Thank you, Madam President. Today I introduced two seemingly unrelated resolutions, but both of them are to deal with a serious problem facing Philadelphians. One is that we are seeing, which is on an increase, and the second is access to anti-poverty programs and dollars that can serve as a stimulus to our most needy population in Philadelphia. I'm grateful to this Council for the work that has already been done on these issues, particularly predatory lending by Councilwoman Tasco, and I'm encouraged and look forward to working with her on this issue going forward. But I heard the President of the United States in his last -- I'm going to say it again -- his last State of the Union Address talk about the country sliding into a slight recession. Well, here in Philadelphia we've been hit especially hard by that recession. And when the nation catches a cold, it seems like Philadelphia catches pneumonia. We are looking at the erosion of a middle class that can be impacted by the subprime market that is going awry. some statistics recently, October 2007, 16 percent of the subprime loans were 90 days delinquent or more. That's up three times from 2005. But last week, January 25, 2008, that rate climbed to 21 percent. Subprime loans disproportionately, three times as much, affect low-income neighborhoods. They are more likely to be in minority communities impacting the poor. Closely linked to the predatory lending is the current foreclosure rate. This is particularly alarming when we look at almost two million loans are to be rescheduled in the next 18 months. 8 to 6 percent. Finally, Madam President, the subprime lending and foreclosure crisis particularly hits hard our seniors where they're at the point in life where they may have to choose between heating, eating and paying their mortgage. I met a young -- a lady who was not so young at 56th and Haverford. We were doing petitions. It was cold. She was sitting on a bench outside. After getting her signature, I asked her why was she sunning in the winter, and she explained to me, Madam President, that it was warmer outside than in her house, because she could not afford to fix her heater. We need to stop some of the things that are going on that are impacting our low and moderate-income communities. We need to protect the eroding middle class. We need to the application processes that we go through in anti-poverty programs. There are families who are leaving money on the table because they cannot navigate the bureaucracy. Healthcare, daycare, LIHEAP, even Hooked on Phonics for Title I young people are being left on the table because of the application process. Entities have estimated, experts, have estimated that we can have as much as $12,000 per family if we coordinate these activities. So I say this to you and my colleagues here today that so many low and moderate-income people live from paycheck to paycheck. I even think that's the American way. But many of our poor are one paycheck away from homelessness, and that is not okay with me. So I support those resolutions. I hope that we can work together on finding some solutions to this. I have future of Philadelphia, but I'm always going to remind us, always, about the 24 percent of people in this town that live under the poverty guidelines. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. I wish to inform my colleagues that this afternoon at 3 o'clock my office will be convening more than a dozen environmental and "green" organizations, along with representatives from the Administration, where we will take hopefully a big picture look-see assessment collectively on how we can raise the awareness in the celebration of Earth Day. Today that meeting is at 3 o'clock in City Council Caucus Chambers, and all are invited who are interested in collectively as a city and raising the awareness of Earth Day. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. I'll be very brief, because I understand -
You're good, Councilman? All right. Madam President, I haven't been speaking about this issue in a very public way in this Chambers about the casino issue, but I feel the need to reference it to some degree today. I, like Councilman DiCicco, think that the Governor's statements, if in fact he made them in that way, were inappropriate. I concur with him that gutless Council. We have very difficult issues before us on a daily basis and I think that we've stood up and we've taken appropriate stands in a meaningful way. But I'm a little concerned as we continue to move forward that one of the facilities that's being proposed, the SugarHouse, is not being accurately characterized in a public way about the level of support and the true sense of the level of opposition in the Fishtown community, particularly the part of the community that I represent. As you know, the facility is located in Councilman DiCicco's district, and directly across the street is the district that I represent where essentially most of the residents of Fishtown live, and then there's a small part of Northern Liberties that is in close proximity. And over the past year, I have to give credit where credit is due, that the representatives from SugarHouse got when there was almost 100 percent opposition to the site and they have diligently worked over a period of time and kind of, frankly speaking, turned it around. I have received more than 500 individually signed postcards from residents of Fishtown stating their support for this facility. If you happen to be riding through Fishtown, you will see on the facades of a whole lot of houses little red ribbons, indicating their support for this facility. I must acknowledge that in a couple of community meetings that I had as what is referred to as ground zero, the area directly adjacent to the site, there is significant concerns and opposition, and it is understandable, because those people will be impacted by this facility more than anyone else. With those meetings, we had attempted during the last Administration -- we actually had several meetings to talk about remediating any problems associated with the facilities, and we were making progress. That Administration ended. The new Administration is in place. I've reached out to the point person, Ms. Gillen, for casinos to try and continue those discussions. And the reason I speak today, that at some point I think the significant -- and I mean significant -number of individuals in the Fishtown community that support the SugarHouse casino, if it is done in an appropriate way, should have a voice. As we move ahead, as their representative, I think I am duty-bound to continue to speak on behalf of the individuals to in fact support this development and speak on behalf of those individuals who are opposed to it for a number of different issues. But as this thing moves forward, I just want to say today I'm going to of discussion for those individuals, all of the individuals who are around the area, so it's not characterized in a way that people are under the impression that everyone in the Fishtown community or in the adjacent community is opposed to the SugarHouse site, because that's just not the facts. So, Madam President, as we move ahead, I want to continue to work with my good friend and colleague, Councilman DiCicco, in the event that this ultimately ends up at that site, but these people do need to have a voice at some point. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.
Yes, Madam President. And to think I needed a two-minute recess.
Thank you. The Chief Clerk will please read the title of the bill.
An ordinance authorizing the President of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Executive Director of Fairmount Park and the Public Property Commissioner, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to enter into a lease with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development to lease City-owned land south of Shelmire Avenue adjacent to the campus of the Fox Chase Cancer Center to PAID, under which PAID will enter into a sublease with the Fairmount Park Conservancy, a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation, under which the Conservancy would enter into a sublease and other agreements with Fox Chase, pursuant to which Fox Chase will construct, maintain and operate cancer research and treatment facilities
Thank you. The bill will be referred to the appropriate committee. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco for a motion to recess. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Old habits just never die. Councilman Clarke.
This is my big thing. You can't take this away from me. Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I move that Council be recessed until Monday, February the 4th, 2008 until 10:30 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
The ayes have it. Council will stand in recess until Monday at 10:30. Thank you very much. (Council recessed at 10:45 a.m.) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on January 31, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)