When City Council takes its budget discussions to the neighborhood, residents have plenty to talk about
The issues are basically the bread-and-butter concerns that make the difference in a neighborhood’s quality of life.
For the last month, City Council has been on the road taking Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s $6.29 billion spending plan into neighborhoods and inviting residents to ask questions.
» READ MORE: Mayor Parker’s $6.29 billion budget plan keeps taxes flat, increases spending on police and code enforcement
“We have been going all throughout the city of Philadelphia to listen to your issues, concerns and, most importantly, your recommendation as we craft our FY25 budget, giving you an opportunity to weigh in on how we spend your tax dollars,” said City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, opening the North Philadelphia town hall meeting on April 25.
“The budget proposal is nothing but a proposal. Members of City Council will come up with its own that is equitable and fiscally sound,” he reminded participants at a West Philadelphia session on Monday.
“The budget proposal is nothing but a proposal. Members of City Council will come up with its own that is equitable and fiscally sound.”
Four sessions, 600 attendees, 100 speakers and 10 hours of testimony into the five-session budget town hall series, Council members have had an earful from the effort dubbed “City Council in the Community.”
Each of the speakers was given two minutes to ask questions but most had demands they wanted heard and little interest in where the money would come from.
What the community wants
Most issues are bread-and-butter concerns that when addressed enhance a neighborhood’s quality-of-life:
Affordable housing and accountability for landlords who violate city housing law and mistreat tenants.
More seats in the PHLpreK, the city’s free pre-Kindergarten.
Pedestrian safety.
More safe recreational activities, including for physically disabled and neurodiverse children.
A stop to the sale of tobacco to minors.
For Dee Dukes, a middle school teacher and member of the Wynnefield Community Neighborhood Association, tree maintenance is a big concern and like many residents, she first recounted the history of the concern.
In 2014, the residents on the 5400 block of Morse Street asked for help with maintenance of the 37 trees on their block. In 2017, city officials from various departments came out and explained the problem.
“It’s 2024 and we have never had a tree trimmed. Some residents have had to spend $1,500 to $3,000 on their own to remove the tree and cement the hole,” Dukes said.
She told her story at two different town hall meetings held over the last two weeks, at the one Monday in West Philadelphia presided over by 3rd District Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, and the April 25 session in North Philadelphia session run by 5th District Councilmember Jeffery Young.
“I will go all over the city. It is so horrific. Nothing [has happened] in 10-plus years,” Dukes said. As with most pf the speakers, councilmembers noted her concern but didn’t further address the issue at the meeting.
Groups concerns
The town hall meetings attracted not only ward leaders, committee people, block captains but also groups that took to the microphone to advocate for their issue — including protesting the building of a new 76ers arena in Center City bordering Chinatown.
Lift Every Voice Philly, which advocates for public school, asked for a commitment from Council to support efforts to have the school district hire a chief of joy to address school children’s emotional well-being, which was adversely impacted by school closings during the pandemic.
Learning budget basics
Each town hall session started with short budget basics lecture. “The city budget is how we allocate resources and it determines how communities will be affected,” Gauthier explained.
The city budget is divided into two categories — an operating budget for daily services like trash collection and building inspections and a capital budget for long-term infrastructure projects like purchasing fire engines or renovating recreation centers. Parker’s plan calls for $850 million in new operating and $1.4 billion in capital investments.
The Home Rule Charter requires the city to have a balanced budget.
City Council and the Parker administration have until July 1 to come to a final agreement on how to spend the $6.29 billion — and that will require determining priorities and trade-offs.
Battling priorities
Edward Hanson, a school teacher, said the Parker administration’s plan for year-round school — which she’s allocated $119 million to support — wasn’t possible given the lack of air conditioning.
Parker’s plan, which she considers working-parent friendly, would change the traditional academic calendar with more frequent breaks spread throughout the year, a shorter summer vacation, and increased enrichment activities instead of traditional classroom activities.
“For those who are being raised, particularly in circumstances like mine, particularly when they’re being raised by someone other than their biological parents, they can benefit from creative year-round scheduling,” Parker, who was raised by her grandparents, said in her election victory speech. “They could benefit from going to school in the morning and having it open until 6:30 in the evening.”
“That’s not super realistic,” Hanson said during his testimony, and asked Council members to vow they would strike it from the budget.
Council members demurred, saying they needed to see the school district’s proposal.
City Council is wrapping up City Council in the Community with the last meeting in Frankford at Philadelphia Charter School for Arts & Sciences on May 1. Parker has just started her town hall meetings series which will continue until June 4.