go there and feel good about themselves, and that will stop the pipeline to prison when we have quality education for our children. Thank you. And we can do more and we will do more. And I'm asking Council, all 17 of you, when will you do more.
Good morning. My name is Jeremy Blatstein. Raise your hand if you Stated Meeting 146 05/09/2024 know when the Philadelphia Land Bank holds their monthly meeting. You don't know? Well, over the last year plenty of the current Land Bank Board members didn't know either, which prevented the board from having quorum which prevented properties from being moved out of the Land Bank. I mean, it's the third Wednesday of every month, right? Nope, just seeing who's paying attention. The Philadelphia Land Bank holds monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of every month. Each board member should block off that second Tuesday to make themselves available. But what is the Philadelphia Land Bank? The Philadelphia Land Bank is a public agency with the mission of reactivating vacant land. It has the legal authority to acquire Stated Meeting 147 05/09/2024 vacant land and tax-delinquent properties to repurpose them. The Land Bank develops land disposition policies that it and other City land-holding agencies follow. It has a strategic plan that informs future use of currently vacant land. The last strategic plan was done in 2019, but unfortunately that plan is as useful as the Mixed Income Neighborhood Overlay graphics produced by Land Bank Board members. Not useful at all. Why? Councilmanic prerogative. City Council has legislated a disposition policy based on each individual District. That has led to a broken system that is inefficient, ineffective and inequitable. But the Land Bank is only one piece of the puzzle if Philadelphia is going to accomplish Mayor Parker's goal of 30,000 units Stated Meeting 148 05/09/2024 in her first term. The process needs to be streamlined. We need to hold Land Bank Board members accountable. We need to question their motives and there needs to be a citywide housing plan. Without that citywide housing plan, nobody will want to put the units in their District. And of course, and Councilmanic prerogative. Thank you.
Ogbonna Hagins, Faheem Alexander, then Kate Perez. (Witnesses approached podium.)
Good morning. Ogbonna Hagins, fourth generation chattel slavery survivor. I'm speaking on the appointment of people to the commissions or Stated Meeting 149 05/09/2024 whatever it is. But I think there needs to be a new commission, an economic safety net commission. People of emancipated ancestry, American Freedmen have been encouraged and left to solve genocidal problems, i.e., redlining, mass incarceration, poverty --
Mr. Ogbonna Hagins, how you doing, good brother.
The resolution is specifically about the Land Bank appointments, so tailor your comments -
What I'm saying is I'm agreeing that these people are appointed, but I'm also saying that there needs to be something else for someone to be appoint -- Stated Meeting 150 05/09/2024
So I'm tying it all in. So instead of a reparative infrastructure that's enunciated in the 39th Congress in 1865, without institutional infrastructure backed by government appropriations, American Freedmen remain vulnerable to impossibilities fashioned and fed as solutions. The Institute for Policy Studies determined that American Freedmen will fall to zero wealth in America by 2053. There is no form of education being taught in Philadelphia schools to eliminate the wealth gap or prevent Freedmen children from experiencing zero wealth by the Year 2053. David G. Blanchflower of MIT's research into business credit market concluded that the levels of Stated Meeting 151 05/09/2024 capital required to start business structurally exclude non-wealthy individuals regardless of their entrepreneurial talents. American Freedmen simply do not have access to the necessary resources to build corporations that the main players for the global economy. The 1862 Homestead Act granted more than 270 million acres of land to private White citizens. The wealth of more than 46 million adults today can trace their wealth back to that. So educational attainment, financial literacy, hard work and buying Black efforts that harness our spending power alone will never prevent the continuation of economic fall of the American Freedman. What we must have is wealth transfer policies rooted in the promise of the 13th Amendment, the 13th Amendment that freed the Stated Meeting 152 05/09/2024 American Freedmen, that freed the slaves, but it also made us equal.
We're not being made equal. We need a commission to deal with the 13th Amendment and the promise of the 13th Amendment that makes the descendants of slavery equal. What does that mean? The scholar --
Thank you, Mr. Hagins. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Hagins. Will the Clerk please call the next person.
Faheem Alexander, then Kate Perez, David Stated Meeting 153 05/09/2024 Robinson and Eric Desiderio. Faheem Alexander. (Witnesses approached podium.)
