Thank you. The resolutions will be referred to the appropriate committee. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown. Is she in the room? (No response.)
Thank you, Madam President. I offer two resolutions on behalf of Councilwoman Brown and one bill and one resolution on my own behalf.
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance creating the Philadelphia Reentry Employment Program for Ex-offenders; in particular, amending Chapter 19-2600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Business Privilege Taxes."
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And a resolution calling to support the appointment of Sandra Dungee Glenn as Chairman of the School Reform Commission for the School District of Philadelphia.
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution calling on the Committee on the Environment to hold hearings on the development of a strategy for the City to manage and operate energy-efficient City streetlights.
On behalf of Councilwoman Brown, I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the resolution will be referred to the Committee on the Environment.
And a resolution authorizing the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development to hold hearings to review the annual disparity study and City contract participation goals released by the Finance Department pursuant to Title 17 of The Philadelphia Code.
Thank you, Madam President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the resolution will be referred to the appropriate committee. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode for the introduction of your bill.
You did? Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Campbell.
Madam President, I have six bills and three resolutions.
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the first bill.
An ordinance amending Chapter 12-2700 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Permit Parking Districts."
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance authorizing the installation of a traffic light at Sorrento Road and Conshohocken Avenue and the installation of stop signs at 47th Street at the intersection of Conshohocken Avenue.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance amending Section 9-208 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Sidewalk Sales," by limiting the hours of operation of sidewalk cafes located within certain areas of the City.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance amending Section 10-609 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Public Urination or Defecation," by increasing the fine for violations of such section, all under certain terms and conditions.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance amending Title 12 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Traffic Code," by amending Section 12-102, entitled "Definitions," and amending 12-1201 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authority to Install Traffic-Control Devices."
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance enacting a new Chapter 12-300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Special Restrictions Upon Use of Vehicles Around Wheelchair Lift Equipped Vehicles."
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And a resolution calling upon the School District of Philadelphia to proceed expeditiously in identifying, evaluating and providing individualized services to children, who are identified by family members, educational experts and other persons in contact with the children, with risk factors for developmental delay.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution has been adopted.
And a resolution amending Resolution No. 070405, approving the annual Program Statement and Budget for the expenditure of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative Bond Proceeds for Fiscal Year 2008.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution calling upon the Department of Recreation to install surveillance cameras in all Class A and Class B recreational facilities to further enhance the safety of all persons utilizing these facilities.
The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Campbell.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Madam President, I have three bills and two resolutions.
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the first bill.
An ordinance authorizing the installation of all-way stop signs at the intersection of Colfax Street and Stamford Street.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance establishing a no truck parking and tow-away regulation on Hendrix Street between Bustleton Avenue and West Centennial Square.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance establishing a no parking any time regulation on the east side of Frankford Avenue, between Knights Road and Grant Avenue.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And a resolution recognizing the Math, Science and Technology Community Charter School on being honored as the National Charter School of the Year.
I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution calling upon the Philadelphia Police Department to begin implementing a standard operational procedure that would require all Philadelphia Police officers to conduct an immigration status check on all suspects arrested for a felony and to notify both the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the federal immigration authorities of the illegal immigration status of the suspect.
Yes, Madam President. I'd like to speak on the resolution. My colleague, Councilman Ramos, who unfortunately is not here but I spoke to at length last week, issued a press release today that compels me to speak on this, because it's filled with a lot of things I agree with that don't apply to this resolution, but what applies to this resolution I totally disagree with; for instance, racial profiling, which it's not, having anything to do with what's going on in Hazleton or Riverside or the other places that have been in the news, that we're singling out anyone, that we don't need to celebrate immigrants, encourage them. Let me tell you, this resolution I believe is based on my belief that our greatest responsibility as a city, as a government, is to protect our citizens, and anything we can do to protect them more is our duty. Is Newark and what happened up there, those executions, part of the reason that I'm introducing this? Absolutely. Is the fact that the murders and the violence in this city are out of control and are a national disgrace? Absolutely. But what this resolution is not