Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that 130664 be adopted. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 130664 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 130666.
A resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Thirty-Second Ward of the City of Philadelphia.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. 130666 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 130669.
A resolution approving the redevelopment contract of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for the redevelopment and urban renewal 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING of a portion of the Point Breeze Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 2348 Cross Street.
Mr. President, I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Resolution 130669 is adopted. Mr. Decker, 130674.
A resolution approving the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority for 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Market Street East Urban Renewal Area, identified by house number and street address as 810 Arch Street.
Thank you. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Resolution 130674 is adopted. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 130272.
An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Master Street, Second Street, Thompson Street, and American Street.
Thank you, Mr. President. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 130272. The amendment has been circulated to all members of Council and I move for its adoption. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor of the amendment. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Bill No. 130272 is amended and will be on next week's Final Passage 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Calendar. Mr. Decker, do you have any additional resolutions?
A resolution authorizing the Committee on Labor and Civil Service to hold public hearings to investigate the decisions made by the Philadelphia Fire Department and the Department of Licenses and Inspections before and during a fire on April 9, 2012 in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, introduced by Councilman Kenney.
Councilwoman, I think Councilman Kenney asked you for -- Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.) 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
And a resolution recognizing October 7 through 11, 2013 as National Customer Service Week, introduced by Councilman Kenney.
The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
Moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
Those opposed? (No response.) 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
The ayes have it, and that resolution is also adopted.
And a resolution honoring Philadelphia Police Officers John Callahan and John Pasquarello for their heroic acts in saving the life of 9 year old Tommy Ramos, introduced by Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING adopted.
And a resolution recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of Special Olympics Pennsylvania and the significant difference the organization has made in the lives of thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities by giving them an opportunity to express joy and to experience success through athletic training and competition, introduced by Councilman O'Brien.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption of the resolution. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor? (Aye.)
Those opposed? 10/3/13 - STATED - 2ND READING (No response.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
And a resolution authorizing Council's Committee on Education to hold hearings on the issue of college access and preparatory programs in the City of Philadelphia to further investigate how we can ensure matriculating high school students within the School District of Philadelphia, who are faced with School Counselor to student ratios that far exceed recommendations, are paired with college access and preparatory programs, introduced by Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the adoption. (Duly seconded.)
The ayes have it, and that resolution is adopted.
There are no other resolutions on the Final Passage Calendar, Mr. President.
Thank you very much, Mr. Decker. Are there any speeches on the part of the minority? The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Brien.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for affording me this opportunity to address Council about yesterday's unfair and unjust demotion of 14 of our firefighters. Fairness strips out bias. Fairness personal interests. Fairness is sound, untainted judgment. Justice gives individuals their due. Justice respects process. Justice meets the highest ethical threshold. The City Civil Service system for hiring and promotion is built upon principles of fairness and justice that we can all accept as reasonable and unbiased standards for determining what people deserve. The City Charter requires the Civil Service system for hiring and promotion and spells out mandatory requirements. I draw your attention to some of the requirements to the City Charter and regulations related to the City's Civil Service system. Vacancies are to be filled by promotion. The Administration retains considerable managerial discretion. The Administration sets qualifications for supervisory positions. The Administration establishes the examinations, sets the passing scores. In other words, the Administration sets the bar. Nobody can tell the Administration how high or low to set that bar. The Administration determines whether vacancies exist in the first place. The Administration is not required to replace every supervisor who leaves City employment or is promoted. The Administration decides how many supervisors they need. And, finally, the Administration sets the bar for promotions, develops and administers the tests, and sets the passing score. In the firefighter demotion instance before us now, the Administration