Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA STATED MEETING Via Microsoft Teams Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday, December 10, 2020 10:18 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMAN ALLAN DOMB COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN DEREK S. GREEN COUNCILWOMAN HELEN GYM COUNCILMAN BOBBY HENON COUNCILMAN KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN DAVID OH COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILWOMAN CHERELLE L. PARKER COUNCILWOMAN MARIA D. QUINONES-SANCHEZ COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS MICHAEL A. DECKER, CHIEF CLERK Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you and good morning, everyone. We're going to get started. I understand that the state law currently requires that the following announcement be made at the beginning of every remote Council session: Due to the current public health emergency, City Council is currently meeting remotely. We are using Microsoft Teams to make this remote meeting possible. Instructions for how the public may view the meeting and offer public comment are included in the Stated Meeting notice that was published in the Daily News, Inquirer, Legal Intelligencer prior to the meeting, and can also be found on PHLCouncil.com. I now note that the hour has come. Clerk will please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance, please indicate that you are present or some other word also to ensure that your image is displayed on the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Decker, please call the roll.
Good morning, Council President and colleagues. Looking forward to today's session. Thank you.
Good morning, Council President and colleagues and the listening public.
Good morning, Council President. Good morning, colleagues. Good morning to the public. Present.
Good morning, Council President. Good morning, colleagues. And good morning, Philadelphia.
Good morning, Council President, and good morning, colleagues. Good morning to the viewing and listening public.
Good morning, Council President, and good morning, colleagues.
Good morning, Council President and good morning, colleagues. Seeking justice for Sadeek Clark-Harrison.
Good morning, Mr. President, colleagues, Philadelphia. Good morning.
Good morning, Council President. Good morning, colleagues.
Present. Good morning, Mr. President and colleagues.
Good morning, good morning, good morning. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Good morning, Council President and colleagues. I'm present.
Good morning, Council President. Good morning, colleagues. Good morning to the listening public.
And good morning, everyone. I want to thank you. A quorum of the Council is present. We will now come to order. Despite the great need, there Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 no invocation today. We will, however, observe a very brief moment of silent prayer for our city, its leaders, and the citizens during the current public health crisis. Can we now observe a brief moment of silence. (Moment of silence.)
Thank you. Thank you all very much. Our next order of business is the approval of the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, December 3rd, 2020, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, December 3rd, 2020 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the Journal of the meeting of Thursday, December 3rd, 2020 Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and our Journal is approved. The next order of business is requests for leave of absence, and the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Parker.
Thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of the members of Council, there are no requests for leaves of absence today.
Thank you. The Chair thanks the Councilwoman. And our next order of business is communications, and I'll ask Mr. Decker to please read the messages from the Mayor and any other Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 have in his possession.
From the Mayor to the President and members of the Council of the City of Philadelphia, pursuant to Sections 4-604 and 2-307 of the Home Rule Charter, I am today transmitting to the Council the recommendation of the City Planning Commission on the following bills: Bill Nos. 200571, 200575, 200576, 200577, 200578, 200592, 200595, 200596, 200598, 200601, 200602, 200604, 200613, 200622, 200623, 200628, 200576, 200613, 200626, 200656, 200661, and 200677. And I am pleased to advise you that on December 9, 2020, I signed the following bill which was passed by Council at its session on December 3, 2020: Bill No. 200574-A. And I am submitting herewith for the consideration of your honorable body a resolution appointing James Aros, Jr., to the position of Chief Assessment Officer of the Office of Property Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Assessment; and A resolution confirming the appointment of Diana P. Cortes, Esquire, as the City Solicitor, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. And our next order of business is the introduction of bills and resolutions. By way of a reminder, we are asking that all resolutions, including privileged resolutions, be placed on the Final Passage Calendar for the next session of Council, unless they are being referred to committee. In our current remote environment, this procedure will provide an appropriate opportunity for public comment. So I want to thank you in advance for your cooperation. Mr. Decker, can you please read the titles of the legislation that is being offered today by the members.
Councilwoman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Parker offers on behalf of Council President Clarke four resolutions, entitled a "Resolution appointing James Aros, Jr., to the position of Chief Assessment Officer of the Office of Property Assessment."
And a resolution confirming the appointment of Diana P. Cortes, Esquire, as the City Solicitor.
And a resolution honoring the life and legacy of Joey Temple.
I'm supposed to ask for this. Given the timeframe of the Council and us coming back and the unfortunate untimely death of Mr. Temple, can I ask Majority Leader to ask for a suspension of the rules to allow that to be on today's Calendar.
Yes, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Mr. President. I ask for a suspension of the rules to allow the resolution honoring the life and legacy of Joey Temple to be placed on today's Calendar. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. That will be on today's Calendar.
And a resolution recognizing, honoring and celebrating the extraordinary career of W. Wilson Goode, Jr., distinguished four-term member of Philadelphia City Council from 2000 to 2016.
And seeing that, I don't know if everybody is familiar that our good friend and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 colleague will be retiring. Never thought he was old enough to do that. I'm going to ask the Majority Leader if we can ask that that can also be a rules suspension so he can receive his honor while he is still a member of the City Council team.
Thank you, Mr. President. I ask that we suspend the rules for immediate consideration of the resolution honoring the service of former Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr.
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 (No response.)
The ayes have it, and that will be placed on today's Calendar. I anticipate a call from my good friend, because he had no idea we were going to do this today.
Councilman Jones offers four resolutions, entitled a "Resolution congratulating and honoring Joseph A. Lukaitis, Sr. on the occasion of his retirement from the Philadelphia Police Department after 24 years of dedicated service to the residents of Philadelphia."
That will be on next Council session's Calendar.
Thank you. That will be on next's Council session's Calendar.
And a resolution Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 recognizing and honoring Rue Landau for her incredibly impactful work as Executive Director of both the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and Fair Housing Commission, and congratulating her on her new career in academia as the "Beck Professor" at Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for a rules suspension so that this resolution can be considered today. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 ayes have it. That will be on today's Calendar.
And a resolution recognizing and honoring the West Philly Panthers for their success in competing in the 2020 American Youth Football National Championship in Kissimmee, Florida.
That was supposed to be introduced by Member Thomas. He is the youth athletic person in Council now. So I don't know how we do that.
I just want to recognize he is the youth sports person in City Council.
We understand. He is the youth and he is Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 the athlete.
Council President, I have him down as a co-introducer with Councilman Jones.
Let the record reflect that. That will be on the next session of Council's Calendar.
Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez offers four bills and one resolution, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 12-2700 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Permit Parking Districts,' by amending the boundaries for certain permit parking districts, and by establishing a new permit parking district"; and An ordinance amending Section 12-2705 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Issuance of Resident Parking Permits," to address the rules regarding Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 issuance of resident permit parking permits; and An ordinance amending Section 12-2705 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Issuance of Resident Parking Permits," to address the cost of resident parking permits for certain low-income individuals; and An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Lehigh Avenue, Frankford Avenue, Master Street and 6th Street.
Those four bills just read by the Chief Clerk will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And a resolution calling upon the United States Congress, including members of its Pennsylvania delegation, to support the passage of House Resolution 8113, which recognizes the inherent authority of the people of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Puerto Rico to call for a Constitutional Assembly on Status.
And that will be on the next session's Calendar.
Councilwoman Brooks offers one bill, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 9-4100 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces,' to revise provisions concerning leave time for public health emergencies, and making technical changes."
Councilman Domb offers one resolution recognizing and honoring Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D., and Katalin Kariko, Ph.D., for their visionary discoveries at the University of Pennsylvania leading to development of a messenger ribonucleic acid technology which is the foundation of leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you, Council President. I just want to thank everyone for their support of this resolution. I think it's really important that we highlight the work that was done by University of Penn partners. Because of their persistence in research and what they have done, we're months away from a vaccine. It's the work of University of Penn that is allowing all these other pharmaceutical companies to come up with this vaccine. It's pretty amazing that Penn has done this, and we should be really proud of that. So we're part of the whole like getting this vaccine done because of Penn, so I just wanted to recognize them. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. That will be on next session's Calendar. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Councilman Thomas offers one resolution honoring and congratulating the Academy at Palumbo Boys Volleyball team, on their successful 2019 season and their overall 15 to 6 record in the Philadelphia Public League.
Councilman Squilla offers two resolutions, entitled a "Resolution honoring the life and legacy of Philadelphia Police Captain Frank Milillo."
And a resolution recognizing Monday, December 14 to Friday, December 18 as PHLConnectED Week.
Yes. Councilman Squilla. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Yes. Philadelphia ConnectED, next week is the big week for how we're going through to let people know some of the changes in PHLConnectED, and so is it possible to suspend the rules to have that heard this week?
Yeah. I was kind of delaying. I thought you may want to do that. Yes. Just make a formal request for a suspension of the rules.
Thank you, Mr. President. I make a request to suspend the rules to have this resolution heard at this Council session.
Thank you. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Those opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it, and that will be on this week's Calendar.
Councilman Oh offers a resolution recognizing and honoring legendary jazz host Bob Perkins for his accomplishments and contributions to radio and print media in Philadelphia.
Thank you. That will be on next session's Calendar.
There are no other bills or resolutions being offered by the members, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. There are actually no reports from committee today, so our next order of business is the consideration of the Calendar. There being no bills on the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Reading Calendar, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Parker for a motion concerning the resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the following resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar. They are Resolutions Nos. 200679, 200680, 200682, 200684, 200685, 200686, 200689, 200691, 200692, 200693, 200694, 200695, 200696, 200697, 200700, 200701, 200702, 200703, 200704, and 200705.
It's been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the resolutions just read by Councilwoman Parker. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, the motion carries, and we will consider the Resolution Consent Agenda shortly. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Parker for a motion concerning the bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the following bills on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars. They are Nos. 200389, 200516, 200571, 200576, 200577, 200592, 200601, 200602, 200624, 200413, 200541, 200614, 200619, 200085, 200086, 200257, 200542, 200543, 200575, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 200578, 200595, 200596, 200597, 200598, 200626, 200657, 200659, 200660, 200661, 200663, and 200616. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the use of a Consent Agenda to consider the bills just read by Councilwoman Parker. All in favor please indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, the motion carries, and we will consider the Consent Agenda shortly. The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Parker for the purpose of calling up bills and resolutions on the regular Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 2ND READING
Thank you, Mr. President. In addition to the resolutions and bills being considered on the Consent Agendas, the following resolutions and bills are being called up from the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars today. They are Nos. 200491-AA, 200683, 200698, 200588-A, 200589-A, 200590-A, 200653, 200556, 200366, 200613, 200654, 200573, 200620, 200621, 200622, 200623, 200557, 200559, 200563, 200479, and 200593. All other bills and resolutions are being held, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Before we proceed with the consideration of the public comment, we'll take a brief moment, recess to give our technology professionals some time to connect the speakers we have for today's meeting. Take a brief break. (Short recess.) Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you. We're going to get started. Now that everyone is connected to the meeting and before considering resolutions and bills we have before us today, we will consider public comment. It will go as follows: Public comment must concern matters on the Second Reading and Final Passage Calendars for possible action at a session of Council. A speaker on any of these matters must sign up in order to testify. You must call 215-686-3406 by 5:00 p.m. the day before the session to sign up for public comment. When you call, we will take your name, phone number, the number of the legislative item you are commenting on, and whether you are in support or against the legislation and add you to the list. We will then telephone each person on the list during the Council session and invite them to our remote meeting. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Under ideal circumstances, we would have about three minutes to speak, but today we must have a time limit. That is two minutes. We have a significant number of individuals testifying. So in order to ensure that everybody has a chance to testify, we're going to do two minutes. I want to be fair, so I intend to hold faithfully to the established time limit, and once invited to the meeting and asked to begin your testimony, a timer will be started. We will monitor your remaining time throughout your testimony. (Council President's computer froze.)
So I also reserve the right to limit the number of speakers where repetitious comments are being made on the same matter and to limit the scope of the testimony to only certain items on the agenda during this emergency, which could Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 affect callbacks for the public comment at the meeting. So please be aware this is a public meeting and it's being recorded. So because the meeting is public, participants and viewers have no reasonable expectation of privacy. So by continuing to be in the meeting, you are consenting to being recorded. I will now ask the Chief Clerk to please read the name of our first speaker.
Good morning. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, she's not on the line.
Calvin Williams. COUNCIL SUPPORT: He also did not answer. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Good morning. State your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Okay. Yes. My name is Benjamin She. Last name, S-H-E. I'm speaking against Bill 200613 about the Strawberry Mansion Neighborhood Conservation Overlay. A few days ago, there was another Planning Commission meeting giving more details for those NCOs in Strawberry Mansion with some more technical details on the applicability and regulations on development it can entail. I've been watching the process very closely, and while we sympathize with the wish for more community control and as a historically underserved community, we have big reservations on what the precedent that could come out of this overlay means when it's applied to more affluent neighborhoods across the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 state. Specifically, the criteria for the NCO itself is not sound, in my opinion, because the number of parcels that it applies to goes far, far beyond the stipulated 25-block limit in NCOs, and the criteria for being architecturally consistent across the whole neighborhood does not apply here because of the huge variance in porches. You have several houses with and without porches. In our opinion also, the public outreach process for this NCO was rushed and compressed due to the pandemic. This was an admission from Planning staff itself, and I am told it does feel like a step backwards (inaudible) Philadelphia 2035 planning process started in 2012 to 2018, and this will only entail more (inaudible) per regulation that's (inaudible) goals and could be (inaudible) more conducive to our processes. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 So I urge Council to really reconsider the merits of this bill and to further advise that (inaudible) between Planning and the neighborhood as well. Thank you very much.
Good morning. State your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
Good morning. My name is Diane Davis. I am the President of the Strawberry Mansion NAC Neighborhood Subcommittee and I'm here today asking your support of the Strawberry Mansion NCO Bill 200613. With the outstanding assistance of staff in Councilman Clarke's office and the Planning Commission, our coalition was able to put this overlay together. As I understand it, the overall goals of the conservation Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 district is to make sure that a neighborhood keeps its visual character, and that is what we are trying to accomplish. In just about every neighborhood, people have a sense of civic pride, and all agree that there is something distinctive about where they live, and their community's older buildings and parks help to define the neighborhood. Strawberry Mansion is one of those neighborhoods. Only a few buildings have lost integrity of Strawberry Mansion. Therefore, maintaining sight lines and building heights will help preserve the architectural heritage and continuity in the neighborhood. We want to preserve the overall character when rehabbing old structures and building new ones. Recently we have been inundated with developers coming to the neighborhood, putting up structures because they have the by-right privilege. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 They put up buildings that don't align with the visual character of the neighborhood. They also don't find it necessary to inform the community of their plans. Therefore, members of City Council, there's an urgent need for this overlay. I have lived in Strawberry Mansion for over 65 years, and by-right I should have a say on what happens in my neighborhood and not allow developers to come in and tell us what we need. No one knows the need better than those who live in the neighborhood. I'm not against development, but development seems to be set against me. I'm asking this Council to listen to the testimonies given today in support of this bill. Hear what we have to say. Hear what we are saying to you. Hear what we are attempting to do for our neighborhood. We are Strawberry Mansion strong, and we don't intend to leave. So, again, I ask you to support Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 our efforts by supporting overlay Bill 200613. Thank you again. I'm Diane Davis. Thank you for the comment.
Sherri Brown. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, Sherri Brown is not on the line. However, Queen Judith Robinson is.
Queen Judith Robinson, you're the next speaker. (No response.)
Good morning. QUEEN ROBINSON: Judith Robinson here -
Good morning. QUEEN ROBINSON: -- testifying on Bill 200613. Do we as the citizens of Strawberry Mansion have a right to request an overlay? Yes, we do. Yes, we Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 do. But with every right comes responsibility. Just to say this: These developers were invited to our community. NTI, the demolition program, brought them into the community via a demolition derby and made Strawberry Mansion a prototype area. In addition, in North Philadelphia, Bill 150409 used PHA to use eminent domain to take black people's property as the property values were increasing -- is increasing. Allowing PHA, that was a big blow to take equity out of the community. Now we're asking for investors to come under an overlay, and that's a good thing, but without any government stopgap measures or any stipulations, investors were invited into the community. So we wonder how we got here. We got here through a governmental process, giving land to developers, inviting them in, letting them know that Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 we're open for business. I look at Fairmount Park now in the reclamation area. Now I understand what that meant in the NTI. So, yes, we deserve to have an overlay. We must have community participation, people in the room that can give this bill some real direction. Thank you so much for the time.
My name is Walter Barrett and I'm calling in from Georgia, where I'm knocking on doors with my fellow union members to make sure we turn the Senate blue, but I'm here today to speak to you about the Black Work Matters Economic Recovery Act. I've spent more than 20 years as a cook in the hospitality industry, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 and for the last five years, I've been at Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia. I was laid off from my job on March 9th, and ever since then I have been struggling with uncertainty of what comes next. I landed at the Sheraton and I planned on retiring there. I need to hold onto this job for a little while longer so that I can get the full benefits of my pension. I know that the economic impact of the pandemic has been hard on everyone, but for people with so many years in, it has been really brutal. I have seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild. They have always looked to me for direction and guidance. It's been really emotionally challenging to have to depend on them for financial help. I didn't get my first unemployment check until June. It has been really hard. My savings have been depleted, and that's a scary thing. I Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 raised my kids to be independent, and the last thing I want to do is be a burden on them. Knowing that I would have a job when this pandemic ends would be a game-changer for me financially. It would help me save with security and feel like I could retire securely and help my family the way I always have. But it's more than just financial. It's all about the relationship you foster over the decades of working in this industry, the friends you make, the contributions you make to the City. I want to spend my last working days with co-workers who have worked so hard going through so much. I'm really proud to be a part of this fight, because I know it gives my grand-kids hope to see their grandfather working to help make our world better, but it's hard to keep going on in times like this. We need our elected officials like you all to give us the hope. So I Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 urge you to pass the Economic Recovery Act so that me and my co-workers can rest easy knowing that when this is all done, we're going to have a job to go back to. And I just want to say that good things do happen in Philadelphia, but it starts with our leader. Thank you for your time.
Thank you so much for your testimony. Before we go to the next person, the Chair would like to recognize Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. I do have to run to a personal matter. I'd like to be recorded aye on all bills and resolutions moving forward. I plan to get back before the end of the session. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. Leave shall be granted. Proceed, Mr. Decker. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Good morning. My name is Rosslyn Wuchinich and I'm the President of Unite Here Local 274, Philadelphia's hospitality and food service workers union. I'm thrilled to be here today with many members of our union who are watching online to testify in full support of Bills No. 200557, 200563, and 200559. This legislation, in a sense, is very simple. It's just ensuring that hospitality workers in our city will be able to return to their jobs when those jobs return. But that protection and that promise is historic and it's essential. We are deeply thankful to the sponsors of this legislation, Councilmembers Gym, Johnson, and Thomas. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Thank you to all the co-sponsors of the legislation, and thank you to all the members of the Law and Government Committee who voted it unanimously out of committee. There are certainly many employers who have and will do the right thing by making sure their employees are offered their jobs back when business resumes. Unfortunately, there are some who will not. This legislation protects our industry's workers from any unscrupulous employers who might dare to use this pandemic to further their financial interest. And it protects against those who would do so at the expense of long-term employees who are overwhelmingly black and overwhelmingly female. We are proud to have been part of City Council's collaborative process with stakeholders to craft legislation that addresses the industry's concerns while protecting workers in Bill No. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 200557. We are also proud to stand with you today to expand existing protections in The Philadelphia Code through Bills No. 200563 and 200559. Your support for these bills today is a victory for worker justice, racial justice, gender justice in Philadelphia. We thank you and urge you to vote in favor of these three bills, the Black Workers Matters Economic Recovery package. Thank you.
