CITY COUNCIL

JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA Monday, January 6, 2020 ROLL CALL PRESENT: 17 - Councilmembers Domb, Green, Gym, Oh, Squilla, Johnson, Jones, Council President Clarke, Henon, Quiñones Sánchez, Bass, Parker, O'Neill, Brooks, Gauthier, Gilmore Richardson and Thomas INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez Introduced and Ordered Placed On Next Week's Final Passage Calendar the following Resolution, Sponsored by Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez: Resolution No. 200001: Resolution To provide Rules for the Government of the Council of the City of Philadelphia. COMMUNICATIONS 1 2 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA 3 STATED MEETING 4 5 6 The Met Philadelphia 858 North Broad Street 7 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania January 6, 2020 8 10:02 a.m. 9 City of Philadelphia -1-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 10 PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT DARRELL L. CLARKE 11 COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS 12 COUNCILMAN ALLAN DOMB COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER 13 COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN DEREK S. GREEN 14 COUNCILWOMAN HELEN GYM COUNCILMAN BOBBY HENON 15 COUNCILMAN KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. 16 COUNCILMAN DAVID OH COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL 17 COUNCILWOMAN CHERELLE L. PARKER COUNCILWOMAN MARIA D. QUINONES-SANCHEZ 18 COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS 19 20 MICHAEL A. DECKER, CHIEF CLERK 21 22 --- 23 24 25 2 City of Philadelphia -2-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 MR. TALIAFERRO: Ladies and 3 gentlemen, please be seated. Welcome to 4 the investiture of members of Council, 5 the organization of the City Council, the 6 inauguration of the Honorable James F. 7 Kenney as Mayor, and the investiture of 8 members of the Judiciary, City 9 Commissioners, Sheriff, and Register of 10 Wills. 11 We ask that you please silence 12 all digital communicative devices, all 13 cell phones for the remainder of the 14 ceremony. Thank you. 15 Ladies and gentlemen, please 16 rise and bow your heads for the 17 invocation given by Monsignor Daniel 18 Sullivan from the Archdiocese of 19 Philadelphia. 20 MONSIGNOR SULLIVAN: Let us 21 pray. City of Philadelphia -3-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 22 Mighty and eternal God, you 23 have revealed your glory to all the 24 nations. God of power and might, wisdom 25 and justice, through you authority is 3 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 rightly administered, laws are enacted, 3 and judgment is decreed. 4 We pray today for James Kenney, 5 Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. We 6 pray for our City Council, the judges, 7 and all elected officials who are 8 entrusted to guard our welfare. May they 9 be enabled by your powerful protection to 10 discharge their duties with honesty and 11 ability. 12 May they all seek to preserve City of Philadelphia -4-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 13 peace, promote the common good, continue 14 to bring us the blessings of liberty and 15 equality. 16 We likewise remember in prayer 17 all of those who support the cause of our 18 common good. We pray for our police 19 officers, firefighters, and first 20 responders, whose sole mission is to make 21 Philadelphia our home, a place where all 22 of us can enjoy and share the many 23 blessings with which you have gifted us. 24 Today also we commend to your 25 powerful mercy all the citizens of the 4 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 United States. May we be preserved in 3 union and in peace and gratefully share 4 these blessings with all of our sisters City of Philadelphia -5-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 5 and brothers throughout the world. 6 Be with us, Lord, today and 7 always. 8 Amen. 9 (Amen.) 10 MR. TALIAFERRO: Ladies and 11 gentlemen, please remain standing as the 12 Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments 13 and the Prison System guards present the 14 colors, while the Philadelphia Boys Choir 15 and Chorale lead us in singing the 16 National Anthem. 17 (Colors are presented and the 18 National Anthem sung.) 19 MR. TALIAFERRO: Ladies and 20 gentlemen, you may now be seated. 21 And now citizens and friends, 22 please welcome City Council President, 23 the Honorable Darrell L. Clarke, to the 24 podium. City of Philadelphia -6-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 25 (Applause.) 5 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Good 3 morning. 4 (Good morning.) 5 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: We 6 can do better than that. I know there's 7 a little Eagles hangover, but it's all 8 good. They'll be back next year. 9 So I'd just like to thank 10 everybody so much for being here today to 11 welcome you to the inaugural proceedings 12 for the investiture of City Council, the 13 inauguration of the Mayor, and the 14 induction of the Judiciary and other 15 elected officials. 