COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LAW AND GOVERNMENT Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, May 27, 2026 10:14 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON, CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN RUE LANDAU COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS
COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. BILLS: 260076, 260264, 260457, 260458, 260459, 260460 RESOLUTIONS: 260094, 260467, 260270 - - -
Good morning. I now note that the hour has come to begin today's hearing. Clerk, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members who are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called.
I am present. Also joining us today for this Committee on Law and Government hearing is Councilmember Nina Ahmad. Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present and this hearing is now called to order. This is a public hearing of the Committee on Law and Government regarding Bill Nos. 260264, 260457, 260458, 260459, 260460 and 260076 as well as Resolution Nos. 260270, 260467 and 260094. Clerk, will you please read the titles of the bills and resolutions.
Bill No. 2 260076, an ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of the proposal set forth in a Resolution approved by Council proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to the creation of the Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission; and authorizing and directing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election. Bill No. 260264, an ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of the proposal set forth in a Resolution approved by Council proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to provide for the creation of a Creative Philadelphia, to provide for the powers and duties of such office, and to otherwise provide for incorporation of the office into the City government; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election; all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260457, an ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of an amendment to The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to change City procurement procedures and requirements; fixing the date of a special election for such purpose; prescribing the form of ballot questions to be voted on; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election. Bill No. 260458, an ordinance amending Section 17-103 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Bonds Relating to Procurement Contracts” to amend requirements related to performance and payment bonds on certain contracts and providing for disclosure and monitoring of the bond acquisition cost, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260459, an ordinance amending Section 17-109 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Local Bidding Preferences,” by establishing a new category of bid preference for businesses that are both local and small, and amending definition certification, goal setting and reporting requirements, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260460, an ordinance amending Chapter 17-1400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Non-Competitively Bid Contracts; Financial Assistance," by updating references and exclusions, all under certain terms and conditions. Resolution No. 260094, a resolution proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter providing for the creation of the Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission; and providing for the submission of the proposed amendment to the electors of Philadelphia. Resolution No. 260270, a resolution proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to provide for the creation of Creative Philadelphia and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia. And Resolution No. 1 260467, a resolution proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to change City procurement procedures and requirements; and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia.
Thank you. Thank you 10 very much. Appreciate the work of 11 the Committee Clerk. 12 The Chair will now 13 recognize Councilmember Ahmad, the 14 sponsor of legislation Bill No. 15 260076 and Resolution No. 260094 16 for remarks. 17
18 Thank you, Chair Gilmore 19 Richardson, for holding this 20 important hearing and for guiding 21 this bill through the process to 22 get us here today. I know the 23 committee has a full agenda so I 24 will be brief. And I want to start by saying this is about making sure our most vulnerable and most precious constituents are taken care of. This is really about our children in Philadelphia. So before you is a proposed change to our City Charter. It would create a Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission, a permanent body and an independent body in an advisory capacity. Every day the city makes serious decisions about children and families. The people who live through those decisions, parents, caregivers, and young people who grew up in the system are too often the last ones we ask about how it actually works. This commission gives them a permanent seat at the table. I want to be clear about where this idea came from. It did not come from City Hall. It came straight from constituents who asked us for it. And it is not starting from scratch. There is already an executive order that created this commission. What we are doing today is putting it into the Charter so it lasts no matter who holds office. The commission will do three things that matter to everyday Philadelphians. First, it will hold the Department of Human Services accountable. Second, it will bring transparency with public meetings, public records, and a yearly report on the state of child welfare in this city. And third, it will help people understand what DHS actually does every day, because most people only hear about this department when something goes wrong. There's a lot of good things that are happening to support our families. Let me say also that the commission -- what the commission cannot do, it cannot investigate individual cases. It has no power to force an agency or this Council to act and it cannot dig into confidential family records. This is oversight in the open, plain and simple. But what it does is make sure we are the eyes and ears reporting back to all of Philadelphia. Madam Chair, this hearing is packed and I know our witnesses have given up their time to be here. I want to thank each and every one of them for testifying today. Your voices are exactly why this commission hopefully will be existing. And most importantly, you're going to be in the legislative history, that you cared enough, you came here. Philadelphia cares about their children. And to anyone here who wants to help build this or who needs support along the way, please reach out to my office. We want you to be involved in this work. This is your Commission as much as it is ours. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I look forward to the testimony.
Thank you very much, Dr. Ahmad. We truly appreciate all of your work on this bill and resolution. Clerk, will you please call the first panel we have to testify on Bill No. 260076 and Resolution No. 260094.
Kimberly Ali, Commissioner of Department of Human Services. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Thank you. Thank you very much, Commissioner, for being here, to you and to your team. Please state your name for the record and then you can proceed with your testimony. COMMISSIONER ALI: Good morning. I am Kimberly Ali, Commissioner for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. Good morning, Chairperson Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson and Vice-Chairperson Kendra Brooks of the Committee on Law and Government, Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad as well as other members of City Council. My name is Kimberly Ali, and I have the honor of serving as Commissioner for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, DHS. Joining me today is Deputy Commissioner of Child Welfare Operations Robin Chapolini as well as other members of my team. Today we are here to provide testimony on Bill No. 260076, Resolution No. 6 260094 that proposes an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to create a Community Child Welfare commission. The Department of Human Services, DHS, is the county's child welfare and juvenile justice agency. Our mission is to serve Philadelphia's children, youth, families and communities by building on their strengths and advancing safe and supportive environments. Our work at DHS is deeply rooted in the following goals: More children and youth remain safely in their own homes and communities. More children and youth reunified timely or achieve other permanency. A reduction in the number of youth in residential placement and improved children, youth and family well-being. DHS continues to assess the child welfare system in order to build on its strengths and to address its challenges. In doing so, DHS has seen tremendous gains in our child welfare system, which is evidenced by during Fiscal Year 2025, DHS provided prevention services to over 1700 families rather than the formal child welfare system. Additionally, there are 1582 children and youth receiving services in their own homes and communities, which provides support to their families and prevents them from being separated from their loved ones. As of today, there are 2248 children in the child welfare placement, which is down from 5111 in 2020. This amounts to 2683 less children in care or a 56% reduction in the number of children and youth who are in the child welfare placement. We prioritize kinship care when a safety threat cannot be controlled and the child requires placement, placing children and youth with kin lessens the trauma that they suffer because they are placed with a family member or someone who knows the child or youth while we work to reunify the family. At DHS, 44% of children are currently placed in kinship care, which is above the national benchmark of 38%. We are also becoming less dependent on residential placements. There are 135 youth and child welfare residential placement. 4% of our placement population. 5%. There are elements of this measure that DHS supports, including a child welfare system that is transparent and one that elevates the voices of individuals with lived experience as a transparent child welfare system that also operates under the Child Protective Services law. DHS publishes on its website quarterly and annual indicator reports that highlight the aggregate child welfare and juvenile justice data. This data provides insight into the child welfare system from when a call comes into the DHS hotline through case closure. DHS also embraces the voices of youth and families by way of our family teen conferences and our crisis rapid response meetings. These meetings are facilitated by DHS social work supervisors who bring the family, youth, their support systems and partners that are involved with their case together to develop a plan to stabilize the family. Additionally, in order to ensure that voices of individuals with lived experience are not only heard but are integrated into DHS, DHS began hiring peer specialists.
We currently have two young adults and two parents with lived experience who are employees of DHS. They are civil service employees and their role is to help inform policy practice, training and monitoring evaluation at DHS. DHS recognizes that it is accountable to the people that we are here to serve. Therefore, we are already in the planning stages of reinstituting the Child Welfare Advisory Board. Given this, DHS welcomes the opportunity to work with Councilmember Dr. Ahmad's office and other members of City Council on the establishment of this commission. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Please note that I typically stay for the entire duration of City Council hearings when I am called to testify. However, immediately after my testimony, I have to travel to Harrisburg for a state roundtable meeting with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Office of Children and Families in the Courts. These meetings are invaluable as they serve as another tool to help me and my team improve Philadelphia's child welfare system. I'm looking forward to partnering in the future. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Commissioner Ali. We appreciate your willingness to be here this morning, particularly with a very, very busy schedule and having to travel to Harrisburg today. Very briefly, are there any questions for Commissioner Ali before she must depart? (No response.)
Seeing no questions from members of the committee -- Councilmember Ahmad, do you have a question for Commissioner Ali?
I know we're moving quickly. So I want to thank you for your testimony. We have conversations, so we're good. We're good with this. Thank you.
Okay. I just want to make sure you were okay. Thank you very much, Commissioner. We truly appreciate your willingness to be here this morning and safe travels to Harrisburg. Are you here to give public testimony? You're traveling together?
Received. Just state your name for the record so that we can notate for the stenographer that you're here.
Yes. Robin Chapolini, Deputy Commissioner for Child Welfare Operations.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you both so very much. COMMISSIONER ALI: Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. Clerk, will you please call Panel 2.