determined that vacancies existed and admitted that they intended to fill the Fire Lieutenant and Fire Captain vacancies. The problem in this case is that the Administration tried to do an end run around the Civil Service fill promotional vacancies with people who weren't on the promotional list. That's the practical effect of letting a list expire with vacancies on the books. The exact same thing has happened with the demotions of the firefighters who were promoted per the court order in May. The Administration has ignored Civil Service rules on demotion and/or rejection during probation. This is yet another end run around the Civil Service system. These types of Civil Service end runs undermine the entire Civil Service process and take us back to the pre-Charter days of patronage and cronyism. Our firefighters play by the rules. I repeat, our firefighters play by the rules. The Administration should also play by the rules. The rules here are the City Charter and regulations. The rules here are the City Charter and regulations. Those rules require that from a promotional list and that demotions take place according to the process required by the Civil Service regulations. The Civil Service method for filling vacancies is the legally required method. The Civil Service method for filling vacancies is also the fairest method. The violation committed by the City is precisely the sort of ill that Civil Service rules were intended to address. The model is simple and straightforward. The City establishes the qualifications and develops the test. The firefighter takes the test, and if they pass, they are ranked on a list. If a vacancy opens when the firefighter's number comes up, they will be considered for promotion on merit regardless of race, creed, gender, political party or any other improper factor. To break from this model is simply an end around, straight back to the future, and we are all worse off for it. deserve fairness. The firefighters demoted yesterday deserve justice. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you so much, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Mr. President. And certainly I agree with the comments made by Councilman O'Brien. Today I rise to note that as Chair of the City Council's Committee on Education and one who represents West and Southwest Philadelphia, I visited a dozen schools already this school year, two twice. I've also spoken to many principals, who come up to me and ask me where we are and how I feel about the whole school situation. I had a principal come over to me from the Northeast who said he can't serve as open the front door and monitor lunchrooms. So, you know, we're really concerned about where we are. I remember years ago as Chair of this Committee we introduced a resolution calling on schools to be stable before mid November, but here we're finding ourselves in the same boat again. We don't know when schools will be stable. Principals are coming to me saying they're going to lose a teacher or they may lose two teachers. So as bad as they are, they're in a position where it could get worse. So we're calling on all those concerned who help make these decisions, the School District, the Mayor, and the Governor, to help us resolve the issue of disposal of our schools. We're there. I'm tired of meeting with people who are asking me for the schools that are closed, and we hear, Well, we can't do anything because we can't get past this loggerjam where we are in this issue. all concerned, again, to help us resolve this issue so that we can serve our most valuable commodity, our children. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes -(Applause.)
Thank you, Mr. President. First and foremost, I want to echo the sentiments of my colleague Councilman Denny O'Brien as it relates to making sure that our firefighters receive justice as it relates to them being promoted and so forth. And so I definitely want to follow up on his comments as well as Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell as it relates to making sure that we find a solution to address the issue of public education here in the City of to an end of our Council year. And so hopefully as we move forward down the line -- and, Council President, thank you for your efforts as well, but I think we're all under the gun, particularly in our districts, to find a solution to this issue, because I deal with it on a daily basis as it relates to either me walking around the neighborhood, going to the corner store or doing the work that I'm doing as it relates to visiting several schools during back-to-school evenings. So I definitely want to follow up, and I stand here supporting those efforts to see how we can come to a resolve in dealing with this issue. The same way we deal with other issues in this Chamber aggressively, hopefully we will continue to be as aggressive as it relates to the children in the City. On Monday, my colleague, my former employee I like to say sometimes, Councilman Curtis Jones, and myself will acting locally, and we will be hosting a young lady by the name of Dalia Ziada, who is Executive Director of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development in Cairo. We will be partnering with the American Jewish community here in this Chamber Monday at 4 o'clock, and the title of the lecture series will be "Human Rights, Women's Rights, and Egypt's Struggle for Freedom," which will be a very interesting and eye-opening lecture as it relates to the Arab Spring that has taken place in Egypt, and also the focus is on women's rights in that part of the world. And so I'm looking forward to partnering with Councilman Jones on this presentation but, more importantly, the context and the dialogue regarding women's rights in Egypt. So I just wanted to make that announcement. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. Thank you for no other speeches on the part of the minority or the majority, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown for a motion to adjourn.
