Councilman O'Neill is voting aye. Councilwoman Reynolds Brown.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. That concludes our Calendar for today. Are there speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the part of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. Today I rise to speak to the confrontation between Askia Sabur and the 19th Police District, which occurred in the Fourth District, in my Council district. What I won't do today, because all parties have gotten legal representation, is say whether that was an act of resisting arrest or whether that was an act of police brutality. That will be ferreted out within internal examinations and court proceedings. But I will say that, as Blondell Reynolds Brown often teaches us in Council, that this could be a teaching moment, that we have to balance two imperatives, two priorities - the priority that makes sure that all Philadelphia police officers at the end to go home to their families safely, with the right of every Philadelphia family to believe that the rules for those in blue are the same rules for me and you. To do that we've begun meeting with the Commissioner, Police Commissioner Ramsey, Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison, as well as other interested parties to try to take from that video a teaching moment that says that citizens need to know what their rights and responsibilities are when confronted by police officers and add to sensitivity of officers when dealing with citizenry. So what we want to do is work with a collective of people involved in criminal justice, including the Public Safety Committee of this Council, to figure out how we can learn from that, how we could educate the public, how we could inform citizens of their rights, how we could help to bridge that confidence gap that is beginning to keep you informed, Madam President, and this body informed as to future progress. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam President. I don't believe I was in the room during welcomes of visitors, and I'd like to introduce two visitors that are in our Chambers today, and that is Wakim Nesheiwat and Rait Nesheiwat. They're visiting here from Jordan.
Thank you, Madam President. I simply wanted to congratulate and commend Majority Whip a conference forum this past Monday or Tuesday at Temple University wherein housing advocates, stakeholders, developers, CDCs, anybody who cares about the 40,000 plus vacant lots in the City, convened at Temple University to look at, talk through and strategically think about how we move towards ridding our city of vacant lots and the like. It's the first of its type in the last few years, and it should not go unnoticed or unrecognized. I would also commend Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who served as moderator in a very eloquent and effective way. Kudos to them both for this needed dialogue. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank my colleague. Before I make my brief announcement, I just wanted to recognize the work of Councilman Greenlee and his passion this week as we dealt with the situation of deed and the stealing of properties in the City. I thank him, because he's allowed me to join him. It's an issue he's been working on for many, many years, and his frustration was evident in our discussion as we tried to protect homeowners from -- people, protect people, from -- protect probably their greatest asset. And I just want to commend him, and hope that all of us will support the bill next week on its final passage. We understand that that's only going to move us so far and that there's a lot more work to be done in that regard. So I wanted to acknowledge that, because I share his frustration and really feel that we should never feel powerless in protecting the citizens and residents, and the lawyers can argue the technicalities, but ultimately we have to protect the citizens. So I want to thank Councilman Greenlee. I have distributed a Puerto Rican lollipop on everyone's desks, and I know Councilman Rizzo is always a fan of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. I want to ask all of you to join me on Sunday at 1 o'clock. The address is on the lollipop, 16th and Benjamin Parkway, as we celebrate the Puerto Rican Parade. So thank you.
Thank you. Are there any other speeches on the part of the majority? (No response.)
Seeing none, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, before I call for a motion for adjournment, I'd thank Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown for those kind words. And I believe in giving credit where credit is due. First I'd like to thank you for authorizing us to pull the event together representing the City Council of Philadelphia. I thank Councilman Jones and Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and obviously the aforementioned Councilwoman Sanchez for their participation. And I'd also like to thank the co-sponsors of the event, Temple University and the Philadelphia Association for the CDCs, who played a key role in organizing the event and, interestingly enough, the Daily News, who also co-sponsored the event and played a key role and helped us get the word out in the building association. So I just want to thank everybody and all of the colleagues here who have been very forthright on this particular issue. that, Madam President, I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, September 30th, 2010, 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, September 30th at 10:00 a.m. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Thank you. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 11:00 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 September 23, 2010, 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.)