Councilmembers, I appreciate you guys having me here, having our students here of Murrell Dobbins High School. We are currently located at 2150 West Lehigh Avenue. Our school is beautiful. It's a CTE program school. This is my first year there. I'm the barber instructor there. I wrote something real quick. One thing about our CTE programming is the CTE students are remarkable for balancing two curriculum simultaneously alongside traditional academic studies. They Stated Meeting 154 05/09/2024 dive into hands-on career-focused training. Our scholars are handling expensive and sometimes dangerous equipment. It's important that we get students in our school for the future. Our CTE program should not be pretty much a dumping site for underperforming students. We would like to have at our school all students, all Black and Brown children in Philadelphia attend our school. We are asking you guys to protect our program at Dobbins. Come see what we are about. A lot of children cannot afford to go to college. Our school is a career pathway to get your barber license, to get your cosmetology license, get your SafeServ license. It's a lot of programming there. I just would like for you guys to come to our school, visit our school, come see Stated Meeting 155 05/09/2024 what we are about, support our children that are there. Show them that they can come to this nice place to visit you guys and see that success aligns here in the City of Philadelphia.
I'm in support of Resolution 240087, teaching people and businesses how to file their taxes. Like this year, there were many workshops by war tax resistance organizations that taught citizens multiple ways to withhold paying federal taxes in protest of our money going straight to a foreign military instead of back into welfare programs like they're supposed to be. Well, federal taxes are supposed to be rerouted into Stated Meeting 156 05/09/2024 programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Medical assistance is a privilege to only those who can afford it. Other countries like Palestine have had their hospitals, medic tents, ambulances and medical personnel specially targeted by the occupation in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. This Council claims to care about children, crying about children in our City going hungry but staying silent when billions of our tax dollars go directly to shelling the more than 600,000 children focusing --
Ms. Perez, today we are focusing on tax preparation bill by Ms. Rue Landau. Just try your best to stick with the actual content.
Yeah, it has to do with taxes. It's our taxes that are funding the bombs. On Spring Stated Meeting 157 05/09/2024 Street we have people selling weapons. Palestinians were celebrating on Sunday when Hamas agreed to the ceasefire to return all the hostages and they were dead the next day when Israel refused the deal, shut down, Al Jazeera and began their assault on Rafah in direct violation of international law. Biden said Rafah was a redline and he would end armed sales if they invaded Rafah. Are you going to follow Biden --
Ms. Perez, let's talk about the taxes today please.
Okay. In terms of taxes we should end armed sales, condemn Pennsylvania's $56 million war bonds, cut the sister city ties with Tel Aviv, call for a ceasefire. None of this would be possible without our tax dollars. Stated Meeting 158 05/09/2024 It's past time to call for a ceasefire. It's past time to call for an end to the arm sales. They're bombing Rafah right now and it's our fault.
Thank you very much, ma'am. Will the Clerk please call the next person for public comment please.
Thank you. Stated Meeting 159 05/09/2024 Good afternoon, everyone.
President Johnson, thanks for having us. My name is Eric Desiderio. I've been a dedicated City employee for 38 years with the City of Philadelphia's correctional staff. Last month I was nominated and elected in as the President to represent our correctional staff as other departments also, so thank you. On behalf of the correctional staff, I would like to thank Curtis Jones, Jr., Councilman, for the resolution for recognizing Correctional Officers Week, May 6th to May 10th, for the tireless work that our members do up on State Road and at Local 1637, the correctional staff, at the (inaudible) building. Stated Meeting 160 05/09/2024 Behind me is Chief of Staff for Council, David Robinson, and I have Lieutenant Carlos Ruiz with me. Again, I would like to thank Councilman Jones and Council here for recognizing our staff, our correctional staff. And I want to use this public forum to let everyone know that we are hiring. So if you go to philly.gov/jobs and look up correctional officer because we are in need of staff up there, so I want to thank everyone. Thank you.
That concludes today's public comment period. We will now consider the bills and resolutions on the Second Stated Meeting 161 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240369.