16 Our special guests joining us City of Philadelphia -7-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 17 today are Monsignor Daniel Sullivan, the 18 Reverend John Roberts, Reverend Martini 19 Shaw, Imam Muhammad Abdul-Aleem, Reverend 20 Naomi Washington-Leapheart, Rabbi Jill 21 Maderer, former Mayor John Street, my 22 mentor, former Mayor Bill Green, former 23 Mayor W. Wilson Goode, Congressman 24 Brendan Boyle, former Congressman Robert 25 Brady, the Honorable Rosalyn Robinson, 6 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 and the Honorable Kevin Dougherty and the 3 Honorable Patrick Dugan and the Honorable 4 Carolyn Nichols. 5 I also wish to acknowledge the 6 elected officials joining us in the 7 audience today as well as members of the City of Philadelphia -8-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 8 Honorary Inaugural Committee. 9 This being the day fixed by the 10 Philadelphia Home Rule Charter for the 11 organization of the Council of the City 12 of Philadelphia, the hour has arrived, 13 and we will now proceed with the 14 organization of Council and the 15 investiture of Councilmembers. 16 The first order of business 17 will be the election of a temporary 18 chairperson. Nominations are now in 19 order, and the Chair recognizes 20 Councilman Henon. 21 COUNCILMAN HENON: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. I nominate Councilwoman 23 Cherelle Parker. 24 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: The 25 Chair now recognizes Councilman Squilla. 7 City of Philadelphia -9-  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 COUNCILMAN SQUILLA: 3 Mr. President, I second the nomination. 4 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Are 5 there any other further nominations? 6 (No response.) 7 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: 8 Hearing none, the Chair recognizes 9 Councilman Domb. 10 COUNCILMAN DOMB: 11 Mr. President, I move the nominations be 12 closed. 13 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: The 14 Chair thanks the gentleman. 15 The Chair now recognizes 16 Councilman Green. 17 COUNCILMAN GREEN: Mr. 18 President, I second that motion. 19 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: All City of Philadelphia - 10 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 20 in favor of the motion say aye. 21 (Aye.) 22 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: 23 Those opposed, nay. 24 (No response.) 25 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: The 8 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 ayes have it, and the nominations are 3 closed. There being no further 4 nominations, all in favor of the election 5 of Councilwoman Parker will say aye. 6 (Aye.) 7 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: 8 Those opposed? 9 (No response.) 10 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: The 11 ayes have it, and Councilwoman Parker has City of Philadelphia - 11 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 12 been duly elected temporary Chairperson. 13 Councilwoman. 14 (Applause.) 15 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Thank 16 you. Thank you, Councilman Clarke. 17 As the first order of business, 18 I appoint Mr. Michael Decker temporary 19 Clerk. 20 I will also at this time remind 21 all Bible holders to please follow the 22 program and make your way to the stage at 23 the appropriate time. 24 The next order of business is 25 the filing of the certificates of 9 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 election. The Clerk will call the roll. City of Philadelphia - 12 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 3 I direct the Clerk to call the roll 4 beginning with the 5 Councilpersons-at-large in alphabetical 6 order and then to proceed with the 7 District Councilpersons in order of their 8 district, beginning with the First 9 District. 10 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Kendra 11 Brooks. 12 COUNCILWOMAN BROOKS: Present. 13 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Allan Domb. 14 COUNCILMAN DOMB: Present. 15 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Katherine 16 Gilmore Richardson. 17 COUNCILWOMAN RICHARDSON: 18 Present. 19 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Derek Green. 20 COUNCILMAN GREEN: Present. 21 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Helen Gym. 22 COUNCILWOMAN GYM: Present. 23 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. David Oh. City of Philadelphia - 13 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 24 COUNCILMAN OH: Present. 25 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Isaiah 10 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 Thomas. 3 COUNCILMAN THOMAS: Present. 