Good morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
All right. My name is Charles Patton. I am a cook and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 I worked at the Philadelphia International Airport for seven years. I'm testifying in support of Bills 200577, 200559, and 200563. Together, we call this the Black Workers Matter Economic Recovery package. I organized my union at my job to better my life and better the working conditions of my co-workers. I, like so many others, was laid off last March because of the pandemic. I think that everybody in my position should have the right to return to their job no matter how long it takes, because nobody lost their job because of something they did. At the airport, we worked hard to make these jobs good enough to support our families on, and I want to make sure everybody has a right to go back to those jobs when the economy recovers. I don't know how long that's going to take. When my company first offered a voluntary recall, I was unable to take it because I care for my elderly mother, who Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 suffers from diabetes and diabetic neuropathy, which makes her a fall risk. She also has fibromyalgia, which is aggravated when she falls. It has been harder to line up help from home healthcare providers because of the pandemic, making it even more difficult to figure out everything. At the beginning of the month, I did -- at the beginning of November, I did decide that I was ready to go back to work and was asked to be put back on the schedule. I was planned to return, but my company decided it wasn't profitable enough for me to come back to work yet. And now with indoor dining being in effect again, I don't know when I'll get back to work. I have a union job with recall rights and an employer who is working with us. I can't imagine what workers who don't have some of the basic protections that I have are going through right now. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 So I urge you to pass the Black Work Matters Economic Recovery package. These three bills are critical to ensure the final security -- the financial security of hospitality workers across the City. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. I'd like to recognize Councilman Squilla one more time.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to be recorded as voting aye on all bills and resolutions. Thank you.
Just want to request a leave of absence? You're going to be leaving -
Yes. Request a leave of absence and to be recorded aye on all bills and resolutions.
Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Thank you. Leave shall be granted. Thank you, Councilman.
The next speaker is Reverend Greg Holston. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, Reverend Holston is not on the line.
Good morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
Thank you. My name is Kaydene Grant. I am a member of the Women's Community Revitalization Project, a concerned citizen, a former Philadelphia School District teacher, and a former teacher with Philadelphia's Opportunity Network. I'm here to speak on the importance of passing the impact tax Bill 200556. As a former teacher within the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Opportunity Network, I faced many challenges teaching in an alternative high school. I was tasked with pulling out the potential from students who face many social and economic issues, including students who have been kicked out of multiple schools, students who were in (inaudible), and students that require house visits just to get them to come to school. One particular student shined above the rest. He showed up to school early, just ten minutes after the teachers arrived. He ate the packaged breakfast and lunch with no complaints, unlike his peers. He would stay in the student lounge to complete his assignments until the last school employee left. Even to the average eye, a star student. But every teacher knows our job is to see the child, not just the student, and learn the why behind every behavior, good or bad. I learned this student arrived Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 early every morning because he had to be out of his shelter early. He ate the school breakfast and lunch so he wouldn't have to take food out of the mouth of his siblings. He stayed late so he can finish assignments because he had to go to work every night to help his mom and five other siblings. They were trying to save up money to find a place to stay. You see, after his grandma died, they couldn't afford to keep up repairs and pay the increased taxes on the house, even though the house was paid off. They struggled to find rent that they can afford. He said for now, they were in shelter, but he promised his mom it will only be temporary because he will do whatever it takes to get them into a place of their own. He was supposed to graduate last June, but being in a shelter made it impossible for him to log into virtual school. I checked up on him a few months ago, and he was worried about his Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 siblings not being able to physically attend school. He said virtual learning from home is impossible when you are homeless. This is just one story, but it reflects the reality of hundreds of students across Philadelphia. The many vulnerable Philadelphians need you to pass this bill. This bill will bring affordable housing such as more affordable rental units. And I don't mean affordable according to HUD's small definition. They define affordable as earning more than 48,000 per year for a family of four. Nearly half of Philadelphians earn less than 48,000 a year. I mean affordable so that a mother doesn't have to place her children in a shelter where the younger children don't have a safe place for virtual learning while the older child works and can no longer go to physical school early every day. We want to thank City Council Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 President Darrell Clarke for introducing this legislation, and hope that this body will vote to ensure truly affordable housing for all.
The next speaker is Beth McConnell. MS. McCONNELL: Good morning, Council President.
Good morning. MS. McCONNELL: My name is Beth McConnell. I'm the Policy Director of the Philadelphia Association of CDCs. We urge Council to pass Bills 200556 and 200366 today, the legislative package to invest in affordable homes, community economic development, and job creation. Philadelphia desperately needs action to stimulate economic activity to recover from the devastating impacts of COVID on our local economy. That action also must be equitable and center Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 recovery strategies on attacking the inequality that has led to people of color in Philadelphia being the hardest hit by shutdowns, job losses, and the health crisis of COVID. While some may tell you that the development impact tax will hurt economic activity, you must remember that the activities these funds will support will create economic activities for the people and places that have been hurt the most by COVID and its impacts. The work that CDCs across Philadelphia do on these activities and have done over the last 28 years have led to a $5.4 billion economic impact in Philadelphia, including an added $18 million every single year for our schools. This included building new affordable homes, repairing and preserving existing affordable homes, improving our neighborhood commercial corridors, and supporting small businesses. These investments build wealth and opportunity for neighborhood Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 residents, again particularly people of color that have too long been denied access to these critical opportunities. We continue to call on Council to dedicate at least a quarter of those funds to support our corridors and the other for affordable homes. Create an advisory committee with community representation, and work with the building trades unions to bring down the cost of construction for projects funded with these and other public subsidies. We applaud Council for taking this bold move to support our communities during this unprecedented crisis. Nothing less than bold is necessary to create a more equitable Philadelphia. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Good Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Yes. I am Dr. Cora M. Turpin. I'm a Northern Liberties resident, and I've been a committee person for many years. I am against your bills that you have, 200556, 200653. My disappointment is that these bills for $400 million have no provisions to protect the elderly, who have stabilized these neighborhoods for decades, people too old for loans but whose homes suffer most from neglect because of their financial inability as a result of inflation, increased medical costs, and the real estate taxes that this city requires. I understand that a tax freeze on the real estate are limited by the state. However, if you are taxing the developers for low taxes, then the same can be done for residents over 65 who have paid escalating taxes for decades. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 I have every confidence that our esteemed Council will find ways to grant subsidies and the like that result in no increase in real estate taxes for people 65 and older regardless of income. I hope there is a common determination to do this, for many of you are also aging and will find that however generous your salaries are, your purchasing ability during retirement will continue to dwindle all the days of your lives. You will not be able to compete with the higher salaries of youthful workers and will be -- you will see the quality of your life eroded. Please do not pass these bills, and generate other bills that ensure homeowners the stability for all ages of residents. Thank you, and I appreciate your attention.
Good morning. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, he's not on the line.
Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
Yes. My name is Zachary Lewis. Hello, everyone. I am Executive Director of Disabled in Action, a local grassroots advocacy group run and controlled by people with disabilities and allies. I'm a proud motivated organizer with ADAPT, A-D-A-P-T, for just about 15 years or so. I'm also a consumer who receives home and community-based services through the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Department of Health and Human Services, which allows me to live independently in the community. I thank God for that. I know and understand that I just named a bunch of different titles. I get it, I wear a lot of hats. However, as a person with a disability, I represent over 50-plus percent of the population who are renters in Philadelphia. In addition to the -- I'm sorry. In addition to that statistic, I represent 16 percent of the disabled population here in Philadelphia, for me and a lot of people who look like me live on a fixed income because of government assistance such as SNAP benefits, cash assistance, SSI, SSDI that is anywhere between $738 and $1,200 a month. It equals to about $14,000 a year or less. Most of the disability community lives on 18 percent of the average median income, which is extremely low income. These various government-funded income streams are critical for people that look like Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 me. Being a part of Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities is something (inaudible). I believe the saying goes there's strength in numbers. For this tremendous amount of support together, we have developed a strong Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund. I'm here to testify in favor for the Bill 200556. With this ordinance, it would allow for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund to receive a one percent tax on all construction in Philadelphia. I'm in favor of the tax because it allows for development without displacement throughout neighborhoods in Philadelphia. This means that for every new structure that is built, there will be -- the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund will receive a one percent tax construction cost. This newly generated fund will allow for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund the ability for accessible, affordable, integrated housing. This is an option for renters and the sale of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 housing units in Philadelphia -- to Philadelphians who desire to become homeowners. The one percent construction tax would also fund people that are dying in nursing facilities. People that are in nursing facilities are lacking the resources needed to transition out into the communities.
People are in need of home modifications and accessible equipment that would allow them to gain their independence and live in the community.
I'm going to ask -- you have to kind of wrap it up. Your time is gone. If you can just wrap it up, please.
I believe I was. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 This bill will basically allow access for gaining that one percent tax to have accessible, affordable, integrated housing for people to transition out of nursing facilities.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony, sir. Appreciate you.
The next speaker is Stephanie Biello. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, the next three callers are not on the line. However, we do have Reverend Holston.
Again, my name is Reverend Gregory Holston. I am here as the Senior Advisor for the District Attorney on Policy and Advocacy, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 and I'm reading a statement from him. Good morning, Councilmembers. I'm here today to stand in support of the Black Worker Matter bill package, 200557, 200559, and 200563. I stand with you not only because these bills are anti-poverty measures, but they are also gun violence prevention measures. The DAO believes the best way to fight for -- to fight crime is more jobs, economic opportunity, education, summer programs, building communities and rec centers. We believe that the best gun violence prevention measures are measured that send tens of millions of dollars back to the community each year to build up the things that give youth hope and make them believe that they have a future. When you do those things over time, they don't pick up guns. They don't shoot each other. It's not a coincidence the highest levels of gun violence in our city are in the poorest sections of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Philadelphia. We are still the poorest big city in this country with nearly 400,000 people living in poverty and about 200,000 living in deep poverty. If we reduce poverty, we reduce gun violence. The efforts of the movement for change have taken workers as little as $2.50 an hour and have increased their salary as much as $15 to $20 an hour. It is during this COVID time that all of these workers -- most of these workers have suffered great job loss. I applaud the sponsors, Councilmembers Gym, Johnson, Thomas, and co-sponsors Parker, Henon, Jones, Gilmore Richardson, Brooks, Gauthier, Quinones-Sanchez, and Clarke on these bills and make a preemptive strike and telling these financial institutions, these hedge funds you can't undermine our work here in the City of Philadelphia. I thank you for your determination to give hospitality workers Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 hope, to give black people hope, to give our communities hope by standing with these workers to fight crime through economic prosperity. Thank you so much.
Yes. I'm right here. This is Dominique Howell testifying on Bill No. 200556. I was having to go to the bathroom in the middle of our thing. My name is Dominique Howell and I am an Independent Living Specialist at Liberty Resources, the Leading Center for Independent Living in Philadelphia. Liberty Resources is also a member of the Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities. Liberty Resources has existed for nearly four decades and is Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 run by people with disabilities. We advocate for people with disabilities to have equal and affordable and accessible housing in Philadelphia. We have been working on making the Housing Trust Fund one that meets our city needs for over 20 years. We live in a city where half of its residents are renters, where 16 percent of people are disabled, and many are on fixed incomes making anywhere between 738 or 1,200 a month. This equals to 14,000 a year or less. As the population grows, they continue to be underserved. Our coalition and our members continue to fight for affordable housing for the broader population. We support this bill because it would establish a 400 million bond to preserve and create affordable housing. It also allows to help consumers get out of the nursing home and get safely into the community. (Inaudible) of the affordable housing -okay. So I'm just asking you all today Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 to understand that in support of this bill, it would provide accessible housing and affordable housing units for all Philadelphians that are underserved. Thank you very much.
Good morning. Yes. Good morning, Chairman Clarke, members of Council. My name is Brendan Lynch. I'm an attorney with the Employment Unit at Community Legal Services. I'm testifying today to urge you to support Bill No. 200479 to amend the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance. In my work and my colleagues' work, we've seen the need for improvements to the law, and this bill -this amendment would make two important changes. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Number one, it would expand the law from covering only job applicants to covering current employees. There are many, many situations where people come to us because they've been thrown out of a job that they had already shown they had the ability to do because a new background check was done after they had started the job. The current text of the ordinance does not cover them, but with this amendment, it would cover people in that situation and, as they ought to, would receive the same protections as people applying initially to get a job. The bill would also expand the law to cover independent contractors and gig workers. This is a huge and growing sector of the economy for our fellow Philadelphians, and many people are finding that they are being excluded from these jobs due to their records, including old or minor records. The Ban the Box ordinance, as the ordinance is known, has always served Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 to try to weed out some very common forms of bias. First of all, the results of the criminal justice system are not neutral. They disproportionately affect in particular black and the EEOC's characterization is Hispanic (inaudible). And there is also, of course, a longstanding tendency of employers who assume that someone who has a conviction once convicted is always permanently more of a risk to commit a crime in the future than other people. In fact, repeated studies have shown that that is not true, that after a number of years without an arrest, people are no more likely to commit a crime than any other person off the street. And so this amendment will ensure that that bias -- that those biases are not used as excuses and reasons to exclude our fellow citizens, in particular citizens of color, from the ever-expanding array of gig economy jobs that so many of them are depending upon. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Lastly, I just wanted to note that we have not heard in the nine years that Ban the Box has been the law in Philadelphia, we haven't heard any problems with the bill. If those people who are concerned about the bill will come forward with evidence of problems -this amendment would be the third amendment in nine years. There can be a fourth, if necessary. If people come forward with actual evidence that it's causing problems, we certainly would not want to see any concerns about safety or employee suitability in Philadelphia, but we have not heard those problems, and our office is confident that we will not with these amendments, and so we urge City Council to adopt them. Thank you.
Good Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 morning. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, I'm not sure Rashon Howard is on the line. I think Mr. Bennett is.
We hear you now, yes. Proceed. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
I am Leonard Bennett, the Pennsylvania State Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated. On behalf of the International President, Michael Cristal, and the Eastern Regional Director, JR Reeves, I would like to thank City Council for considering this resolution. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 I appreciate the actions of Councilmembers Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Derek Green, Cherelle Parker, and Kenyatta Johnson for this resolution, recognizing and honoring and congratulating Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated on its 107th Founder's Day. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded at Howard University on January 9th, 1914 by Honorable A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown. This means Phi Beta Sigma, just as our sister organization, Zeta Phi Beta out of Philadelphia, is one of the founding members. Founder Charles I. Brown lived and worked in the Philadelphia area until his death in 1981. Our motto of culture for service, service for humanity was expressed by members that you might know as Brother George Washington Carver; A. Philip Randolph; John Lewis; Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Party; James Weldon Johnson; fellow Central High alum, Alain Leroy Locke, the first African American Rhodes Scholar; and currently Reverend Waller of Enon Tabernacle; State Representative Jordan Harris; Judge Virgil Walker of Montgomery County; the Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard. These are members of Pennsylvania -- I mean, these are certain members of Phi Beta Sigma that you might know of. So on behalf of all Sigmas in the State of Pennsylvania, from Indiana University, from Pennsylvania University, from Pittsburgh, Temple, on behalf we thank you for considering this resolution of honoring our Founder's Day. Thank you very much.
Good Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
My name is Victoria Fernandez. I'm calling about Bill 200366, the abatement bill. Council should vote no on this bill. This bill is destroying the City and losing -- yes. I'm here. Victoria Fernandez. I'm calling about Bill 200366, the abatement bill.
To all vote no on this bill. This bill is costing the City millions of dollars. The only people who should have an abatement is who own their homes and have stayed in the neighborhoods for 20, 30 years. (Pause.)
Is that all? Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony.
I'm waiting for you to conclude. Go ahead. Go ahead.
If you can afford to buy a home that costs a half a million dollars or more, you can pay your real estate taxes. The money collected for abatement can help two groups that this Council seems to forget. One is the children who go to school and, two, seniors. Stop catering to the affluent and rich, and cater to the people who vote you in office. Thank you.
Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for your testimony.
Yes. State your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
This is Madeline Shikomba. I'm representing North of Washington Avenue and I'm talking about Bill No. 200366, the abatement bill. Okay? Can I finish? Can I go on?
I want the people of Philadelphia to remember these names. These are the City Council people who are supporting this bill and are Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 against the full funding of our education for our children: Councilman Clarke, Henon, Green, Bass, Quinones-Sanchez, Parker, Oh, Johnson, Jones, and Councilman Oh. They voted in committee hearing to continue the gentrification of our neighborhood, the continued underfunding of our school, the de-education of our children. Today they lump all the bills together, forcing members to ascend to approval, even though many in committee have expressed opposition to this bill. Stop abatements and restore full education funding to our schools. We beg City Council not to pass 200366, and if it is passed, we beg the Mayor to veto it. Stop destroying our children mental development. Provide good education, decent buildings -Yes, I'm on the phone. -- (continued) and teachers to our children. Our children are entitled to this. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Hello? And stop abating the full funding of education. This is predominantly composed of people of color for the past 20 years who have supported the abatement and underfunding children -- the education of children, who are predominantly children of color. We beg the City to support our children and the people of this city, who are predominantly people of color. Our schools are deteriorating. Our children lack books and other needed supplies. Teachers have to go into their pockets to pay for it. Many of the parents have been withdrawing their kids from public schools and placing them in charter schools, and if they can afford it, they put them in private schools. COVID has added another layer of destruction in our education, and yet our City Council sit up there ready to pass an abatement bill to further deny Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 the education and money for our children. In 2017, they passed the sugar tax, putting an extra burden on the poor to pay for pre-K education for their children. Why? We have abatement money. Many City Council members already mentioned -- because in 2023, we need to have an election year and we need to throw these people out if they vote for this bill. We cannot have them continue to de-educate our children and support developers who are in the process of gentrifying. Is that what City Council is trying to do? Gentrify us out of our homes and reduce the education of our children? The jobs that were created, our children can't even afford to get because they are undereducated and they do not qualify. They only get the unskilled jobs. And the only thing -- I go down to where they have these school sites and what they are taking. We need to stop Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 this. Stop abatements now.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony, ma'am.
Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hi. Tiffany Green. I'm addressing Bill 200366 and Bill 200556.
Okay. I believe that this bill, the abatement bill, this is about favoring developers. Okay? And you're really manipulating the community with this, because the reality of it is, if you go to -- I'd like the public to go to Civic Design Review, which is taking Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 place today. You have over eight projects total over 3,551 residential units coming in. We have one of these held today at 1,100 market-rate units at Broad and Washington Avenue. You have another one at 1,100 on Hancock Street for 1,100. We are being out-built at this particular point. Do you think that these developers who are building large developments like this should get a ten-year tax abatement or should they get one at all? We're saying do not vote for this. They're not talking about the small developer. These are large developers coming in, building 400 units, 300 units. Then you want to cover this up with trickery with the one percent construction tax. We're being out-built. We need an inclusionary bill. If you're going to shop mixed-income housing to us, then let's be mixed-income housing. If you're Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 doing something for 1,100 units, then 400 should be for affordable units. Okay? By the time we get that money for construction tax, by the time you go through the two-year process of trying to build a house -- build affordable housing, we will be out-built, and at this point, we have more market rate than we have affordable. These bills are not where they're at, and we ask you to vote no. I'm asking Councilman Johnson for his area to vote no and Councilman Oh. And then when the Land Bank want to sell your properties at 195,000 to 250,000 and call if affordable, that's not affordable. That is trickery, and this is manipulation. We've been down this road before, Council President Clarke, and every time you sell a sizzle and when you pull back the curtains, we never get the affordable housing that we say we're going to get. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Good morning. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Ron Whitehorne. I'm a member of 215 People's Alliance and part of Our City Our Schools coalition. I'm speaking on Bill No. 200366. I'm a retired public school teacher who spent my whole career teaching at Julia de Burgos in the Fairhill neighborhood, where I saw firsthand the impact of de-industrialization and systemic racism on children and their families. I'm also a parent of two children who went through our public schools, a residential property owner from the Lawncrest neighborhood, and for decades an advocate for equitable, fully resourced public Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 schools. For many years, I've been a vocal opponent of the ten-year tax abatement. There is no better symbol of our city government's long-headed priorities than this policy, which has subsidized developers and rich people at the expense of schools that serve mostly black, brown, and poor children and families. This is certainly no less true as we reel from the COVID virus and its economic dislocations. Council must reject the attempt to delay the reduction of the residential abatement and should instead press for the total elimination of both the residential and commercial abatement. The priority needs to be on funding our schools, providing housing for the homeless, and protection for low-income renters and homeowners. Certainly jobs, including construction jobs, need to be a priority as well, but this can be addressed by Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 robust investment in public infrastructure, in schools, green energy, and affordable housing, investments that will benefit working people. This is in stark contrast to the model of economic development embedded in the ten-year abatement, subsidized corporations and rich white people, and hope some will trickle down to the rest of us. Please vote no on Bill 200366. Thank you.