Stefanie. Arbutina, Vickie Melvin, Otis Bullock and Keisha Hudson. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Excellent. Thank you all so much for being here. Please approach the witness table. State your names for the record and then you can proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. Good morning, Chair Gilmore Richardson and members of the Law and Government Committee. I'm Stefanie Arbutina and I serve as the Vulnerable Youth Policy Director at Children First. I'm here today to urge you to establish a Child Welfare Commission in the Philadelphia City Charter, because our children and families deserve a system that's transparent, accountable, and most importantly, centered on their voices. Philadelphia has long recognized the importance of community engagement and child welfare. The Community Oversight Board was created in 2007, continued under Mayor Nutter and re-established by Executive Order in 2018 under Mayor Kenney as the Child Welfare Oversight Board. For years that provided a critical space for board members, stakeholders like us, DHS leadership, parents to review data and discuss system performance. When those meetings stopped in 2024, they left a serious gap in public engagement and accountability on systemic issues. That gap matters because the challenges in child welfare are real. For years, Philadelphia placed more children into foster care per capita than any other major city in the country. While, as you of course heard, current Department of Human Services leadership has truly made meaningful progress in expanding prevention and diversion services, keeping more families together. Philadelphia still lags behind its peers. Recent data shows that 3.2 children are separated from their families for every 1000 children in the city. In FY25 alone, 1044 children were removed from their parents, more than the total number of removals in Cook County, Illinois, despite Chicago having about three times the population. And while fewer kids are entering foster care, outcomes for those who do are poor. Family reunification has declined to about a third of cases. More than 10% of children who return home re-enter care within a year, and more young people are leaving the system not to a permanent placement, so without that forever home. Behind these numbers are real people and real painful experiences. Families report being asked to sign documents they don't fully understand. They're unaware of directly how to access available support, like food or rental assistance that could stabilize their homes. They report feeling unheard in court and fear being labeled noncompliant for just asking questions. To be clear, DHS has taken significant steps forward, especially its investment in prevention and community-based services and that engagement with families on the individual case level, and we are grateful we commend that work. But the accountability structures haven't kept pace. Existing data reports are inconsistently available, focus more on the compliance measures over measures of family and child well-being and really lack the context we need to understand trends and systemic issues. A Child Welfare Commission would fill a major void. Embedding it in the City Charter provides a permanent, consistent, transparent, community- centered structure where those with lived experience have a real seat at the table, helping interpret that data, shape policy and co-designing solutions. This is an opportunity to institutionalize transparency, build public trust, and most importantly, improve outcomes for children and families across Philadelphia. I urge you to take this step and move the legislation forward. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. CHIEF DEFENDER HUDSON: Good morning, Chairperson Gilmore Richardson and members of the Committee on Law and Government. My name is Keisha Hudson and I serve as Chief Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. On behalf of the Defender Association and Board of Directors, thank you, and thank you to Councilmember Ahmad for the opportunity to speak in support of Resolution 260094, creating a Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission. In addition to our criminal practice, the Defender Association represents children and youth involved in dependency proceedings through our Child Advocacy Unit. Every day, our attorneys and social workers advocate for young people navigating separation from family placement, instability, unmet behavioral needs, school disruption and aging out of care. Last year alone, we represented more than 1400 children and youth in over 5700 hearings. We support this resolution because Philadelphia needs a permanent, independent, community-rooted body focused on how the child welfare system impacts children and families. Too often the people most affected by the system are excluded from conversations shaping it. Families and youth live with the consequences of these decisions every day, but rarely have a meaningful role in evaluating whether the system is truly keeping children safe, supporting families, and improving long-term outcomes. At the Defender Association, we have seen firsthand the value of including impacted youth and families in institutional decision-making through our Youth Action Board and Peer Advocate Program. Young people with lived experience help shape our advocacy, training and priorities. Their perspectives consistently challenge professionals to think differently about support, safety, trust and permanency. Our peer advocates, many of whom have personally navigated the dependency system, build credibility in connection with young people in ways traditional system stakeholders often cannot. Working with and hearing the experiences of these young people has taught us an important lesson. Systems improve when impacted youth and families are treated not simply as clients, but as partners in reform. For that reason, we respectfully urge this Committee to ensure that youth with lived experience are explicitly included as Commission members. We strongly support the introduced amendment to Councilmember Ahmad's Charter change that allows for compensation of commissioners, ensuring participation is accessible and does not depend on someone's ability to volunteer unpaid time. This proposal reflects an important truth: Child welfare systems work best when impacted. Youth and families are not only heard but empowered to help shape policy and practice. Thank you, and I'd like to yield the balance of my time to Duane Price, one of our peer advocates in the Child Advocacy Unit.
Good morning, Chairwoman and members of City Council. Thank you, Chief Hudson, for yielding your time. My name is Duane Price and I'm a peer advocate with the Child Advocacy Unit with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. In my current role, I work with young people navigating the dependency system, bringing ten years of my own lived experience within the child welfare system to this role every day, because I have walked in their exact shoes. I can build a level of trust that traditional professionals often struggle to reach. In my experience if we want to build, if we want to bridge the gap between high level policy and real world challenges, children and families face treating impacted youth, young people and families as true partners is what could work to create real change. That is why ensuring that children and young people with lived experience, including those who have transitioned out of the system, have a direct seat on this commission. I believe that this is what would work best. The insights of a young person currently navigating foster care are irreplaceable. I constantly see young people whose trauma is consistently worsened because they are caught in the intersection of both the dependency and delinquent systems, and no 12 adult no matter how well meaning they are, can fully duplicate the current day-to-day perspectives of a child in foster care. Putting children and young people directly on this board is what could work to keep this commission genuinely, genuinely community-grounded. And from where I sit, building these practical steps, practical pieces into the framework is what would be best to ensure this commission creates lasting change for the community. So thank you for your time and for considering the perspectives of young people we serve. I welcome any questions you may have.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed.
Good morning. My name is Vickie Melvin. I am the Chief Operations Officer at the Philadelphia Children's Alliance, and we are the only child advocacy center for the City of Philadelphia. We are accredited by our National Children's Alliance and we serve as a national model for child advocacy centers across the country. For nearly 40 years and for over 40,000 children, we have led a collaborative approach to how child sexual abuse, extreme neglect and witness to violence is confronted, supported and managed in our city. Philadelphia Children's Alliance provides one-on-one services to child victims and their families and also step-by-step approach to healing, recovery and justice. Philadelphia Children's Alliance cannot do the work that we do without our relationships with our city partners. We provide each and every child with the support they need to ensure that they don't fall through the cracks of our child welfare system. We rely on the work and work alongside our city partners, the Department of Human Services, the Special Victims Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department, the District Attorney's Office, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We also work very closely with the School District of Philadelphia and provide prevention services and education to our children. This year we have served over 2500 children in our school district. It is this collaborative approach that allows us to work very closely with our families, but we would not be able to do that work without the input of those families and children that we serve. We utilize their lived experiences and their expertise to do our work. Child exploitation is an insidious epidemic. It crosses every social, economic, and cultural landscape, and it has a reach, especially digitally, and it is expanding at an alarming rate. A Child Welfare Oversight Committee with clients who have had lived experience would be able to address this matter and allow us to tackle the issues together from every possible angle. PCA supports the Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission and Dr. Ahmad's intent to continue to strengthen the longstanding relationships across the city that serve the children and families of Philadelphia. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. You can state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Madam Chair, Dr. Councilmember Nina Ahmad, Councilmember Phillips, Councilmember Landau, I saw Councilmember Squilla here earlier, Councilmember O'Neill and good morning, Councilmember Thomas. Thank you for having me. My name is Otis Bullock. I am the CEO of Greater Philadelphia Community Alliance. I am pleased to be here in support of the creation of a Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission. At GPCA, our mission is to break the cycle of generational poverty by ensuring equitable distribution of resources for vulnerable children, families and communities. We are headquartered in the heart of South Philadelphia, with nine locations that provide services across South Philadelphia from river to river, Southwest Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and Northeast Philadelphia. We believe in transformative change and are dedicated to making it happen. One family, one community and one policy at a time. At GPCA, we take a two-generational approach to achieve our goals, seeking positive outcomes for both children and their caretakers at the same time. We focus on four pillars of service: Children and youth development, family development, community development and housing and economic empowerment. GPCA believes that the ultimate goal of the Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission should create alignment. When a family is involved with DHS, they are often overwhelmed by multiple uncoordinated entities. By ensuring that all professionals, from case managers to city leadership, operate with a common goal and share communication, we can significantly increase the speed and quality of positive outcomes for Philadelphia's children and families. When a family receives services from the child welfare system, they become attached to an abundance of services. This can create confusion in the continuum of care. It's imperative that all professionals are on the same when it comes to identifying family needs and how we address those needs. This will allow us to increase positive outcomes in a timely manner. We all must have a common goal and a common strategy for ensuring the safety of our children. I think it's important to note and I think some of the other commenters landed on this as well, that poverty is not abuse. GPCA's community umbrella agency reviewed data from about half of the children currently served by our agency. This included about 165 children who were referred to CUA 9 in May of 2025 due to safety- related concerns. And from that review, several common circumstances and challenges impacting children and families emerged. We saw housing instability and basic need concerns. We saw substance abuse concerns. We saw physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse, abandonment, lack of supervision, truancy and educational concerns, behavioral health, parent-child conflict or ungovernable youth concerns. We saw sometimes caregiver absence or no available caregiver resource, and then sometimes the referrals was just invalid or unfounded. In reviewing this breakdown, we believe that it really waves a yellow flag, stating that there are supports that are needed for these families, that families needing support does not necessarily equate to abuse or neglect. It shows the types of resources that interventions need to matriculate a family out of DHS care. Philadelphia has significant need for supportive housing. And children and families exposed to the trauma of child welfare should be given top priority in these resources. This type of prioritization contributes to the ending of generational system involvement. The proposed Child Welfare Commission has a potential to provide accurate accounts of the barriers that families face, data to support a need for more community housing funding, and a coordinated approach by families, advocates and this Administration. Within child welfare, navigating the mental and developmental health of parents and children is also very nuanced.
