Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. We will now consider Bill No. 090124.
An ordinance approving the dental amalgam brochure adopted by the Board of Health pursuant to Section 9-3102 of The Philadelphia Code.
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. This concludes our Calendar for today. Are there speeches on the part of the minority? Kelly.
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to inform my colleagues that today I will be joined by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to announce the launch of Project Lifesaver in the City of Philadelphia. Project Lifesaver is a non-profit company that provides the technology and training to locate at-risk children and adults who suffer from autism, Alzheimer's disease, other disabilities and various forms of dementia. The technology is currently being used in over 530 communities nationwide, and I am proud to say that it will shortly be available here in Philadelphia. If any of my colleagues have constituents who suffer from autism, Alzheimer's disease, other disabilities or various forms of dementia who might be interested in this technology, please office so that I can put them in touch with the folks at Philadelphia Project Lifesaver. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I did not acknowledge Councilman Kenney, who has worked so hard with the West Philadelphia Automotive School. In fact, he's worked with them being involved with the Navy and many other national programs. I wasn't aware, and I thank him for that. I would also like to mention that the Partnership for Prescription Assistance is outside in the hallway again to inform your constituents, and also all of you can get brochures. Again, this is called the Montel Williams program that gives free prescriptions to you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. Today I rise to speak about Recommendation 75, which is an administrative ruling by the Pennsylvania courts which allows the local municipality to forgive support cases' arrears deemed uncollectible. Now, I understand the general purpose of this recommendation is to take incarcerated individuals that need to come home to find gainful employment and put them back into the workforce so that they could pay the arrears, but the unintended consequences, the impact has been devastating to custodial parents who, after all of these years, all of the recessions, all of the ups and downs of child, had borne that financial burden, are now told at the end of the day, forget about it, you can't collect what is due to the child. We need to take a look at this and its unintended consequences, because to put a case, quote, on a cold case status and make it an uncollectible case does not stop the financial clock for food, clothing and shelter for young people in the City of Philadelphia. And, in fact, many of these cases wind up on our burden in DHS and, unfortunately, in the juvenile criminal justice system. And I rise to say that we need to address that. Our court system does many wonderful things, and the best part of these budget hearings is hearing about them. Recommendation 75 is not one of them. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Madam President. The Mayor told us back in March that it was time for us to stand up and be counted or sit down and be quiet. Make no mistake, Madam President, City Council is standing up. Councilmembers are asking serious questions during budget hearings to identify potential savings and drive down the costs of government. Councilmembers are generating alternative revenue proposals to protect hard-working Philadelphia families from double-digit property tax increases. The claim that the budget-related proposals presented to the Administration by City Council leadership earlier this week lacked details is belied by the facts. In fact, the sales tax alternative presented by Council finds common ground with the Administration, a sales tax increase being the one revenue side option the Administration and Council can agree upon. In fact, the proposal included numerous savings on the spending side that were drawn directly from departmental testimony during the ongoing budget hearings, including, for instance, cutting spending on non-essential cell phones by a million, saving tens of millions of dollars by not filling vacant positions during the current budget crisis. Denigrating Council's work in this regard by challenging one aspect of the sales tax alternative or by falsely claiming that Council's proposal lacked details rather than engaging on the ideas is an easy out. Closing the budget gap by raising property taxes before we have squeezed every last dollar of efficiency savings out of City government also is the easy way out. Our constituents are depending the heavy lifting needed to find viable options to the Mayor's budget proposal. City Council has demonstrated during this budget season that it is ready, willing and able to carry the load. Madam President, it is time to put childish things aside and come together as a government to guide our city through this fiscal crisis. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I just want to impress upon -- thank the members of Council, for one thing, for passing the resolution asking for the Mayor to set up a conservatorship program, and I just want to point out that this program, which comes as a result of Governor law, the Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act 2188. All of us have problems with blighted properties in our district that sit for years and years and years. This gives the City, if the City sets up a program under the state law, the community organization to, through a series of legal maneuvers, go in and take control of the property, rehab it and then try and get it back on the market. It doesn't take away the ownership or the power of the owner, but that owner has some responsibility also, but it prevents us from having blighted properties, such as I have in my district, because people pay the taxes, but they still are blighted and they sit there for years. So I thank Councilmembers for supporting this and want you to know we will e-mail you a copy of the Act so that you'll know more specifically what the Act does, and I do hope the Mayor will Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. I've been here for nine years, and I will say to you that this is the first budget experience I have had where I have seen you and Councilwoman Tasco, Councilman Clarke, Councilman Brian O'Neill and Councilman Rizzo gathered together repeatedly over the last many weeks and have been very thoughtful, have been very deliberative, have leaned on expert staff to crunch numbers and then have sat with us members of the team to explain to us, ask for input -- and I repeat, ask for input -- and engage us in a way where we could indeed come up with what I believe to be a responsible alternative measure that moves us to the want. And as I sat in this meeting this week, as I've made it my business to learn quietly what all of this means, I am extremely pleased that leadership has done what leadership is required to do, engage the members in a way that all of us get it so that we can then articulate it in a way to respond to letters that we get. And we still get letters. I still get e-mails. But as I was sharing where we are with Senator Vincent Hughes earlier this week, his comment was, You all are really -- I'm proud of you from where I sit, and we understand up here in Harrisburg that all of you, both the second floor and the fourth floor, must come to Harrisburg unified so that we do what citizens are asking us to do, and, that is, do not -I repeat, do not -- increase the property tax. I commend the leadership of this City Council. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you very much. Any further comments? (No response.)
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May 7th, 2009, 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, May 7th at 10:00 a.m. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 11:20 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 April 30, 2009, 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.)