Aye. 10/31/02 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The next bill to be called for consideration is Bill No. 020542.
An ordinance establishing a parking regulation on Preston Street, both sides, Filbert Street to Powelton Avenue.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally? The Clerk will please call the roll. 10/31/02 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The next bill to be called consideration is Bill No. 020543.
An ordinance establishing a parking regulation on Farragut Street, east side, Springfield Avenue to Chester Avenue.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally? The Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. 10/31/02 - STATED - 2ND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. The last bill to be called for consideration is Bill No. 020591.
An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by City Avenue, 52nd Street, Overbrook Avenue and 54th street.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally? The Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16, the nays are 0. A majority of all Members of Council having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. That concludes the calendar for today. Are there speeches on the part of the minority? If anybody wishes to speak, I would ask that they please raise their hand because the system is just not working today. Are there speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the part of the majority? The Chair recognized Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to say thank you to all who are here today with regard to the passing of my mother, Mrs. Bernice Brooks. The last day she was out was when she received the Mary Mason Community Foundation Mother's Day award in May of 2001, and it took us months to get her ready to go out. Certainly, to all of my colleagues here in Council, to all the Council staff members, to the Mayor and his cabinet and all the members who work for him, we thank them and thank him for staying for the entire service. To the Police Commissioner, to certainly captains of the 12th and 18th and all those members who have stood by us and done everything they can to support us during this time as well as the victim witness offices who were here this morning with Erica Pratt, to the members of the courts and the judiciary, to all my personal friends and to other agency members and commissioners throughout the City, to the State officials and elected officials, certainly to the CEO of the School District and members of the School Board, to the labor unions and certainly to my family and staff and also to hundreds of people throughout the City who contacted me, including a little old senior who said "Thanks for getting a door on my house and I'm sorry that your mother passed," to members of PHA were here and certainly the executive directors and members who work for PHA and who live, and again to citizens throughout the City and all who have been so supportive to me, I say thank you all and God bless.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Are there any other speeches of the part of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam President. Just a couple quick items. One, I'm sure everyone knows that Tuesday upcoming is election day. It's probably been pretty hard to avoid that fact if you wanted to. Obviously, we want to encourage everyone to come out and vote on election day. And this Council also has a matter that's on the ballot. It's Ballot Question No. 2, which is the result of legislation approved here in Council signed by Mayor Street which calls for the creation of a Tax Reform Commission. I, again, want to thank all of my colleagues for their support on that particular issue, but also encourage all Philadelphians to come out and support that matter. There was great debate and discussion about the tax situation here in Philadelphia, and one of the reasons we should have a Tax Reform Commission is to improve the tax climate here in our great City. So I, again, want to encourage people to come out and Tax Reform Commission, Ballot Question No. 2. " The article starts by saying, The camera swoops over a Pittsburgh neighborhood clinging to a hill above downtown, while a narrator emphasizes Republican Mike Fisher's deep roots in western Pennsylvania. Quick cuts to the skyline and a school sign follow and then it's 30-second television spot gets to the point. Quote, as Governor, Mike will make sure our region gets their fair share of state funding instead of even more going to Philadelphia. It's a tragedy, Madam President, and my colleagues. And I want to say first to our Republican colleagues who are here who have no responsibility for Mr. Fisher's campaign, and they are both Councilman O'Neill and Councilman Rizzo, true Philadelphians who care about our City, who work hard every day to make sure that Philadelphia is a great place to be. They say in the legal profession, when facts, argue the law. And when you're weak on the law, argue the facts. And when you're weak on the law and facts, attack the prosecution. Or in politics when your campaign is weak, attack Philadelphia. It is truly a shame that candidate in Attorney General Mike Fisher in the last waning days of the campaign, instead of talking about real issues that all Pennsylvanians care about, has now decided to make Philadelphia the big issue in this campaign. He talks about and criticizes candidate Ed Rendell's plan to improve education funding by a billion and a half dollars and then tells other constituents that Philadelphia will get more. Well, last I checked, we were 1 of 501 school districts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We're not the only ones that have a financial problem. We just also happen to be the largest and we're a large urban area and certainly additional funding is needed. But at least Ed Rendell has an education plan that would help to improve education here in Pennsylvania, not only for kids who are in traditional school, whether it's through kindergarten through 12th grade, but also proposes and a wide variety of other activities. And if there were additional funding, certainly some would come Philadelphia, but certainly a lot of money would go throughout Pennsylvania. And I can appreciate Mr. Fisher's concern about Pittsburgh. I've been to Pittsburgh a couple times. Seemed like a nice place. If he's really concerned about Pittsburgh, then maybe he should be running for Mayor of Pittsburgh because he is clearly not fit to be Governor of Pennsylvania. We are one state. We happen to be 1 of 67 counties here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And to try to pit people against people, whether it's racial divisiveness, a gender divisiveness, sexual orientation, or now in a campaign, geography, is inappropriate. It is beneath the dignity of this kind of campaign. And what Mr. 2 million Pennsylvanians do not have healthcare, of which 250,000 are children. That's what should be talked about.
Those are Pennsylvania issues. It's not Philadelphia versus the rest of the state. Mr. Fisher should be ashamed of himself for getting into that kind of discussion. Yes, we love our City, but we also care about the entire Commonwealth. And when you want to be Governor of Pennsylvania, then you should act like a person who's ready to be Governor and not try to pit one city against the other. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair at this time recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I neglected to mention -- I mentioned that Officer Cathy Battle and we'll be with her Saturday for the passing her mother figure. But also my program director and executive assistant Elisa lost her mother so we'll be at that funeral tomorrow, so it's just to sad time. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there any other speeches? (No response.)
Thank you. At this time the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, November 14 at 10:00 a.m., 2002. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until excuse Thursday, November 14, 2002, at 10:00 a.m. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, the motion carries. (Council adjourned at 12:16 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of October 31, 2002, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: STATED MEETING ___________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR and Notary Public