As CUA service providers, we will greatly benefit and appreciative from the expertise of the Philadelphia School District, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services and our own DHS leadership to assess whether there may be room 12 for reform. This includes any future considerations for parents registered with IDS or perhaps even specialized court hearings for older youth with complex mental health needs. One of the most significant benefits of the Child Welfare Commission is having multiple systems at the same table with people who can truly speak to how their systems function internally. In that space, each entity can present its processes, expectations and barriers honestly. There then becomes an opportunity to identify where disconnects exist between systems and develop solutions that create a more streamlined experience for families. Many of our families are navigating too many competing systems at the same time. The goal should be to make life easier for children, parents, and caregivers to navigate it in ways that create stronger outcomes for generations that follow them. Again, I thank City Council and the Law and Government Committee for allowing GPCA to provide our input. We strongly support Resolution No. 21 260094 and Bill No. 260076. And we look forward to working further with both Council and this Administration. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony. And for the record, I want to ensure that we're aware we received written testimony from Tracie Johnson, Youth Ombudsperson, City of Philadelphia. Are there any questions for this panel from members of the committee? The Chair recognizes Councilmember Landau.
Thank you. I'm going to kind of keep this broad. The problem was I had some questions for DHS, and I do really respect how much they have to get to Harrisburg. So kind of put them out there. And if you can't answer them or even speculate what the answers are, I'll just deliver them to DHS. But I'm just curious, we all know what the challenges are with DHS and we've heard this over and over. We certainly have a disproportionate number of cases here in Philadelphia and we're doing so much better than we did in the past. We also have a high poverty rate and absolutely don't want people to be punished for living in poverty. And this shouldn't be anything that is held against them. I'm currently fighting for some of the money in the budget to really recreate and bolster the help desk in Family Court. It's a place where families can go receive resources, get help on their court cases. And I really do think some of this is going to be the one-stop shop that we need to make sure that people stay connected and have people on their side and their team. So I'm curious how you see the commission benefiting even the work that you're doing. How do you see it actually playing out day-by-day, including with an Executive Director, how that interplays? I read Tracie Johnson's, the Youth Ombudsperson's testimony. And she said, well, the one thing that the commission doesn't have is it doesn't have enforcement authority, but I do. So I will take this on. And so, one, how does the commission really work with to help solve these problems? And then, two, what role would an Executive Director play?
Well, it's a question for -- it's really a question for Director Ali. So do your best. And if not, I'm sending them to her.
One of the things that I stated in my own statement is the creation of alignment. I don't think the commission needs any particular authority because the authority already exists within the Administration and amongst you guys to enforce on recommendations. But what it does do is bring all the parties together. It's probably rare or probably never a time where all the competing parties are actually talking to each other from the courts to DHS to the Administration, to the families, to the advocates and even the service providers like myself to all come together at one table, because we're all operating under different systems, different rules and different competing goals. How do we get on the same page. I think the commission really helps us to do that.
I agree with Otis. That's a major strength, that alignment. And to just piggyback on that, I think I mentioned it -- I did mention it in my testimony. But one of the other things you can do with a commission like this is co-design things together and look at things together. If it's just led by the overseeing entity looking at the data, they can say from their perspective why a thing is happening or why a trend is looking the way it is. But when you've got families at the table, when you've got the folks working with them at a table that are working with many families, they can all say, well, here's what we experience and that's why this is happening. And then they can say all together, what do we do about that. And then that that can be programmatic decisions, that can be how those concrete resources are allocated to best support families that are actually meeting the need. And it's not just kind of one perspective that's looking at it. I'd be happy to talk a little bit more. I did some work on advisory commissions for a child welfare system. So there's a number of ways it could look. Happy to talk more about that offline, but those are the two of the biggest strengths is that co-work together.
Excellent. Okay. Thank you very much. Prior to recognizing Dr. Ahmad for questions for this panel, I'd like to recognize the presence of Councilmember Mark Squilla. And I also saw Councilmember Isaiah Thomas. Please, Dr. Ahmad, proceed with your questions for Panel 2.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be brief. I was not going to ask too many questions. But I just wanted to be very specific for those who have had experience with the previous iteration of this commission. What was the best thing that worked there and what was lacking in that? Because we're in the design process and how you answer -- thank you for answering my colleague's question exactly how I would have in terms of what the reason for this is. So if you could, anyone who's had experience for the prior iteration of this commission, if you could respond to that.
Hold on one moment. If you could just restate your name for the record and speak into the mic.
Yes. Stefanie Arbutina with Children First. I'll say that it's my understanding that there was a portion of the Child Welfare Oversight Board meeting that was just for the members of the oversight board and I was not on that. So I can't speak to that part, but there was a public portion in which the department presented its quarterly indicators data and folks could ask questions of the department about that data. And so, that was really helpful to not just be reading the thing that's posted online, but to hear the department's take on it. And then also be able to ask clarifying questions and have engagement there. That's from our perspective what was helpful. So really important space to interact about that data.
Thank you. And so, I just also wanted to make a brief comment about our peer -- I'm not sure exactly what his terminology, but Duane. I wanted to thank you because you really highlighted exactly what this is about, about the lived experience that should inform us because we're going to gather all this information from this commission to actually do something with it, right. So not only will it be informing the public, having transparency around that, reporting on a regular basis. But more importantly, we're going to be taking that to see how do we then take this data, take this feedback. And to Duane's point, from the lived experience there's nuance in this. And I think not having heard that nuance anywhere else before, it becomes really important. So I want to thank all of you for your testimony. I want to thank everyone who's here. We will need to continue to work with you as we go forward and we need to get this passed, so then we can roll up our sleeves and really show the children. Children are watching us. They are watching us, particularly those in the system. What will you do for us, what have you done and what will you do. So we have to answer to them. So I thank you all for being here. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Ahmad.
Okay. Are there any further questions for Panel 2? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we thank you all so much for being here. There being no further panels to testify on Bill No. 18 260076 and Resolution No. 260094, is there anyone else here who would like to give public comment on those bills? Okay. What I'll do is -- please approach the witness table and you can state your name for the record. (Witness approached witness table.)
Yes. Good morning. Good day. My name is Julie Audrey Ward Carnegie. Good day, Councilmembers of Philadelphia, staff members, et. al, assembly of participants supporting what I believe to be necessary change, a necessary alignment -- I need my glasses on and I don't have them here. Do you mind? Are they reading glasses?
Councilmember responding in realtime to constituent request.
All right. Now, I can read. And yes, these are fine. Supporting what I believe to be necessary to be a necessary alignment to improve the outlook for our children, youth and young adults. Yes, Councilmember At-large Dr. Nina Ahmad, a charter change for the creation of a Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission as a permanent independent body to advise city agencies and Council closes the gap between what policy says and what families actually live through is the progressive mode toward a coordinated family and child welfare policy. I request that upon voter participation approval to include Bill No. 180888, co-sponsored by Councilwoman Cindy Bass and Councilmember Bill 24 Greenlee, please consider a revote to amend the Philadelphia Health Code, wherein drug manufacturers, agents would be required to register annually with the city's Health Department. I believe addressing this alongside the current initiative will provide a more secure foundation for the City of Philadelphia. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very, very much for your testimony. We appreciate you being here and also the glasses. Thank you so much. There being no further panels and/or witnesses to provide public testimony and public comment on Bill No. 2600760 --
Okay. Are you here to testify on the child oversight legislation? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible).
Yes. So on the public comment list, I have Nicole Powers, Orlethia Waring, Vonee Hill, Kathy Welsh, Julie Ward, David Thayer, and Phoebe Jones. So you can all approach the witness table. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Please state your name for the record and then you can proceed with your public comment.
