After a more than four-hour meeting featuring 50 public commenters, Philadelphia City Council takes the break I’m pretty sure it needs.
By Denise Clay-Murray
Just about every college student in America has had a moment when they realize that the deadline for the major research paper or project they’ve been putting off since the beginning of the semester is around the corner.
Once that realization hits, the scrambling begins. How do you do the kind of research a 25-page paper requires, research that you should have been doing the entire 12 to 14 weeks of the semester, in a week or less?
Simple. You stay up all night, do some serious speed research, and pray that you can get it done in time to turn it in.
Twice a year, City Council has what I like to call its “Oh, crap! That’s due tomorrow?!” sessions. That’s when it takes all the bills that it’s had on tap for the last six months, piles them all into one jam-packed final passage calendar, and tries to pass as much of the legislation as possible.
On Thursday, Council had one of those meetings. There were more than 100 bills on the final passage calendar and the body used two consent agendas — groupings of bills that everyone can agree — to get through it.
Among the bills passed was the Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Bill, which was named after a woman who was shot in the head during an eviction by private contractors that didn’t have the proper training. They also passed a bill aimed at keeping the city from renewing a lease with the state for the property at 2100 Girard Avenue. For those who may not know, that was one of the buildings that Mayor Cherelle Parker was going to use to try and connect people battling substance abuse with the help they need.
They also passed a lot of ordinances, which can’t be passed with a consent agenda, like, for example, the 2025 FY capital and operating budget.
And there were also some resolutions. One honored the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity for its work. Another created a task force designed to help the city better utilize the non-profits it works with and to also help those organizations do a better job.
There were also resolutions honoring the leader of the Working Families Party, opposing legislation in Harrisburg that would create a school voucher program, calling for an investigation into fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, honoring the aid workers who have helped Puerto Rico through its many natural disasters, and aid workers who have helped families during the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
It’s the last one that attracted the attention of some of the 50 public commenters who signed up to make their voices heard and led to an incident that showed all of us that Council might need to not be around each other for a while.
In a previous Hanging In The Hall column about public comment, I mentioned Kate Perez, an activist who wants Council to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Every time she takes the microphone during public comment, Perez brings up the conflict in the Middle East and is asked to stick to topics on the final passage calendar.
Earlier in the Council session, Councilmember Curtis Jones, one of two Muslims on Council, angrily chastised Council President Kenyatta Johnson for stopping Perez from speaking on the conflict. On Thursday, Jones spoke up on Perez’s behalf when Councilmember Cindy Bass, Council’s deputy majority whip, was presiding over the meeting.
“Here we go again!” he said. “We have to do better…”
It got kind of hard to understand after that. And it got even harder when Jones got up and stormed out. Bass caught up with him in the hallway and eventually, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson caught up with both of them to try and calm things down.
Jones came back to chambers, apologized to Bass publicly, and left the meeting to attend to some council business outside the chamber.
The meeting was more than four hours long, and after all of the bills and resolutions were passed, the members gave their speeches. My personal favorite was Councilmember Anthony Phillips’s speech in which he called Council President Johnson the body’s “Dad.”
Okay…
While Council won’t be having regular meetings on Thursdays again until September, there will be hearings, committee meetings, and the like going on all summer. For example, on Monday, the newly-formed Tax Reform Commission meets on Monday morning at 10 a.m. in Council Chambers. If you want to weigh in, go to [email protected] by 3 p.m. on Sunday and send your name, a telephone number you can be reached at, and any organization you might be testifying for. If you’re just testifying as a garden variety citizen, say that, too.
I’ll also still be Hanging In The Hall, so watch this space.
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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