Mayor Cherelle Parker’s first city budget clears the final hurdle | Council roundup
Also Thursday, Council approved measures regulating landlord-tenant officers, establishing new business curfews, changing city contracting rules for nonprofits, and honoring aid workers in Gaza.
Philadelphia City Council on Thursday gave final approval to a $6.37 billion city budget, the first negotiated by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson.
The budget, which takes effect July 1, leaves all tax rates flat, increases property tax relief measures amid rising reassessments, and includes hundreds of millions in funding for the mayor’s priorities on public safety and cleaning the city. Parker is expected to sign the legislation into law Friday.
Thursday’s vote was a formality following the budget compromise reached last week. Lawmakers gave preliminary approval to the deal at about 1 a.m. last Thursday, hours before the legislative deadline to ensure the bills could be approved at this week’s meeting, before Council begins its summer recess.
But some still voiced concern about the funding plan. Members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance testified against the budget on Thursday because it cuts about $500,000 from the Department of Labor, which enforces worker protection laws and will get about $4.7 million next year.
“This has a devastating and disproportionate impact on people like me: Black, brown, undocumented, and gender-oppressed people who do the work to make this city work,” domestic worker Adriana George told Council. “You cannot continue to fail domestic workers. We are the ones who make all other jobs possible.”
What were this week’s highlights?
The last day of a Council session is always busy, with lawmakers pushing a raft of bills through before adjourning for months. Here are some highlights from Thursday:
Contracting chaos: Despite fierce opposition from leaders in the city’s nonprofit sector, Council passed legislation Thursday that would revamp how the city contracts with charitable organizations.
Currently, the city allows some agencies to enter into contracts with nonprofits without going through the typical competitive bidding process. Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson championed legislation to end the practice as a way to increase transparency in government spending.
Parker’s administration opposed the legislation, saying it would overburden operations and make it harder for the city to respond to emergencies. It’s unclear if Parker intends to sign the bill.
The bill was approved in a 15-2 vote with Councilmembers Rue Landau and Mike Driscoll opposed. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said she also had concerns about the measure but voted for it because she trusted Gilmore Richardson will work with nonprofit providers to address their needs.
Business curfew bonanza: Council also unanimously passed three bills that impose late-night curfews on businesses in several districts of the city.
In upper North Philadelphia, businesses on both sides of Ogontz Avenue, between Haines Street and 66th Avenue, will have to abide by a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew. East of Ogontz, curfews for businesses around the Olney Transportation Center on North Broad Street will last from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Businesses on parts of East Allegheny Avenue, Kensington Avenue, Torresdale Avenue, and Frankford Avenue will also have to be closed between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Gas stations or establishments with liquor licenses will not be affected, and violations result in a $500 fine.
Councilmembers Anthony Phillips, Cindy Bass, and Mike Driscoll introduced the bills in May after Council passed a similar curfew on Kensington Avenue earlier this year in an effort to curb nuisance establishments.
Eviction regulation: Council also unanimously passed a bill to license and regulate security contractors who work in Philly’s unusual privatized eviction system, which was criticized following three shooting incidents during lockouts.
» READ MORE: Philly’s for-profit eviction system slammed in lawsuit after security contractors shot tenants
The new bill, authored by Councilmember Kendra Brooks, requires contracted private security officers who enforce eviction orders to meet training requirements and provide proof of liability insurance. It was opposed by landlord groups and the Parker administration, which said the city didn’t have the capacity to implement it.
A Parker spokesperson said Thursday that the mayor has until September, when Council reconvenes, to decide how to handle the bill. The mayor’s options are to veto it, sign it into law, or allow it to become law without her signature. Council would have the votes to override her veto.
Renewal of lease at Fairmount site could be blocked: The city could soon be barred from extending its lease at 2100 W. Girard Ave., a shelter in Fairmount where the Parker administration quietly increased capacity to treat people using drugs.
The move incensed residents and Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., who represents the district where the shelter sits and authored legislation that blocks the city from renewing its lease at the state-owned site, which is up in 2026. The bill passed Council unanimously.
What else happened?
Out of pocket: Despite taking place more than 5,700 miles away from City Hall, the war in the Middle East has come up repeatedly throughout this year’s Council session. So it was fitting that lawmakers’ final meeting before summer recess included another dustup over the issue.
Kate Perez, a pro-Palestinian activist who frequently comments at Council, once again took the mic to denounce Israel’s war in Gaza. Public commenters are required to speak on bills on this week’s agenda, and Councilmember Cindy Bass, who was presiding, cut Perez off, noting that she had signed up to testify on the city budget.
» READ MORE: Philly City Council has once again abandoned a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza | Council roundup
That did not go over well with Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who supports a cease-fire in the war and has defended Perez. He yelled at Bass from his seat, an extraordinary break with Council etiquette, and stormed out of the chambers.
Bass then followed Jones into the hallway, yelling, “Why the f— are you talking to me like this?” They ducked into Jones’ office and emerged a few minutes later singing kumbaya.
Jones said he got “emotional, which was out of pocket.”
“You were doing what you were supposed to do,” he said of Bass.
Strangely, there was a Gaza-related resolution on Council’s agenda this week that Perez likely could have testified on without controversy. Council unanimously approved Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke’s resolution honoring aid workers in Gaza.
Quotable
Council on Thursday approved a resolution authored by Brooks denouncing efforts by state lawmakers to increase funding for school vouchers, which pay private school tuition for students in struggling districts to leave their public schools.
Hip-hop artists Jay-Z and Meek Mill have come out in support of expanding vouchers, but opponents like Brooks say they drain resources from high-need school districts like Philadelphia’s.