is, it's not profiling in any way. It calls for police to check the immigrant status of people arrested for felonies. It doesn't profile anybody. It profiles felons, but it doesn't profile anybody for any other reason. And if we're here to protect felons, fine. I'm not here to protect felons. The other thing that's come up -- and there's been some mixed statements from the Police Department -is that this is too much of a burden on the Police Department. Well, that may be what the Commissioner thinks, but the Commissioner is also the one with the failed leadership in fighting the murders and violence in this city. When you talk to people, the rank-and-file in the Police Department, checking this is no big deal. There's even been statements from the Police Commissioner's office -one was in the Metro last week -- that the spokesman said he didn't know why the police weren't already doing this, but he was still waiting to hear from Commissioner Johnson. Well, I'm still waiting to hear from Commissioner Johnson, too. I sent him a letter two weeks ago on this matter. Not a burden. Not profiling. This isn't asking police to check car stops, to check drunk driving where there's car accidents or anything like that. It's not for minor crimes. These are felonies we're talking about. And in Newark, the State of New Jersey stepped in before the City Council could enact a resolution like this, and it's now the policy of every police department in New Jersey. To my knowledge -- and I scan the New York Times every day -- there hasn't been one problem with that policy. It makes sense. I have not talked to anyone once I explain, as I tried to do to Councilman Ramos, that we're dealing here with felonies and we're dealing with everyone arrested for a felony. I'll leave my remarks with this: Last Friday I was sitting in a diner with a couple of friends, one of whom is a police officer, and a fellow came over, happened to be a police officer, and he knew my friend, and we were all introduced to him, and he said, Oh, Councilman, he said, I want to thank you for that letter you sent to the Police Commissioner. He said, I work in Center City where there's a crime spree -- this is four days ago -- there's a crime spree of armed robberies. He said, We arrested one guy that had committed his fourth armed robbery. He said, I called the immigration officials and they said, We have nothing on this person, nothing on this person. If this resolution and this policy implementation saves one life, protects one citizen, it's worth it. I believe it makes sense. I believe it's
OF BILLS in keeping with our mission and our primary responsibility, to protect our citizens, and recognizes what happened in Newark that might have been avoided and also that we're not doing anything that isn't right. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. A few moments ago we supported a resolution introduced by Councilwoman Tasco dealing with the Jena 6. Those are felonies that those kids are charged with. Because a person is charged with a crime, we're not even saying after convicted, we're saying if they're arrested for a felony, that then the police should look in their immigration record. We convinced the Mayor nearly two years ago now to create the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs. All of you received pens saying "Echoes of Africa" and books. Everybody here knows I spend the money I've raised, most of it, on creating books for education, books that would go around the globe dealing with education. We passed them out and certainly have others available. I've only brought a few that we've done. We have done some that say "Karibu" -- it means welcome -that go all over the globe. We've also done several publications for Charles Blockson, who recently retired from Temple, for the Blockson Collection. In America, America is supposed to be a country that welcomes people with open arms. We have nearly 70,000 Africans alone in this country. When we have our meetings, just last week this resolution was discussed in the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs where people were afraid. You can arrest a person for a traffic ticket. You can arrest a person for any felony, have the police check them and have a family separated. If they find there's even something as mild -- well, it's not mild. Something that would seem, for the sake of this argument, innocuous as traffic violations, you can separate a family and have people sent back to the countries from which they have come for political reasons and be killed. This is a serious issue. When we talk about certainly checking people who aren't convicted but arrested for a crime, it's very, very dangerous that in this city and in this country we would consider doing that. Not only would it affect individuals who live and work here, but it would affect us as a world-class city in the issue certainly of tourists. Tourism is one of the major industries, the major activities of Philadelphia. Do we want to affect tourism in a way that will not make Philadelphia the destiny it has become for tourism, not a destiny and a destination for where we live and shop and where we see people of all races, ethnic groups, income areas, backgrounds, genders live together, but a place where you got to be careful? Not only that, if you were to call 9-1-1 today, I can't tell you how many languages there are. For the sake of discussion, maybe there are 15 languages. You could call 9-1-1 and get help immediately. People don't realize that, because this city recognizes people from places all over the world and you can get a translator and you can get the help you need. We have been working with Commissioner Johnson. We have met with him. Commissioner Johnson even agreed to hire people from outside of Philadelphia, to hire Africans from various countries so that the police force certainly reflects those who live in our city. The Commissioner committed to us a year and a half ago in public in our meeting that he would not, if people are stopped, check their background, so people need not fear being deported, not for a crime, but being separated from their families. People are in the process, given President Bush's new issue on borders of this country and all of that, there's a big focus on people from other countries in our city, and he assured us that he would not get involved in that debate, but the police force and police activities would be conducted in the way it has and they will be treated as anybody else in this city, and that is the way it should be. I'm asking my colleagues to certainly really, really consider this resolution.