Good morning. My name is Vonee Hill. Good morning, Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson, Councilmember Dr. Ahmad and all members of City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Vonee Hill and I'm the founder and executive director of Linked Family Services, a Philadelphia community-based organization focused on family stabilization, maternal wellness and prevention-centered support for caregivers and children. I appreciate the vision behind the proposed Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission because I believe it has the opportunity to provide another layer of oversight, accountability and checks and balances for the department that I know has already begun making intentional shifts in how it serves children, parents and caregivers. I also believe the commission creates an important opportunity for impacted families, community organizations, frontline professionals and caregivers to help shape a more proactive and responsive child welfare system for Philadelphia. Through our work at Linked Family Services, we see every day how consistent relationships, concrete resources, emotional support and prevention- centered engagement can help stabilize families before situations escalate further. One thing I have repeatedly said when asked why Linked Family Services exists to bridge two worlds is this: You cannot talk about child welfare without talking about maternal and caregiver wellness. Ensuring wellness is about more than making referrals and expecting compliance. It means seeing families as people first and understanding that caregiver wellness, financially, emotionally, materially and physically directly impacts child wellness and child safety. My perspective comes from multiple sides of this work. In addition to leading Linked Family Services, I previously worked both as a child advocate social worker, solely ensuring the safety of children and as a supervisor, ensuring the stability of families. So I understand firsthand the complexity of child welfare systems, the importance of accountability and the impact that a commission like this could have on the future of child welfare in Philadelphia. And because I believe systems, no matter which office, should ultimately equip families for long-term stability. One thing I've often told parents during my time as a direct child welfare professional is I loved getting to know you and your family, but respectfully I hope to never see you here in this space again. And I meant that with authenticity and care, because true success should not simply be case closure. It should be long-term family stability, caregiver wellness and ensuring families leave systems feeling supported enough not to return in crisis again. I believe this commission has the opportunity to help strengthen the Department of Human Services even further and help strengthen Philadelphia's child welfare landscape by centering accountability, prevention and long-term wellness of children and caregivers. Thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I look forward to continuing to engage in this process.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony and thank you for being here and for your work in the community. Please proceed. State your name for the record.
Hi. I'm Phoebe Jones and I'm splitting my testimony with Carolyn Hill.
Hi. My name is Carolyn Hill. I'm here -- we are Give Us Back Our Children, a grassroots group of mothers and others who have dealings with the child welfare system along with supporters. We have been fighting cases and working to change policies and practices for 15 years. 16 Once a month for the 17 last three years we have been 18 outside Family Court, DHS arguing 19 City Council to implement a 20 recommendation that came out of the Special Committee on Child Separation in 2022, especially anything that can be a remedy with concrete help shall not consider neglect, open family court and don't take children from domestic violence survivors.
We are actually not in favor of a child welfare commission that is not specifically tasked with implementing those great recommendations, which will lower child removal rates, keep families together and make children safer. We don't need one more bureaucracy to lobby, as it takes months or years to come up with other recommendations. It took seven years for this one and they're still not implemented. We don't have that time. We and our children are suffering now, especially those of us who are Black, our single mothers or have disabilities. The Child Welfare Commission is supposed to be raising up the voices of the impacted, but our voices who have lost children to the system aren't being heard. When we say commission or no commission, we want City Council to implement the 2022 recommendations now. We want the concrete help that the recommendations highlighted to go to mothers to raise children, not to agencies to remove them. We say poverty is not neglect. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your advocacy and years of advocacy and for being here. And I will tell you that I've looked at your t-shirt because former Councilmember Blondell Reynolds Brown had a cloth with the exact same wording on a cloth. It was a white cloth with purple writing. And everything that it says on your t-shirt, it was on that cloth. And she kept it in her office for years in City Council, and she gifted it to me when I became a member of Philadelphia City Council. And it says, Every Mother is a Working Mother. Thank you very, very much. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Catherine 13 Welsh. Good morning, Madam Chair, 14 Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad -- 15
Hold on one moment. 17 Ma'am, we need you to speak into 18 the mic so that the stenographer 19 can hear you. Thank you very much. 20
Okay. And members of City Council. I'm a Philadelphia resident, and I care deeply about the child welfare system in the city and the children and families it serves. I began my career in child welfare in 1985. Since then, I have held positions in county, state and federal government agencies, nonprofit agencies and consulting companies throughout the United States, including with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services from 2005 until 2010. During the administration of Mayor John Street, a child welfare oversight committee was formed in response to the tragic death of Danieal Kelly. Oversight committees continued under various names through the Nutter Administration, the Kenney Administration. These expert committees and community stakeholders helped DHS form the Improving Outcomes for Children initiative, which included the creation of the Community Umbrella Agencies or CUAs. Over a decade has passed since the first CUA has began serving families. The CUA scorecard was established in 2017, four years after the first CUA began serving families. Some of the original CUAs are no longer providing CUA services due to agency closure or liability issues. Staff retention at the CUAs is an issue, with 40% of the CUAs receiving unsatisfactory or critical ratings in the workforce domain in Fiscal Year 2025. Multiple social worker changes can severely disrupt the child welfare process, leading to placement instability, emotional distress and delays in achieving permanency. Maintaining continuity in both placement and social worker relationships is essential for children's safety, well-being and long-term success. High caseloads impact turnover. A time study could be done to determine how many cases a social worker should have and caseload size should be revisited. Workforce recruitment and retention and child welfare is a national problem, not unique to Philadelphia. Rather than being overwhelmed by the issues that face DHS and the CUAs, this is an opportunity through the Child Welfare Commission to learn how the system supports its staff and what is necessary to retain good social workers. Research tells us that training and supervision, including field supervision, are key to retention. The Child Welfare Commission could advise on assisting DHS and the CUAs to develop clear messaging on how this model is intended to work. Clarifying outcomes with metrics that are understandable at the systemic and the case level to determine if the work is being done well by DHS and the CUAs, engaging other systems that impact children and families, schools, hospitals, early intervention, courts, CASA, certainly those with lived experience, housing, behavioral health, public health. I believe that people work in child welfare because they want to keep children safe and strengthen families. Creating a culture that supports the success of children, families and communities and the workforce is possible. Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony today.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is David Fair and I am Executive Director of Turning Points for Children, which has been providing support to at-risk children and families for almost two centuries. I have also served in city government as the first Director of the DHS Community-Based Prevention Services Division, and as Director of Community-Based Children's Services for the Office of Mental Health. Councilwoman Ahmad's proposal for the establishment of a permanent Child Welfare Commission could be a critical solution, one that we need to address the concerns raised at the Council hearings that were held last year. As a child and family advocate for over 30 years, I can confirm that the system would benefit greatly from a purposeful, transparent and well-resourced commission of this type to continue its progress over the last several years. Under Commissioner Ali, the number of children placed in foster care has been dramatically reduced from 5111 in 2020 to 2248 as of today; a reduction of 56%, and half of those children still in care are living with relatives rather than strangers. This proves we can make progress. This is highly commendable progress, resulting from smart, committed leadership. And now, we need that commitment in those spots for the many other challenges in the child welfare bureaucracy that need to be addressed as well. There is still so much more that could be done for many, if not most, child welfare workers, both public and private. Necessary red tape and inefficiency at all levels still engenders trauma, frustration and helplessness to both families and workers. The sad truth is that despite many efforts over the years to reduce these challenges, the system remains opaque to many of the children and families involved while overburdening both DHS and CUA workers with unnecessary bureaucracy. A well-led and well- funded commission comprised of parents and relatives, youth advocates, DHS and coworkers, professionals, bureaucrats, I believe will create new momentum in addressing the many challenges still facing those of us working to protect children and families. It's critical that the question on the ballot next November be overwhelmingly endorsed by the voters. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Prior to recognizing the next witness, I'd like to recognize the presence of our Council President Kenyatta Johnson, he was here in the hearing, as well as Councilmember Isaiah Thomas. I know that we have competing schedules today as well as two additional hearings. So, Councilmember Thomas, can I recognize you now for remarks on your bill and resolutions that we can go back to public comment? Thank you.
Good morn -- there we go. Good morning. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to all of the members of this committee for the great work you do for the City of Philadelphia. Thank you to Mayor Cherelle Parker as well as Val Gay and the entire Administration for collaborating with City Council and working together collectively to put this initiative on the ballot, to make sure that the office that is responsible for the creative economy in the City of Philadelphia is a permanent one. When we look at where we are, not just here in the City of Philadelphia, but really globally, the creative economy has become one of the most important means of not just communicating, but also an important means of revenue and the ability to collect revenue for individual artists, for arts-based organizations, both for profit and nonprofit. And the conversation we're not having enough is revenue for cities. And so, I'm proud to be the sponsor of this ballot initiative. I appreciate all of the members of City Council, especially my colleague Councilmember Rue Landau, who's in that arts world with me, for supporting this initiative. And as I close out, Madam Chair, I have to actually say thank you to you, Madam Chair, because you and I together got into the arts and culture space when we were freshmen and COVID hit and we started the Arts and Culture Task Force. And that task force has been the driving mechanism of a lot of the work that we've done to continue to advocate for the community. So, Madam Chair, just thank you for allowing me to give a few remarks. Thank you to my colleagues on City Council for supporting this initiative, and we're going to ask the voters in the City of Philadelphia early and often to vote yes on this ballot measure come November. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Thomas. Thank you for your great work in the arts and culture community and we appreciate you coming by the hearing today. Again, we have competing schedules today. We have two additional hearings. So we thank you for your commitment to the arts and culture. Please state your name for the record. Now, we're going to go back. And for the record, Councilmember Thomas was giving remarks for Resolution No. 260270 and Bill No. 260264. We are now going back to public comment on Resolution Nos. 260094 and Bill No. 260076. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your public comment.