4 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Mark Squilla. 5 COUNCILMAN SQUILLA: Present. 6 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Kenyatta 7 Johnson. 8 COUNCILMAN JOHNSON: Present. 9 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Jamie 10 Gauthier. 11 COUNCILWOMAN GAUTHIER: 12 Present. 13 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Curtis Jones, 14 Jr. City of Philadelphia - 14 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 15 COUNCILMAN JONES: Present. 16 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Darrell 17 Clarke. 18 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: 19 Present. 20 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Bobby Henon. 21 COUNCILMAN HENON: Present. 22 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Maria 23 Quinones-Sanchez. 24 COUNCILWOMAN SANCHEZ: 25 Presente. 11 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Cindy Bass. 3 COUNCILWOMAN BASS: Present. 4 CHIEF CLERK: Ms. Cherelle 5 Parker. 6 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Present. City of Philadelphia - 15 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 7 CHIEF CLERK: Mr. Brian 8 O'Neill. 9 COUNCILMAN O'NEILL: Present. 10 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 11 Parker, a quorum of the members-elect is 12 present, and I have in my possession 13 certificates of election from the County 14 Board of Elections in Philadelphia 15 indicating their election on November 16 5th, 2019 for a term of four years, 17 commencing the first Monday of January 18 2020. 19 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Thank 20 you. 21 The investiture of members of 22 Council will now proceed. The 23 members-elect will rise to take the oath 24 of office, which will be administered by 25 the Honorable Kevin Dougherty, Justice of City of Philadelphia - 16 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 12 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. 3 (Applause.) 4 JUSTICE DOUGHERTY: Will each 5 member please rise. Place your left hand 6 on the Bible, raise your right hand, and 7 repeat after me. 8 (Oath of office administered.) 9 JUSTICE DOUGHERTY: 10 Congratulations. 11 (Applause.) 12 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: The next 13 order of business is the election of a 14 President of the City Council for 15 Philadelphia to serve for four years, 16 commencing January 6th, 2020. 17 Nominations are now in order, 18 and the Chair recognizes Councilwoman City of Philadelphia - 17 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 19 Gilmore Richardson. 20 COUNCILWOMAN RICHARDSON: I 21 proudly and with great honor nominate 22 Darrell L. Clarke. 23 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Y'all can 24 clap. 25 (Applause.) 13 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Thank 3 you. 4 At this time, the Chair 5 recognizes Councilman Thomas. 6 COUNCILMAN THOMAS: Madam 7 Chair, I second the nomination. 8 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Are there 9 any further nominations? City of Philadelphia - 18 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 10 (No response.) 11 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Hearing 12 none, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman 13 Gauthier. 14 COUNCILWOMAN GAUTHIER: Madam 15 Chair, I move the nominations be closed. 16 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: The Chair 17 recognizes Councilwoman Brooks. 18 COUNCILWOMAN BROOKS: Madam 19 Chair, I second that motion. 20 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: All in 21 favor will say aye. 22 (Aye.) 23 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Those 24 opposed, nay. 25 (No response.) 14 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING City of Philadelphia - 19 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 2 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: There 3 being no further nominations, all those 4 in favor of the election of the Honorable 5 Darrell L. Clarke as President of the 6 City Council of Philadelphia will say 7 aye. 8 (Aye.) 9 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Those 10 opposed, nay. 11 (No response.) 12 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: The ayes 13 have it. However, the temporary Clerk 14 will call the roll. 15 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 16 Bass. 17 COUNCILWOMAN BASS: Aye. 18 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 19 Brooks. 20 COUNCILWOMAN BROOKS: Aye. 21 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman Domb. City of Philadelphia - 20 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 22 COUNCILMAN DOMB: Aye. 23 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 24 Gauthier. 25 COUNCILWOMAN GAUTHIER: Aye. 15 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 3 Gilmore Richardson. 4 COUNCILWOMAN RICHARDSON: Aye. 5 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman Green. 