Good morning. I am Hana Sabree and I'm a lifelong resident of Philadelphia. I am respectfully requesting you do not sponsor or support abatement Bill 200366. It represents the worst regard of the common residents of Philadelphia. It is Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 a slap in the face to my family members, neighbors, the children of the City, and myself, who are hard-working essential workers and lifelong members of the councilmanic districts you represent. Bill 200366 does not empower or support the children of our city, who before COVID-19 went to school in dilapidated and environmentally unsafe structures. This bill does not empower or support lifelong residents in obtaining skilled laborer jobs to contribute towards the City's tax base. This bill assesses the privilege at a lower tax rate and is not fair and equitable to our constituencies. You have -- those who voted you to support them. I respectfully ask that you do not continue to pander and (inaudible) service to the developers and privileged newcomers. Lifelong residents do not want no more developers and the newcomers moving in, but we don't want less Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 equality either. I implore you, in the interest of the many citizens of the City, to unite together to fairly and equitably support the hard-working common residents who have supported you versus the privileged few. I'm asking particularly my Councilperson, Curtis Jones, to not support this bill, and I'm also requesting that Cherelle Parker, Cindy Bass, Maria Sanchez, Derek Oh -- David Oh and Derek Green and Mark Squilla also not support Bill 200366. Thank you very much.
My name is Hannah Holliday and I'm a resident of West Philadelphia and a former educator. I'm speaking to you today to ask you all to vote no on Bill 200366. This bill Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 would delay reforms to the abatement right at a time when we need funds the most. This past Wednesday, we learned that federal COVID relief funds that otherwise would have gone to the School District of Philadelphia were denied to us due to the republican-designed distribution plan. Philly should have received 30 million more federal dollars of school funding. And then just last week, teachers and staff members of the School District received an e-mail indicating that there could be layoffs in the future. Board members have mentioned school closures. Schools are not even safe to have students and teachers back in them. In light of all that is going on and all of the funds that we need and have not yet received for our public schools, the question I have for the Council is if you will act to support students and teachers over developers and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 corporations. You have likely heard that developers and corporations say starting reforms now is harmful due to the unexpected losses they have experienced because of COVID. These are large developers and corporations. So I would ask what their profits were in previous years and why they cannot draw from the profits they have accrued over the years of not having to pay taxes. If this is the time for them to pay to be in the city that they are in, vote to reform the abatement now in 2021, not later. Thank you.
The next speaker is Laverne Johnson. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, we do not have Ms. Johnson on the phone. We do have Calvin Williams.
The next speaker is Calvin Williams. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Yes, sir. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Calvin Williams and I am speaking to the overlay bill, No. 200613. I am a 70-year-old senior, 19121 zip code North Philadelphia lifer, and a homeowner in the 32nd Ward of Strawberry Mansion, and I've been at this for three decades. We are a city of neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has a vision of who they are and what they want to be. As a legislative body, you are here because the neighborhoods and the districts chose you to help them fulfill the dreams of what their communities can do to stay safe and inviting. Collectively, you have agreed to work as a body to do for them and the rest of the City. East Park and West Park are the front yards of all of Strawberry Mansion. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 With the facing historical significance in houses on North 33rd Street and the architectural and cultural heritage in the back streets, we are poised to take our place among the neighborhoods as a destination for naturalists, recreation bus, and tours. The shops, cafes, and businesses will follow. This has always been the vision that we've had of ourselves. Now, we remember the large billboards posted in Brewerytown by developers announcing boldly, it's our turn now, referring to the new arrivals to the North Philadelphia neighborhood. I say to you, we never got our turn to rebuild our community. Now, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission gives the recommendation for you to move this bill forward. Thank you for them. In the neighborhoods, community organizing and the power of the vote are the only weapons we have to protect ourself Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 against those we perceive would do us harm. We gave you our vote. From time to time, you are required to give it back. Please use that vote for the good residents of Strawberry Mansion and all communities wishing to plot their own destiny. I am urging you to move this bill forward and vote in favor of Bill No. 200613. Thank you. God bless you, and be safe.
Yes. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
Thank you. My name is Marcos Lomeli. I'm a Program Coordinator at Ceiba, an organization Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 serving the Latino community here in Philadelphia. I'm testifying on Bill 200556 and 200573, if that's all right with you, Council.
Thank you. We're asking you to -- I'll try to keep my remarks brief. We're asking you to pass 200556, the one percent construction impact tax, as it will infuse our Housing Trust Fund with millions of dollars that our community desperately needs for development of affordable housing. We know that the economic impact of this pandemic will be felt by our most vulnerable communities for many years. It will be a long time before our city recovers economically, but this bill and the infusion of cash into the Housing Trust Fund will help cushion the impact for our city's low-wage workers, seniors living in unsafe conditions, and moderate-income families that want to Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 stay in the City and pay their fair share of property and wage tax. A strong affordable housing market makes for a healthy city. So we're thankful for the Council's commitment to helping ensure that our people can afford to live here, and we see this impact tax as an important part of that effort. So we're asking you to pass that bill. That was the good. Now the not so good. We are asking you to not pass Bill 200573. In particular, we are concerned that the language on the bill, by specifically singling out the, quote/unquote, misclassification of workers as one of the causes of unpaid employer wage tax and, therefore, one of the barriers to various tax exemptions, this language unfairly targets unauthorized users for exclusion from jobs that they already hold and from economic opportunity. We sympathize and agree with Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 the Council's effort to combat the scourge of non-taxpaying developers who are making big bucks at the expense of our city. However, this bill would have the unintended effects of scapegoating immigrant workers. Contrary to popular belief, these folks contribute mightily to the City's well-being. Since 2006, Ceiba alone -- and we're a small organization -- has helped prepare more than 2,000 tax returns for taxpayers with ITINs, resulting in millions of dollars paid in federal, state, and local income taxes. These folks are more than willing to pay their fair share, even when they are being paid cash or as independent contractors, because it is the right thing to do. Please reconsider the wording of this bill. Thank you for your attention.
The next speaker Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 is Diane Wilson.
Diane Wilson. I am the State Director for the Commonwealth of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. On behalf of our International President, Regional Director, the members of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and especially all of the members in Philadelphia, I come to speak on behalf of Resolution 200685, the resolution recognizing, honoring, and congratulating Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated on its 101st Founder's Day. You can read the history and accomplishments of our organization as expressed in the resolution, but I am an educator by trade, so I'm naturally inquisitive. So I ask myself, what is so special about the number 101. Well, in college, 101 represents beginning in any area. 101 courses teach all the basic principles and concepts that are expected Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 in a particular field. Just like the 101 courses, Zeta has stayed true to our basic principles of scholarship, service, sisterhood, and finer womanhood. In mathematics, 101 is the 26th prime number. As we all remember from elementary school, prime numbers are natural numbers that cannot be broken down into small numbers. Just like prime numbers, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated has stood strong and never broken through depression, Jim Crow, segregation, and today's racial unrest. In English, 101 is a palindrome, which means it reads the same backwards as forward. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated holds onto our traditions, our history. We hold our past, our founders, our accomplishments, our firsts while pressing forward and blazing new paths. On January 16th, 2021, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated will celebrate 101 years of embracing Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 scholarships, providing true service, setting a standard for sisterly love, and maintaining the image of a finer woman. That's 101 years of staying true to our basic principles, 101 years of standing strong, 101 years of honoring our past while blazing new paths. And as the poet Sam Walter Foss said in his poem The House by the Side of the Road, we have spent 101 years in our house by the side of the road being a friend to man. Thank you.
Thank you so very much for your testimony, and I'm looking at your sorer, Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson, and she was just beaming with pride. So thank you for your testimony. Mr. Decker, please call the next witness.
Good morning. My name is Dana Moore. I am the President Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of the Beta Delta Zeta Chapter, the Philadelphia Graduate Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. I speak in support of Resolution No. 200685. I come before you this morning speaking on behalf of the women who continue to honor our principle founder who chartered our illustrious organization 101 years ago, and she chartered the Philadelphia Graduate Chapter 76 years ago on the principles of scholarship, service, sisterhood, and finer womanhood. This resolution celebrates the partnership of Beta Delta Zeta Chapter with the City of Philadelphia as we continue to honor our principle founder and solidify her wish for an organization to thrive and make an impact in all communities around the globe. The Philadelphia Graduate Chapter makes its impact with ownership of Founder Stemons' home in the South Philadelphia community, the distribution Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of over $2,000 in scholarships annually to local students, and working with various members of City Council on social action and service initiatives. The Philadelphia Graduate Chapter wishes to thank our sorer, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, sponsor of this bill; our Councilman Kenyatta Johnson; Councilmembers Derek Green and Cherelle Parker, co-sponsors, and all members of Council for allowing us to be a service to your constituents and for consideration of this resolution. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Please call the next witness, Mr. Decker.
Stefan Zajic. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, Stefan Zajic and Meghan Swyryn are not on the line. However, Rashon Howard is.
The next speaker is Rashon Howard. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Good. Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Rashon Howard and I am the President of Mu Sigma Chapter, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, and I am here today speaking on behalf of Resolution 200684. I'm also speaking on behalf of International President, of 27th Regional Director, and the State Director of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and all of our brothers of Phi Beta Sigma as the resolution celebrates the 107 years of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, a fraternity that has built and made great men like Honorable John Lewis and the late Honorable Elijah Cummings, a fraternity of service that continues to Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 help and lead the way to ensure that we are able to bring great gratitude to our community. Again, I speak in support of Resolution 200684.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony. Mr. Decker, please call the next witness.
Yes, we can hear you, Daniel. Just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. My name is Daniel Trubman, T-R-U-B-M-A-N, and I'm calling today to testify against 200613, the overlay legislation for Strawberry Mansion. I thought my colleague Ben She Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 made a lot of great points, but I just wanted to testify and reiterate two points. The first being a conservation district by definition should focus on maintaining what already exists and emphasize continuity, but when we look at the micro management requirements of this new NCO, well, we see that their requirements are so strict that scores and scores of houses within the district would actually not meet those requirements. So I would ask Council what does continuity really mean if many of the houses within the district would not actually meet those requirements? This isn't about continuity but actually forcing new requirements. There are scores of buildings that would not meet because they don't have porches or they have the wrong type of porches or their houses are slightly too high or they have slightly the wrong kind of materials. So this isn't really a conservation district. This is just a Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 down-zoning bill, which gets me to my other point. I would ask Council to realize that the best way the City can set these development standards is through a citywide process through the Comprehensive Plan. I think that we're beginning the process between this bill and with the Society Hill bill a few weeks ago where we're going to have neighborhood by neighborhood spot rezoning, and I think it's a horrible process. It's not nearly as democratic as setting policy at the citywide level, and I'm afraid it's going to lead to a cycle where each neighborhood attempts to get a different form of down-zoning, which will only exacerbate the citywide affordability issue. So I hope City Council would consider tabling this bill and taking another look at it, and if not, I would hope Mayor Kenney would veto it. Thank you. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you so much for your testimony. Mr. Decker, can you please call the next witness.
The next speaker is Max Tuttleman. COUNCIL SUPPORT: Chief Clerk, Mr. Tuttleman is not on the line and Leonard Bonarek is not on the line, but we do have Jihad Ali.
Thank you. State your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Jihad Ali. I want to give testimony on Bill 200613. I'm asking Council to support -- approve this bill. I support the Council President in presenting this bill. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of the Strawberry Mansion Council in putting this coalition and bringing this bill forward. As some of the neighbors have testified, this has been an ongoing fight to maintain this area. This is one of the hardest hit areas impacted by gentrification. We never mentioned that. So I think that this is a great step in the right direction. This is one of several -once this is passed, this will be one of several overlay districts throughout Philadelphia, but I think this is the first one in an African American predominantly community. So I would ask all you Councilmembers to support the Council President and respect the people in the neighborhood. I'd also like to testify on Bill No. 200556 on the one percent tax. I think that's a great bill. I think it will do a lot to increase the aggressive Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 expansion of opportunities for minority workers and business. I think it will do thousands of units of affordable housing. I think the caution is that we make -like you said, Councilwoman Parker, we can't wait for other people to do anything for us. We have to do it for ourself, but we also have to ensure that we're protected and we receive the benefit from this stuff. Too often even you as Council, you make the assumption that all the work go to workers from Philadelphia unions, union workers of Philadelphia, but that's not the case. We found out it's predominantly outside the area. So we need to make sure that Philadelphians participate in this and particularly African Americans participate, including African American developers. Thank you for allowing me to speak.
Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Yes. State your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, please.
My name is Bonita Cummings and I am the Director of Strawberry Mansion Community Concerns testifying on Bill No. 200613. Conservatives support Strawberry Mansion's stance and our concerns. I would like this body to listen to the following context: In 1988, Elliot Jaspin, author of the book Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America, was visiting Berryville, Arkansas when he realized that after several days of being there, he had not seen one African American. While touring about and visiting the towns and museums, Jaspin came upon the will of a farmer who Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 owned slaves during the period right before the Civil War. Wedged in between the lines for livestock and land were five slaves to be given away. Surely this was an indication that there should be a present-day black or African American population in that town. However, there were no black people in sight. Mr. Jaspin left that museum with several nagging questions. Were black people still living in this town? And if not, then when they did leave and why? By learning the history, he uncovered that this quiet campaign of racial cleansing leading to the expulsion of African Americans from certain geographical areas were swift and in many cases took no more than 24 hours to eliminate an entire black population. Now, let's fast forward to 2020 and examine the modern-day tools that have been quietly utilized to implement racial cleansing all over the City of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Philadelphia. Through a new Zoning Code that disproportionately favored developers and their consistent skirting of by-right building laws, the larger Hispanic and African American populations have been driven from Spring Garden, Francisville, North Central, and Brewerytown, and now Strawberry Mansion is under siege. So the question remains, will this body of City Council support the residents of Strawberry Mansion with not only being allowed to have a voice and shapen their own communities but also in not allowing the process of racial cleansing to start sprouting its roots in this historical area? If gone unchecked, the African American population of Strawberry Mansion will have declined by 50 to 60 percent in a few short years under the guise of development. The process of by-right expulsion of residential direct racial cleansing of neighborhoods must stop, and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 this bill does a good job of addressing and negating some of the strategies and taxes that are consistently being used to effect forced migration and racial cleansing. So we appreciate your support of Bill No. 200613.
Good morning. My name is Tonnetta Graham and I'm here to speak on Bill No. 200613. Strawberry Mansion is an established African American neighborhood, rich in history, culture, and a notable variety of housing stock. From our picturesque porch-lined blocks to rows of brownstones to blocks sprawled with two- and three-story homes, all made with brick and masonry and ornate cornices, Strawberry Mansion's mixture of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 houses truly define the character of the neighborhood. Today, that character is currently under assault with the by-right zoning options that afford developers the right to build with little to no input from the community. As the Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation aims to preserve our neighborhood and what we know as Strawberry Mansion, we worked diligently with a coalition of block captains, RCOs, long-term concerned residents, and community-based organizations to seek relief to preserve the character of our community. We thoroughly researched overlays from various Philadelphia communities, drafted this legislation, and worked with the Planning Commission and Council President Clarke to ensure its legality and to solidify our voice in the preservation and continuity of our neighbors' housing stock. It's imperative that the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 by-right plans of developers, who have admittedly devised neighborhood plans without the neighborhood, be disrupted now. We did the work. Now we ask for your support to strengthen our voice by passing the Strawberry Mansion NCO Bill No. 200613. Thank you, Councilwoman Parker, for introducing this bill on behalf of City Council President Darrell Clarke, who we especially thank for his commitment to honoring our work and supporting our goals to preserve Strawberry Mansion as we know it. I ask that all of City Council members join them and vote to pass this bill. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Council. I'm calling in support of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Resolution 200683 for your support in requesting that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia speak with the board and alumni as well as even families and all stakeholders regarding the recent announcement of closures of John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School and Bishop McDevitt High School. During the time of COVID, it is a disgrace for the Archdiocese to make these decisions without consultation from those in the school community. I ask that you support this bill which has been brought forth by Councilwoman Richardson and all supporters because we need to support our students, as this impacts the students of Philadelphia, especially the Northwest region in reference to Bishop McDevitt as well as other areas of Philadelphia in reference to Hallahan. Thank you.
The next speaker Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 is Paula Sahm.
Yeah. Just state your name for the record, please, and then proceed.
I am a proud board member and a proud alum of 1987. My Catholic education continued from Bachelor's, Master's, and Ph.D. in all Catholic universities. My daughter is a graduate of the Class of 2010 and is also working on her Ph.D. in engineering. My daughter and I were able to increase our level of education due to Hallahan's educational foundation. Hallahan has always offered a stellar education. My daughter received $450,000 worth of scholarships for her endeavors. As a single mother, I could have never Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 afforded the universities my daughter attended. It was because of Hallahan that my daughter felt the sisterhood that she could focus on her studies. My daughter chose Hallahan due to the diversity. The middle class all-girls school has given myself and my daughter opportunities that we would have never had before. Faith in the Future, who did the study, who is working with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, they are overwhelmingly male and Caucasian. They do not look like the women they abandoned and cast aside. In the midst of a national reckoning on race and gender equity, the Archdiocese has made a tone-deaf decision to cut off an accessible all-girls educational option which attracts girls of every race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and creed in the heart of Philadelphia. They made a game-changing decision that will forever alter the educational landscape Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of Philadelphia in a vacuum, absent of a single meeting with the leadership of Hallahan, City leaders or the very students and parents adversely affected by their decision. While the City of Philadelphia and the School District are taking monumental steps forward in racial and gender equity, Faith in the Future and the Archdiocese are taking ten steps back by closing the first all-girls school in the United States and the heart of Philadelphia. Thank you.
Sorry. I'm Zoe Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Kelly. I'm here for Resolution 200683. I'm a senior at John W. Hallahan and also Student Council Class President. Hallahan was the first Catholic school in the country and has been a second home for girls all across the City of Philadelphia for over a hundred years. The school is a melting pot of diversity and does not deserve to be shut down. I'm the first person in my family to go to Catholic school, and it's an immense struggle to send your kids to have a Catholic education. Faith in the Future is tearing apart a family from its building that has been here way longer than any of the buildings or skyscrapers that you see in Philadelphia. I'm here to please say that you can please reconsider closing our school. The family that we have here, you will never be able to understand, to be able to walk through the halls of Hallahan and be with your sisters. Please reconsider for Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Resolution 200683.