Good morning. My name is Leah Hynansky. I work with Salvation Army to Stop Trafficking, Philadelphia Anti- Trafficking Coalition and Philadelphia Anti-Trafficking Advocacy Work Group. Thank you, Council, for hearing me today. Too much trauma and other life challenges, along with the inability or the choice not to process intergenerational trauma creates a fear-based system. In my experience, the system in Philadelphia has been fear-based for way too long. I am so grateful for the establishment of the Philadelphia Child Welfare Commission and I think it is long overdue. Every time I come to City Hall I stand by the Orphans' Court sign and I say a prayer for my mom, who grew up in Feltonville on East Loudon Street, often with no heat as a young girl, with ten nieces and nephews of a psychologically- ill brother, a mentally unstable but well-intentioned mother and a violent but loving father. Her parents immigrated here from Ukraine during World War I. My grandfather worked as a carpenter in the Navy Yard and my grandmother worked in a cigarette factory. There was so much violence in that household. My father's family is a part of the last million to arrive in the USA. After the last displaced persons camp was liberated in Germany during World War II, they were forcibly moved from Ukraine to work in Germany. They came through New York and got jobs on a migrant farm in Maryland. There was so much violence in that household. They married and were trying to learn to parent and pay for too many children. Space was full of love, but too much trauma. Even though they had the best intentions, they were young and times were very different then. There was so much violence in that household. I suffered an unbelievable amount of physical harm due to the inability to tolerate and process and look at the traumas. And I was trafficked as a young child and it derailed my whole life. The stigma involved with mental health care was too big for them and for me when I was young and there was no ability or choice to deal effectively with the truth. We are at an age now where we understand trauma and we understand that it is survivable. We can learn to live with it and walk beside it and in a sense, make friends with it. We do not have to constantly combat it and run from it. We can walk with it, grow and learn when we are ready. It's if I'm watching it all on rinse and repeat all these years later. The Ukraine war is raging. There is so much war all over the world and it breaks my heart that it's happening again. But it inspires me to work even harder to be an advocate for change. A lot of people believe in ruling by the hand. If you are hit hard by someone that you love, then maybe you won't test the system and die at the hands of the authorities. Call me naive, but I would love to see a trust- and love-based system with boundaries and healthy consequences. You must be safe, heard and loved to function well. Nobody wants to see children and youth end up in foster care, on the street or in the prison system, working backwards to move to success that they deserved all along in their lives. Philadelphia is a beautiful, diverse and empowered community. This is their voice, their way to communicate with other government agencies so that proper law and policy can be created. I know that Philadelphia can vote yes for this on the ballot question when it comes up. We can trust and support children from the beginning and rework the system without judging one another in the process. We can keep kids out of the system and work it with faith in our children. Philadelphia's kids are the toughest and most resilient children that I have ever encountered, and they deserve only the best. It might take time, but it can work. Every soul comes onto this planet wanting safety and love. My parents wanted that in their childhood and I know that they deserved it. All of Philadelphia's children deserve that hope too. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
Thank you. Thank you for being here. And thank you for your public comment. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your public comment.
My name is Orlethia Hamilton- Wearing. Thank you for the opportunity. I just want to apologize. I was so excited to testify today that I left my papers at home so I'm using my phone.
And I do have readers already in here, so please forgive me. So thank you for allowing me to speak today. In 2002, my life changed forever. My husband was accused of the unthinkable, hurting our 16-year-old daughter. But the accusations didn't come from her. It came from someone I trusted for seven years, my therapist who already had conflict with my husband. And from that moment, our nightmare began. DHS was called. Suddenly everything I said was twisted to fit their narrative. The more I insist that my husband was innocent, the more I was threatened. I was told my daughter could be taken away and that I could go to jail for not protecting her. At the meetings, I was yelled at, belittled and disrespected. One statement still echoes in my mind. A worker looked at me in front of my daughter and said, I can't believe he had a whole grown woman, but insisted and instead wanted to mess with a child. I thought DHS was supposed to help families, not tear them apart. Meanwhile, my daughter was misled into thinking that she was getting a new home until DHS discovered that she had Type 1 diabetes. Then the supervisor coldly said, well, we'll have to rethink this. The accusations forced my husband to resign from the school district where he'd worked for over years. He was arrested 9 and charged without a shred of 10 evidence. I had never felt so 11 alone until I began researching DSS 12 and DHS and false accusations, and 13 what I found was devastating. We 14 were not the only ones. 15 Families all over the 16 country had lived the same 17 nightmare. But instead of letting 18 it break me, I let it fuel me. I 19 went back to school determined to 20 help other families like mine, families who are innocent but destroyed by the system meant to protect. In the end, my husband was found innocent of all charges, and along the way we learned something life-changing. Our daughter is highly functional, autistic level 3 with sensory challenges. What was once seen as suspicious behavior was simply misunderstood, near divergency, a tickle. So we went through all of that for a tickle. I know what it feels to be mislabeled, misunderstood and unheard. I've seen how it can strip someone of their dignity. But I also learned something powerful, that healing is a form of justice. And when people reclaim their voice, they don't just transform their own life. They transform their family, their community and their future. And I would like to say that this is very important to me because I'm still alone. My husband has not come home and we're still living apart because we're too afraid that if it happens once, it'll happen again. So I haven't lived with my husband since March of 2022. So this commission to me is very important because it's no 7 reason why we aren't living together married.
Well, thank you so much for sharing your story and for your testimony. I am so sorry about what happened to your family all over a tickle. I'm so sorry. But I appreciate your advocacy and for being here today. And if there's any way that we can continue to help and support at this point, please let us know what we're able to do to try to help or facilitate anything that could be helpful to you all. So very sorry that you all went through that and are continuing to go through it. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Dr. Anthony Phillips.
Thank you, Chair. I also just want to echo the sentiments of our Chair. Your testimony by far was the most compelling one I heard today for why we need this commission. So thank you so much for being brave enough to share this important story because it's helpful for not only us in City Council, but I'm sure it's a helpful testimony for a lot of those who've been listening, who are listening.
Thank you. Thank you very much again for your testimony. And thank you all for being here. We appreciate you. Anyone else here to provide public comment for Bill No. 2 260076 and Resolution No. 260094? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we will now proceed with Bill Nos. 260457, 260458, 260459, 260460, Resolution No. 260467. I'd also like to recognize the presence of Councilmember Jeffrey Jay Young. Clerk, will you please call the first panel we have to testify on Bill Nos. 260457, 260458, 260459 and 260460 and Resolution No. 260467.
Will Ronald Hovey, Commissioner of the Procurement Department.
Thank you so much for being here. Please approach the witness table. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
You'll state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. Per the witness list that I have available for questions, Nadir Jones, Director of Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement. , Garrett O'Dwyer, Policy Director for PACDC. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony -- I apologize. I am going to take the testimony now since it's just one person for this panel, and then we'll end with the creative economy. I apologize that I went out of order. Please proceed. COMMISSIONER HOVEY: Good morning, Chairperson Gilmore Richardson and members of the Committee on Law and Government. My name is Ronald Hovey and I'm the Procurement Commissioner. I'm here today to provide testimony on Bill 4 Nos. 260457, 260458, 260459 and 260460 as well as Resolution No. 6 260467. This legislative package was introduced by yourself, Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson, on behalf of Council President Johnson. I'm joined today by Nadir Jones of the Business Impact and Supplier Diversity Department in the Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement. I want to thank you for this opportunity to testify today. The Procurement Department, along with the Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement, is proud to be working closely with the Council President's Office on this package of legislation, and we support the package in its entirety. Together the legislative package will, one, increase economic opportunities for Philadelphia residents and businesses by lowering barriers to participation in local and small business preferences, increasing the threshold under which such preferences are available, and increasing the bidding credits for local and small businesses. Two, will ease the cost of doing business with the city by providing a mechanism to limit the effects of such direct costs as bonds, and simplify the participation requirements for local businesses. With respect to the various bond relief items in 260467, we particularly support the bond cost bid exclusion for LBEs and SBEs. 1, requiring payment and performance bonds in full amount of the contract, as such. Including these provisions in the bill may increase confusion. This legislative package is complementary to the unilateral actions of the Department of Procurement and the Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement that we are taking to streamline and improve our procurement processes and increase accessibility for small and local business services in our communities. These actions include reorganizing procurement. We've created a new shared service unit named the Philadelphia Vendor Cooperative under the Department of Finance and Procurement to provide high-touch, concierge level service to our vendor community and to a single source of truth to our vendor-related processes, systems and data. We are piloting the centralization of all procurement operations in the Procurement Department with a select group of departments, and we are reorganizing the Procurement Department to be ready to manage in a consolidated structure in the future, all with a mission of enabling more efficient and strategic procurement for the city. In the interest of making contracts and solicitations more accessible to businesses, particularly small and local businesses, we're about to engage a firm to rewrite and modernize all of our document templates, that would be contracts, RFPs and bid requests. We're redesigning our business processes and consolidating our procurement systems to eliminate redundant work for our bidders, such as performing one-and-done prequalifications, guiding new firms through becoming an LBE or SBE and retaining company data by vendor rather than by project to reduce or eliminate repeated requests for information and data.
These are just a few of the highlights of the steps that we have embarked upon to make it clear that Philadelphia is open for business, that we are increasingly intentional about our engagement with our vendor community and that we are constantly working toward a business-friendly ecosystem that lifts up Philadelphia workers and businesses, while more efficiently delivering the needed goods and services of the city and its residents. Finally, I want to emphasize that this legislative package is just the first in a series of forthcoming legislative packages that will be needed to bring the city's solicitation, contracting and vendor procurement operations into the 21st century. The Parker Administration has additional legislation coming as soon as this fall. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on Bill 13 Nos. 260457, 260458, 260459 and 260460 as well as Resolution 15 260467. My colleague Nadir and I are happy to answer questions that the committee has.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. And thank you also for being here today. I wanted to thank the two of you for working with Council President Johnson and the team here at City Council relative to this proposed small business program. So I just wanted to thank you for sort of helping to pull together the infrastructure, logistics and the continued vision for economic opportunity in the City of Philadelphia. So thank you very, very much for being here. Are there any questions or any additional questions for these witnesses? (No response.)