6 COUNCILMAN GREEN: Aye. 7 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman Gym. 8 COUNCILWOMAN GYM: Aye. 9 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman Henon. 10 COUNCILMAN HENON: Aye. 11 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman 12 Johnson. 13 COUNCILMAN JOHNSON: Aye. City of Philadelphia - 21 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 14 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman Jones. 15 COUNCILMAN JONES: Aye. 16 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman 17 O'Neill. 18 COUNCILMAN O'NEILL: Aye. 19 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman Oh. 20 COUNCILMAN OH: Aye. 21 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 22 Parker. 23 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: Aye. 24 CHIEF CLERK: Councilwoman 25 Quinones-Sanchez. 16 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 COUNCILWOMAN SANCHEZ: Aye. 3 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman 4 Squilla. City of Philadelphia - 22 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 5 COUNCILMAN SQUILLA: Aye. 6 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman 7 Thomas. 8 COUNCILMAN THOMAS: Aye. 9 CHIEF CLERK: Councilman 10 Clarke. 11 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Aye. 12 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: The ayes 13 are 17 and the nays are zero. Councilman 14 Clarke, having been unanimously chosen by 15 the members of Council, I declare that 16 Councilman Clarke is the duly elected 17 President of this body. 18 Let's give our President a 19 round of applause. 20 (Applause.) 21 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: I appoint 22 Councilwoman Gym, Councilman Jones, 23 Councilman Johnson, and Councilwoman Bass 24 to escort Council President Clarke to the 25 rostrum. And joining Council President City of Philadelphia - 23 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 17 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 at the rostrum will be Nita Wroten. 3 The oath of office will be 4 administered by the Honorable Rosalyn 5 Robinson, Judge of the Court of Common 6 Pleas. 7 (Applause.) 8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Place your 9 left hand on the Bible and raise your 10 right hand and repeat after me. 11 (Oath of office administered.) 12 JUDGE ROBINSON: 13 Congratulations. 14 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: 15 Thank you. 16 (Applause.) City of Philadelphia - 24 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 17 COUNCILWOMAN PARKER: It is my 18 honor and my privilege to present to each 19 of you President of the City Council of 20 Philadelphia, the Honorable Darrell L. 21 Clarke. 22 (Applause.) 23 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Good 24 morning. 25 (Good morning.) 18 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: It's 3 an exciting day, and this will be an 4 exciting year. 5 I want to thank everybody who 6 has come here today for the investiture 7 and the organization of City Council. 8 This is truly democracy in action, and I City of Philadelphia - 25 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 9 hope that you find today not only a 10 pleasurable one but an interesting one, 11 and it will be that. 12 We are proud to bring this 13 inauguration to The Met Philadelphia for 14 the first time and celebrate the 15 continuation of the North Broad Street 16 Renaissance. 17 (Applause.) 18 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Its 19 Chair, Ken Scott, sitting right in front 20 of me. 21 They strategically placed you, 22 Ken. I asked that to be done. 23 So before we begin, I just want 24 to take one moment to express my sincere 25 gratitude and appreciation to four very 19 City of Philadelphia - 26 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 special people not only to me but of all 3 of us, Councilmembers who are concluding 4 their term. They leave a legacy that 5 will be truly written in stone - 6 Councilman Bill Greenlee, Councilwoman 7 Blondell Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Al 8 Taubenberger, and Council Lady Jannie 9 Blackwell. 10 Let's give them a hand. 11 (Applause.) 12 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: They 13 were awesome. 14 And to the newest members, you 15 got some pretty big shoes to fill. So I 16 want to acknowledge the four newly 17 elected members being sworn in today - 18 Councilwoman Kathy Gilmore Richardson. 19 (Applause.) 20 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: City of Philadelphia - 27 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 21 Councilwoman Kendra Brooks. 22 (Applause.) 23 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: 24 Councilwoman, I see you brought the crowd 25 that you had at your inauguration party 20 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 Saturday night. 