Good morning. My name is Dr. Kimberly Taylor-Benns, Class of 1980. I'm speaking in support of Bill 200683. I am a lifelong resident of Philadelphia and a proud alum of John W. Hallahan. I cannot stress the impact that my Hallahan education has had on my life and the lives of over 40,000 women from every zip code in the City of Philadelphia for more than 120 years. Hallahan continues its tradition of educating women. Alumni of this great institution leave with a solid christian foundation grounded in faith, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 so necessary in these unprecedented times, opportunity for social mobility. John W. Hallahan prepares women to enter higher education with scholarships or careers, fully armed for success, empowered to change locally, nationally or global issues. My career spans 35-plus years in higher education. I currently provide access and affordability to higher education at Lincoln University. I owe part of my success to the solid foundation of a christian education generally and John W. Hallahan specifically. Therefore, I am in full support of Resolution 200683 to keep John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School open. I want to thank sorer Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson and Councilwoman Cherelle Parker for sponsoring this bill and all of City Council for your support in our efforts. Thank you. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Council President Clarke and Councilmembers, my name is Mary Beth Driscoll and I am speaking in support of Resolution 200683. We very much appreciate Councilwoman Richardson's sponsorship and all of your support. I'm a proud alum and I've served on the board of Bishop McDevitt for nine years. We, the board, and the entire school community were shocked by the sudden announcement by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Faith in the Future Foundation. We were completely blind-sided, and there was zero transparency in this process. They say they conducted a study and there is Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 data and a report, and they refused to share it. Why? What are they hiding? McDevitt's diverse student base is proudly over 70 percent black and brown and from Philadelphia. The consequences of closing McDevitt and Hallahan will be devastating to the community, the students, and the families, many of whom are your constituents. We ask Archbishop Perez, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Faith in the Future to reverse this wrongheaded and shortsighted decision. Because we all have to ask, which Catholic high school is next? Again, we appreciate Council's support of this extremely important Resolution 200683. Thank you.
The next speaker is Carly Monahan. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Hi. My name is Carly Monahan, a proud member of the Class of 2022 at John W. Hallahan. Thank you for hearing me out today and especially thank you to Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson for bringing Resolution 200683 before you. I'm involved with a variety of different clubs and activities. I am a part of the Golf team, where we won the PCL and the District Title in 2018; the Cheer team; the Book and Film Club; and Ambassadors, where we work together as a community to bring girls to our amazing school. My proudest achievement at John W. Hallahan is being one of the pilot students for the Hundred Step program. The joint program with the Community College of Philadelphia allows me, as well as eight of my peers in the junior class, to graduate Hallahan with our Associate's degree in hand. By taking away our school, you are not only Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 separating our family but making us lose out on an amazing opportunity for multiple students now but for more students to come. By not graduating from Hallahan, me and other CCP girls will not be able to complete the program and obtain our Associate's degree that we have worked so hard to earn. We are just a couple of credits away from graduation, and this can't be the end. You are making this hard for everyone, especially the junior class. You are erasing everything we have worked so hard for in the past three years. We have evolved to proper young women, and you are now closing the doors to a world of tradition and sisterhood. Our traditions date all the way back to 1950 when Walt Disney himself wrote a letter giving us permission to use Mickey Mouse as our mascot. In 1969, the first ever iconic fountain jump was born. We also have an amazing Hallahan Day that continues to grow every year and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 brightens up the atmosphere. Hallahan is a family that continues to grow. (Inaudible) will be able to follow in my footsteps and make Mickey proud. Thank you.
Yes. Good afternoon. Good morning. My name is Tim Speice, as cited. I am the Board Chair of Bishop McDevitt High School and have served in this capacity for nearly 30 years. As Mary Beth pointed out, this announcement by the Archdiocese was very sudden, abrupt, unexpected, and also occurred as we were in the process -- we had just concluded bringing on an additional nine board members to help manage and run our school and to bring it forward, which gave us a full complement Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of nearly 19 board members. We serve a very diverse community. Many of you in the room represent certainly the City of Philadelphia, but you have relationships in Cheltenham Township, probably Abington Township. We draw a large number of students from the Philadelphia area, specifically in the Northwest area. Our school has been in existence in the community since 1958, which represents 62 years of educating families, children of faith, and we view that as our mission, and we want to continue that mission. We also recognize Hallahan here with us today, John W. Hallahan. They've been in existence for 120 years. These two schools collectively have nearly 200 years of service and want to continue as such. A couple of other points. We've invested much in our school. We have a functioning science lab, STEM lab. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 We've done a lot to invest in the curriculum. We're also looking at a joint venture presently as a part of the announcement with Arcadia University, and we are looking for time to reinvigorate the school. We do want to be increasing enrollment, and considering those factors, very disappointed that the Archdiocese chose at this time of year, in the midst of a COVID epidemic, with really little ability to rally our school community and very, very concerned why they do not want to hear the reason we're asking now for our continuance, and we would certainly request that City Council bring whatever resources they have to bear on the Archdiocese and on any additional governing bodies connected to the Office of Catholic Education to, at a minimum, hear our plans for the future, to sustain our school, to continue to deliver academic programs, and to support the community we serve, which includes residents of the City of Philadelphia. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 you.
There are no other speakers on the public comment list, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. We will now consider today's Resolution Consent Agenda. I would ask Mr. Decker to please read the titles of all the resolutions on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of the resolution on the Resolution Consent Agenda. Upon such an objection and without debate, the resolution will be immediately removed from the Resolution Consent Agenda and placed on today's regular Final Passage Calendar. The Clerk will now read the titles of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda.
Resolution No. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 200679, entitled a "Resolution recognizing, congratulating, and honoring State Representative Joanna McClinton (191st State House District) on being elected by her peers to serve as the Democratic Caucus Leader, making her the House Minority Leader, as well as the first woman of any race or ethnicity to serve in this capacity in the General Assembly"; and Resolution No. 200680, entitled a "Resolution declaring each Friday in December of 2020 as 'Shop Black Business Friday' in the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 200682, entitled a "Resolution approving the appointment of Ismail Shahid as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Housing Authority"; and Resolution No. 200684, entitled a "Resolution recognizing, honoring and congratulating Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated on its 107th Founder's Day"; and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 200685, entitled a "Resolution recognizing, honoring and congratulating Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated on its 101st Founder's Day"; and Resolution No. 200686, entitled a "Resolution honoring the life and legacy of Philadelphia labor leader James Moran"; and Resolution No. 200689, entitled a "Resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the West Parkside Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 1728 North Fifty-First Street"; and Resolution No. 200691, entitled a "Resolution also naming 24th Street, between Wharton and Reed Streets, 'Dorothy Allen Way,' to honor the life and legacy of Dorothy D. Allen"; and Resolution No. 200692, entitled Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 "Resolution also naming the 1800 block of Wharton Street as 'Walter P. D. Way' to recognize, honor, and celebrate Dr. Walter P. Lomax, Jr. for his leadership, dedication, philanthropy, and support of Black Philadelphians"; and Resolution No. 200693, entitled a "Resolution also naming the 3200 block of Reed Street 'Irene Russell Way' to recognize, honor, and celebrate the life and legacy of Irene Russell and her dedication to the Grays Ferry neighborhood"; and Resolution No. 200694, entitled a "Resolution also naming the 1300 block of South Capitol Street 'Mamie Nichols Way' to recognize, honor, and celebrate the legacy of Mamie Nichols and her dedication to the people of Point Breeze"; and Resolution No. 200695, entitled a "Resolution also naming the 2100 block of Federal Street 'Claudia Sherrod Way,' to honor the legacy of Claudia Sherrod"; Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 No. 200696, entitled a "Resolution also naming the 1800 block of South 20th Street 'Terrance Carpenter Way,' to honor the life and legacy of Terrance 'Terry' Carpenter"; and Resolution No. 200697, entitled a "Resolution also naming the 1500 block of Fitzwater Street 'United Supreme Council Way' to recognize the United Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation, Northern Jurisdiction, USA, Incorporated, for their long track record of charitable works in Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 200700, entitled a "Resolution also naming the 3600 block of Haverford Avenue 'Reverend Dr. Andy Jenkins Way' to recognize, honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Andy Jenkins for his dedication and service to the Mantua community and the City of Philadelphia"; and Resolution No. 200701, entitled Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 "Resolution honoring and congratulating the Roman Catholic High School Mock Trial team, on their successful 2019-2020 season and the City Title in Philadelphia"; and Resolution No.
200702, entitled a "Resolution also naming Reed Street between 12th Street and 13th Street as 'Mario Lanza Way'"; and Resolution No. 200703, entitled a "Resolution proclaiming January 13, 2021 as Korean American Day in Philadelphia to Celebrate and Commemorate the Proud Heritage of Korean Americans and their Invaluable Contributions to Enhancing the City's Culture, Economy, and the Founding Ideals of Independence and Democracy"; and Resolution No. 200704, entitled a "Resolution recognizing and Honoring the Korean American Association of Greater Philadelphia (KAAGP) on the Occasion of its 50th Anniversary"; and Resolution No. "
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Decker. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Parker for a motion to adopt each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that each of the resolutions on the Consent Agenda be adopted. All in favor indicate by saying Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and each of the resolutions on the Resolution Consent Agenda have been adopted. We will now consider today's Bill Consent Agenda. I would ask the Clerk to read the titles of all the bills on the Consent Agenda. After each title is read, any member may object to the inclusion of the bill on the Consent Agenda. Upon such an objection and without debate, the bill will be immediately removed from the Consent Agenda and placed on our regular Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, will you now read the titles of the bills on the Consent Agenda.
Bill No. 200389, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 "An ordinance continuing the Mayfair Business Improvement District beyond its termination date, in an area that generally includes both sides of Frankford Avenue from the north side of Harbison Avenue to the south side of Sheffield Street and certain blocks of streets that intersect that portion of Frankford Avenue and for which the Mayfair Business Improvement District, Incorporated, a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation, is the Neighborhood Improvement District Management Association for the District"; and Bill No. 200516, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code by creating an overlay district entitled 'WYN, Wynnefield Overlay District,' to include certain areas of land within the area bounded by City Avenue, Bryn Mawr Avenue, Parkside Avenue, 53rd Street, Jefferson Street, Upland Way, and Drexel Road"; and Bill No. 200571, entitled "An Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Diamond Street, 11th Street, Norris Street, and Marvine Street"; and Bill No. 200576, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 14-513 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled '/NCO, Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District,' by revising and clarifying certain provisions"; and Bill No. 200577, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code to revise certain provisions of Chapter 14-200, entitled 'Definitions' and Chapter 14-500, entitled 'Overlay Zoning Districts,' by amending the provisions of the /WWO Wissahickon Watershed Overlay"; and Bill No. 200592, entitled "An ordinance amending the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 an area bounded by Wissahickon Avenue, Hunting Park Avenue, Fox Street, and Roberts Avenue"; and Bill No. 200601, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code by amending certain provisions of Chapter 14-500, entitled 'Overlay Zoning Districts,' by creating the '/HVO, Haverford Village Overlay District'; and amending the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Wallace Street, 36th Street, Mount Vernon Street, and 37th Street"; and Bill No. 200602, entitled "An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code by amending certain provisions of Chapter 14-500, entitled 'Overlay Zoning Districts,' by creating the '/TSO, 30th Street Overlay District'; by revising certain provisions of Section 14-702, entitled 'Floor Area, Height, and Housing Unit Density Bonuses'; and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Chestnut Street, 30th Street, Walnut Street, and 31st Lower Level Street"; and Bill No. 200624, entitled "An ordinance approving a Second Substantial Amendment to the Annual Action Plan 2019 through 2020 to add $11,311,404 in Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding"; and Bill No. 200413, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 9-1130 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Unlawful Credit Screening Practices in Employment,' by revising restrictions"; and Bill No. 200541, entitled "An ordinance amending Chapter 21-1500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Boards and Commissions - Public Deliberations,' to require recording or transcription of certain meetings and provision to the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 access to such recordings and transcriptions"; and Bill No.
200614, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 9-1130 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Unlawful Credit Screening Practices in Employment,' by revising conditions on the use of credit information for adverse employment actions"; and Bill No. 200619, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the Chief Executive Officer of Philadelphia International Airport, the Director of Commerce, the Commissioner of Public Property, the Streets Commissioner and the Water Commissioner, or any or all of them, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to enter into a non-exclusive license agreement with the owner of 6900 Essington Avenue, 6902 Essington Avenue and 6904 Essington Avenue, to allow for the continued use of a utility corridor and related improvements through property owned by the City of Philadelphia"; and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 200085, entitled "An ordinance establishing a no parking regulation on Kingsessing Avenue, from Cemetery Avenue to South 62nd Street"; and Bill No. 200086, entitled "An ordinance establishing a no parking regulation in the vicinity of Cemetery and Kingsessing Avenues"; and Bill No. 200257, entitled "An ordinance regulating the direction of movement of traffic on certain portions of Manton Street"; and Bill No. 200542, entitled "An ordinance authorizing DSW1, LLC doing business as Nifty Fifty's to install, own, and maintain a proposed sidewalk cafe at 2700 South 10th Street"; and Bill No. 200543, entitled "An ordinance authorizing Stephen Garafolo to construct, own, and maintain a proposed exterior stairway at 3000 South 15th Street"; and Bill No. 200575, entitled "An Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 an encroachment in the nature of a pedestrian staircase to directly access Green Lane Bridge in the vicinity of 1 Leverington Avenue"; and Bill No. 200578, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 46-S by striking from the City Plan and vacating Penrose Ferry Road from Penrose Avenue to its terminus northeastwardly therefrom and reserving and placing on the City Plan a right-of-way for various public utility purposes within the lines of Penrose Ferry Road being stricken"; and Bill No. 200595, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan Nos. 32-S, 33-S, 40-S, 47-S, 48-S, and 53-S by placing on the City Plan Frances Harper Drive from Passyunk Avenue to Penrose Avenue, Pollock Street from South 26th Street to Frances Harper Drive, Schuylkill Avenue from Passyunk Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 northwesterly and northeasterly to a cul-de-sac, and Forten Way from Vare Avenue extending southwesterly to a cul-de-sac"; and Bill No. 200596, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan Nos. 32-S, 33-S, 40-S, 46-S, 47-S, and 53-S by relocating the existing curblines and houselines along the southern side of West Passyunk Avenue at its intersection with South 28th Street and Passyunk Avenue Service Road (also known as Frontage Road), along both sides of Passyunk Avenue Service Road (also known as Frontage Road) at its intersections with Frances Harper Drive, along the western side of 26th Street and center median of South 26th Street at its intersection with Pollock Street and Penrose Avenue, along both sides of the northwesterly Service Road of Penrose Avenue (also known as Lanier Avenue), along the northern side of Penrose Avenue Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 median of Penrose Avenue at its intersection with the northwesterly Service Road of Penrose Avenue (also known as Lanier Avenue) and 26th Street to accommodate various intersection improvements"; and Bill No.
200597, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the paving of Frances Harper Drive from Passyunk Avenue to Penrose Avenue, Pollock Street from South 26th Street to Frances Harper Drive, Schuylkill Avenue from Passyunk Avenue extending northwesterly and northeasterly to a cul-de-sac, and Forten Way from Vare Avenue extending southwesterly to a cul-de-sac"; and Bill No. 200598, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the striking from City Plan Nos. 40-S, 47-S, and 48-S and abandonment of a certain right-of-way reserved for drainage purposes, located along the former Hartranft Street, west of 26th Street, and extending westwardly therefrom to the Schuylkill River"; and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 200626, entitled "An ordinance authorizing the revision of lines and grades on a portion of City Plan No. 238 by relocating the southeasterly houseline and curbline of Christopher Columbus Boulevard, from Washington Avenue to Christian Street, thereby creating a more uniform right-of-way width and continuous footway area for said Christopher Columbus Boulevard from Washington Avenue to Christian Street"; and Bill No. 200657, entitled "An ordinance amending Bill No. 010267, entitled 'An ordinance establishing a no truck parking regulation on Lancaster Avenue, from Fifty-Second Street to Sixty-Third Street, both sides' to include and establish tow-away regulations for trucks on Lancaster Avenue, from Fifty-Second Street to Sixty-Third Street, both sides"; and Bill No. 200659, entitled "An ordinance establishing a no truck parking Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Parkside Avenue, both sides, from 50th Street to Belmont Avenue, 50th Street, both sides, from Parkside Avenue to Jefferson Street, Jefferson Street, both sides, from 50th Street to its terminus and 49th Street, both sides, from Parkside Avenue to Jefferson Street"; and Bill No. 200660, entitled "An ordinance establishing a no truck parking regulation on Henry Avenue, both sides, from Allegheny Avenue to Abbotsford Avenue"; and Bill No. 200661, entitled "An ordinance authorizing encroachments in the nature of structural artwork consisting of metal manhole covers and traffic signs located in the vicinity of 6200 Osage Avenue"; and Bill No. 200663, entitled "An ordinance amending Section 12-701 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled 'Bicycle Lanes,' by authorizing the Department of Streets to designate a bicycle lane, in Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 direction, on North 8th Street, from Vine Street to Race Street, and to remove a travel lane, in the southbound direction, on North 8th Street, from Vine Street to Race Street"; and Bill No. "
Thank you, Mr. Decker. We will now go to the vote. These bills having been read on two different days, the question for each Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker will call the roll, and upon being called, each Councilmember shall vote aye on each of the bills, nay on each of the bills or indicate those bills for which the member is voting aye and those bills for which the member is voting nay. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye on all bills. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Councilman Squilla is voting aye on all bills. Councilman Thomas.
Aye on all bills. The majority of all members having voted in the affirmative for each of the bills, the bills on the Consent Agenda are passed. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING We will now consider the bills and resolutions on the regular Second Reading and Final Passage Calendar. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Resolution No. 200491-AA.
A resolution calling on the Kenney administration to develop a plan to be more inclusive of City Council when creating and implementing emergency public safety measures and restrictions.
Thank you very much. I move for the adoption of the resolution.
The Chair recognizes -- was that Councilman Green?
The Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Point of information. Actually, it's a point of inquiry. Councilmember Oh, in your resolution you reference to a Western District case. I believe it's County of Butler versus Thomas Wolf, Governor, et al. Who were the other plaintiffs in that matter you reference in your resolution?
I don't know. I looked at it and I got the information that I need and I don't recall, but you could tell us. I think you know.
Well, I didn't -- I'm sorry. There was a cough. I didn't hear the rest of that.
I said I don't know. I got the information that I needed. I put it in the -- because I look at the decision, and it's on appeal and it's stayed. I don't know who the parties are, but certainly if you know, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING please tell everybody.
Well, I just made reference to that because you pointed reference to that case as one of the whereas clauses for your resolution. I definitely understand the concern in reference to the balance of two branches of government, executive branch and legislative branch. I've been critical of the Kenney Administration in reference to their outreach to restaurants and small businesses as new measures have come on board to protect their health, but I just want to provide information to my colleagues that part of the support for your resolution, two of the plaintiffs in that Federal District case, one was Congressman Mike Kelly, the other was State Representative Daryl Metcalfe. I just want to let my colleagues know that they were two of the plaintiffs to that lawsuit. I think many of us are familiar with some of their recent litigation that Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING they've undertaken against the electoral process in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you very much, Councilmember Derek Green. Please don't interpret anything I said as disrespectful. I respect and appreciate all your commentary, insights, and perspectives. Having said that, whoever -anyone who is not comfortable for whatever reason, please vote against it.
I think, Councilwoman Gym, you wanted to have some comments?