And we know we work with you all ad nauseam in those meetings so we appreciate you. Any additional questions? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we thank you very, very much for being here. Appreciate you. Thanks. COMMISSIONER HOVEY: Thank you.
Okay. We've done a lot of work with the team in advance of this hearing, so we appreciate that work in advance. My team asked if I needed anything and I would say yes, glasses. I apologize to the creative economy and arts and culture community for bypassing your page in my script. So we are going to take a very brief recess to give you all an opportunity to prepare to come and testify. The Clerk will again call the panels, but we will hear from Valerie Gay, Chief Cultural Officer, Creative Philadelphia; Patricia Aden Wilson; and then we have written testimony from Tom Collins of the Neubauer Family Executive Director and President of the Barnes Foundation. So we're going to take a very brief recess and return in five minutes. Thank you. (Brief recess.)
Clerk, will you please call the first panel we have to testify on Bill No. 260264 and Resolution No. 260270. And respectfully, we'll have Councilmember Landau provide opening remarks.
Okay. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. I appreciate you and thank you and everyone for being here today and for your patience. These hearings sometimes do go long. But as most of you know, I'm a longtime supporter of the arts and culture sector here in Philadelphia. I've collaborated with Creative PHL since my very first days in office. Many of you stopped by my office to see one of the rotating exhibits curated by our arts liaison, Lauren Rinaldi and even more, have seen the exhibits that Creative PHL creates all over the building. Creative PHL has become a cornerstone of my work here, and I'd like to uplift and cement the work they have done in not just our City Hall, but our entire city. In the current budget process, I've repeatedly and loudly been advocating for funding to Philadelphia's Cultural Fund, which will uplift the smaller arts organizations throughout Philadelphia. Last year I was proud to secure $5 million, and this year I hope we can increase it to million. Already we've seen hundreds of people sign onto our petition in support of this funding. It's clear that Philadelphia values the arts. It's clear that we value the impact it has on our communities, and it's clear that Creative PHL has been a major part of that success. That's why Councilmember Thomas and I agreed to this partnership on the Creative Ballot initiative because we, like so many Philadelphians, see the value that Creative PHL adds to our city. Whether it's in the public artworks scattered throughout our neighborhood, the accessible performances or the many resources available for individuals or families to explore the arts in their communities, Creative PHL has left their mark and we need to keep the mark there and here. A ballot initiative like this one will take what I heard from my artist survey in 2024 and put it into practice. Artists want a place to turn to for guidance, for resources, for amplification, and for community. Creative PHL is that place. Creative expression should never depend on the whims of whichever administration happens to be in power. Philadelphia's artists deserve permanence, stability and support. I'm excited to move forward with a possible amending to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter in order to establish and define the functions of Creative Philadelphia and continue to work alongside them and Councilmember Thomas to promote our incredible arts, culture and creative economy sector. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Landau, and thank you for all of your work in the arts and culture community. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. My name is Valerie Gay. So, Chair Gilmore Richardson and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of this legislation establishing Creative Philadelphia as a permanent office within city government. I am Chief Cultural Officer and Executive Director of Creative Philadelphia, and I'd also like to say I'm also representing Chief Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett- Hartley. I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of this legislation and to share why making Creative Philadelphia a permanent office matters for our city. In fact, actually Councilmember Landau just laid out everything I was going to say so this will be repetitive. I also want to thank Councilmember Thomas for sponsoring Resolution No. 9 260270 and for Councilmember Landau joining him to co-sponsor Bill No. 11 260264. Philadelphia is a city whose identity has always been deeply connected to arts and culture. For the city, our creative community drives tourism, fuels neighborhood economies, activates public spaces, support small businesses, strengthens education and contributes to public safety and quality of life. We also know that arts and culture are deeply personal. We can all remember our first live concert or the first time we witnessed beautiful works of art in a museum. Mayor Parker often talks about her humble beginnings and the role the arts has played in her life. Being exposed to music, dance, and poetry early in her life transformed the way she experienced the world. Like Philadelphia, it is a part of her story as well. Yet historically, the structure responsible for stewarding arts and culture has experienced periods of uncertainty and instability. Over multiple administrations, the office responsible for arts and culture and the creative economy has been reduced, restructured or effectively eliminated through funding changes and administrative shifts. The work itself never disappeared because the need never disappeared. And today, public art still requires stewardship. Artists still require support. Communities still gather around music, dance, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural expression. Philadelphia's identity remains inseparable from its creative life and this legislation recognizes that reality and creates continuity regardless of our future political cycles. In addition, our work sits at the intersection of many of our policy goals. We see arts as economic development. We see arts as prevention. We see arts as neighborhood activation. We see arts as public safety. We see arts as public health and well- being. We see arts as a tool for creating stronger communities. We have seen music and creative expression support violence prevention initiatives. We have seen cultural programming activate public spaces and strengthen neighborhood identity. We have seen artists contribute to the economic opportunity and small business growth, and we have seen arts create the sense of connection and belonging that make people feel invested in their communities. Creative Philadelphia serves as a steward of much of that ecosystem. We oversee public art, support artists and cultural organizations, coordinate citywide initiatives and partnerships, convene stakeholders, and connect arts and culture to broader city priorities. We also believe that a healthy cultural ecosystem is one in which all arts and culture can thrive in Philadelphia. That means our world- class legacy institutions that attract visitors from around the globe. It means our culturally specific organizations that preserve, celebrate and elevate the many communities and traditions that make Philadelphia unique. And it means our grassroots and neighborhood-based organizations that often serve as the first point of connection, belonging, inspiration and opportunity within communities. Making Creative Philadelphia permanent recognizes that this work is essential. I want to emphasize that this is not about creating permanence for a person.
It is about creating legacy and permanence for civic responsibility. It protects continuity. It protects stewardship. It protects the long- term health of Philadelphia's cultural ecosystem. We often say Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods. I would add that Philadelphia is also a city of creators. Every day across our city, people are making beauty and making opportunity and making community. And it sends a clear message that arts and culture are not optional for Philadelphia's future. They are fundamental to it. So thank you so much for your leadership, your partnership and your consideration of this legislation. I also want to acknowledge the arts and culture community represented here in this chamber and via their submitted written testimony. In addition to Tom Collins of the Barnes Foundation, Dr. Ashley Jordan of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, who is represented by Samantha Biles here, has also submitted written testimony. And I'm happy to respond to any questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Valerie Gay, for your leadership and the creative Philadelphia space. But for all you have done. I don't know how many of us remember many years back when we had our Black History Month program here in Council, and it was all because of your steadfast leadership and work. And I just appreciate all that you do for our city. You are just a wonderful joy to have in leadership and Creative Philadelphia, and have to add a Girls' High girl. So thank you very, very much.
And I also see Local 77. We thank you all so much for being here. We thank you for your presence. Appreciate you as well and all of the creative economy partners who work with us, and understand the importance of investing in and supporting the local creative economy in Philadelphia and what that means for our residual economy. And so, we appreciate that work. It's something I've done for a very long time back to my staffer days with former Councilmember Blondell Reynolds Brown, who was an ardent supporter of arts and culture, as well as working with Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who has really been leading the charge on this effort and introduced this legislation. And now, with many colleagues who to believe in the importance of making our creative economy permanent in Philadelphia. So thank you very, very much. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Landau, and then we'll ask Patricia Aden Wilson, if you could just approach the witness table so we can take your testimony. We have several other hearings and meetings today and we need to wrap up in the next 8 minutes. Thank you. 9
10 Great. Thank you so much. Thank you for your testimony, for all the work you do. And thank you to everyone who is here representing the arts community. You really do add so much to our city and we can't thank you enough for what you give to us. I have a couple questions. I'm going to make them in one and would just love to hear the answer. I've been watching how different funding streams have been either precarious or even stopped. And when people kind of are midstream in projects and learning much more about the effect of that, can you talk a little bit more about what does it mean to arts organizations throughout the city, maybe giving some examples of what happens when funding and permanency do not exist? What message does it send to arts organizations when there is permanency? And what can arts organizations actually expect to build on when there is that permanency and real continuity?