I'm asking them to not support this. The police know what to do if someone is arrested and they know what to do if someone is convicted. Convict someone of a felony and then talk about checking their background record. But in America, anybody can be charged with anything, just like these kids in the Jena 6 taking place today. Many of us wore black -- they said this is a day of mourning -- to support it. Certainly we do support it, but it is very, very, very dangerous to begin to take away the rights of people in our society, and I hope that my colleagues will join me and not support this resolution. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Madam President. I'm sure that most members of this body recognize my passion for immigration and immigrants, and it's not always been to my political benefit with some sectors of my constituency that I take the positions that I do in this regard. I don't doubt Councilman O'Neill's genuine concern about public safety and his efforts to try to address that, but I do believe that this resolution links immigration and crime, and it does so unfairly and it does so without any real facts to back it up. " To me, that in itself makes a link between an immigrant, documented or undocumented, and the rise in our murder rates. I don't have the figures in front of me, but I would argue probably that very few murders in this city and very little crime in this city are committed by immigrants, whether they're documented or they're undocumented. At the beginning of the 20th century there was a large amount of Italian-American immigrants, along with other ethnic groups, in this country and there was a great amount of hatred and prejudice that were heaped upon Italian-American immigrants entering this country. Two gentlemen, who had admittedly radical views of politics, went to their death in the electric chair. Their names were Sacco and Vanzetti. Primarily because of the anti-Italian hysteria that was whipped up at that particular time. I have found in my dealings with the immigrant community that resolutions like this shill the relationship between the City government, the Police Department and those immigrant communities, because if they are victims of a crime, if they're in a car accident, if they are a witness to a crime and want to be helpful, contact with the police is very tenuous if they're undocumented persons. " First of all, they're not illegal and, second of all, they're from the planet earth, they're not from Mars. But it's easy now these days after 9/11 to heap our problems upon these people. The 9/11 terrorists were Saudi Arabians. We haven't changed our relationships with the Saudis. We haven't limited the ability for Saudis to come and go in this country. They all came in through Canada, for the most part, and took down those towers and killed all those people. I will tell you that I don't have any fear of a Mexican guy on a bicycle riding from one job to another. I doubt he has a C-4 strapped to his body, because all he wants to do is have an opportunity to come to this country and work and raise his family and have a better life, just like all of us. My ancestors came to this country starving, dirty, illiterate and packed inside a ship to come to this country to get an opportunity to have a better life, and they've given me and my siblings a better life. I understand the fear and the prejudice that people have towards immigrants, because they fear different languages, they fear different cultures, they fear that we're going to be overrun by these brown-skinned people or these black-skinned people or these people who don't speak the same language that we do. I do not want to put any situation, any resolution or any imprimatur of this government in the public domain that says that the police are now the enemy of immigrants, whether they're documented or not. Councilwoman Blackwell is correct, if a person is arrested and convicted, we have plenty of time to check their legal status, put them on a plane and send them back to where they came from, even after they've done their jail time. I don't think we need this, because it sends a message to hard-working, decent people who want to be Americans that somehow they need to fear the police, and I don't want that.
I've had discussions with John Timoney when he was the Commissioner in Philadelphia, and he understood that clearly, that it shills the ability to investigate and prosecute crime if the people that we're policing are afraid of our police. And I know that this only is tailored to alleged felons, but this message gets out to the decent people in those communities and they don't want to talk to the police any more either, because someone will check their status. Recently, a Chinese woman had received an asylum request. And we had dealt with this case a couple years ago, when she came for her normal immigration status hearing over here at 16th and Callowhill, believe it or not, just around the corner, with her husband and her two American-born children. She went into the back to have her status hearing, was whisked out the back, put in a van and taken to New York to JFK Airport in New York, with no money, no ID, drug through the airport, while she was pregnant with twins, lost her babies, and without the intercession of the passengers in that terminal, those INS officials would have put her on a plane back to Beijing, with no ID, pregnant with twins, in a country where you're not allowed to have more than one child. Now, I know this is not what this resolution says, but it does build and build and build the fear in our communities, and people who are coming here who want to be legal, who want to get their status legal, they are going to be fearful of the police and they're not going to want to cooperate. And with all due respect, I wish you would withdraw it. I'm asking that he would. If he's not, I understand, but I'll be voting no. I am not turning my back on my history and my ancestors, and I think we need to help these people and not try to put more obstacles in their way. Thank you. )
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Madam President, I'm only asking my colleagues to vote on what this resolution actually does say, not what it doesn't say, because there's nothing in my mind writing this -- and it took a long time to tailor it so that there weren't any things that I would have a problem with that it said. And if someone else reads more into it, I can't prevent that. But the public wants us to do something about crime. This is just one small step in that. It's one small slice. Is it everything? No. But I think the evidence speaks for itself that it can be helpful. If this resolution passes today, is Mayor Street and Commissioner Johnson going to change the policy based on history? Probably not. Obviously if it doesn't pass, they're even less likely to change the policy. But the more the public learns about this proposal, that it's working in New Jersey and none of those scary things are going on over there that I heard about that aren't in this resolution, maybe then the public can have an influencing voice on the Mayor and the Police Commissioner. That's all. So I do want to run this today. I hope everyone votes for it, and if they don't, I hope they vote based on it as a crime issue and not an immigration issue. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Savage.
I also will be joining my colleagues, Councilman Kenney and Councilwoman Blackwell, in voting no on this resolution. I feel that it's not City Council's job to tell the Police Commissioner what to do, and it will place a burden on the Police Commissioner. And I think there's constitutional rights that are questioned and I think we should leave this up to the federal government.