Yes. Thank you very much, Council President. I will be one of those, Councilmember Oh, who will be voting no on this resolution. This resolution has gone through multiple iterations, but the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING main thrust of its arguments still remain the same. As was stated two weeks ago, it continues to root its logic in the now stayed ruling out of the Western District Court that lasted not even two weeks before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Governor Wolf's COVID executive orders on October 1st. It continues to assert that when a pandemic is in play, when a 9/11's worth of citizenry of our people are dying each day in this country, that somehow the individual who is in charge here, whether it's the Governor or the Mayor, has no right to issue temporary and necessary orders to protect the public health. The Council sponsor has chosen not only just to leave this as a matter of words and language, but to double down on this overreach with a bill. So, again, all of us have shared frustrations about communications Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING and all of us have actually committed hours to finding ways of helping our constituents seek audience with the Mayor's team or ourselves as Councilmembers, and while I understand our colleague's frustrations, again, I cannot support a resolution that uses that frustration as a pretext to advance failed and flawed logic of irresponsible lawsuits and propose bills which would endanger our city and state, and they are perpetuated by GOP legislators who have routinely flaunted COVID rules themselves and have failed to do their duty in Harrisburg. Over a billion dollars in CARES Act money sits at the state while GOP legislators have refused to responsibly distribute that money to small businesses, which are now going under in our city, or give it out to landlords and tenants crying out for rent relief, assistance or cancellation. So at a time when irresponsible Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING political rhetoric has resulted in everything from open defiance of public safety orders to kidnapping plots, armed demonstrations outside of state capitals, and threats of physical violence and transphobic hate directed at our Pennsylvania Health Director, Dr. Rachel Levine, who was in your last resolution, for no possible reason at all, we cannot risk feeding into this. There is an alternative. This Council has requested dialogue between the Mayor's Administration and Councilmembers, and they should continue. The Administration can and must do better, and we will keep encouraging them to do so. If the Council sponsor wants to issue a statement to this effect, he should do so, but not invoking the lawsuits of extremists when there is no consensus on this body in support, and that is why I'll be voting no. Thank you, Council President. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Thank you, Council President. I will respond to that statement. I don't mean to be particular about it, but I will say responsibility, three branches of government, an executive has to be checked and balanced by the legislative branch. Responsibility is to meet our duties. If any Councilmember, knowing the matrix, looking at the science and the data, looking at reports from this city as to the effectiveness of the restrictions agrees with them, supports them, then after 60 days when the Administration -- well, that is the bill -- comes to Council, Council can approve it. This is a resolution that says -- and I do so not in a private statement or a statement as a Councilmember but as a body -- that we as a body have a responsibility to provide Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING oversight regarding the restrictions, whether they're needed, whether they're necessary, and if any Councilmember agrees and even if that Councilmember believes that it is a fantastic job, they have a duty to put their signature and their vote behind it to say yes, keep doing what you're doing. It is irresponsible not to take up a position of participation, which is the basis of our democracy, checks and balances. Whether it is the President of the United States, the Governor of any state, the city of any municipality, there is a check and a balance. It doesn't mean it's adversarial or it doesn't mean it's aggressive, but it provides the public an opportunity to reach out to us, because we are much more accessible than any executive, and we can support or we can try to amend, we can criticize, we can complement, whatever it is that the executive orders are. So the reason that I cite the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING case is regardless of party or who is involved. There was a decision. It has been stayed, and there are other decisions that go to this issue. But of course every Councilperson will look at this the way they do. I simply say that we owe it to the residents and the constituents of this city to make sure that we let the Mayor know as a body that when it comes to planning the reopening or when it comes to restrictions, to let us know ahead of time and to have us involved. And beyond that, yes, I do have a bill as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I believe there was a motion on the floor. Was that motion seconded? (Duly seconded.) Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
The motion was seconded. It's been moved and seconded the resolution be adopted. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Councilman Domb. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Parker.
Aye. The nays have it. The resolution is not adopted. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Resolution No. 200683.
A resolution calling on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to keep John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School and Bishop McDevitt High School open to engage with students, alumni, board, and other stakeholders in decision making around the schools' futures. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson for a motion on the resolution.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Resolution No. 200698.
A resolution calling on the United States Congress to Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING extend payroll tax relief to small and midsize essential businesses providing paid sick leave to their employees, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to enact legislation to expand paid sick leave eligibility for all essential workers.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brooks for a motion on the resolution.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted. Mr. Decker, the Clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 200588-A.
An ordinance amending Title 17 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Contracts and Procurement," by amending Chapter 17-100, entitled "Procurement Contracts," to add disclosure requirements related to prior contracting experience and the demographic characteristics of employees and board members of contractors and subcontractors for City contracts for competitively bid goods; and by adding reporting requirements.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Bass.
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200589-A. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
An ordinance amending Chapter 17-100, entitled "Procurement Contracts," by adding requirements related to the provision of information regarding the demographic characteristics of employees of, and the labor force used by, City contractors and subcontractors in the performance of work under certain City contracts for competitively bid services.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Gauthier.
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200590-A.
An ordinance amending Title 17 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Contracts and Procurement," by amending Chapter 17-100, entitled "Procurement Contracts," and Chapter 17-1400, entitled "Non-Competitively Bid Contracts; Financial Assistance," to add disclosure Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING requirements related to prior contracting experience and the demographic characteristics of employees, other sources of labor, and board members of contractors and subcontractors for City contracts for public works, other competitively bid services, and professional services, and by adding reporting requirements.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Gauthier. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Quinones-Sanchez.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 200653.
An ordinance amending Chapter 19-1300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," by modifying the amount of certain tax abatements.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Brooks, Councilwoman Gauthier, and Councilwoman -- Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
When I referenced earlier about the sequencing, that the difference in the script that I have versus the one -- this is a point in time where the sequencing is out of kilter. I'm sorry. I should have referenced that.
Yes. Say that number. 200653. This is the bill on the commercial 90 percent.
Council President, I was voting -- I believed Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING that I was voting on 200366.
And that's my fault. I told you earlier I screwed up on the sequencing. My fault. This is where I was saying that the sequencing was a little different. So let me reference it and -
Let's move to reconsider the vote, yeah. Thank you for your -- I was trying to figure out how we did this procedurally correct. Thank you, Mr. Decker.
Can we move to reconsider, put it back on the Calendar and then -
Move to reconsider the vote on Bill No. 200653. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING consideration say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. We will now -- Mr. Decker, read the title of Bill No. 200653.
An ordinance amending Chapter 19-1300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," by modifying the amount of certain tax abatements.
And this is the commercial real estate 90 percent. All right. Mr. Decker, call the roll again.
Councilwoman Brooks. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilman O'Neill. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. One more time, Bill No. 556, Mr. Decker, read that title, please.
This is an ordinance providing for a payment to the City upon the construction of certain real estate, and directing Council to Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING appropriate revenues from such payments to the Department of Planning and Development - Division of Housing and Community Development, in order to support equitable neighborhood development by constructing affordable housing, including units for sale or rent; providing assistance to Philadelphians who desire to become homeowners; providing opportunities for workforce development and apprenticeship; and requiring M/W/DBE participation goals, including monitoring and enforcement.
Also known as the development impact tax. Okay. 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. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Nay. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes are 14; the nays are three. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, another sequencing bill. Please read the title of Bill No. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING 200366.
An ordinance amending Section 19-1303(4) of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization to Offer Exemption from Real Estate Taxes on New Construction of Residential Properties," by modifying the start date of certain changes to tax abatements with respect to new residential construction.
Everybody clear? All right. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Nay. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Parker. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 11 and the nays are six. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill 200613.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code by creating a new Strawberry Mansion /NCO bounded by Lehigh Avenue, 29th Street, Sedgley Avenue, Montgomery Avenue, Conrail Right-Of-Way, Oxford Street, and 33rd Street. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilman Henon. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200654.
An ordinance authorizing the Procurement Commissioner to enter into agreements to purchase electricity, natural gas and motor fuel for use by the City in City facilities and vehicles, including agreements that obligate payment for delivery of such energy supplies in future fiscal years.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Brooks. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilman O'Neill. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, Bill No. 200573.
An ordinance amending Chapter 19-1300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," by clarifying definitions and process regarding qualification for Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING certain tax abatements based on tax delinquency.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez -- I'm sorry; Henon, Councilman Henon. It's coming in a little show. The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Council President. I hope everybody has a little patience with me here, because this is an important issue that deserves some clarity. So members of the Finance Committee will remember that we had in that committee a very lively conversation about this bill, and I'm seeking final passage here today on this legislation. This bill simply says that someone who is reaping the benefit of a tax abatement needs to ensure that they remitted all taxes that they are owed to the City, including wage taxes. If an applicant is found to Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING have misclassified any workers and, therefore, is found to have failed to remit all wage taxes, which means that they are delinquent in not paying their taxes, they will not be able to collect the benefit of a very lucrative tax abatement. As I said in the Committee, misclassification of workers is an unlawful practice. It is already against the law on the local, state, and federal level, but it is happening in Philadelphia all the time. It occurs in the construction sector, but it is most common in ride-sharing services, healthcare, childcare, and domestic work. Simply put, the misclassification of workers is an unlawful practice of labeling a worker as an independent contractor instead of an employee. These are not arbitrary terms. These are defined through the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Economic Realities Test, and years of caselaw. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING In order to be classified as an independent contractor, the person performing the work must have the right to control and direct the work that they have and how it is done. If a worker is under the direction, supervision or control of another person or entity, they are an employee, not an independent contractor. I want to reiterate why this matters. It matters for a lot of reasons, because there are two issues I want to address today especially. One, when working people are misclassified, the City absolutely loses tax revenues that are due. So, in turn, it generates revenue. We don't collect it. Especially in the times that we are seeing right now through the pandemic, we have a major loss of revenue, and it affects every part of our city, every household and every person in our city. That lack of revenue cuts short our schools, small business programs, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING programs in rent assist, affordable housing, and programs of the like. Number two, when working people are misclassified, they are not entitled to the protections afforded to an employee. These protections include everything from workmen's compensation to unemployment benefits to (inaudible) our laws, which we will pass in this body and now sits in our Department of Labor in the Mayor's Office. This City Council has made it abundantly clear that these (inaudible) protections for working people through countless pieces of legislation just this year alone. We care about working people. We cannot overlook what is staring us right in the face. Thousands of people who are taking advantage of it are (inaudible) because they are misclassified by companies who are trying to cut costs. Because this bill applies the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING requirements that wage tax be remitted before property tax abatement is issued, this bill applies to construction sites, construction sites only with the tax abatement. And in other construction sites, the only people on the construction site who can lawfully be classified as an independent contractor are those who own, operate, and are licensed specific contractors. If a construction worker is working at the direction of a supervisor for a construction company, he must be classified, again, as an employee.
For those who want to be a part of the conversation or who were part of the conversation in the Committee, you know that I am committed to having a conversation with the Administration, which I had, specifically Department of Revenue, about how can we ensure that this legislation does not negatively impact undocumented workers. First, I want to make clear Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING that undocumented workers can and do have ways to pay taxes that are owed. In fact, nationally undocumented workers contribute billions of dollars in taxes every single year. As many as 75 percent of undocumented workers are regularly remitting taxes. They are able to do so because immigration status does not prohibit a resident from paying taxes. They obtain an ITIN. That's an individual taxpayer ID number. A worker who has an ITIN who is remitting taxes owed is considered tax compliant regardless of the decision of an employer to misclassify them. Secondly, the misclassification of workers is a violation of law perpetrated by employers, not the employees. I'm going to say that again. It's perpetrated by the employers, not the employees, meaning the workers. So any enforcement actions that will be taken will be against the employers only. Finally, in response to the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING conversation I had with Revenue, the Commissioner has committed to launching a pilot program in response to the passage of this legislation. And typically regulations are formed after a piece of legislation is passed, and that has been the standard since the 1950s. The pilot program will focus specifically on the property tax abatement and the enforcement of requirements related to the wage tax. The Commissioner is committed to designing this pilot program that aims to protect workers and will be in communication with Councilmember Sanchez and myself about the design and implementation of that pilot. The Commissioner is clear that the pilot needs to be designed in a way that is congruent with our collective concerns about undocumented workers and our desire to focus in on tax collections, that's revenue, for the programs that help and support that our Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING citizens need. So I hope this resolves any of the outstanding concerns raised by my colleagues in the Committee, and I appreciate the decision around these issues and respectfully ask my colleagues to support me on this legislation. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank the bill sponsor for acknowledging some of the challenges with the nuances through this process. From the initial hearing of this bill back in February, I've always made it clear, as I have in the 13 years that I've worked in Council, that the exploitation of workers, of any workers, around public safety and construction sites, I have always been in the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING forefront of that and willing to work with folks. And since the bill sponsor makes several different declarations, I just want to for the record continue to be consistent in my position around this. We have many times piloted and the Revenue Department has piloted situations to go after these unscrupulous contractors and has the ability to do so without this piece of legislation. In the context of a federal government that has systematically pursued undocumented folks and has used the law, as the bill sponsor's does, it is illegal for someone who is not an employee to be on the work site, but he also acknowledges that the pathway there is complicated, and over the last four years even more complicated, for folks to be able to do what they want to do, which is pay taxes, so that when a pathway to immigration is provided, they have a record for serving and showing that they are contributing citizens. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING I support a pilot that demonstrates that the target is the contractors, because this work is being done across the country. What I don't support is a bill where we have had many public discussions on without draft regulations. And, yes, normally regulations are drafted afterwards, but as was stated in the Council hearing, the bill sponsor told all of us, and it's in the script, regulations will be drafted before he calls for a final vote, and then the following week, the final vote is called. I don't think we're saying different things. If there are bad actors who are contractors, then they should not be allowed to exploit workers, but when the legislation specifically outlines them and the misclassification in an issue that they have no other bearing on, they become the unintended consequences. This is the same language that Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Trump uses when he says he could put kids in cages because their parents are illegal in the United States. The nuances and the lack of federal guidance creates a space where cities -- and cities have rejected language that puts immigrant and non-documented workers in harm's way. So I support the intent of collecting any money and limiting any exploitation and making sure that job sites are safe, and I believe the Revenue Department can demonstrate this through a pilot without us getting in a space that we've rejected time and time again through our sanctuary status and what we say and what we've done. Just today we're approving a package of bills that affirms and confirms our commitment to workers, the most vulnerable workers. So I will continue to disagree. I will -- and I will ask everyone to look and monitor as this gets rolled out and ensure -- that I will make sure that if Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING anybody, right, non-union contractors who work with undocumented, if anybody uses this bill to weaponize a department against vulnerable communities, I'm going to shout it out, and I'm going to remain firm in my position that this is a space we don't need to be in. Thank you so much, Council President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Councilmember Sanchez, I appreciate your work on these issues, not just your 13 years here in City Council but your entire life. You go up in neighborhoods and you see it firsthand. So I look forward to working with you and the Revenue Department to make sure that nobody gets exploited and nobody takes advantage or weaponizes undocumented workers, because that's not Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING who we are as the City of Philadelphia, and look forward to ongoing conversation as we can hopefully, hopefully come to a common ground with our departments to make sure that our spirit and our intent and what we do here in City Council reflects all those same values. So thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just really wanted to weigh in for a brief minute here. I intend to vote for the bill today, but I am -- I do want to make it absolutely clear that I understand Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez's concerns and I am absolutely prepared to revisit this bill if it has the unintended consequence of disenfranchising workers who are undocumented. So I have every intention to do Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING what we do as members of Council, which is to pay attention to the bills once we pass them and make sure that folks are not being hurt by something that we're doing that has some sort of unintended consequence. So I just wanted to be on the record for that, that I will be voting for the bill but also am prepared to revisit this matter in the future. So thank you very much, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Domb.
Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to chime in here, because I did ask to see if we could compromise this back in the Finance Committee, and I'm going to vote yes on the bill today, but I wanted to just make sure that I put out there that I share the concerns expressed by Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Councilmember Quinones-Sanchez in our Committee hearing and here today. After speaking with the Revenue Department and understanding the intent to go after the lead contractors or developers applying for tax abatements, I'm going to lean on them to make sure these guidelines are really followed, because it's clear to me that we will not put our undocumented workers, with already limited access to jobs in the country, at risk. I would have preferred that these regulations were attached to the bill, but by the same token, I just want to let you know I will vote yes, but I'm going to be watching this very carefully, because I don't want anyone to get hurt from this legislation. Thank you.
Thank you. Just for the record, the bill will not be returned to Council either Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING approved or disapproved by the Mayor until we come off of recess in January. So that will give the Department time, along with members of Council, to start the process of working on regulations. So hopefully if we want to expedite this process, we can have that done in a meaningful way before the bill actually comes back to Council with either the Mayor's signature or not. So there's some time for us before it's actually ingrained in stone with the legislation.
Yeah. This is for either Councilmembers Henon or Domb. In your conversations with the Revenue Commissioner, did he give you some context in reference to the pilot in reference to a timeframe when they'd be moving forward with implementation? Also, with the new Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING administration coming in, I'm not sure if there's any other connections at the federal level that we may need some additional guidance, because I know Councilwoman Sanchez raised that both in today's points as well as in the Finance Committee hearing.
I could answer that, Council President. This is Councilman Bobby Henon. Councilmember Green, in the several conversations with the Revenue Department, as other members have also, and I appreciate their interest in making sure that there are no unintended consequences, as soon as the bill is signed and becomes law, they are eager to work on this and not wait to have regulations in place. So I think now they are on their end looking at what they could do as a pilot. They haven't indicated what that is yet, but they will be certainly looking into that right now during the month of December as we Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING approach our new year and get into 2021.
Thank you. Councilmember Green, let me share with you an e-mail I received from the Revenue Department on this issue, because we all are concerned. It just said, To follow up on your question, we received the opinion from the Law Department that we can hold up an abatement approval at the subcontractor level. However, this doesn't mean we wouldn't investigate a subcontractor if we felt there was a reason to dig deeper.
Thank you. We will move ahead. Bill No. 200573, this bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, can you please call the roll.
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Council President Clarke. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 13 [sic]; the nays are four. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 200620.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021 from the General Fund, certain or all City officers, departments, boards and commissions, the Grants Revenue Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Aviation Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Community Development Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, and the Housing Trust Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, to the General Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Water Residual Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Aviation Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Grants Revenue Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Community Development Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, and the Housing Trust Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions.
This bill having -- the Chair recognizes Councilmember Johnson.
Yeah. Madam Leader, Council President, I need to recuse myself for potential conflicts of interest on Bill No. 200620.
Thank you, Councilmember Johnson. That will be noted for the record. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING shall the bill pass finally. The Chief Clerk will call the roll.
Councilman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Johnson is abstaining. Councilman Jones.
Council President Clarke has indicated that he will be voting aye. So the ayes are 16 Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING and there's one abstention, and the bill passes finally. The Clerk will please read the title of Bill No. 200622.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2020 from the General Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, the Grants Revenue Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, and the Water Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, to the General Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions, and the Water Fund, certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions.
This bill having been read on two different days, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The Chief Clerk will call the roll.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson.
Yes. I wish to be recognized briefly before 200621 is voted on, but I just wanted to be very clear that my vote is a vote to ensure that we continue to meet our contractual obligations to pay any Class 100 funds that we are obligated to pay, particularly to the Police Department under the terms of the most recent contract, which is a one-year extension. Because this bill is tied to our fiscal responsibility and if voted down could put us in jeopardy of litigation, which will cost the City more revenue during a time when we are strapped fiscally and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING will be for some time, I'm voting yes, knowing that we are continuing the important work we started earlier this year to have a laser-beam focus on police reform and public safety in the City of Philadelphia. Thank you, Madam Majority Leader, for that opportunity.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Will the Chief Clerk call the roll. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Will the Chief Clerk please call the roll. (Pause.)
I think, Mr. Decker, you are muted. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilman Jones. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
The nays are four; the ayes are 13. The majority of members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes.
Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Parker. I had to step away briefly. I believe I missed maybe one or two votes. Let the record reflect I'm voting aye on Bill 620. I may have missed one other while I was away. Okay. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200622.
