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HALL MONITOR: the Marcellus Shale, DROP, and pissed off behind the podium
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HALL MONITOR: the Marcellus Shale, DROP, and pissed off behind the podium
So yes, it snowed a lot last night, but donât you worry: City Council braved the cold and convened for its citizenry.
If youâre quizzed about todayâs meeting, youâll need to know about two main things: Marcellus Shale and DROP.
Marcellus Shale:
Resolution 100864 passed unanimously and it states that council agrees to adopt âthe report issued by Council's Joint Committees on Transportation and Public Utilities and the Environment on the economic and environmental impacts that hydraulic drilling of Marcellus Shale will have on Philadelphia and the surrounding region.â
That report can be found in its entirety here as a PDF and its basic conclusions can be found here in HTML format. The basic premise of the report is that hydraulic fracturing needs to be safe and until governing bodies like the EPA come to some conclusion about what that means and how that should be done, âThere must be no drilling, or projects related to gas drilling.â Fracking should also be taxed, etc.
Advocates in favor of strict policies regulating Marcellus Shale drilling say the report and its conclusions need time to sink in for Philadelphians. A bunch of them showed up at council this morning and Iris Marie Bloom was one of them. During public comments, she -- and a host of other like-minded speakers -- spoke about being in favor of resolution 100864, but she took her message one step further: She wants council to take the new resolution to the Delaware River Basic Commission and encourage them to move a March 16th deadline for public comment on fracking regulations for the Delaware River basin to September. She also asks that the commission hold a meeting in Philadelphia.
"[S]tand up and fight for our watershed," she said to council, "and make sure the DRBC allows Philadelphia's voices to be directly heard."
The DRBC's meetings are currently scheduled for:
* Feb. 22 â Honesdale High School Auditorium, 459 Terrace Street, Honesdale, Pa.
* Feb. 22 â Liberty High School Auditorium, 125 Buckley Street, Liberty, N.Y.
* Feb. 24 â Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, N.J.
More on that here.
DROP:
When is DROP not an issue in Philadelphia city politics? Well, the answer to that was technically supposed to be today (DROP wasn't on the agenda). But that didnât stop Fred Fisher, a retired City Hall employee, from offering his perturbed opinion to council during public comments.
Almost immediately after he began speaking, however, City Council President Anna C. Verna asked him to table it for another time. Fisher got pissed:
âI walked up here in the snow because I wanted to speak,â he said before reinforcing his belief that public employees should not be allowed to double up on retirement and salary benefits. Verna in effect said, Yes, Iâm with you on this (and, for that matter, so is CP), but seriously, not today. Fisher relented and stepped away from the podium but then threw his written speech toward his seat and shouted, âI am a tea party member and we will be voting against you guys come November!â
Which got him a clap or two.
Turns out, he wasnât the only one thinking DROP. Â Councilman Frank DiCicco introduced a bill this morning that would allow city employees who have enrolled in the DROP program to opt out â which they canât do, currently. Read more here.
...and while we're on the topic of public comments.
Public comments during city council meetings are a good thing. But anyone who wants to speak should remember that council expects you to 1) keep your comments to around three minutes and 2) remember that comments are limited to âthe bills or resolutions that are on Councilâs Calendar ⦠for possible action at that dayâs Council session, even if those items are not actually called up for a vote." This consists of "any items on the 'Final Passage' and 'Second Reading and Final Passage' sections of the [c]alendar.â
The three-minute rule was bludgeoned today during a few occasions when advocates against widespread Marcellus Shale drilling spoke. What happened in each of these occasions â and in one particularly â was that after three minutes passed, a noise that sounded like a wake-up alarm went off. Then about 30 seconds later, a horn-type noise went off â like the electronic sound that goes off between class periods in high school (saying, in code: âSeriously, stop talkingâ). Then councilor Verna interrupted the speaker, saying something like, âPlease come to some kind of conclusion because your time has been up.â The speaker would respond something like, âUh, ok,â and then keep talking for another minute or so. It wasnât malicious â the ignoring of the three-minute rule â but it really served to take the focus off the message and place it on the point that the speakers had declined to limit their speeches to three minutes. Something to keep in mind if you're planning to speak your truth to city council.
Secondly, it appears council is really trying to make sure that people donât get off topic. So when a South Philly business owner stood at the podium this morning to complain about a relatively new tax he was unaware of and obviously didnât like at all, Verna just straight up told him to take his comments elsewhere because, she said, "I just have no idea what you're talking about." This really pissed the guy way off.
âIf you donât come to look into my problem, itâs your problem,â he said. Which kinda sounded like a threat. Then â much like Fisher â he turned around and yelled something. But this businessman said nothing about the Tea Party. Instead, he yelled: âYouâre a disgrace!â to, I guess, everyone. He wasnât exactly escorted out by police, but two police officers followed him out of the room closely and Iâm sure most in the crowd thought that was just fine. The guy seemed seriously upset. And as a result, I'm not sure anyone on council gave much consideration to what he was upset about; they just knew he was upset. Not great for the guy's politics, one would think. But who knows.
Here are the other bills and resolutions passed unanimously by council today (copied directly from the agenda):
* Resolution 100877
INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Blackwell
Resolution recognizing Vivian T. Miller for a Career of Service to the Citizens of Philadelphia in her Roles as Community Organizer, Ward Leader and Philadelphia Clerk of Quarter Sessions.
* Resolution 100878
INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Tasco for Councilmember Council President
Verna City of Philadelphia -1 -
CITY COUNCIL Calendar for Thursday, January 27, 2011
Resolution approving the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Point Breeze Urban Renewal Area, designated as Parcel Nos. 103 and 104 and also sometimes identified by house addresses and street addresses for Parcel No. 103 as 1626-1636 Federal street and for Parcel No. 104 as 1218-1228 South Seventeenth street; authorizing the Redevelopment Authority to execute the redevelopment contract with Community Ventures and to take such action as may be necessary to effectuate the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement.
* Resolution 100879
INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Miller
Resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Seventeenth Ward of the City of Philadelphia, pursuant to Chapter 16-400 of The Philadelphia Code and authorizing the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia to dispose of such properties for rehabilitation and/or improvement in accordance with the terms of Chapter 16-400 of The Philadelphia Code.
* Resolution 100880
INTRODUCED BY: Councilmembers Sanchez and DiCicco
Resolution authorizing Council's committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and Homelessness to hold hearings on the consequences of mass foreclosure in the Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods of rental properties owned by Landvest, LLP and related companies associated with Robert N. Coyle, Sr.
* Resolution 100079
INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Jones
An Ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by adding a new Section 14-1640, entitled "Ridge Avenue Special District Controls," under certain terms and conditions.
Everything else was tabled until a later date.
I appreciate Matt Stroudâs coverage of the hearing and resolution #100864. I especially appreciate the postings of the DRBC hearings. I thank city council. I especially thank Councilwoman Reynolds Brown and Councilman Jones. To connect with others and to get more information, visit www.protectingourwaters.com and
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