Sure. So a couple of things. I think first of all having the instability, just like any organization or any foundation, if the foundation is instable -- or unstable, then the building above it is unstable. And so, if we think about funding as part of stability and leadership as part of stability, whenever there's inconsistency there or a limited, if you will, amount, then that is also inconsistent. It's very difficult to lead an organization. It is very difficult to plan programming. Often times folks will receive a one-year grant, which is wonderful, but we all know even when we're running our own households, if we don't know what's coming in the next year, we're spending an inordinate amount of time trying to raise money more so than trying to actually run the things that we are doing. And so, that instability is there. So multi-year funding is really important, first of all. Secondly, in Philadelphia we have a large number of independent artists who work outside of organizations as well as inside of organizations, and that makes us a very robust community. I would say -- what I'm about to say impacts both the individual creatives as well as the organizations. So when we don't know where to go, one, it is very difficult to have just programmatic dollars and not have general operating dollars. So the general operating dollars are the things that keep the lights on. Often times we will hear folks -- it's less now, but still -- the philanthropic community sometimes or any funders will say, well, we're only going to pay for programming, we don't want to pay for general operating. What is left out of that general operating are the people, the other issues. And so, if we have no one to cover that, that also creates an unspoken instability. So you could give someone $1 million grant to do a particular program. But I'm only -- I'm not going to touch these other things. It's a very difficult way to run an organization and to support our community. We need to have funding so that our entire community, the people in the community who are running this community, to have these general operating dollars, which act as the foundation on top of which we can then build our programming. So I say that at the individual level. So for example, the Illuminate the Arts grant, that has come primarily through our partnership with Councilmember Thomas' office, the grants that we give to these independent artists and small creative businesses, so what you're hearing, it doesn't matter in structure whether you're an individual, a nonprofit or a for-profit entity in the creative economy, the issues remain the same. Many of them have said the same thing. This money that we receive that has no structure on it sometimes will be the thing that keeps my lights on, sometimes is the money that I need to pay my rent. We get notes, I have letters from folks saying this money allowed us to have our children have food this month. On the other side, we hear from organizations, small and large, saying people take us for granted because we are a large organization, but they don't realize that these general operating dollars allow us to hire more people from Philadelphia who are on the margins, if you will, that are lowest level, if you will. Skill-level employees are often the people that we champion in other sectors, but they're in the arts. And then finally, these small organizations who are receiving these general operating dollars say just like the individuals, these dollars kept us in business. And thank you for this opportunity just to talk about that because we don't often as a sector get to talk about the importance of the difference between programmatic and general operating, and we need both.
Thank you so much for underscoring the importance of unrestricted grant dollars and how it can really help local artists in our city. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Patricia Wilson Aden, and I am the President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. I will be brief. But I do want to say I am so honored to testify before this committee this morning in support of Resolution 260264, calling for the permanence of Creative PHL. As the leading voice of Greater Philadelphia's arts and culture sector, the Cultural Alliance works to amplify the needs, priorities and impact of our region's creative economy. We proudly represent more than 400 member organizations across the region, over 300 of them located right here in the City of Philadelphia. Our membership reflects the full breadth of Philadelphia's cultural ecosystem, large and small organizations, artists and creative entrepreneurs and institutions rooted in neighborhoods across every zip code and Councilmanic District in this city. Many of those organizations are represented in this room this morning. Seeing so many members of our community here with us today is a powerful, tangible demonstration that Philadelphia's arts and culture community and active civic force that generates 3.3 billion in economic impact, believes that arts and culture policies must be treated as essential to Philadelphia's future. Establishing a permanent arts office has long been a goal of Philadelphia's cultural sector. So much so that the Cultural Alliance and our partners identified changing the City's Charter to establish a permanent office as one of five key priorities that we believe will have a transformative impact on our sector in the city as a whole. A permanent office led by a qualified cabinet-level leader will provide the stability, visibility and accountability needed to fully leverage the power of Philadelphia's creative economy. It signals that arts and culture policies are not an afterthought, but a core component of strategies that drive Philadelphia's economic growth, support neighborhoods, create jobs, attract tourism and improve the quality of life for our residents. It will be the administrative manifestation of recognizing arts and culture policies as an integral asset to realizing a bold vision of our city. Bringing Philadelphia on par with New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities committed to leveraging their creative sectors to fuel their economies, generate jobs and enhance the well- being of their residents. We applaud this committee for recognizing this opportunity and for taking action to establish a permanent office that will champion Philadelphia's artists, cultural organizations and creative entrepreneurs while helping strengthen our world-class cultural ecosystem and boost our robust creative economy. The Cultural Alliance and our partners look forward to working with City Council and the Administration in support of passage of this critically important change to our charter. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you for your detailed testimony and again for underscoring that $3.3 billion in economic impact. The Chair recognizes the presence of Councilmember Cindy Bass, member of Council's Committee on Law and Government. Are there any questions for this panel? The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips.
I have a quick question. If you can just respond quickly to us. Do you see how would this commission help certify that there will be more funding for the arts and culture community, more revenue as a result of this -- not Commission, but this permanent office?
Sure. So I think, first of all, representation matters and having a seat at the table matters. I think the evidence or the proof of concept is what we've been able to do so far. And so, we are on the precipice of bringing to you our first-ever cultural master plan, which we're very excited about. Embedded in that is funding opportunities, but also from an administration perspective. When the Mayor gave her budget address, and embedded in the proposed budget is funding for arts and culture in a way that we haven't seen before, to implement our cultural master plan. And so, these kind of go hand-in-hand, if you will. So having the actual plan as well as the leadership to help drive the plan in partnership with our private sector.
I'd like to answer that as well. What we're talking about here is building the infrastructure for arts and culture. And it takes many parts. It takes a strong cabinet-level representation. It takes an office that provides stewardship for our arts and culture, resources and contacts, and technical assistance for creative entrepreneurs, individual artists and others. But it also takes that funding. What we are talking about when we establish this permanent office is an essential part of that infrastructure that will be reliable even as we go from one administration to the next. And that's something that we haven't had in the past. It's the surety that Philadelphia will have that arts and culture infrastructure in all of its components as we move forward. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Chair now recognizes Councilmember Cindy Bass.
Thank you so much. I want to thank you all for being here today and for your testimony. And as the former Chair of the Committee on Parks & Rec and Arts and Cultural Affairs, this is something that has been discussed before. I'm glad to see it moving forward. I think the timing is right. And it's good to know that there is such a recognition for the value of arts and culture in all of our neighborhoods. And so, one of the things that I would really want to impress upon you all is that every single corner of our city has an opportunity to see artwork in a way that it hasn't. Artwork is plentiful in Center City and sort of like more affluent neighborhoods. But I would love to see more artwork in the neighborhoods I represent, in North Philadelphia and Feltonville and Nicetown and Tioga and Germantown. All of these are areas that are kind of like art deserts. So I really want to impress upon you that as we move forward with making this thing a real office here in the city, something permanent, that we also make permanent, the commitment to being in every single neighborhood, particularly low-income, underserved neighborhoods.
I couldn't agree with you more. Thank you so much for this. Because as a Philly jawn from Southwest --
I am a Philly jawn. And I moved back to my community in Southwest Philly. I call it Operation Back to the Hood. Having raised my daughter in Old City, I know firsthand the discrepancy. I see it; yes, I've seen it. And we're bringing art to more communities. So my lived experience gives me even greater fuel that we can be both. We can be a world-class city where folks are coming from around the world to see our amazing museums and go to the Avenue of the Arts and we can be a world-class city for us in our own communities. And so, while I want as many people as possible to come down to Center City, I also want people to be able to thrive in their communities. And I'm just going to point out my former colleagues over here at the Barnes who do that so well in West Philadelphia, and they're moving into North Philly and doing a bunch of things, but really bringing art where people are and saying that your art, your expression is important and we acknowledge it and we want to share what we have, but we also want to see what you have. And we want to do that all over the city.
Thank you. Thank you again for all of your work and thank you for being here. Are there any additional questions or comments for this witness and for this panel? The Chair recognizes Councilmember O'Neill.
Just following up on my colleague Cindy's strong recommendations. Far Northeast Philly is kind of a cultural desert in its own right. It's also the highest area in the city of English as a second language. And you put that together -- the one thing that binds us is kids. And schools, whether they be charter, public, Catholic, other, is the place where we really got to start them when they're young, when they love anything that's artistic, even things that they're doing that are not necessarily going to make it to the Museum of Art, but for that child, it really is meaningful. And to keep that going, I think this is an opportunity for the world is your oyster kind of once this office gets permanent and is made permanent, and I think it will be, but it's a lot of work by our colleague, just as the other bill. The At-Large members get to do this kind of stuff and we all in our Districts appreciate it. But I would just focus on the schools, not necessarily where the deserts are because if you go out into the schools, you're going to hit every neighborhood. It's not going to matter. And people in the Northeast should know as much about the Barnes as people in West Philly.
Agreed. Thank you. Last year we did 14 arts and culture town halls, one in each District physically and four online. And to your point, Councilmember O'Neill, we heard the same language used in Council District 10 as we did in Council Districts 8 or 9, which is, oh wait, this is an arts desert, people are not paying attention to us, we really need art here. We want to work with schools. And so, I am really proud that we have a strong relationship with not only the Philadelphia School District as well as other districts, if you will, or the independents as well as the Mayor's Office of Education. And so, that is absolutely on our radar, and to make sure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to experience the arts.