An ordinance amending Bill No. 200285 (approved June 26, 2020), entitled "An ordinance to adopt a Capital Program for the six Fiscal Years 2021 through 2026 inclusive."
This bill having been read on two different days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Brooks. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilman O'Neill. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200623.
An ordinance amending Bill No. 200286 (approved June 26, 2020), entitled "An ordinance to adopt a Fiscal 2021 Capital Budget." Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilman Henon. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of Bill No. 200557.
An ordinance adding a new Chapter 9-5300 to The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Travel and Hospitality Worker Recall and Retention," to require that certain laid-off employees in certain hospitality travel-related industries are offered job positions as they become available.
Thank you so much, Council President. I am proud today to present to this body, along with my co-sponsors Councilmembers Johnson and Thomas, as well as a broad majority of City Council, to present and request a vote on the Black Workers Matter Economic Recovery package for thousands of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Philadelphia's hospitality, tourism, and airport workers. Quite frankly, and very clearly stating, there are no hotels or stadiums or Philadelphia International Airport without these people. They are the backbone of our local economy, they are the breadwinners for their families, and they are the labor and civic leaders for colleagues and neighbors. This bill is for workers like Aisha Johnson of South Philadelphia. She worked at Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park for over ten years in maintenance and concessions, supporting her three sons, all of whom are out of work right now because of COVID. She told our Committee on Law and Government a few weeks ago that COVID has, quote, "Hit me and my family hard. It has hit my co-workers hard. It's like we are on a roller coaster with no end in sight. Unemployment has not been enough for us. It makes us anxious about when it's going Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING to end and when we can return to our jobs. My co-workers and I get worried and ask what if Aramark's revenues don't come back, what if they walk away from their contract with the Eagles or Phillies or Flyers or what if their contract isn't even renewed? What will happen to us? We need to be protected. We didn't ask for this pandemic, and we shouldn't be penalized because of it. " So today we vote on a legislation that sends this message back to Aisha. Council stands with workers who make our hospitality economy what it is. We vote on legislation that tells Aisha and all of her colleagues that her work has mattered and her work will continue to matter, because black workers matter here in our city. The package of bills before you has come together through a deeply engaged process with industry and those Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING most impacted by the bill's passage. Through business labor roundtables, meetings, and exhaustive negotiations, we bring before this body a bill that reflects the spirit of the law and careful attention to the legislative process of compromise and negotiation. I shared with all of you dozens of amendments which have been made to the bills, ensuring that industry has been heard and that we collectively are building towards Philadelphia's recovery. None of the industries directly impacted by the bill testified during committee hearings, nor are they here today, and I think that that speaks volumes to the work that has been put into amending the package so that it is fair and balanced. It ensures that we get things right for businesses while guaranteeing economic dignity for workers. We will, of course, be equally attentive to the regulatory process as well. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING I want to thank all the co-sponsors of these bills Councilmembers Johnson, Thomas, Quinones-Sanchez, Parker, Jones, Henon, Squilla, Gauthier, Brooks, Gilmore Richardson, and of course to you, Council President. I also want to acknowledge the work of POWER and OIC, the original authors of the 2016 Black Work Matters Report, which stays with me not just in spirit but in action. Most of all, I want to thank the hundreds of people that we've met over this difficult year of 2020 whose stories have driven us to action. I've walked the streets with women, mothers, and caretakers. They are black women, they are immigrants who have lost loved ones to COVID because they couldn't afford health insurance, they are single parents trying to keep a roof over their children's heads.
They have never lost faith in themselves and in the possibility of better days ahead, and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING they understand their own determination and faith to control their own futures and to organize like hell to make it happen. So for Aisha, for Stephanie, Ron, Charles, Joanna, Kat, Nay-Nay, Renee, and Walt in Georgia, I know all of you are watching and listening right now. There's no substitute for your voices or for your power. I look forward to taking this vote in favor of this package of bills in your names. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Brooks. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilman O'Neill. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 200559.
An ordinance amending Chapter 9-2300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Protection of Displaced Contract Workers," by Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING clarifying definitions and scope of applicability.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Gym. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Council President Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Clarke.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read Bill No. 200563.
An ordinance adding a new Chapter 9-5400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Retention of Hotel Workers," to require that hotel employees receive notice of changes in hotel ownership or control, and providing related employment protections.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Brooks.
Councilman Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING O'Neill.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 200479.
An ordinance amending Chapter 9-3500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Fair Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Criminal Record Screening Standards," by amending definitions, revising restrictions, and amending and clarifying remedies.
Thank you, Mr. President and colleagues. I rise to talk about Bill No. 200479, and that speaks to Fair Criminal Record Standards. It's affectionately known as Ban the Box. It is ironic that Rue Landau is leaving the City of Philadelphia's Human Relations Commission today. I recall her being one of the strongest advocates for this bill, along with Wendy Jacobs from North Philadelphia, who brought it to then Chair of Public Safety Donna Reed Miller. That's eight years ago. I remember during that time serving on Public Safety Committee how many business groups came together and they were frightened and said how this would fundamentally cause them great Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING problems and how it was just going to be horrible in their ability to vet employees. Eight years later, we find that it probably allowed them to find quality employees that they would have otherwise summarily dismissed due to the box -- the check of that box. We then, this body, many of you, in 2012 came back and tightened it up a little bit. My colleague came after that, Member Gym, to make it applicable to college students, to make sure that that box did not hinder their ability to find their better selves. 0 of Ban the Box. Why? Because the individual applying for a job, whether it's at that hotel that we just passed laws for, can come in and realize the protection of past legislation, but the person working in the kitchen who decided to go back to Community College and say, I don't want Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING to work in the kitchen anymore, I want to work at the front desk and receive a promotion and an increase in pay, is not covered by the law. Many people that once again rose -- fear, not facts -- and came back, and we had dozens of meetings. I want to applaud Samantha Williams for her patience and Ms. Landau for her patience and Community Legal Services for their patience working out a lot of those details, but they said, you know, we in the ride-share business are particularly concerned about this. Facts, not fear. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania covers ride-share, that there are certain types of offenses that no matter what this bill says, they can not be employed, and rightfully so. And they cover crimes like assault, particularly on women, but assault on anyone, and they cover these things naturally. And so I scratch my head, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. President and members of this body, to say, well, why did they sneak back and start to raise the fear? And then I remembered the conversation. They said that this bill, by having to first offer a tentative offer of employment and then running the background check, would add three days to their hiring, three days. I would say to you and remind you, we are the poorest big city in the country. I would remind you all of the progressive legislation that we just passed today, that this is another arrow in our quiver to -- God gives and takes away. Council in its own way gives too. We give opportunity to people to have a second chance and we take away barriers to meaningful employment. One out of three African American men has been in jail, on probation or on parole. That person sitting in that cubicle scared to death that if they raise their head, that they could be found out that they had a Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING record, should not after seven years have that fear. All criminologists suggest that after seven years of not being in contact with the criminal justice system, the chances of people re-offending goes all the way back down to people who have never offended at all. Facts, not fears.
0 to just cover the person sitting in the cubicle right now saying that I would go after that job, but they might run me through, the person that's sitting in that job that when the company was bought by a new owner fears the fact that they may do a background check and find out that when I was 19 years old, I did something stupid. I will remind you that every seven years, we change. When you were seven years old, Member Green, you thought you were a rapper. When you Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING turned 14, you thought that you were in love. When you turned 21, you knew you better be a family man. Every seven years, we change, and we should give everyone an opportunity to come back to society. If not, the trends of shootings, the trends of murders in our city will continue. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Councilwoman Brooks. (No response.) Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are zero. A majority of members present voting in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 200593.
An ordinance amending Chapter 10-2000 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Use of Three-Dimensional Printer to Manufacture Firearms," to change the Chapter title, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING to add definitions, to add additional prohibitions on the use of three-dimensional printers, to improve prohibitions relating to the transfer, use, or conversion of unfinished firearms and certain equipment, the manufacture of firearms, and to prescribe additional penalties for violations of this Chapter.
Thank you. This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, call the roll.
Aye. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Councilwoman Brooks, I don't think we recorded you on 200479.
You're aye? Okay. Let the record reflect that Councilwoman Brooks is an aye on 200479, and that number is 17; zero. Thank you. Mr. Decker, do you have any additional resolutions?
A resolution Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING honoring the life and legacy of Joey Temple, introduced by Councilwoman Parker on behalf of Council President Clarke.
Yes. Move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution recognizing, honoring, and celebrating the extraordinary career of W. Wilson Goode, Jr., distinguished four-term member of Philadelphia City Council from Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING 2000 to 2016, introduced by Councilwoman Parker on behalf of Council President Clarke.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution recognizing and honoring Rue Landau for her incredibly impactful work as Executive Director of both Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and Fair Housing Commission, and congratulating Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING her on her new career in academia as the "Beck Professor" at Temple University Beasley School of Law, introduced by Councilman Jones.
Yes. Mr. President, I'd like to speak briefly and say that a lot of times in Philadelphia you are around the person so much, you don't recognize how special they are until you go out of town and you go to Harrisburg and you are a part of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which I am, and then I mention Philadelphia, and whose name is mentioned in reverence, like being a rock star of human relations issues, that in fact I figured, all right, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, maybe she's known a little bit. Okay. So we go to a national convention, Mr. President, out in Denver, and I mentioned Philadelphia, and the first thing out of their mouth Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING is, oh, you work with the Landau, like she was a Star Wars super hero. And when I start to come back home, I started looking at her different, because she is -- like there have been a lot of heads of the Human Relations Commission in Philadelphia, and many of them have distinguished themselves in many areas, but none like her. I remember when we first started Ban the Box and we were going to negotiate with members of the business community, she -- I was worn out, Mr. President. I was ready to concede certain aspects of the bill and I was getting ready to go on the floor. I'll never forget this. You got to remember she's only like 5'6". She shut my office door and said, you will not concede another thing on this bill. It is meritorious of passage. I'm from West Philly, Member Johnson. I was scared to death. I said, okay, and I literally went out, my back Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING got a little straighter, we ran the vote and it passed. I am so thankful to have met her and so thankful that she has added value to the City of Philadelphia. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
I think, Councilwoman Gym, did you have something to say?
Yes. I just wanted to be brief. First of all, I want to thank the Council sponsor for this incredible resolution to a woman who has truly been a leader in our city. I think there's very little to add to what you said, except that Rue Landau is shorter than 5'6". She can just look like she's a giant amazon. She served the City for 12 years, and she's helped define what this work looks like. She's brought us forward with a sense of moral clarity, but also an ability to do this work Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING boldly and to do it in ways that bring people in. She's the very definition of what it means to be in true partnership. It's been an honor to be on Team Rue for the last four years, but I was a fan long before I came into office. But she's been a true hero and champion, and we'll miss her terribly, but I know she's very nearby and will continue to do great work. And I just want to thank the Council sponsor for honoring just a tremendous person in Philadelphia.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez.
Thank you, President Clarke. I also just for the record just want to really personally thank Rue Landau and her wife. These are two amazing social justice warriors who used their legal expertise to help the most vulnerable communities through the mortgage foreclosure. There's very few Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING policies I can think of that have economic impact where one of them wasn't involved. So to Rue, thank you so, so very much for your friendship, for your leadership, and I look forward to many great things from you. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Next to be recognized is Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. I too wanted to echo the sentiments of all of our colleagues here in Council in thanking Rue Landau for her service to the City of Philadelphia. I had the pleasure of working with Rue as a staffer when we worked on a bill to give equal benefits to life partners of City employees, and this was back in 2011 or '12. So she has been a longtime champion of the issues that we have worked on that have been so Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING important to the fabric of our city, and I just wanted to wish her well and thank her so much for her service. Thank you so much, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Parker.
Thank you, Mr. President. I as well want to lend my voice to the choir here and say a special thanks to Rue for using her intellectual prowess as a tool, in essence, to help us close the gap between the have's and the have not's, and to think that she is now going to use that same intellectual prowess to teach and train the next generation of leaders in our quest for social and economic justice right here at one of our universities is something for us to be proud of. And so, colleagues, although she is not going to be here officially Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING working with us in her capacity at the Human Relations Commission, I would argue that we are about to get a little more, because we are about to get access to some Temple students who are being trained and taught by Rue Landau. And I'm putting my ask out there right now, Rue, I want an intern that's coming out of your class. So, look, I cannot make an ask, right, colleagues? She needs to send a cadre of them here so that they can place them with us. Thank you, colleagues. Councilmember Jones, thank you so much for your leadership in this effort. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Council President. And I would be remiss not to congratulate my dear friend Rue Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Landau, whom I've known for 20 years. She has been an incredible resource for advice and guidance through challenges as an elected official, spanning back from 2011 to present. She was a part, instrumental part, in making sure that my office as a Council office, district Council office specifically, knows who our constituents are, and understanding who they are is a better reflection on how we can help serve them. She was an incredible resource when it came to advising us in the trainings that we had, the behavior and mental health training that the Health Department gave out. It helped with guidance in my office training in implicit bias training and diversity training from Temple and Drexel. So, Rue, we are absolutely going to miss you. You are somebody who is one of the most genuine, real people that I know, especially in your quest and continuing fight for justice for all. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING So, Rue, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am going to miss you, but I know where you are. God bless you.
Thank you, Councilman Henon. I think that concludes the comments on Ms. Landau, and there's been a motion on the table. Can we get a second? (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution recognizing Monday, December 14 to Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 12/10/20 - STATED - 2ND READING Friday, December 18 as PHLConnectED Week, introduced by Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of Councilman Squilla, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. That completes our Calendar for Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 start with speeches. By the way, guys, I think lunch should be delivered to you all in your individual locations shortly. I just want to say you're welcome ahead of time. We're now going to move to our speeches. Prior to recognizing members regarding speeches, I will note for the record at this time that we will use the Chat feature available in Microsoft Teams to allow members to signify that they wish to be recognized. In order to comply with the Sunshine Act, the Chat feature must only be used for this purpose. With that said, are there any speeches on behalf of the minority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brooks.
We absolutely can. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Okay. I want to first speak briefly about the bill to extend the public health emergency leave that I introduced today. The bill, which was passed in September and co-sponsored by my colleague Councilmembers Henon and Gym, extended paid sick leave benefits to thousands of Philadelphians who were left out of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The law targets the people who do the labor and keeps our community safe, healthy, and well fed. We're talking about the delivery drivers, ride-share drivers, grocery store workers, healthcare workers, pharmacy workers, and childcare providers. These jobs are disproportionately low wage, and the majority are filled by black and brown people, especially women. Many don't have the option to work from home, and with COVID-19 cases skyrocketing every day, they go to work and put themselves and their families at risk. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 the least that we can do for them and one of the best tools we have to protect our city from this devastating pandemic. We know that our workers desperately need protections, and we also know that small businesses are the lifeblood of Philadelphia's economy and are suffering in the absence of federal aid. The wage tax relief for small and mid-sized businesses included in the FCRA is crucial to sustaining our local economy, and any paid sick leave legislation must go hand in hand with the support for these businesses. Once paid sick legislation is passed by Congress, this bill will complement that legislation and ensure that no person is left behind in Philadelphia by extending these critical protections, because we know that when sick workers can afford to stay home, our entire city is healthier and safer for it. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 quickly address my reasons for voting no on the transfer ordinance that gives $17 million to the Philadelphia Police Department. As we know, this money has already been spent on overtime and personnel in the wake of protests. The protests emerged in response to, first, George Floyd and then Walter Wallace's murder to reject a broken system that continues to steal black people from their families and from their communities. The protests were intense, and I remember I was on the ground with Councilmember Gauthier for hours that night after Walter Wallace was killed, and that pain was visual. It would be an understatement to say that giving millions of dollars to the police in the wake of Walter Wallace's murder feels tone deaf to that pain. And anyone who read the Inquirer's recent story about the brutality that Rakia Young and her family faced that night can attest to the fact that a Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 not necessarily mean community safety. Rakia was senselessly beaten and taken away from her toddler when she accidentally drove through the center of one of the protests. In light of these repeated instances of police violence toward community members, we are discussing the $17 million transfer, and that stings. It stings hard. Why is it that we give the Police Department almost a sixth of our entire operating budget as a city and then permit them to overspend and ask for more? We have the power to reject this power imbalance and to say it's not okay for the police to spend whatever they want, while our schools and our neighborhoods are begging for scraps. And that's why I, along with a few fellow members of the Police Reform Working Group, Councilmembers Thomas, Johnson, Gilmore Richardson, with the support of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Gauthier, Gym, Green, and Domb, have requested a formal audit of the Philadelphia Police's budget.
I am in conversations with the Controller's Office about this audit so that we can better understand what is being spent where and achieve greater transparency moving forward. We have a right to see where the money is going. Police funding should not be in a black box. It should be a result of community input and rigorous speaking, and I'm hopeful that this audit will lead us on that path. Lastly, I have learned a great deal this year, both through working with my colleagues to push legislation forward and observing the way that others approach this work. I have learned nearly as much through the successes of this year as I have through the challenges, and it has been tiring, invigorating, and at times extremely frustrating. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 on past Council sessions, what has been the most remarkable is the level of community input and engagement. We have seen extraordinary displays of community organizing, worker solidarity, visionary activism, and neighborhood support across our city, and a common thread has been a profound hunger for change. And we have a choice how we respond to that. We can choose to grow our legislation from the grassroots or make decisions behind closed doors and legislate from the top down. We have all had to throw out roadmaps for what we thought this year would be, and as we approach 2021, I encourage us to continue disposing of what doesn't serve us, to leave behind these deeply entrenched ways of thinking that bind us to business as usual, to say no to lobbyists, political pressure, and instead listen to the voices of the people, and the people do not mince their Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 wealth gap is inevitable. Suffering is not inevitable. And it is always a policy choice, and the power is in our hands. And although as a Council body we have accomplished a great deal this past year and I know we all recognize that there's significantly more that we can do in years to come, I hope that the new year brings us the courage we need to meet this moment, to meet persistent structural problems with bold ideas and real transformative change. Because we're not holding back in 2021. And I want to thank you, Council President and my colleagues, and I wish you all and the viewing public a safe, socially distanced, restful, and rejuvenating holiday season. Thank you all.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Speeches on behalf of the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Johnson. (No response.)
First and foremost, I just want to thank all of my colleagues for their hard work and their dedication throughout this very, very challenging year. As we faced crisis after crisis, we had to adjust on the fly to a new way of life, including a new way of working. All of you have gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the people of Philadelphia. We have brought solutions to the table for public health, housing preservation, small business relief, racial equity, black workers' rights, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 judges, police accountability, fiscal stability, government transparency, and so much more. As we look forward to the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, there are glimmers of hope on the horizon, but our work is far from over. Although many will remember 2020 as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I will also remember 2020 as the bloodiest year of the 21st century. Indeed, this has been Philadelphia's deadliest year since 1990. As of yesterday, we have had 465 homicides in our city this year. This cannot continue. It must not continue, and it's totally unacceptable. I pledge that I will not stop working on solutions with my colleagues. Today we voted on legislation I sponsored to cut off the flow of ghost guns in our communities. This bill was a direct result of hearings I held this fall. At those hearings, law enforcement Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 share of crime guns recovered in Philadelphia are ghost guns made from kits with simple tools from Home Depot and tutorial videos on the internet. Those ghost guns don't carry a serial number, don't require a background check, and can't be traced by investigators. This will give law enforcement an important tool to keep guns out of the neighborhoods and hold gun traffickers accountable. And although today is the last meeting of Council in 2020, my colleagues and I are going to keep working throughout the end of the year. m. This is a follow-up on a series of hearings that had started from this summer and fall that examined the reasons for our massive spike in gun violence. Topics would include the new Group Violence Intervention program, victim services and Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 communities, the homicide and non-fatal clearance rate, and the conviction rate for shootings that result in arrest. Another pressing issue facing our city is the rapid spread of COVID-19 within Philadelphia jails and Pennsylvania prisons, which affects thousands of Philadelphians, both inmates and staff. During this pandemic, jails and prisons have been infection hotspots, and Philadelphia is no exception. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a significant and collaborative effort on the part of City stakeholders, including City Council, to limit the spread of COVID-19 within Philadelphia jails and keep non-violent offenders out of the jails. Now that COVID-19 infection rates are surging, we must renew these efforts. Currently there are over 4,000 Philadelphians being housed in the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. There are thousands more housed by the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Corrections, and of course there are thousands of corrections officers and staff. We owe it to these fellow Philadelphians to address this issue. We also owe it to ourselves. If the staff and the inmates are infected in our prisons, when they come back into our communities, they will bring COVID-19 with them. We cannot afford to ignore this issue as the second wave of this pandemic rises. m. to examine how we are addressing COVID-19 in our prison system. I look forward to continuing Council's work to protect all Philadelphians and I invite my colleagues Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you very much, and I look forward to working with all of you. God bless everyone and have a beautiful holiday.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gym.