Mr. President, I move that City Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 10th, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and properly seconded that the Council stand adjourned until Thursday, October 10th, 2013. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Council shall stand adjourned. Thank you very much. ) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. MICHELE L. ) A Adjudication 14:12 19:24 51:5 asking 91:22 Abandoned 64:4 63:2 20:18 21:25 answer 63:4 assembled 12:8 abatement 50:12 adjusting 62:20 aim 28:5 appears 2:6 assembly 22:2 abreast 12:23 63:22 air 10:18 Applause 11:24 assessment 60:3 absence 5:6,11,19 administers 87:16 aircraft 20:21 13:18 19:15 associated 63:6 accept 12:10 administration Airport 20:8 23:17 29:10 athletes 44:4 83:8 86:11 49:3 69:9 86:21 airports 56:10 30:8 31:11,23 athletic 44:7 access 46:6 84:9 86:23,25 87:3,5 airwaves 10:8 92:10 83:11 84:17 87:7,9,12,15,20 12:16 applicable 53:7 attached 60:12 accommodations 87:24 88:10,21 allow 49:10 66:3 application 10:4 65:12 38:16 administrative allowable 62:9 apply 97:20 attempted 88:2 accompanying 34:14 36:11 allowing 21:16 appreciate 6:2 attempting 63:7 6:15 14:5 24:7 41:13 48:14 alter 49:25 70:18 attendance 6:7 accomplishments 60:7 63:2 Amen 3:17,18 appreciation 32:5 attention 86:17 43:25 83:5 admitted 87:21 amend 47:5 59:19 approached Attorney 9:15 account 21:20 adopted 75:11,18 78:25 68:15 70:23 attract 23:5 accurately 97:5 76:20 77:20 amended 79:24 approval 4:1,3 attracted 10:19 acquisition 33:11 78:21 81:7 82:4 amending 34:11 58:8 Authority 9:17 42:9 83:2 84:5 85:10 34:13 36:7,10 approved 4:11,20 32:19 37:2 38:3 Act 38:8 adoption 50:2 36:13,16 38:12 5:4 40:17 53:14 acting 94:2 75:7 76:9 77:8 39:9 41:10,12 approving 32:17 73:15 74:20 action 6:4 12:21 78:9 79:13 45:7,19 47:14 32:25 36:24 75:23 76:24 active 28:8 80:20 81:17 47:24 48:10,13 38:2 41:24 77:25 activists 26:20 82:14 83:17 52:11 53:2 62:4 53:12 60:2 authorizing 35:3 acts 39:22 82:8 84:23 62:6,13,18,24 76:23 77:23 40:14 46:4 50:9 add 16:11 71:15 advance 21:18 63:10,19 64:2 approximately 63:14 73:13 adding 34:18 26:14 27:24 65:2 27:16 33:11 74:18 75:21 36:12,18 39:11 advanced 21:24 amendment 33:2 42:9 80:6 84:7 41:16 45:21 advertising 45:23 33:7,9 41:24 April 35:9 80:11 automated 45:10 48:15 Advisory 49:23 42:5,7 54:23 Aquinas 30:17 63:12 addition 9:21 advocacy 25:3 55:10 79:10,11 Arab 94:14 available 21:9 additional 33:10 advocate 7:17 79:18 Arch 65:9 78:5 Avenue 42:22,23 42:8 50:13 63:5 25:5,11,24 America 17:14 area 24:6 26:6 43:5,6,7 47:9 66:24 80:4 aerospace 16:6 American 7:5,8 27:2,15,22 48:5,6 59:23 additionally 9:25 affiliate 27:25 7:22 8:4,9,15,24 32:22 33:4,4 63:16,17 64:15 address 18:15 afford 68:22 11:15 69:19 37:4,22 42:2,2 64:18,19 32:23 37:6 affording 85:21 79:5 94:7 47:8 48:4 53:17 average 16:13 53:18 56:4 77:4 African 7:5,8,22 Americans 16:22 59:22 60:8 77:3 award-winning 78:5 85:22 8:3,9,12,15,24 American-owned 78:4 79:4 10:9 89:13 92:24 11:15 8:12 areas 16:9 27:9 awareness 17:17 adequately 23:5 aggressive 93:21 and/or 68:25 47:7 57:9 59:21 30:4,25 adhere 68:6 aggressively 88:12 97:22 79:3 aye 4:22 58:19 adjourn 95:7 93:20 anniversary Arlington 47:9 61:6,7 66:6,7 adjourned 95:10 ago 91:6 17:12 29:20 art 10:25 47:19 74:10 75:13 95:15,24 96:2 agree 90:13 announcement arts 10:15 76:15 77:14 ADJOURNME...