A resolution initiating action to a neighborhood improvement district known as the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District in an area that generally includes both sides of East Passyunk Avenue from the south side of Federal Street to the east side of Broad Street, certain blocks of streets that intersect that portion of East Passyunk Avenue, both sides of South Broad Street from the north side of McKean Street to the north side of Snyder Avenue, and the west side of South Broad Street, from the south side of Mifflin Street to the north side of McKean Street; designating the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District, Inc., which has organized itself as a Stated Meeting 162 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation, as the Neighborhood Improvement District Management Association for the District; approving a plan for the District, including a list of proposed improvements and their estimated cost, and providing for assessment fees to be levied on property owners within the District, authorizing the Director of Commerce on behalf of the City to execute an agreement with the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District relating to the District, and authorizing the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District to assess property owners within the District, a special property assessment fee to be used in accordance with the approved plan; all in accordance with the provision of the Community and Economic Improvement Act, under Stated Meeting 163 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING certain terms and conditions.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember -- not here. Well, the Chair recognizes Councilmember Isaiah Thomas on behalf of Councilmember Squilla for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240369.
Thank you, Council President. On behalf of my neighbor, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240369 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) Stated Meeting 164 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240386.
A resolution appointing Jennifer Greenberg to the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Land Bank.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240386.
Thank you, Council President. On your behalf, I call for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded Resolution No. 240386 be adopted. All those in favor of the Stated Meeting 165 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240387.
A resolution appointing Maria Gonzalez to the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Land Bank.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240387.
Thank you, Council President. On your behalf, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.) Stated Meeting 166 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING
It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240387 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240388.
A resolution appointing Michael Johns to the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Land Bank.
The Chair recognize Councilmember Jamie Gauthier for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240388. Stated Meeting 167 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Council President. On your behalf, I call for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240388 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, the motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240389.
A resolution appointing Andrew Goodman to the Board of Directors of the Stated Meeting 168 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING Philadelphia Land Bank.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240389.
Thank you, Council President. On your behalf, I call for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240389 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Stated Meeting 169 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240390.
A resolution appointing Nicholas Dema to the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Land Bank.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240390.
Thank you, Council President. On your behalf, I call for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240390 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? Stated Meeting 170 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING (No response.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240391.
A resolution also naming the 4100 Block of Parkside Avenue as Reverend Dr. Arthur White Way, to honor the life and memory of Reverend Dr. Arthur R. White and his service to the East Parkside community.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Jamie Gauthier for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240391.
Thank you, Council President. I call for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Stated Meeting 171 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240391 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The resolution is adopted. Will the -- let's give him a round of applause. (Applause.)
Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240397.
A resolution requesting the City Controller to conduct a performance audit on all locations and funding distributed by the City in the Kensington area Stated Meeting 172 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING and examine the policies and procedures of the recipients and their impact on the City of Philadelphia.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Lozada for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240397.
Thank you, Council President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
Quick second. It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240397 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion Stated Meeting 173 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING carries. The resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240402.
A resolution adding "Gjergi Kastrioti Skenderbeu Way" to the street signs on Willits Road between Holme Avenue and Academy Road in recognition of the new Albanian American Community Center being constructed at 3322 Willits Road by the Philadelphia Albanian American Chapter of Bijite E Shqipes.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Driscoll for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240402.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Stated Meeting 174 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240402 be adopted. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted.
Will the Clerk please read the title of Resolution No. 240403.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority deeds conveying fee simple title to 1532 West Loudon Street in the 8th Councilmanic District of the City Stated Meeting 175 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING of Philadelphia, and further authorizing the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority to transfer to the Philadelphia Land Bank fee simple title to such properties pursuant to Section 16-405 of The Philadelphia Code.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson for a motion regarding Resolution No. 240403 on behalf of Councilmember Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of Councilmember Bass, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 240403 be adopted. Stated Meeting 176 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the resolution is adopted. Will the Clerk please read the title of Bill No. 240192.
An ordinance approving the 5th Amendment of the Redevelopment proposal for the Tioga Urban Renewal Area being the area generally bounded by Hunting Park Avenue on the North, Broad Street, Germantown Avenue, Venango Street, 15th Street, Allegheny Avenue and Germantown Avenue on the East, Glenwood Avenue and Lehigh Avenue on the south and 23rd Street, Allegheny Avenue and 22nd Stated Meeting 177 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING Street on the west, including the 5th Amendment to the Urban Renewal Plan, which provides for changes that would make it consistent with the Tioga Redevelopment Area Plan and generally consistent with the most recent comprehensive plan approved by the City Planning Commission of the City of Philadelphia.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Will the Clerk please call the roll.
Councilmember Stated Meeting 178 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING Gauthier.
Aye. Stated Meeting 179 05/09/2024 5/9/24 - STATED - 2ND READING