I would just say, following Councilman O'Neill's comments -- and I understand them, and, again, I will be voting no, but if we're really serious about talking about crime in the City and safety, we should be talking to Harrisburg and Washington about limiting the amount of guns that get in our kids' hands. And if someone wants to help do that, I think that's a better way to go than talking about immigration and crime. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. Very quickly. I'll be joining my colleagues also in opposing this. I don't certainly question Councilman O'Neill's sincerity in this issue. I have a lot of the same concerns that Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman Kenney raised, particularly about the sort of message this sends, but I just have, I guess, a basic problem with when you're arrested for a crime, you're presumed innocent, and if some people are treated differently than others, I think there's something -- I have a question about that. I have a concern about that. So where I understand and we all want to fight crime, I think we have to do it the right way, and I don't think, with all due respect to the sponsor, this is the right way to go about it. So I will be voting no also. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you, Madam President. Hearing both sides of this discussion, I think there are merits on both sides of it. I understand the intent. I think I understand the intent of the sponsor in this resolution. I would ask the sponsor to hold this, more so because in 100 days or so we will have a new Mayor and a new Police Commissioner, and if we're talking about policy, by the time this even got implemented, if it were to pass today, we would probably wind up with a new Commissioner, and I think that the discussion as to what the intent is and some of the fears of the folks who are maybe or maybe not reading more into this resolution than the sponsor meant to have would be more appropriate if we would wait for the new Administration. And we're only talking 100 days or so.
Madam President, as I stated, but I'll state specifically, I believe time is of the essence with this issue, and while I know that there will be a new Police Commissioner, a new Mayor, if it weren't public safety, if it weren't murders and violence that I'm trying to address here, I would gladly hold it. But I will run it. Thank you.
All right. Would anyone else like to be recognized? (No response.)
Councilman O'Neill, would you please move for the adoption.
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.) (Nay.)
The resolution fails. Do we have another resolution to be read for Councilman O'Neill?
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the first bill.
An ordinance amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes and Collections," by amending Section 19-2602, entitled "Licenses," by adding new conditions to the receipt or retention of the licenses, all under certain terms and conditions.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And an ordinance granting permission to Steve Ricchini, owner and operator of the newsstand located at the northwest corner of 15th and Market Streets.
This bill will be referred to the appropriate committee, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly.
Yes. Madam President, I offer one resolution, which I would like to speak on after the adoption.
The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the resolution.
A resolution declaring the month of September MRSA Awareness Month in the City of Philadelphia and calling upon the School District to report MRSA on a case-by-case basis and to incorporate information regarding MRSA into the health classes.
Yes. Thank you, Madam President. First of all, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Yes. What I would like to do is, first of all, I'd like to acknowledge the presence of Scott Cummings, who has three children who had this disease, and also Ms. Marge Fullman, who is here with her son Chuck, who has suffered with this disease for over six years now. As a token of their appreciation for these Councilmembers they will be giving out T-shirts in appreciation. But what I would like to do is, I know there are some people who think this isn't important. Hell, I think there are some editorial writers on our newspapers who may not think it's important, but I think it's important and I think all the thousands of people who are affected by this disease, they also think it's important. I think the more people are aware of this disease, the better off all of us are going to be. So, therefore, Madam President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the resolution is adopted. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Madam President, I have seven resolutions and one bill.
The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance amending Chapter 20-600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Standards of Conduct and Ethics," by adding anti-nepotism provisions prohibiting City officers and employees, including all elected City officers, from taking or recommending certain personnel actions affecting family members, under certain terms and conditions.
The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee.
And a resolution recognizing, honoring and celebrating the 50th anniversary of WHYY-TV and thanking WHYY-TV for its many contributions to the City of Philadelphia.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution recognizing, honoring and commending the Philadelphia Multi-Cultural Affairs Congress on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution honoring, recognizing and celebrating the return to our great City of Philadelphia the Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Shows and designating the weekend of November 15th to 18th as Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Shows Weekend.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution honoring, recognizing and thanking Thomas Paine Cronin upon the occasion of his retirement after 35 years of service to District Council 47.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution recognizing, honoring and celebrating the HIAS and Council Migration Service of Philadelphia on the occasion of its 125th anniversary.
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution recognizing, honoring and celebrating James E. Tiano for service to his country in wartime and service to his city in peacetime.
I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
And a resolution authorizing City Council's Committee on Technology and Information Services to hold hearings to evaluate the status of Wireless Philadelphia and its progress toward bridging Philadelphia's digital divide.
I move for the adoption of that resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the resolution be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The have it, and the resolution will be referred to the Committee on Technology and Information Services. Council will now proceed under a special order of business, a resolution re-calling Bill No. 070189. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Campbell.
Thank you, Madam President. I offer one resolution. The resolution has been circulated. I move for the adoption of it at this time.