Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council 09-11-25
Chris Mansfield Ta’Liyah Thomas & Kristina Vo | PHL City Council
On Thursday, Philadelphia City Council started its sessions for the fall with a bill that it passed at the end of last session.
By Denise Clay-Murray
In a lot of ways, the first Philadelphia City Council session of the year is a little like the first day of school.
Council chambers are abuzz as Council members, their staffs and various spectators come in to get ready for the session. While this is probably not the first time they’ve seen each other since the last council session in June, they still have lots to share with each other. There are district community events. Open houses. Legislative ideas. And, of course, vacations — both foreign and domestic.
But now, at least technically, summer is over, and when Council President Kenyatta Johnson gaveled the body into session at 10 a.m. exactly on Thursday, the room was filled with anticipation.
Most of that anticipation, however, centered on a bill that was passed before the end of the last session. That bill was Councilmember Quetcy Lozada’s bill expanding the reach of her business curfew bill from parts of the Seventh Councilmanic Districts to the entire 7th District, parts of the 1st District and all of the 8th.
Under the bill, businesses in the districts listed would have to close between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Violators would have to pay a $1,000 fine.
It was a bill that much of Council got behind because it was relatable to them. You see, the purpose of the bill, according to Lozada, is to regulate nuisance businesses that sell such things as drug paraphernalia. In places like Kensington, which Lozada’s district includes, residents see what happens when such businesses aren’t regulated, she said.
“By no means do I want to prevent small businesses from coming into the 7th District,” Lozada said. “I encourage and I welcome small businesses to come into the district. But unfortunately, we might have to go back to basics. We have to hold people accountable.”
Every councilmember has a nuisance business that they wish would go away. Far away.
But that said, Mayor Cherelle Parker sent the bill back to Council without her signature, saying that the expansion would lead to a dramatic increase in resources that the city can’t sustain and would impact businesses that don’t deserve to be impacted.
The owners of some of those businesses spoke to Council during public comment. Jose’ Reynoso operates the Alta Cocina food truck and said that businesses like his are really important to a city that’s going to be the center of the entertainment world in 2026.
“Food trucks are a part of our nightlife,” he said. “This endangers our ability to earn a living. We harm no one. We are not a problem. We are part of the solution.”
Now if this food truck owner from Juniata was the only person making this point, that probably would have been okay. Councilmembers would have been willing to take suggestions on how to make the law less onerous.
But when Jennifer McDonald, Cities Work director and assistant director of activism with the Institute For Justice, a Virginia-based libertarian law firm that has sued the city before for other ordinances, tried to make a similar point, councilmembers listened politely as she made what appealed to be reasonable points.”
Until she told them where she lived.
Then, things got a little testy.
“You’re not the one who had to stand out at 54th and Berks Street, dealing with nuisance businesses that are enablers of some of the young Thundercats that are doing some of the bad things,” Councilmember Curtis Jones said. “You say that, but you were not out there with [Councilmember] Cindy Bass when she had to deal with liquor by the drink. You say that from Virginia, not 54th and Berks.”
Okay…
Now, it’s kind of safe to assume that this curfew law is going to get looked at by someone wearing a long, black robe. And the mayor’s misgivings about the amount number of resources needed to cover all of these districts aren’t without merit.
But there’s obviously something that needs to be addressed here. And whether or not this bill stands the legal test, I guess it’s a start.
I’ll end this with some personal news.
Earlier in this column, I mentioned that this was kind of the first day of school for Council. In a way, it was the first day of school for me, too.
In addition to being the first day of Council, it was also the first day of my being the permanent host of Philadelphia City Council Live on WURD radio. I’ve filled in on the show quite a bit over the last 12 years, so it’s not a totally new experience. But it’s now completely my responsibility. When we can, we’ll feature a Councilperson each week and a breakdown of the most important bills with my Philadelphia Hall Monitor co-host, Lawrence McGlynn.
In addition to continuing to check me out here in the SUN Hanging In The Hall, I hope that you’ll join me from 10a.m. to 1p.m. on WURD 900am/96.1fm. You can also catch City Council Live on the WURD app, and on wurdradio.com. We’ll also be doing a Council preview on Wednesday nights during Hall Monitor on WPPM 106.5, phillycam.org, on the Hall Monitor YouTube channel, on Xfinity channels 68 and 966HD and on Fios channels 29 and 30.
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, The Philadelphia Sunday SUN, the author’s organization, committee or other group or individual.
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