I'd like to comment on that as well. The connection between exposure to the arts and educational attainment is well-documented. So you're exactly right. Providing children with arts experiences can transform their lives. Low-income children who are exposed to arts have better attendance records. High school students who are exposed to arts score 100 points higher on their SATs. That means that they're getting into colleges of their choice. That changes the trajectory of their lives. We do have areas that might not have as robust arts organizations or activities. But what I will say is let's recognize the breadth and diversity of our cultural experiences. So while we talk about the visual arts and the performing arts, let's also recognize our heritage sites. Let's recognize our green spaces. All of these things contribute to our cultural heritage and offer opportunities to enrich not only the lives of our young children, but our seniors as well. Finally, I'd like to say that one thing that we're working on together is exploding the myth that working within the creative economy is not a viable career option. We want children to understand and parents to appreciate that children who are engaged in the arts can, in fact, follow their dreams and their passions and find viable careers in arts and culture. That's why the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has a program called the Bloomberg Arts Internship Program, where we take rising high school seniors and we give them viable jobs. We're paying them $20 an hour. We're giving them stipends for travel and we're making sure that they have the opportunity to work with cultural sites throughout our city, in every single Councilmanic District so that they have a choice between working in McDonald's or working at Glenn Ford. So these are the ways that we are working together to make sure that we have that infrastructure that really leverages the opportunities and potential of our creative economy.
Madam Chair, I really appreciate that. When the numbers can back you up, it's always a stronger argument. But the other place I wasn't thinking about, but it's right in front of me, is our playgrounds, our rec centers, our rec leaders. A lot of times the tumbling program, a dance program is in a very small building sometimes and is the first introduction to the arts of a child. And so, even Steven with the schools should be our programming and our rec centers. And I think this office can have a great impact on that.
Thank you. Absolutely. And we do have also a very strong relationship with our Office of Parks & Rec and Commissioner Susan Slawson, who is a great partner for us.
If you're going to do it, do it while Susan's here. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember O'Neill. And I must add based on the testimony that we just heard, that I'm grateful for the partnership that we are undertaking and have for the last four or five years now with Live Nation Urban and one of their Senior VP's, Brandon Pankey, who's also a Philadelphia public school graduate by way of Masterman. But we will have our program for the young people in advance of the Roots Picnic, where they will have the opportunity to see behind the scenes jobs and careers around festivals and work in the arts and culture space that you don't normally think about. And so, that program will be Thursday, tomorrow back of course at Belmont Mansion. So we're looking forward to hosting our young people again from our public school system for their behind-the-scenes tour of the Roots Picnic. So I had to add that in because it's tomorrow. The Chair recognizes Dr. Anthony Phillips.
Thank you. I just had a quick question for you to respond possibly in less than 30 seconds. When is the Arts master plan projected to be completed? I just wanted to get a better sense. If I missed that, I apologize. But the master plan, the plan that you talked about, the Creative Plan for the City of Philadelphia, when would that be completed?
We hope to have it in front of you all when you come back in the fall. So our goal is starting in September to really start to implement.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And also suggest our commercial corridors --
-- spaces to activate art because most of these neighborhoods, people use the commercial corridors.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony. And thank you for being here. Seeing no further questions for this panel and for these witnesses, we will now ask the two individuals who will have public comment to approach the witness table.
Okay. Please state your name for the record and please give an abbreviated version of your public comment. We have one more hearing so we got to give the stenographer an opportunity to turn over. Thank you. Please proceed.
My name is Steven David Edwards, thank you for the opportunity, CEO of Silent Philly. That's an entertainment brand here in Philadelphia that's been bringing Philadelphia together for 11 years. So I categorize myself and my company as prior to there being a One Philly mantra, there was Silent Philly, which is an event that has three different DJs. They do three different types of music. But more importantly, they do all music. So I do want to tell the city -- I want to speak on what Val said. She brought up one good point about it being not just about funding, but funding yearly, right. That's very important. Just a little story. I mean, our company is 11 years of us doing this, bringing the city together. And I'll tell you something that touched my heart when I found out you were in Parks & Rec, Ms. Bass. There was a critical time in our company where we were on the ropes. It was during COVID and our company was getting ready to -- well, wasn't getting ready to go, it was going down. And we got a call from Mark Wilks, I believe. And Mark Wilks gave us a grant to allow us to do Silent Philly parties out in the blocks to keep the social distancing in Philadelphia. And that's what kept our business alive that year. Fast-forward to this year. Michael Newmuis identified us and our brand as a leader. And we got one of those grants from the City of Philadelphia to put on an event. So last year we did a One Philly festival after the Mayor. It went really good. And this year with that grant money we're doing it again this year, but bigger with Philadelphia Freeway performing. And what we'll be doing is bringing ten of the best genres of music that Philadelphia has to offer under one roof. So we'll have music from R&B, classical with my guys here in (inaudible), jazz, hip-hop, R&B, Latin, gospel. And I'm asking all of you guys, I'm hoping to see your faces there. That's going to be on July 10th. I'm working with Councilman Squilla for that. So it's going to be an MLB All-Star activation. That's what I got the -- so thank you for the funds. I definitely appreciate you. And then the last thing I want to say before I leave is this: I feel you guys are very spirited in giving, very spirited of giving us our praise, the citations. I've been coming to City Council all year this year to see what you guys do. But one thing that I do ask of you is to also to bring awareness to what we do, because I'm throwing a FIFA pre kick-off celebration party here in Philadelphia right here in City Hall on June 6th, right. But we don't see anything about that on the Visit Philly. We don't see anything about that on the CCDs. But we do see the Live Nation urban stuff. So we need to see the local people who work so hard to bring this city together. We need it to be awareness. It should be flyers all up in City Hall saying, hey guys, guess what, you work here, why not come party in the courtyard, right. I am a local person. You guys did give me money to do these things so help me, and that's what I'm asking. But thank you for your time. I appreciate you guys.
Thank you for your great work. And listen, I need you to help us help you. So if you can get the flyers that you're specifically referring to, particularly for this summer's activations to me as the Chair, I'll be sure to disseminate it to all members of the Committee and all members of Council.
And then I'll personally commit to, once we receive it, ensuring that we have the flyers placed on all the boards.
We just want to show the tourists how we party here in the heart of the city on June 6th, from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Okay. We'll get them up on the board and just get them to me. Okay. And we'll get them up on all the boards on all four quadrants.
Thank you. I look forward to working with you all this year.
Thank you. We appreciate it. And congratulations to you. You've been doing a really good job. I remember seeing you throughout the years, so congratulations. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Irene Foley-Chort, also known as Rose Love. I'm proud to be a city resident and an independent artist as part of Philadelphia's vibrant creative community. My mission is to spread love and joy wherever I go and whenever I perform. I've experienced this city as a welcoming, supportive place where artists and self-expression can thrive. I believe the arts provide healing, inspiration, connection and growth for people from all walks of life. When creativity is encouraged, both individuals and communities become healthier, more compassionate and more open to innovative solutions to many problems. My own lived experience is a clear example of this. Please provide the funding requested and make Creative feel permanent. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for being here as an independent artist. And I'll say I love your outfit because it reminds me of my birthday, which is Valentine's Day. So thank you. Love and spreading love and joy in Philadelphia. So thank you very much. We truly appreciate you being here. Is there anyone else here to testify whose name has not been called or to give public comment? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we will now proceed and conclude the public hearing. We will now begin the public meeting on the previously mentioned bills and resolutions. And, Clerk, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members who are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called.
I am present. And for the record, during our previous hearing, we had Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Councilmember Ahmad, Councilmember Thomas and Councilmember Jay Young. Thank you. A quorum of the committee is now present. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on the amendment to Resolution No. 9 260094.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I offer an amendment to Resolution 260094. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Resolution No. 260094 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Resolution No. 1 260094 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and 11 the motion carries. The amendment 12 to Resolution No. 260094 has been 13 approved. 14 The Chair now recognizes 15 Councilmember Phillips for a motion 16 on Resolution No. 260094 as 17 amended. 18
19 Thank you, Chair. 20 I move that Resolution 21 No. 260094 as amended be reported 22 from this committee with a 23 favorable recommendation. 24 (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 260094 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this, as to have a favorable recommendation from committee. All those in favor of the motion will signify by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. And Resolution 24 No. 260094 as amended will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260076.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 9 260076 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 260076 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Resolution No. 260270.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Resolution 21 No. 260270 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 260270 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor of the motion will signify by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Resolution No. 19 260270 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260264.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 4 260264 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 260264 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 10 260264 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Resolution No. 260467.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Resolution 22 No. 260467 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution No. 260467 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Resolution No. 20 260467 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 2 260457.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 260457. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of this committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 10 260457 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 260457 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The amendment to Bill No. 260457 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260457.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 13 260457 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 260457 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 19 260457 as amended will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260458.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 8 260458 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 260458 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 14 260458 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 1 260459. 2
Thank you, Madam Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 260459. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of this committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 9 260459 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for 13 the record that Councilmember Bass 14 seconds the motion. It has been 15 moved and properly seconded that 16 the amendment to Bill No. 260459 be 17 approved. 18 All those in favor of 19 the motion will indicate by stating 20 aye. 21 (Aye.) 22
The ayes have it and the amendment to Bill No. 260459 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260459 as amended.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 11 260459 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 260459 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 19 260459 as amended will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260460.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 8 260460 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Bass seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 260460 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 14 260460 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. There being no further bills or resolutions on the agenda, this concludes the business before the Committee on Law and Government today. We thank you very much for your attendance and also for your participation. - - - (Committee on Law and Government concluded at 12:30 p.m.) - - - C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. _______________________________ TANEHA CARROLL