Thank you very much, Council President. I want to also echo the beautiful words that Councilmembers Brooks and Johnson have already delivered about what it feels like to work together on City Council through an extraordinary year. I also want to highlight one of the issues that we've had a lot of challenges around, and that's the issue around the eviction process. But the vote that we took earlier today on the Consent Agenda around extending the diversion program, with much gratitude to our Appropriations Chair, Councilmember Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Quinones-Sanchez, and many others, including Councilmember Gilmore Richardson and Councilmember Oh, who reached out to help navigate our relationship with the courts, shows that there are actually alternatives to eviction that can work when we put efforts into it. I think it's profound that when the pandemic hit, there was a lot of dialogue about the importance of housing, but this City Council body actually took the time to act on that and not just to talk about it. We enacted a broad-based eviction moratorium through August. We created, in a matter of weeks, an eviction -- a mandatory pre-filing eviction diversion program, and all thanks to our wonderful Deputy Mayor Anne Fadullon and Eva Gladstein, to Melissa Long and Greg Heller and their shops, to make sure that we got rent assist and resources out to both landlords and tenants and then modified the programs Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 But the early results on eviction diversion should be a point of pride for this Council body. This is a city that in 2019 evicted over 19,000 households. We ranked fourth in the nation in terms of evicting people. We know that in the way that a criminal record can impact one in three black men here in the City of Philadelphia, an eviction filing can be a mark for so many black women who are seeking shelter not only for themselves but for the children and for the seniors and others that they take care of. What we saw through the pre-filing diversion program is that when we have a housing counselor sit down with a landlord and tenant in a mediated discussion, we come out with positive agreements over 80 percent of the time, and actually only 5 percent of the mediated agreements where both parties are sitting down together don't end up in Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 reason for us to continue what we have done before that has been destructive to families, that has been destructive to children, to have not resulted in better outcomes for landlords or tenants either. We want to commit to make sure that this is a balanced process, and in 2021, I look forward to working with our Council colleagues to transfer the diversion program over, but I do just want to underscore that it's my belief that the City has started something important, extraordinary, and in the way that diversion works in the criminal justice system, it can also work in systems that are equally oppressive, including in Landlord Tenant Court. We've shown it. We've proved it. We've shown people that there can be better outcomes in desperate, desperate times. And as we face January and the fact that the CDC eviction order expires, we eagerly await the announcement of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 package, a bipartisan package, that will once again put money towards rent assist and supports for families and communities in need. But this work needs to continue loudly into January. It's not wrong to disrupt processes that are themselves wrong. We can show that we can break cycles of abuse, exploitation, of oppression if we put all of our work towards it, and I am really proud to be part of a Council body that has done this. I also want to thank just all of the Councilmembers who are on here.
I think our power is our diversity and the way -- and the creative ways in which we approach problems and the way we look at solutions, even if we disagree. And so I am extremely grateful for all the colleagues who have worked together to really stand up on housing, on gun violence issues, on holding the School District accountable, holding many people Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 now accountable. And, finally, I just want to say a note of gratitude to a number of different people, some of whom are leaving the City. Rue Landau got a lot of love, and deservedly so, from all of us, but I will also say gratitude to Council President for acknowledging the work of Marcel Pratt, our City Solicitor, who has truly brought a sense of dignity, a moral conscience, and an uplifting of the morale over in City government. He's going on to great things, but it has been an honor to serve with him and to see how he executes his work with such dignity and with such a sense of the public trust. I also want to thank you for honoring the retirement of an inspiring mentor for me, Wilson Goode, Jr. I know he has been many other people's colleagues for a really long time, but for those who may not know, before I came Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Council, Councilmember Goode met with me every single week for several hours at a time in the summer after I was elected in May 2019 and then all the way through until my election -- rather, until I was seated formally on City Council. He's not just somebody who delivers brilliant policy and is a great partner and an incisive person, he truly believes in building out a better world in which policy ideas that are cared for and done in collegial partnership with others can actually transform the world. I know this because he started a wonderful organization called Local Progress, which has people from all over the country. When he first started it, it was just a small number of people who believed that municipal politics could actually lead from a policy angle, especially when we were in states or saw a federal government that was lagging on housing, on justice reform, on youth, on Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 schools, and on immigrant rights. And he built it into what is now a 50 state -49 state 1,000-plus member strong organization. I will be coming in in 2021 as its new co-chair, along with our Councilmember from Texas, Austin, Texas, Greg Casar, and I just wanted to acknowledge and thank Councilmember Goode for always believing and seeing possibilities in so many people as well. And I also want to thank our Council staff, Michael Decker, Modesto, and others. It's been a really hard time technologically speaking, and it's been really great, and just your work has been really appreciated. I know we probably don't say it enough, but thank you to your whole team for keeping us able to do the work that we do. Thank you very much, Council President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 up, Councilwoman Bass.
Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for the recognition. I want to just first, number one, start out by thanking you for your leadership and for all of my colleagues for all of the work that we do. We don't always agree. Clearly at times we agree to disagree, but I have no doubt whatsoever that we all have the same mindset, which is that we want to help people, we want to make a difference, we want to get things done in the City of Philadelphia. So I just really wanted to start out by saying that and also thanking just a couple of people in particular and recognizing a few people, and I want to pick up where my colleague just left off and mention W. , who is just a great friend, a great human being, most importantly, and someone who is surely going to be missed in the City of Philadelphia. When it Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 policy, I will dare say there's no one better. Wilson is just incredible, an incredible thinker and someone that you can always lean on. So I just really wanted to give a shout-out to my good friend Wilson Goode, Jr. We are really going to miss you in the building, even though we're not in the building right now, but we are really truly going to miss you. Also Rue. I've known Rue for well over 20 years. It seems like just yesterday that we were working together on some campaigns back in the late '90s and early 2000s. But I want to say to Rue congratulations on moving up, moving out, doing some different things. And we're going to miss you as well, but we all have your number on speed dial, so we will feel free to reach out to you and to be in touch. So congratulations to you on your future endeavors. Joey Temple, Joey Temple was a great guy. He's going to really be Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 who worked with us on public policy, but when you want to talk about knowing the neighborhood, knowing what's happening in the streets, knowing what's going on, Joey Temple was that person. And so when I first heard about his passing, I was shocked, because I didn't know he was sick, but I heard someone on WURD say on his last show, because he had a radio show, on his last show that he came on and he played songs such as My Prerogative and Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way and songs with that kind of theme, and if you knew Joey Temple, then you knew that he did it his way, and he was unapologetic about being for the neighborhood. And so we are really, really, really going to miss Joey Temple. I know I'm really going to miss him. And one other person I want to point out is an unsung hero, and that's a good friend of mine, Dominick Cipollini. Going back to Councilwoman Katherine Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 her resolution on Hallahan and so many of us grew up -- I didn't go to Hallahan, but everyone knew someone who went to Hallahan or has a connection, and I certainly have a connection with Bishop McDevitt where my nephew attended for a moment. And so Dominick Cipollini, who many of us know from many different avenues, heard about what was happening and just put up some billboards. Nobody asked him to. Nobody called him. He just heard what was happening and thought it was a travesty and wanted to do something. And so if we all in our own way just do something to make this city better, it goes a long way. So that being said, Mr. President, I just want to thank you for your leadership, for all of Council's leadership, and for all of my colleagues for the work that you do, and as we look Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 year, which I think we're all very much looking forward to, even though it's just -- 2020 has really been something quite unexpected, and it's time to move on, and what we move on to nobody knows. Nobody knew what 2020 was going to be.
Nobody knows what 2021 is going to be, but we're looking forward to that change, and I pray that everyone is safe and healthy and taking care of those close to them and their loved ones and especially us look out for our children and our seniors. The only other thing I need to add, Mr. President, is that for those of us -- back to work. m. It's 2:23 right now. We're going to ask to reconvene around 3:00. So for those who are on the Public Health and Human Services Committee, please reconvene at 3 o'clock. Thank you, Mr. President. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you so much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to echo a lot of the comments made by my colleagues in this holiday season. 2020 has been a year like none other. We wish everyone who is watching, participating in the City of Philadelphia Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa. I know it's a challenging time period for many of us because we can't do the things we normally would do due to the pandemic. In that regard, my staff will be doing our annual Toys for Tots drive. m. m. m. m. where my staff will be doing our annual Toys for Tots drivethrough and toy drive. So many comments have been made. I just wanted to echo the comments made by members of Council saluting the career and work of former Councilmember W. , as well as Rue Landau, someone that I went to law school with. We were joking earlier in the week of how we used to see each other in Temple Law School, me coming out of either the Student Bar Association Office or the Blacks Law Student Association Office, and she's done phenomenal work in her career as an attorney. I'm glad to see she's going back to those acre of diamonds on North Broad Street as a professor at Temple Law School, as well as my fraternity brother Marcel Pratt. He's done an excellent job as the City Solicitor, now going back into private practice. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of great public servants. This body has been doing public service in spite of this pandemic, but as some of my colleagues have said, we have more work to do and we need to continue to press and advocate for things that have helped our city. Many people have read about the stimulus package that's being debated in DC. It's right now proposed at $908 billion. $160 billion have been identified for cities, states, and travel governments. We know that we have a very precarious financial situation here in the City of Philadelphia with only a $22 million fund balance. And so the National League of Cities recently did a survey of about 900 cities around this nation. 71 percent of those cities said that if Congress does not take action, their financial situation will definitely worsen in 2021. The Pennsylvania Municipal League did a survey of about over 2,500 Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of Pennsylvania. Some of you may know that we have legislation in Harrisburg called Act 47, which is for distressed cities, basically cities who are going through some type of like basic bankruptcy. We have 31 cities in Act 47. Based on the survey that the Pennsylvania Municipal League did, 23 cities are seriously looking at going into Act 47 as we go into the new year if Congress does not pass some relief measures for cities around this nation, more particularly in this state and also for the City of Philadelphia. So hopefully the Senators and members of Congress get the message and they pass that legislation before they recess to make sure that we have the dollars that we need, especially as we go into Calendar Year 2021 and as we begin our budget process, because we know this year's budget process was so challenging. And so we've had a theme, I Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 think, in this Council in a lot of the speeches this afternoon about public service. We've commended and lauded a lot of public servants. We've also lauded public servants who have done public service in a unique way, like Joey Temple, but I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge a gentleman that has been a longtime public servant in the City of Philadelphia that passed away somewhat recently, James Stanley White. He was a former Executive Vice President of Temple University where he served basically as the Chief Operating Officer for Temple University. He was a retired United States Colonel.
He was a former Commissioner of Licenses and Inspection, as well as a former Managing Director for the City, also a former Vice President of Provident National Bank, and also before becoming EVP at Temple was a former Vice President at Temple University. For those of you who go up and down North Broad Street and drive by Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 University, if you're going north, you will notice on your left-hand side that back in the late '90s as he was retiring from Temple University, the Board of Trustees, where he served, named a residence hall after James Stanley White. That was his first major construction project while working at Temple University, and it was named in his honor as the James Stanley White Student Residence Hall. And Jim White, or Stan White if those of you who went to that outstanding university of Morgan State University called him Stan White, he was also a board member of the Philadelphia Tribune. He was also an outstanding member of my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. He was also a member of the Alpha Boule Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. So I just wanted to acknowledge the life and memory of James Stanley White, a public servant. So many public servants have transitioned in 2020 as Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 COVID-19 year, but I think we can lift up their memories to encourage us to continue to do the work so we will have a better year in 2021 as we transition through some of the challenges that we have this year. With that, Council President, I'll just ask if we can have a moment of silence in the memory of James Stanley White.
Absolutely. Can we please have a moment of silence. (Moment of silence.)
Thank you. Thank you so much, to a great guy. The Chair recognizes Councilman Thomas.
Thank you, Council President, and thank you to my colleagues. Today is a really special day for me. Two years ago I announced my Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 seat, and today we're finishing our last session for our first year. And also like so many of my colleagues, it's truly an honor to honor former Councilmember Wilson Goode, Jr. today. It's been a long journey for me to get here, and in the midst of that journey, I've had some unsuccessful campaigns. I remember running in 2015 and being a part of an event in New York with Councilmember Goode, and that really gave me a good schooling and understanding not just who he was to the City of Philadelphia but similar to what Councilmember Gym talked about earlier, who he is to the entire country. And so when you talk about someone who has inspired people to run for office, who has inspired legislation, it's definitely an honor and a privilege to serve on this body after him, inspired by him, with so many other great legislators, both past and present. So I commend him. I just wanted to say thank you to him and make Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 -- and thank you to you, Council President, for assuring that he gets his flowers while he can smell them. I also wanted to echo the sentiments of my colleague Councilmember Green and bring homage to Marcel Pratt, our former City Solicitor, who did a great job, who is an inspiration to a lot of people in our generation and who I'm optimistic about will do other things. And I also wanted to recognize another good friend of mine, somebody who has meant a lot to this Council body who also moved on, and that was a good friend of all of ours, Matt Stitt, who again just another person who is an inspiration from my generation, who now is in the private sector, former public servant doing great things. So I did want to recognize all three of them. They had a huge impact on my first year in City Council. I'm pretty sure a lot of my colleagues would echo the sentiments that I just talked Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Now, in the spirit of what Councilmember Johnson who was communicating as it relates to the work still needing to be done, he's exactly right. Not only are there hearings taking place, we'll still be doing a lot brainstorming and researching and creating different collaborations around policing, around our schools, around regulatory relief, around supporting poor people, people of color and figuring out what can we do to provide more and more resources to help people get through this Coronavirus pandemic to make sure we're good on the other side. So thank you, Council President. Thank you, colleagues. It's been a roller coaster of a first year, but I couldn't ask for a better team to be a part of. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Quinones-Sanchez.
I'll be very brief, but I want to thank Councilmember Bass for her indulgence. I know we have this hearing at 3 o'clock. Council President, I just want to thank you for your leadership and to all my colleagues and members. I appreciate folks, particularly those who share my values and the work that I do, but I also highly respect those who I disagree with and really do honor and respect the fact that we're all independent elected officials who truly represent our constituencies and were brought here and honored with people's vote to do the people's work and get to compromises and moving this city forward. You have done that this year with significant legacy projects, whether it's the poverty partnership, to the $400 million bond. Council President, I want to thank you and all my colleagues for Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 want to thank Marcel Pratt for his service, and really just want to end on our good colleague Wilson Goode. For those of us continuing his work around social economic justice, because that's what he did here, a body of work of hundreds of bills that were impactful to how we run business, we stand on his shoulders. He was the trailblazer in this space and was unapologetic in his work. And so I personally also want to thank him for being a friend, for always answering the call and giving the advice around this, how we want to impact and do this kind of work. So thank you, Council President, for your patience and for our leadership team. And to all the members, have a safe holiday season. I know all of us are going to be working. Shout out to my partner Councilmember Squilla. As Governor Wolf, during this very crazy Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 time, we are in a health crisis, and I look forward to our leadership and helping people feel more secure about where we are. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you so much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. And I too wanted to echo the sentiments of my colleagues in thanking and congratulating Marcel Pratt, who has been a good friend and trusted advisor. To my friend and former colleague Matt Stitt, to Rue Landau, who I worked with very early on in my career as a legislative aide, on the next leg of her journey, and certainly Councilmember W. , I had the honor and the privilege to watch him work while he passed so many bills, good bills as he Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 them, on behalf of the people we serve and was a seat mate to my predecessor and my mentor, Councilmember Blondell Reynolds Brown. I still remember how he would set up his desk, the items he would have on his desk, and his deep knowledge of the legislative process and our internal procedures of City Council. I wish him well and truly thank him for his continued work. And I too am grateful for the lessons I've learned this year. As you all know, I've worked in City Council for quite some time, so I knew that when I became a member, there would be lots of new things to learn, but the challenges this year made the transition particularly difficult. So I want to thank each and every one of you for your support. Whether we agreed or disagreed, I have learned so much from you, and I look forward to our continued work together. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 has taught all of us new ways to collaborate, adapt, and partner to better serve the people of Philadelphia, and it showed us that no matter how tough a challenge, we can get through it together. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to grapple with a gun violence crisis here in Philadelphia, systematic inequities and racism, generational poverty, and climate change and other crises that really force us to ask ourselves what kind of city do we want to be, a Philadelphia where your zip code does not determine your life expectancy; a Philadelphia where we don't have to live in fear of gun violence in our neighborhoods; a Philadelphia where the economy is inclusive of all education levels and skills and invested in our local talent and resources. Workforce development, re-skilling and up-skilling for careers, as indicated in our labor market Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 indicators, will be vital to our recovery, as well as prioritizing our environment in all decisions moving forward across government; a Philadelphia where every neighborhood is safe, walkable, and has well-maintained community resources like commercial corridors, schools, parks, transportation, and recreation centers; a Philadelphia where temperatures aren't 20 degrees higher in some neighborhoods than in others; a Philadelphia where everyone has a safe, healthy, affordable home. This is a vision that I truly believe can be a reality, but it will take hard work. This past year we faced a $750 million hole in our budget. We know that next year may be even harder with our fund balance dwindling. It is my sincere hope that we will see support from our state and federal governments, but it is also my hope that we use this crisis to think innovatively about what challenges Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 and take right here in Philadelphia and what changes we need to continue to take, how have our choices played a role in the City we have today and what should we do differently to move the needle on these issues. We have been asking these tough questions since the beginning of this year, and I will say even when it was extremely difficult, I learned from you, Councilmember Oh, and I appreciate you, Councilmember O'Neill, for pulling me aside after a hearing one day. Your words really helped me, and I will always, always be grateful for you. I learned so much from you and your great institutional knowledge.