3 And Councilwoman Jamie 4 Gauthier. 5 (Applause.) 6 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: And 7 probably the only person that I can't 8 beat in basketball on the stage, 9 Councilman Isaiah Thomas. 10 (Applause.) 11 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: City of Philadelphia - 28 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 12 Lastly, I just want to say it is truly an 13 honor to have allowed me and a privilege 14 to have served as your Council President 15 for the last four years. I want to thank 16 my members for again giving me this 17 awesome opportunity. You guys, thank you 18 all so much. We look forward to 19 continuing some very good things for the 20 City of Philadelphia. So to all of you, 21 thank you so much. 22 (Applause.) 23 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Now 24 the work begins. 25 So four years ago, I stood on 21 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 stage at the last inauguration and I made 3 a number of pledges as we sought new ways City of Philadelphia - 29 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 4 to grow our city's economy while helping 5 more Philadelphians participate in that 6 growth, and we made some progress. 7 I said we would unveil a 8 comprehensive energy strategy to help 9 homeowners, businesses, City government 10 increase efficiencies, reduce costs, and 11 create 10,000 jobs over the next decade. 12 And I got kicked three, four times by my 13 staff that said, Darrell, what in the 14 world are you saying. 15 But I meant it. No, we didn't 16 get 10,000 new jobs yet, but I'm happy to 17 say that with the Philadelphia Energy 18 Authority and the Office of 19 Sustainability of Philadelphia, we have 20 more than 1,000 new jobs in the very, 21 very awesome energy-efficient projects 22 coming on board. 23 (Applause.) City of Philadelphia - 30 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 24 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: More 25 Philadelphians have actually installed 22 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 solar systems in their homes, and over 3 $100 million has been invested by 4 companies and government agencies to 5 retrofit their buildings to become more 6 energy efficient. 7 Our comprehensive energy 8 strategy is saving energy, reducing 9 utility costs and, more importantly, 10 creating jobs. 11 We promise to continue our 12 efforts to ensure equitable growth 13 throughout Philadelphia and make sure 14 every neighborhood is a community of 15 choice. That is very important. City of Philadelphia - 31 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 16 And while we have made much 17 progress, we still have much more work to 18 do. 19 Our Philly First Home 20 initiative -- this was really, really a 21 special program, which provides one-time 22 grants to help first-time homebuyers 23 afford the down payment and closing costs 24 of their home -- is working extremely 25 well. And if anybody bought a home 23 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 recently, you understand what a challenge 3 that is. 4 So as a result of that, in six 5 months, this program has helped nearly 6 900 homebuyers achieve their dream of the City of Philadelphia - 32 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 7 most significant investment in one's 8 lifetime, buying a home in the City of 9 Philadelphia. 10 (Applause.) 11 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: This 12 program is also helping to stabilize our 13 middle neighborhoods and returning money 14 to the City. 15 Now, frequently we spend money, 16 and it doesn't necessarily come back. In 17 this program, in return of 8 million in 18 grants, the City actually realized $4.5 19 million to the City in real estate 20 transfer tax. That's nearly a 60 percent 21 return on investment. That's a win-win 22 for everybody. 23 But this is no time to rest on 24 our laurels. We must build on all of the 25 positive momentum happening in City of Philadelphia - 33 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 24 1 1/6/20 - STATED MEETING 2 Philadelphia, particularly in our 3 downtown area. From the Comcast 4 Technology Center to the FMC Tower in 5 West Philly, our skyline is growing, our 6 economy is booming. Look out, New York, 7 we're coming for you. 8 (Applause.) 9 COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Our 10 world-class academic institutions - 11 Temple, Penn, Drexel, La Salle, and St. 12 Joe's - are producing thousands of 13 college graduates, ready to take on the 14 world, and increasingly these graduates 15 are staying in Philly, drawn to our 16 neighborhoods, our affordability, our 17 vibrant arts and culture, and restaurant 18 scene that continues to grow. City of Philadelphia - 34 -  JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA 19 (File No. 200002) THE COMMUNICATION WAS READ AND FILED. City of Philadelphia - 35 -