Since the onset of COVID, we've been listening to our small business owners about their challenges and needs, like we did yesterday in the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, and I want to thank our Majority Leader, Councilmember Cherelle L. Parker, for her Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 needs of our commercial corridors. We spent seven hours hearing some community members about police reform, over 100 witnesses, and truly shedding light on the contracting practices that tie up over $700 million of our budget each and every year. I want to thank all of you colleagues for your support of the public comment bill, a first in the City of Philadelphia. We held listening sessions in the community through Councilmember Quinones-Sanchez's Poverty Action Task Force and the Disadvantaged Communities Task Force with Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and myself and all the members of Council, and we are finding new ways to leverage resources to invest in those who need it most. We passed legislation to help business owners and restaurants pivot during this pandemic under the leadership of Councilmember Domb and Henon; the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 and the Black Workers Matter package from Councilmembers Brooks, Gym, Gauthier, Thomas, and Johnson; and also, Councilmember Johnson, for your focus on gun violence prevention; and a bill -- we also passed a bill to help our environment and our important outdoor spaces we use more and more during this time by Councilmember Bass. We passed a New Normal Budget Act with your leadership, Council President, and Councilmembers Parker, Squilla, and Jones, and also our Appropriations Chair, Councilmember Quinones-Sanchez, and our Finance Chair, Councilmember Green, to make it abundantly clear that this body recognizes the disparities caused by generations of systematic racism and poverty and that we are ready to put money where our mouth is. We may not always agree, but it is clear that we are willing to work Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 to achieving those goals. Philadelphia, I ask you to join us. Tell us what your vision is for our great city, and please continue showing up to let us hear from you. This year you came out to make your voices heard in the streets, in our sessions, in our e-mails, and at the ballot box, and I want you to know we hear you and we are working for you. Finally, I want to say thank you. Thank you to our essential workers, the doctors and nurses, grocery store clerks, postal carriers, SEPTA drivers, and first responders. You have done so much to keep us going, and I'm so grateful for you. Thank you to our educators. As you all know, I'm a mom of three and I have a daughter in kindergarten and one in high school, and I've watched how hard our teachers have worked to adapt to virtual school and keep our kids engaged Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 is hard work, so I thank each and every teacher out there. Special shout-out to all the working parents, especially those of us with little people. We are making it day by day, and if no one told you, you are doing a great job. Finally, thank you to our amazing Council staff who have worked extremely hard this year to help us get through this time. From our Council President's administrative team, our amazing Council Support team and tech team, all of our staff members, but especially our Chief Clerk, Mike Decker. I remember seeing you 8 and 9 o'clock at night leaving City Hall. Thank you so much for helping us to navigate these extremely difficult times. I am looking forward to what will come next year, and our journey continues. Thank you so much, Council President.
Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 you, Councilwoman. I look forward to it. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Parker.
Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I want to start where Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson ended and, that is, in thanking the staff. I know you guys always hear me say people see us. They press the button and they vote for us. But we don't get the opportunity to be effective and efficient in what we do if we don't have dynamic teams behind each of us. So I too want to say a special thank you to our Chief Clerk Decker and his team, to all of the technical staff, the communication staff, but I do have a confession to make, Mr. President. Mr. President, when we started this Teams work and I was just learning how to use it, if I couldn't see them and I just heard their voices, I could not tell the Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Lonnie. And so sometimes I would call Lonnie Modesto and I will call Modesto Lonnie, because I couldn't get it, and it was only -
Well, thank you, Councilman Johnson. I thought I was alone there. But today for the first time when I heard the two of them communicating with each other, Lonnie said Modesto, and I said, oh, my God. So now I got it. So I want to say thank you. Thank you to both of them. In the spirit of acknowledging Councilmember Wilson Goode, Jr. and talking about Marcel Pratt and Matt Stitt, they made me think about an African dodge that we often hear that says that people without knowledge of their history are like trees without their roots. And when I think of the body of work that we have done in this Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 -- and I'm not speaking about any one of us individually, Mr. President, because we really do have much more work to be done, but when you think about our body of work, you cannot not acknowledge, if we've been pushing for support of public education, the work of Augusta Clark and Jannie Blackwell. When we've been talking about housing and fiscal supports for the homeless and those with mental health challenges and disabilities, you can't without thinking about Blackwell. I love commercial corridors. That was one of the first assignments I had when working with Councilmember Tasco, my mother mentor, but I can't talk about commercial corridors without acknowledging that it was Joan Krajewski that developed the first districtwide neighborhood commercial corridor study, and after I saw that, I ran back to the office and said, Councilwoman, Councilwoman, we have to do this, and we Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 we talk about diversity and inclusion, you can't have that discussion, we know, without talking about Councilman Wilson Goode, but Councilman Angel Ortiz and Blondell Reynolds Brown -- I'm also getting ready to show my age -- Howard Rye (ph), Howard Rye, Carolyn Rye's brother, when I didn't even understand what it meant and how we needed to try to use access to the opportunity to do business with the City as leverage, you know, to get black and brown people working. When we talk about housing, I can't -- I have to think about David Cohen. I'm talking about our late Councilman David Cohen. When we talk about supports like OOPAs and just giving people access to payment plans, that was him, and he was Johnny-on-the-spot. When we talk about paid sick leave, he's no longer here, but Councilman Greenlee, if you're watching, Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 call. When you found out they were trying to pass preemption legislation on the work you all were doing here in Council, he very quietly, Mr. President, picked up the phone and called. Nobody knew. It wasn't like a press conference or anything. He just said, Cherelle, I hear us coming, you're on that Labor Committee, and let me send you the correct language. He said, don't call it paid sick leave. He said, you call it earned paid sick leave, and he was very specific about the language. And so I used the information that he gave me to advocate in that committee. In addition to that, when I've seen advocates come into Council this year -- I'm talking about when we've been in person and/or during public comment here -- I want to say for the record that I thought about the women who are no longer here who I learned a lot from, and I'm talking about Joan Howe, I'm talking Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Baker, I'm talking about Onah Weldon and Audrey Johnson-Thornton, Marilyn Clyburn and Flo Burley and Donna Black. Those names might not mean much to you all, but, again, when I reflect on this work, I always think of those people who taught many of us when we didn't know what in the world we were doing. The only thing we knew was that we wanted to help. With that being said, Mr. President, I want to encourage all Philadelphians to shop local this year.
I know these are challenging times and everybody is on Amazon, but if there is any way you can find a way to patronize businesses that are located here in our city, please do. If you want to visit some bakeries, come to Katherine's on Washington Lane or Gilben's on Stenton Avenue, David Simms on Wadsworth. Thank you, Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson, for leading that advocacy during the Thanksgiving era. But, listen, they are Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 for Christmas, so get your orders in soon. And, finally, I want to say this to you, Mr. President. There was no roadmap to navigate this fiscal crisis and this global health pandemic, particularly for local governments. You've been the steady arm and the steady mind we needed to help lead us through this process. I want to just remind you and the public, Mr. President, when I was in Harrisburg, I watched people use divide and conquer against Philadelphia from a legislative perspective on more occasions than I'd like to acknowledge, but this year, Mr. President, we had unprecedented intergovernmental cooperation and planning between local, state, and federal governments. We worked and got on the same page with the Administration when that was possible so we could advocate for what we believed in. And, colleagues, in the name of Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 Myers, who told me when my grandfather died that my problem was I couldn't fix it, and those of us who were elected to public office, our job is to fix things. And we might not be able to do it all immediately, but when I look at the work that each and every one of you have done, you give me hope that no matter how tall the challenge is in the future, we're going to find a way to address these pressing issues facing our city. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you so much, Councilwoman. Appreciate you. Councilman Domb.
Thank you, Council President. I originally had a three-hour speech, but I'm going to cut it down to about a minute. Okay? I just want to thank everybody, and I'm going to second the comments of everyone who has spoken, in the effort of time. I also Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 special shout-out to my staff and everyone's staff and the tech team. I mean, I've learned a lot technology-wise this year. I want to give the big picture here, and the big picture is, the vaccine is on the horizon. The vaccine is coming. We can see that light at the end of the tunnel, thank God. And we have to make sure that residents and every small, medium business, large also gets there. We can't leave anyone behind. So on your leadership, Council President, we've come through this pretty well. I really enjoyed that budget committee we put together -- that you put together, and thank you for your leadership. Thank you to my colleagues, and let's make sure nobody is left behind and we get them all there to that vaccine and get that vaccination done. Happy holidays to everybody. Thank you very much. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020
Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. It looks like that's the end of the speeches on behalf of the majority. Guys, I just want to thank you all so much. Another productive session, another productive Council. We have stepped it up because of the challenges that were put before us, but I must say that requires that we step it up another level, because the implementation stage, the monitoring stage, making sure that all those people are in a position to take advantage of all of the great things that we've done over the last several months are real. So I don't want to come off with a little downer. We were on a high, but we got a lot of work to do. All this stuff that we've laid and the level of threshold that we've placed on everything we've done, we got to get it done, because a lot of people are depending on us to get it done. Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 to thank all of you so much, tell you how much I appreciate -- and I know sometimes I get a little frustrated. I try not to show it, but it's good. It's good. It's good for you, to understand the ability to listen to everybody. You learn patience. And I've gotten to be so much more patient over the years. When I first came here, my God, I remember Council President Verna was like, my God, like where are you on the rush to? I said, well, I'm just used to being in a hurry. Right? But, no. On a serious note, I just appreciate you all so much, and your commitment, your passion is awesome. The infusion of new blood is always good, and that is again proving to be the case as the newer members have come on and taken it to another level. So I just want to wish you all a very, very happy holiday. Look forward over the next month of having -- Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 announced a couple of hearings that he's going to have, and I anticipate there will be a minimum of two or three more over the, quote/unquote, recess so we can be prepared to move forward on the adoption of legislation when we get back. So, again, everybody, thank you all. I appreciate you all so much. I even can say I love you. It's okay for a man to say that, you know, in public. I love you all. So, guys, just have a happy one and be safe.
If you allow me to just wrap up, I want to give you your props just for your leadership and always working with this body as we move forward. Obviously we all are advocating around a variety of different diverse issues for our constituency, with Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 of moving the City of Philadelphia forward, and I want to thank you. I want to thank your staff. I want to thank the tech staff for keeping this Council moving forward, because we didn't know what the new normal was going to look like in terms of how we were going to conduct Council. (Inaudible) in terms of moving forward. Special shout-out to Colia from your staff for making sure those citations still get done, and she's coming in in the midst of COVID being out there, and you have a variety of different other staffers that are still stepping up to the plate, like John Fenton and the rest of them, that are still moving Council forward in the midst of this pandemic while we're home dealing with virtual. So I just want to thank you and your team and, most importantly, the tech staff, because they're doing like a million zooms, a million virtual hearings Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 get this business done on behalf of the City of Philadelphia. So I just wanted to give a shout-out to you and your overall staff and to say God bless you to all my colleagues. Take care, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. It takes a team, and the team, as was said earlier, goes way beyond the person's name that's on the door of the office. It's inclusive of us all. It doesn't happen without everybody engaged. So thank you all, appreciate you, and again I'll say it publicly, love you. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Jones for a motion to adjourn.
Before I do that, I want to say one thing about Wilson Goode, Jr. Nobody knew parliamentary procedure and Council rules better than him, but what I admired most and what I copied off of him was nobody Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 quicker than him. And I tried very hard to imitate him in our present body. That's something I took from him. And with that, Mr. President, I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, January 28th, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
I know it wasn't that fast, Councilman Jones, but I tried. I want you to know I tried.
Thank you. It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 (No response.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. Thank you all very much. Have a great holiday. ) Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 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, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. ) Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 A 317:6 accountable activity 53:22 administra... m 1:7 absence 9:13 281:3 actual 70:12 157:14,16 260:14 104:20 140:1 141:1 273:19 9:18 48:19 accrued adapt 58:22 158:18 advisor 62:24 120:11 142:1 143:1 275:20 48:22 89:11 303:3 197:20 301:17 affordable 144:1 145:1 289:22 265:10 accurately 308:24 209:2 advisory 55:9 52:11,12,13 146:1 147:1 290:3 324:9 absent 117:2 326:5 add 29:21 316:22 advocacy 52:15,19 148:1 149:1 324:20 absolutely achieve 268:8 139:11 administra... 58:19 62:25 53:4,19 150:1,25 abandoned 195:16 achievement 166:12 309:13 315:24 54:20,21 276:23 116:15 205:18,21 123:17 171:25 admired advocate 55:8 60:3 Agendas 28:5 abandonm... 260:21 achieving 243:8 248:2 323:24 66:3 83:24 60:24 62:4 ages 57:19 144:21 263:25 308:2 248:2 admission 291:7 65:23 66:4 aggravated abatement 295:13 acid 20:23 255:17 33:17 314:17 66:17,21,24 47:5 74:7,11,18 abstaining acknowledge 288:16 admittedly 316:24 67:4 82:3,7 aggressive 75:17 76:18 216:2 106:2 231:8 added 54:18 113:3 advocates 82:10,17,17 106:25 78:7,25 abstention 283:10 78:22 255:5 adopt 70:19 240:16 82:24 85:4 159:18 79:6 80:20 217:2 293:9 adding 134:12 314:19 93:15 94:4 aging 57:8 81:13 84:5 abundantly 294:22 166:18 222:13 advocating 107:4 182:7 ago 32:12 84:16,19 196:14 312:6 169:4 172:9 224:25 321:24 196:2 51:25 99:10 85:8,23 307:19 316:17 227:9 adopted affect 31:2 304:14 99:12 88:2 89:15 abuse 280:11 acknowled... 237:11 134:24 69:5 afforded 104:11 193:21 academia 201:17 addition 28:3 135:10 affectionat... 116:2 196:6 155:4 194:8 197:3 16:8 253:2 acknowled... 38:10 59:11 161:5 240:12 afraid 104:16 228:20 197:6 academic 200:16 59:12 303:8 163:15 Affiliation African 73:4 240:20 199:11 127:23 281:10 314:18 164:12,21 132:14 106:16 295:25 210:13 Academy 311:17 additional 165:19 affirmative 107:20,21 agree 35:8 abatements 22:4 312:20 125:23 166:4 150:23 108:23 94:25 284:9 77:15 80:2 Accepted acre 290:19 127:19 251:20 168:22 109:7,18 284:10 174:21 132:12 act 39:23 209:5 248:2 252:19 171:14 110:6,19 307:24 179:15 access 55:4 42:3 88:24 248:8 261:14,23 174:13 111:18 agreed 90:22 185:10 62:3 120:11 139:13 250:24 262:19 181:18 243:20 302:22 193:2 207:7 140:2 142:4 156:18 address adoption 184:23 311:21 agreement abating 78:3 207:12 194:24 18:25 19:7 134:17 187:15 afternoon 140:20 Abbotsford 259:5 263:15 130:18 151:16 190:4 113:24 279:2 146:13 313:12,21 264:11 147:11 164:8 192:18 117:21 agreements ability 57:10 accessible 277:14 195:14 165:14 213:5 125:13 190:10,13 60:23 68:8 60:23 61:14 292:5,8,11 266:2 275:6 251:8 252:7 221:24 284:4 293:3 278:22,24 127:12 62:4 66:4 307:2,13 317:12 255:7 262:7 224:18 age 313:9 agrees 201:10 67:3 116:20 action 29:11 addressed 321:7 227:4 agenda 25:1 158:16 241:3,15 159:21 53:22,24 84:25 advance 234:18 25:9,23 159:5 255:25 accidentally 58:18 100:5 addresses 11:20 156:9 237:6 26:1,11,19 ahead 74:14 320:7 267:5 139:10 44:24 advantage 239:19 27:1,10,20 75:10,11 Abington accommod... 231:12,16 addressing 196:21 247:17 30:25 128:1 76:21 80:18 126:7 144:6 291:21 80:15 111:2 204:24 250:12 128:11,14 115:11 able 34:23 accomplish 306:15 275:21 319:15 affirms 128:17,20 117:24 43:19 52:2 35:5 actions 72:2 adjourn adversarial 203:20 128:24 160:14 57:13 102:3 accomplish... 140:10 323:19 159:17 affluent 129:1 130:1 210:23 115:19 270:8 198:23 adjourned adverse 32:25 75:21 131:1 132:1 231:25 118:22,22 accomplish... activism 324:7,18 140:9 afford 51:12 133:1 134:1 263:7 124:7 125:5 24:11 96:18 269:8 325:7 adversely 51:16 75:13 134:14,18 aid 139:12 194:6 198:8 97:20 activities ADJOURN... 117:5 78:20 79:20 134:23 265:11 201:20 accountabil...
54:10,11,15 324:1 325:1 advice 260:4 94:8 112:6 135:1,9,12 aide 301:21 283:20 272:3 123:10 adjust 271:17 300:16 231:21 135:14,17 aims 112:10 Stated Meeting December 10, 2020 199:14 121:16 America anticipate 320:4,17 35:18 91:4 38:17 66:25 54:2 airport 46:3 alumni 114:5 108:20 15:6 321:4 321:10 architectur... 82:13 87:9 attempt 46:17 119:23 American anxious 323:15 33:9 93:9,10 84:15 140:14 163:23 17:7 73:4 228:25 appreciated area 19:13 94:10,13 attempting 228:3,6 amazing 106:16 anybody 283:18 38:9 39:4 105:23 36:22 Aisha 228:13 21:16 107:21 204:2,3 apprentices... 72:18 82:14 127:15 attempts 229:16,19 123:15 108:23 210:19 182:12 96:24 106:8 305:8 104:17 232:6 124:3,24 109:8 110:6 anymore approach 107:17 aspects attend 52:3 al 152:10 256:22 110:20 242:2 210:2 110:18 254:16 276:2 Alain 73:3 309:10,14 111:18 apart 118:15 268:20 126:9,10 assault 112:5 attendance Ali 105:11,13 amazon 133:13,22 appeal 269:18 130:17 242:21,22 2:22,23 105:14,16 255:20 243:21 152:23 280:19 136:4,21 Assembly attended 105:21,21 315:16 Americans Appeals appropriate 137:5 138:2 20:3 129:11 116:3 287:8 align 36:2 Ambassado... 107:20 155:8 11:18 19:18 138:14,24 165:5 attention all-girls 123:14 109:18 applaud 182:2 139:5 assert 155:11 57:22 95:22 116:8,20 amend 19:10 133:15 55:14 64:15 appropriati... 145:11 assesses 206:3 230:7 117:12 67:19 137:2 amount 60:6 242:9 213:10 areas 19:12 86:15 attentive ALLAN 1:11 159:22 174:20 applicability 217:11 106:9 Assessment 230:24 Allegheny amending 179:14 32:16 276:25 109:19 10:24 11:2 attest 266:25 146:13 18:16,18,22 Ancient 147:15 307:16 114:20 12:6,7 attorney Allen 130:23 19:4 20:9 132:12 235:3 approval 8:1 136:21 assignments 62:25 67:16 130:24 136:17 and/or applicable 8:13 77:13 137:4,25 50:19 51:7 290:18 Alliance 137:9,15,20 314:21 147:16,18 210:13 138:13 312:16 attracts 83:11 137:23 326:23 241:13 approve 139:4 254:9 assist 196:2 116:21 allies 58:21 138:6,7,11 Andy 132:19 applicant 105:23 argue 259:3 277:23 audience allow 12:24 138:18,19 132:22 193:25 158:20 arguments 280:4 156:4 13:3 36:12 139:2,15,21 Angel 313:7 applicants approved 155:2 assistance audit 268:3,6 60:11,22 140:5 angle 282:22 68:3 8:20 9:2,11 Arkansas 34:20 59:17 268:14 61:15 62:2 145:15 Anne 277:20 applied 32:24 208:2 108:21 59:18 Audrey 315:3 140:22 146:22 Anniversary applies 33:6 222:11 arm 316:9 156:24 August 263:13 147:9 166:9 133:24 196:25 224:23 armed 120:6 171:25 277:16 321:20 166:11 announced 197:4 approving 157:4 182:9 Augusta allowed 169:3 295:25 apply 33:10 129:17 Army 134:3 Associate's 312:8 110:14 171:19,21 321:2 326:21 130:12 Aros 10:23 123:24 Austin 283:8 202:19 174:18 announcem... applying 139:9 12:5 124:8 author 241:6 179:12 2:7 114:7 68:15 207:7 203:19 array 69:24 Association 108:17 allowing 185:4 121:20 241:19 Aramark's arrest 69:16 53:16 authority 21:13 38:14 187:20 125:19 appointing 229:4 274:5 133:22 19:25 100:12 192:22 127:5 10:23 12:4 arbitrary arrival 272:7 136:15 129:20 107:23 222:11 279:25 appointment 194:22 arrivals 290:15,16 130:14 110:16 224:23 announcing 11:4 12:11 Arcadia 91:15 assume 69:10 Authorizati...
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